In 1912, President Joseph F. Smith prophetically warned: “We cannot brook the thought of [the Constitution] being torn to shreds, or destroyed. We cannot tolerate the sentiment, at one time expressed, by a man high in authority in the nation … [who said]: ‘The constitution be damned; the popular sentiment of the people is the constitution!’... We should stand with a front like flint against every spirit or species of contempt or disrespect for the constitution of our country.”


