The Lord’s Standard of Morality

“Some years ago my father, an attorney, was trying a lawsuit. For his authority, he cited only one case—a California Supreme Court case issued many years before. His opponent cited a number of lower-court decisions of more recent vintage. The judge said to my father, “Mr. Callister, don’t you have a more recent case than this?” My father looked at the judge and replied, “Your Honor, may I remind you that when the Supreme Court speaks on a matter, it only needs to speak once.” The judge nodded with approval. He was reminded that the Supreme Court trumps all lower-court decisions, however numerous or recent they may be.

“So it is with God our Father—He needs to speak only once on the issue or morality, and that one declaration trumps  all the opinions of the lower courts, whether uttered by psychologists, counselors, politicians, friends, parents, or would-be moralists of the day.”

Elder Tad R. Callister, “The Lord’s Standard of Morality,” Ensign, Mar 2014, 45.