Holding specially called meetings in four Utah cities May 31, six members of the Council of the Twelve and three of the Seventy counseled stake presidents and regional representatives on moral issues.

Two sets of General Authorities addressed two meetings each. Elders Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks and M. Russell Ballard of the Council of the Twelve met with local leaders in the tabernacle in Ogden at 8 a.m., and in the auditorium of the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City at 3 p.m. Elders James E. Faust, Joseph B. Wirthlin and Richard G. Scott, also of the Twelve, met in stake centers in Cedar City at 8 a.m., and in Orem at 2 p.m.Members of the Seventy who are area presidents in Utah attended in their respective areas: Elder Marlin K. Jensen, Utah North Area; Elder Loren C. Dunn, Utah Central Area; and Elder L. Aldin Porter, Utah South Area.

Elder Faust told the Church News that the ecclesiastical meetings included several topics, including the need to strengthen the youth of the Church, appropriate Sabbath observance and the danger of legalized gambling.

He said Church leaders expressed concern for young people who are "growing up in a moral vacuum, where time-honored values of honesty, integrity and sexual purity are discounted and their opposite glamorized." He said stake leaders were urged to stay close to parents and their youth in providing moral leadership and guidance.

"We wanted to reaffirm our traditional moral values and to restate our position against pari-mutuel gambling," Elder Faust said.

He noted there have been renewed efforts in recent months to legalize gambling in Utah, and that those efforts intensified as proponents began to gather signatures for a petition to place the issue of pari-mutuel gambling on the November ballot.

Elder Faust said the meetings were held in response to a request by the non-denominational, non-partisan Utah Citizens Against Pari-mutuel Gambling (UCAP). The coalition is asking various churches and civic organizations in Utah to support its efforts to oppose pari-mutuel betting in the state. Of the LDS Church, it specifically asked for help in identifying individuals who are willing to volunteer time and services and to make personal donations to help fight the referendum, should it appear on the ballot, Elder Faust said. That request, according to Elder Faust, was passed along to stake leaders in the meetings. He said no Church funds will be involved in the fight against legalizing gambling in Utah. "The coalition against gambling will rely on free-will contributions by non-members, as well as members," Elder Faust emphasized.

He also affirmed: "This is not an issue about horses, or about raising horses, or racing horses. The issue is about gambling."

While the meetings were closed to all except stake presidents and regional leaders, members of the Twelve met with news reporters immediately afterward at each site and answered questions, most of which centered on pari-mutuel gambling.

At the meeting with reporters in Salt Lake City, which had the highest number of representatives, Elder Nelson noted that the Church is not taking a position whether or not the issue of pari-mutuel gambling is placed on the ballot. "Those who are proponents of legalized gambling are getting the signatures on the petitions," he observed. "We are laboring under the assumption that those signatures will be gathered and that the matter will be on the ballot for public referendum. We aren't taking a position on that. We're teaching our people about gambling and the undesirable consequences of it, as all the presidents and leaders of the Church have for more than a hundred years."

When asked why "you keep coming back" to the gambling issue, Elder Oaks replied: "It seems to me that the opposition keeps coming back to it. I read something about it every day in the papers. I don't see why the Church should be obliged to speak once and never repeat it when it's a constant subject of discussion."

Responding to the assertion that some see gambling as an economic rather than a moral issue, Elder Oaks said: "We see gambling as a moral evil. . . . It's destructive of spiritual well-being. . . . Anyone who is selling something like that sees it as an economic issue. We see some of those things are moral issues."

He further said: "It would be appropriate to state that we are defending the status quo. . . . We're resisting an attempt to have pari-mutuel betting."

Elder Ballard said: "We're obliged, as leaders of the Church, to make very clear what the Church's position is, what the First Presidency, and the Council of the Twelve feel regarding this issue of pari-mutuel gambling. We also see this in the long-range scenario. When we part the curtain and allow any legal gambling of any kind to come into the state of Utah, what's next?"

Elder Nelson added: "We have often joined with like-minded citizens on matters of public morality. This is not the first, nor will it be the last."

Responding to a question pertaining to the responsibility that religious organizations have in speaking out on moral issues, Elder Oaks said: "The First Amendment contains a freedom of speech, a freedom of press, and a freedom of religion. You don't have to give up the freedoms of speech in order to enjoy the freedoms of religion. We think that Church leaders, Church organizations have all the freedoms of speech that anyone else has, and we also have the free exercise of religion, which surely covers something more than just stating an academic proposition. We're entitled to go into the public marketplace of ideas, if we choose to do so, and put our ideas forth forcefully to communicate with our members and with others who are interested in listening. And that is what we're doing."

Reporters asked few questions on the other topics the General Authorities addressed in the meetings. On the subject of appropriate Sabbath observance, Elder Oaks said, "We preach all of the Ten Commandments, and Sabbath observance is one of them. We turn up the intensity or frequency of our preaching on something that we see being violated in the world around us and we think it's timely to emphasize the observance of the Sabbath. The Lord has said in the scriptures - in the Old Testament and New Testament, and in the Doctrine and Covenants - that the Sabbath should be a holy day. It's not a day for pleasure seeking. It's a day to reinforce ourselves spiritually. That's the message that we reminded our leaders of in the meeting."

Asked what had happened to make Sabbath observance a timely topic, Elder Oaks replied, "It's always timely."

Of the General Authorities' concerns for youth, Elder Nelson said, "Ever since the Church was organized, the prophets and apostles have spoken about protecting and teaching [youthT, the proper education of our youth so that they may become responsible and well-educated citizens. There is nothing new on that, but the teaching does need to be reaffirmed."

In conjunction with the meetings in Orem and Cedar City, Elder Wirthlin said, "Since it is the primary mission of the Church to `invite all to come unto Christ,' how can we do anything but oppose in the strongest possible way any proposal that would inherently lead us away from Christ?"

He further commented: "The state of Utah offers a unique and uplifting lifestyle to all who live here, regardless of their religious or political affiliation. Part of the reason it is such a desirable place in which to live is that we have, to this point, been able to preserve and maintain the moral values that serve as a basis for everyday life in Utah. We are concerned that much of that will change if legalized gambling is allowed to gain a foothold in Utah."

Elder Scott said: "The teachings of the Lord are based on absolute truth. Satan attempts to undermine those truths by spreading the falsehood that nothing is absolute. His desire is to have decisions made on the basis of current circumstances. Then he can attempt to move Heavenly Father's children away from truth. Absolute truths require the Church to take a stand on moral issues. It is not enough to be neutral. The proper use of moral agency is rooted in gospel absolutes."

Bruce L. Olsen, director of Church Public Affairs, said stake presidents with whom he spoke about the meeting appreciated being informed about the Utah Citizens Against Gambling and the coalition's aims. "They were particularly appreciative of the members of the Twelve and area presidencies speaking out on such important moral issues as were addressed in the meeting," Brother Olsen said.