December 1833 was a time of sore trial for the Latter-day Saints, who had been dispossessed of their homes in Jackson County, Mo., robbed of their personal property and suffered death threats, all this in a nation founded on the guarantee of individual rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (See Declaration of Independence.)

It seems ironic, yet appropriate in a way, that the Lord Jesus Christ would choose that particular time to place His divine imprimatur upon the United States Constitution.As recorded in Section 101 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Savior expressed His will that the Saints seek redress for their wrongs, affirming that such petitions would be "according to the laws and constitution of the people which I have suffered to be established, and which should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles.

"That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

"Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

"And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." (Verses 77-80, emphasis added.)

It is remarkable, in light of the way history has played out, that the Lord would say the Constitution was established to protect "all flesh," not just U.S. citizens, and that that the doctrines and principles it safeguards pertain to "futurity."

As President Ezra Taft Benson pointed out, "The Constitution of the United States has served as a model for many nations and is the oldest constitution in use today." (Conference Report, October 1987.)

For more than two centuries, the U.S. government has been looked to by the peoples of the world as upholding the principles of liberty. It has championed the preservation of human rights internationally. In that sense, the Lord did indeed establish the U.S. Constitution for the benefit of "all flesh," to preserve the moral agency of His children "pertaining to futurity."

That is no less true today than it was 165 years ago, when Section 101 was revealed, according to Michael K. Young, appointed June 21 as vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission is an advisory panel set up by congressional act to make recommendations for U.S. policy responses to religious freedom violations around the world. (See June 15 Church News, p. 7.)

Brother Young, dean of the George Washington School of Law and a former stake president in New York, has the background and aptitude to have observed the preservation of religious freedom or lack thereof in the nations of the world, which has given him a keen appreciation, from a gospel perspective, for the blessings provided by the Constitution.

"I've been watching this for a long time; it's interesting to me," he said by telephone from his Washington D.C. office. "Around the world, one sees the kind of massive persecution of religion that we [as Latter-day Saints] were subject to in our early history. And while our Constitution didn't provide us complete protection by any stretch, in the end it provided a framework in which that persecution settled down after awhile. When we look at some other countries and observe the breakdown in order that occurs, we are reminded of the overall structure for stability and a less-intrusive government and system of checks and balances provided by our own Constitution."

Civil order is necessary for religious freedom to thrive, Brother Young said, noting that persecution often occurs in the midst of civil war.

"Where order breaks down, the government is less capable of protecting people in any sense," he explained. "Then it becomes easier for differences among religious groups to come to the fore. One religious group starts to persecute another. The government can't control it, and in fact, in many cases, a party uses a wedge between religions as a way to come to power.

"I think we need to reflect regularly on how extraordinarily blessed we are to be in a country that has the kind of social order that we have, with its checks and controls on government. On the one hand it provides a very broad space in the public square for religion and on the other hand has enough power, credibility and legitimacy to keep order so that private groups aren't at each other's throats. That's a tremendous thing."

Brother Young finds it significant that the Lord's approbation of the Constitution, as contained in scripture, is on the overall structure of the document.

"That, in my judgment, is as important as any single right that we focus on," he said. "The 'wise men' whom the Lord raised up really were a remarkable group of people who had a particular vision of government as an entity surrounded by lots of checks and balances. For all the complaints we may have at the margins, I think we are extraordinarily blessed in our ability to practice religion in an unfettered way, with the government not showing favoritism that significantly disadvantages us."

The uniqueness of the Constitution, Brother Young noted, is found in the fact that the Founding Fathers took religion seriously. He contrasted that with governments in which religion is basically ignored until it begins to emerge as a major political force. Then, all too often, the governments react in a manner that restricts religious freedom.

"Thus, the United States Constitution turns out to be an extraordinary accomplishment," he said. "It allows the scope for religion in public life, it keeps the government from intervening, and it does all that despite the fact that there is a very high degree of religious observance, commitment and conviction in the United States."

Brother Young's holistic view of and appreciation for the Constitution extends to the Bill of Rights, particularly the First Amendment. While Church members may be inclined to focus upon the guarantee of religious freedom, the other three freedoms safeguarded in the First Amendment -- speech, the press and assembly -- are just as important to preserving the freedom to worship God as one sees fit, he affirmed.

"It seems to me that these are deeply intertwined," he said. "If we take seriously the notion of freedom of speech, the ability to bear witness, to speak about one's religion and things that matter has to be at the very core of that. It isn't a small subset; it's at the very center.