Lessons of patriotism best learned at home
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
OREM, Utah — Patriotism is a learned trait — and it's the duty of parents and youth leaders to teach young people to cherish their country, their God and their family.
That was the urgent message Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, an emeritus Seventy, shared July 1 at a patriotic service at the McKay Events Center at Utah Valley State College. The annual event was sponsored by America's Freedom Festival and featured an evening of patriotic music and song, celebratory words of freedom and Elder Featherstone's reminder that a nation's liberties are upheld by its individual citizens.
"No man or woman will be able to stand on borrowed patriotism," said Elder Featherstone to an audience numbering in the thousands.
Elder Featherstone was introduced as an "affirming champion of young people" by his colleague and friend, Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Presidency of the Seventy. A former president of the Logan Utah Temple, Elder Featherstone is well qualified to speak on the challenges facing young people following decades of service to youth in the Church and in Scouting.
Elder Featherstone spoke of a general conference talk where he echoed the patriotic counsel of President Ezra Taft Benson to act as watchmen who offer direction and vision in a dark, perilous world. Following his general conference talk, Elder Featherstone earned a nod of approval from President Benson.
"President Benson wanted me to keep talking about patriotism to youth," Elder Featherstone said.
Difficult times lie ahead, he acknowledged. Young people need to know the sanctity of God and country. "We must remind our youth, and teach them the great lessons of patriotism."
Elder Featherstone paid tribute to the men and women who wear their nation's uniform. He remembered being a young deacon during the unsettling years of World War II. Each week, young Vaughn would pass through the foyer in his ward meetinghouse and study the pictures of fellow ward members who were far from home fighting the war. A white star by a photo meant the member was missing in action. A red star was placed by ward members who had been injured. A gold star was attached to the images of those who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
"I was marvelously touched to see those people who had given their lives," Elder Featherstone said.
The longtime Church leader also spoke of his love for patriotic songs — those familiar, sacred tunes that celebrate American freedom and principles. He repeated part of the final verse of the U.S. national anthem:
Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
"I hope that is still true all across this land," Elder Featherstone said.
Patriotism begins at home, he added. It is the primary role of mothers and fathers to teach their children to love their country. Elder Featherstone challenged the parents at the patriotic service to share their feeling about their homeland with their sons and daughters.
"If there is a lack of patriotism, don't blame someone else."
Those who hate the United States won't quit — and neither can those who love their land, said Elder Featherstone. He added that the nation's founding fathers would be appalled to learn that American flags can be legally burned in protest. That public prayers are banned. Or that images of the 10 Commandments on public property are off-limits.
Americans will know hard times and trouble — but they should also be optimistic, Elder Featherstone said. Those "who are with us" are more numerous than "those who are against us." He again enlisted the words of President Benson, saying that on the day of the Second Coming, "the flag of the United States of America will still be flying over this country."
Much of the evening focused on the sacrifices of the men and women who have fought America's wars. Veterans in attendance were recognized and Jeanine Lundell — the widow of recently fallen LDS soldier Scott B. Lundell — E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com
