Summary: As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “we believe in obeying and sustaining the laws of the land we belong to. Furthermore, we believe in honoring those magistrates who are responsible for administering the laws. But what happens when the laws of the land violate the laws of God? What do we do then? This article examines the answer to this question.

Our 12th Article of Faith states: “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” It should be noted that we not only believe in obeying the laws of whatever country we live in, but we honor those laws and pledge to uphold and sustain them.

Prior to Joseph Smith writing this statement, on August 17, 1835, in the midst of an argument among the saints over their mistreatment by the government and the courts, Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon presented a document titled “Declaration of Government and Law.” In it they stated: “We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments” (D&C 134:5).

But what happens when the laws of the land violate the laws of God? What do we do then? For example, we believe that marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God and is the only definition of marriage that he accepts. However, in our current society, laws have been passed allowing people of the same sex to be legally married to each other and enjoy all the benefits of marriage that the law affords to heterosexual couples. Or what if someone is arrested and charged with a crime for praying in front of an abortion clinic? Do we still not only obey the law but honor it and support it?

Most people would say that the laws of God take precedence over the laws of man, and that when the two are in conflict, we should follow God’s law, even if it means violating the laws of the land. Yet, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has never made any such exception to the 12th Article of Faith. It is their firm position that we are to obey the law of the land, even when it is in conflict with the laws of God.

However, we’ve also been told to be steadfast and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and to endure to the end in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we’ve been told to keep ourselves clean from the sins of our generation. Then how do we remain faithful to God’s commandments and at the same time obey, honor, and sustain the law of the land when the two are in conflict with one another?

Fortunately, the scriptures and history provide us with an abundance of examples that show us how to do that.

We see this in the story of Daniel who found favor in the sight of King Darius and was “preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” However, the other presidents were jealous and plotted to get rid of him.

They went to King Darius and encouraged him, “to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” They did this knowing that Daniel prayed to his God three times a day, and they waited and watched for him to violate the law so they could have him put to death.

This is a clear case of where the laws of God were in direct conflict with the laws of the land, so what was Daniel to do? We know that he continued to pray to his God and as a result, “the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:1-16).

There were three Jewish friends of Daniel named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who likewise were faithful in keeping the law of God. Then, one day King Nebuchadnezzar built a large statue made of gold in one of the provinces of Babylon and made a proclamation which said: “To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

The three Jewish men just mentioned could not obey that law without violating the law of Jehovah that said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Therefore, when the trumpet sounded and everyone bowed down before the golden statue, these three men remained standing.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king.” When these three men still refused to bow down to the idol of the king, “Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury… and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated,” and the three Jewish men were then thrown into the fire (Daniel 3:1-19).

From these two stories it would seem that Daniel and his friends chose to violate the laws of the king rather than to violate the laws of God, however, it actually shows that they chose to obey both the laws of God AND the laws of the land.

In both cases, the law prescribed the punishment for those who violated the king’s decree and all four men were indeed punished according to the law. Daniel was thrown into a den full of hungry lions, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a very hot furnace, just as the law prescribed. But more importantly, they willingly submitted themselves to be punished.

What we have to understand is that “the law” is composed of two parts – the decree and the punishment. If we obey the law, then the law states we avoid the punishment, but if we violate the decree but accept the punishment, then we have still obeyed the law. It’s when we violate both provisions that we are truly not obeying, honoring, and supporting the law.

Let’s look at several more examples. The earliest Christians were brutally persecuted for their beliefs, and at various times laws were passed specifically targeted towards them, yet they didn’t fight against the civil authorities, claiming that the laws were unjust. Although they tried to worship Jesus in secret to keep from being caught, when they were arrested and tortured in various ways, many of them gladly submitted themselves to the punishment of the law as an expression of their faith, feeling it would bring them more glory in the kingdom of God.

In the early history of the Latter-day Saints, they faced violent persecution, forcing them to flee from Jackson County, Missouri, to Clay County, to Caldwell County and finally they had to flee the state of Missouri and go to Illinois. During all of this the saints petitioned the courts for relief and when they were denied justice, they appealed to the state governor, then to the federal congress and even to the President of the United States. All of these remedies were allowed by law, and therefore legal, but when none of them provided any relief from their unjust treatment, the saints left the United States and moved to the Rocky Mountains, which was lawful to do rather than resorting to unlawful behavior.

