Churchill and the Defense of Freedom

Freedom – agency – is one of the greatest gifts granted us by our Father in Heaven. The Lord told Enoch,

"Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency." (Moses 7:32)

So important was this gift that Satan sought to take it away during the War in Heaven:

Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;" (Moses 4:3)

Satan has continued his war on our agency through the present day. This war manifests itself in many ways from actual armed conflict by aggressors like the Nazis to the enticements of sin which can bind us with the chains of hell (2 Nephi 28:22). Gratefully, inspired men and women have stood up against Satan's in defense of liberty.

Winston Churchill was one of these men. The speech Dwight D. Eisenhower made at Churchill's funeral on January 30, 1965 shows how devoted Churchill was to this cause. The following are quotes from this speech:

The war ended, our friendship flowered in the later and more subtle tests imposed by international politics. Then, each of us, holding high official posts in his own nation, strove together so to concert the strength of our two peoples that liberty might be preserved among men and the security of the free world wholly sustained.

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At this moment, as our hearts stand at attention, we say our affectionate, though sad, goodbye to the leader to whom the entire body of free men owes so much.

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In the coming years, many in countless words will strive to interpret the motives, describe the accomplishments, and extol the virtues of Winston Churchill—soldier, statesman, and citizen that two great countries were proud to claim as their own. Among all the things so written or spoken, there will ring out through all the centuries one incontestable refrain: Here was a champion of freedom.

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May we carry on his work until no nation lies in captivity; no man is denied opportunity for fulfillment.

To read the entire speech, click here.