A Tale of Two Men

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:24

Ask yourself. When President Nelson speaks, do you feel comfort, love, and enlightenment? How do you feel when Donald Trump speaks? Isn’t it just the opposite? Doesn’t he bring you fear, anger, and stubbornness? These men are very different. Which one deserves your respect?

The lives of these two men are polar opposites. President Nelson, in addition to a lifetime of Church service, was a renowned, life-saving, heart surgeon. His service to the Church and, indeed, to humanity is unquestioned. His moral character is unimpeachable.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has dedicated his life to the pursuit of personal wealth and personal aggrandizement. His methods of doing so are often under-handed, deceptive, and even illegal. His moral character is well-known to be sinful and corrupt.

The Doctrine of the Two Ways

If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.

C.S. Lewis

Author and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis taught that you cannot achieve Heaven while clinging to Hell. One must let go of Hell, and its temptations and deceptions, completely. Those fearful, angry, resentful feelings that Donald Trump stirs up may have great appeal to people’s vanity, but they are not the emotions that lead one to greater righteousness and joy.

LDS scholar Dr. Hugh Nibley taught that “Zion and Babylon cannot mix in any degree; a Zion that makes concessions is no longer Zion.” This “Doctrine of the Two Ways” comes from the earliest Christian and Jewish writers.

Zion and Babylon both have their appeal, but the voice of latter-day revelation makes one thing perfectly clear as it tells us over and over again that we cannot have them both.

Hugh Nibley

Moral Consistency

Perhaps you may rationalize that “religion and politics are two different things.” You may think it is all right to support one type of leader in the religious sphere and another type of person in the political sphere. This type of thinking is morally inconsistent.

Our standards should be the same in all situations. Just as we should be the same person during the week as we are on Sunday, so should we seek and support leaders that are good, wise, and honest while we are in church AND when we are in the voting booth (Doctrine and Covenants 98:9-10).

We each have to make a choice. Will we stand for truth or lies? Will we be models of compassion or arrogance? Will we help build Zion or Babylon? Will we champion the Gospel of faith, hope, and charity (1 Corinthians 13:13) or the politics of cynicism, pessimism, and selfishness?

Here is an example of the contrast. In the Church we have every intention of binding Satan and limiting his influence. We do this through individual repentance, personal righteousness, and service to others. We do not sit in Church meetings and chant, “Lock him up!”

A higher standard

President Nelson calls us to a much higher standard. Rather than being selfish and resentful, while fantasizing about an idealized past, he asks us to move forward, become fully converted, love God, love our neighbors, and build the Kingdom of God on Earth. He has actually blessed us to “become happier and holier with each passing day.”

If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.

Doctrine and Covenants 42:61

I testify that you will not find peace, joy, and life eternal from following Donald J. Trump. In fact, the longer you follow him, and the more deeply involved you become in his world, the farther you will be pulled from the covenant path of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

Moroni 7:19

Sources: C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (Preface), April 1945.
Hugh Nibley, “What is Zion? A Distant View,” Approaching Zion, 1989.
Hugh Nibley, “Our Glory or Our Condemnation,” Approaching Zion, 1989.
Russell M. Nelson, “The Second Great Commandment,” General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 6, 2019.
Russell M. Nelson, “Closing Remarks,” General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 6, 2019.