When the saints settled in the Rocky Mountains, they practiced plural marriage and those marriages were based on following moral standards. However, there were those in other religions who objected to this and pressed to have the federal government pass laws outlawing it.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filed suit in court, contending that the United States Constitution expressly states that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.” (The First Amendment). At that time, it was not illegal to have more than one wife, and those women who were married to husbands with other wives were not being coerced into doing something they didn’t want to, nor was anyone being harmed by this practice. Furthermore, there were strict laws of chastity that were followed by those who married multiple women. It seemed that the law was on the side of the saints.

However, enemies of the church told exaggerated and false stories of what the Mormons were doing and petitioned Congress to stop this practice. As a result of this smear campaign, Congress did pass a series of increasingly harsh and punitive laws making it a criminal offense to practice plural marriages. This was done specifically to prevent the latter-day saints from freely exercising their religious beliefs.

For its part, the Church argued in court that what they were doing was allowed by law, but when Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, and the United States Supreme Court upheld it, the Church found itself caught in a dilemma.

They strongly believed that God had commanded them to practice plural marriage, but now the law of the land not only said it was illegal to do so, but had the power to confiscate Church property, including its temples. As president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff went to the Lord seeking to know what he should do and was told by God himself to obey the laws of the land. As such, in 1890, President Woodruff issued a manifesto stating that the Church would no longer continue this practice.

But we have more modern examples of unjust and discriminatory laws that forced Christians to decide whether to follow the laws of God or the laws of man.

Aaron and Melisa Klein were a Christian couple who owned a bakery shop in Oregon, and in 2013 they were sued because they refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. They were found guilty of discrimination by the courts and fined $135,000. This was done despite the Kleins providing the lesbian couple the name of another bakery who would make their wedding cake.

Jack Philips owned a bakery in Denver, Colorado and in 2012 he was sued because he refused to make a cake for a gay couple based on his religious beliefs that such marriages were immoral according to the Bible. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found that Jack Philips had violated the rights of the gay couple and ordered him to change his company policy and provide staff training to ensure they no longer would discriminate against gay/lesbian customers. They were also required to file quarterly compliance reports.

Jack appealed this decision which took six years as it made its way through the legal system until in 2018 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Jack’s favor stating that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had shown anti-religious bias.

In 2015 the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages were legal. When a gay couple came to get a marriage license in Rowan County, Kentucky, Kim Davis, who was the County Clerk, refused to sign her name to the certificate claiming that it would make her complicit in an act that violated her religious conscience.

The couple filed a lawsuit against her and a U.S. District Judge ordered Davis to resume issuing the license. When she refused, she was held in contempt of court, and ordered to be jailed. She was released five days later after deputy clerks in her office agreed to issue the license in her stead.

But that didn’t end her problems because the same-sex couples she had denied their licenses, pursued civil lawsuits against her for damages, arguing she had violated their constitutional rights. In 2023, a federal jury ordered Kim Davis to pay $100,000 in damages, and a judge later ordered her to pay an additional $260,000 for the couple’s attorneys’ fees and costs. That’s more than a third of a million dollars for someone who was just a county clerk. She has appealed the decision but as of the end of 2025, Ms. Davis and her case was still proceeding through the legal system.

Even if these people were to be finally vindicated by the courts, they would still end up paying tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars for their legal defense and undergo years of mental stress, loss of business, and endure harassment and threats from those who disagree with their religious convictions.

There are many other similar stories that could be cited both from ancient as well as modern history where Christians were faced with the dilemma of trying to live two contradictory laws, especially when one of them was unfair, unjust, and a violation of their rights. But if we claim to be a disciple of Jesus, and choose to follow the laws of God rather than following the immoral decrees of man, then we must be willing to submit ourselves to the punishment of man’s law if we have no other legal recourse. It’s in this way that we’re able to obey both the laws of God and the laws of man.

 

Related articles can be found at The Nature of Man