This month Americans and good people everywhere celebrate the survival of institutions of freedom in the wake of the dastardly attacks of a year ago. In this connection, it is well to remember two other September events that bear upon universal and eternal principles of liberty that have given the American nation its strength.

It was on September 17, 1787, that the Constitution of the United States was signed, beginning what some have called a "grand experiment" in democracy that is now in its third century.

That event alone was momentous as far as it went. But many leading citizens of the new nation, fearful that a strong and powerful central government might run amok at some time in the future, immediately called for a declaration protecting the rights of individuals. Evidently they were aware of a concept that the Prophet Joseph Smith would express 52 years later: "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39.)

And thus it was that on Sept. 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed to the state legislatures 12 articles, 10 of which were eventually ratified as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and known as the Bill of Rights.

It is these 10 provisions that solidify the theory upon which the nation is based: that government derives its power from the citizens and is bound to protect them in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property.

In particular, the First Amendment establishes principles of liberty that are global in their application. To the extent that the government of any nation follows the principles enunciated in the First Amendment, the people in that nation are profoundly blessed.

In its entirety, the First Amendment provides: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In that one-sentence affirmation, the Constitution safeguards what have been called four "pillars" of liberty: religion, speech, the press and assembly. Their vital importance can readily be grasped when it is noted that they constitute the mechanisms by which information, ideas, doctrines are taught, disseminated, discussed and evaluated.

In short, they are the means by which we discover and ascertain truth. And it is truth, the Savior taught, that makes one free. (See John 8:32.)

Truth goes hand in hand with liberty, moral agency and accountability. Speaking through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord indicated that He suffered the Constitution to be established and maintained "for the rights and protection of all flesh," — not just Americans — "according to just and holy principles; That every man may act . . . 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." (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77-78, emphasis added.)

In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It had the effect of extending Bill of Rights restrictions to state and local governments. It might be argued that had the amendment been in place in the 1840s, national office holders could not so easily have dismissed the Latter-day Saints' petitions for redress of grievances for the oppression they suffered.

Today, we are blessed to live in relatively tranquil times, when liberties are honored perhaps more so than in the past. Still, in light of current events and scriptural doctrines, it behooves every Latter-day Saint constantly and vigilantly to defend First Amendment principles by every lawful means.

Speaking a year ago to a Logan, Utah, audience celebrating the Constitution, President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, suggested that we can safeguard those freedoms by voting for men and women who reflect our values, by expressing our views in the legislative process of the state and nation, by claiming our rights of free expression and by educating the coming generation about their rights and duties. (See Church News, Sept. 22, 2001, p. 11.)

It is a timeless admonition; the application of eternal principles of freedom and agency is at stake.