中英對照/總會大會/2021上/Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution
目錄
本文
1Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution
1捍衛神所啟發的憲法
2By President Dallin H. Oaks
2達林·鄔克司會長
3First Counselor in the First Presidency
3總會會長團第一諮理
4Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism.
4後期聖徒相信從神而來的啟發，因此我們有一份獨特的責任，要支持並捍衛美國憲法，以及憲法裡的各項原則。
5In this troubled time, I have felt to speak about the inspired Constitution of the United States.
5面對現今艱難的世局，我感覺應該談一談神所啟發的美國憲法。
6This Constitution is of special importance to our members in the United States, but it is also a common heritage of constitutions around the world.
6這部憲法不僅對美國的成員來說特別重要，也是世界各國憲法共同的靈感來源。
7A constitution is the foundation of government.
7憲法是政府的根基，
8It provides structure and limits for the exercise of government powers.
8為政府的權力行使提供了架構與界限。
9The United States Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in force today.
9美國憲法是至今仍在施行的成文憲法中，最古老的一部。
10Though originally adopted by only a small number of colonies, it soon became a model worldwide.
10這部憲法最初只被少數幾個殖民區採用，但很快就成為舉世的模範。
11Today, every nation except three have adopted written constitutions.
11今日，只有三個國家沒有採用成文憲法。
12In these remarks I do not speak for any political party or other group.
12在此，我並不是替任何政黨或團體說話，
13I speak for the United States Constitution, which I have studied for more than 60 years.
13而是為我研究了60多年的美國憲法說話。
14I speak from my experience as a law clerk to the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.
14我的觀點出自我擔任美國最高法院首席法官的書記官的經驗。
15I speak from my 15 years as a professor of law and my 3½ years as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court.
15我的看法出自擔任法學教授15年，以及擔任猶他州最高法院法官三年半的經驗。
16Most importantly, I speak from 37 years as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, responsible to study the meaning of the divinely inspired United States Constitution to the work of His restored Church.
16最重要的是，我的見解出自擔任耶穌基督的使徒37年的經驗，負責研究神所啟發的美國憲法與祂復興的教會事工之間的關係。
17The United States Constitution is unique because God revealed that He “established” it “for the rights and protection of all flesh” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77; see also verse 80).
17美國憲法之所以獨特，是因為神揭示，祂「為了一切有肉身的權利和保障」而「制定」了這部憲法（教義和聖約101：77；亦見第80節）。
18That is why this constitution is of special concern for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world.
18這就是為什麼耶穌基督後期聖徒教會在全球的成員，都特別關注這部憲法的原因。
19Whether or how its principles should be applied in other nations of the world is for them to decide.
19至於其他國家是否應採行其中的原則，或該如何應用，則由各國自行決定。
20What was God’s purpose in establishing the United States Constitution?
20神制定美國憲法的目的是什麼？
21We see it in the doctrine of moral agency.
21我們會以道德選擇權這項教義的角度來探討。
22In the first decade of the restored Church, its members on the western frontier were suffering private and public persecution.
22本教會復興的第一個十年，成員在西部邊疆遭受到私下和公開的迫害，
23Partly this was because of their opposition to the human slavery then existing in the United States.
23部分原因是因為他們反對當時存在於美國的奴隸制度。
24In these unfortunate circumstances, God revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith eternal truths about His doctrine.
24在當時這些不幸的環境下，神透過先知約瑟·斯密揭示了有關祂教義的永恆真理。
25God has given His children moral agency—the power to decide and to act.
25神已經賜給祂的兒女道德選擇權，也就是作選擇和採取行動的能力。
26The most desirable condition for the exercise of that agency is maximum freedom for men and women to act according to their individual choices.
26要行使這項選擇權，最理想的狀況是讓每個男人和女人擁有最大的自由，能按照自己的選擇去作決定和行動。
27Then, the revelation explains, “every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:78).
27啟示中解釋說，這樣好使「每個人在審判日，能為自己的罪負責」（教約101：78）。
28“Therefore,” the Lord revealed, “it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:79).
28主啟示說：「所以，任何人受別人奴役是不對的」（教約101：79）。
29This obviously means that human slavery is wrong.
29這句話顯然是指奴役人類是錯誤的。
30And according to the same principle, it is wrong for citizens to have no voice in the selection of their rulers or the making of their laws.
30而且，根據同樣的原則，公民在選擇統治者或制定法律這些事情上沒有發言權，也是錯的。
31Our belief that the United States Constitution was divinely inspired does not mean that divine revelation dictated every word and phrase, such as the provisions allocating the number of representatives from each state or the minimum age of each.
31我們雖然相信美國憲法是神所啟發的，但這不表示這部憲法中的每字每句都是神的啟示，像是各州應分配到幾個代表席次的條款，或是每位代表的最低年齡限制。
32The Constitution was not “a fully grown document,” said President J. Reuben Clark.
32小路賓·克拉克會長曾說，這部憲法不是「完全成熟的文件」。
33“On the contrary,” he explained, “we believe it must grow and develop to meet the changing needs of an advancing world.”
33他解釋說：「相反的，我們相信，這部憲法必須成長和發展，來滿足這個日益進步的世界不斷改變的需求。」
34For example, inspired amendments abolished slavery and gave women the right to vote.
34舉例來說，受啟發的修正案廢除了奴隸制度，並賦予婦女投票權。
35However, we do not see inspiration in every Supreme Court decision interpreting the Constitution.
35然而，我們不認為最高法院的每次釋憲決議，都得到了靈感啟發。
36I believe the United States Constitution contains at least five divinely inspired principles.
36我相信美國憲法至少包含了五項神所啟發的原則。
37First is the principle that the source of government power is the people.
37第一個原則是，政府的權力來自人民。
38In a time when sovereign power was universally assumed to come from the divine right of kings or from military power, attributing sovereign power to the people was revolutionary.
38在一個普遍認為主權是君王的神權或來自軍權的時代，將主權歸於人民，是一種革命性的做法。
39Philosophers had advocated this, but the United States Constitution was the first to apply it.
39哲學家曾提倡這個理念，但首先付諸實踐的，卻是美國憲法。
40Sovereign power in the people does not mean that mobs or other groups of people can intervene to intimidate or force government action.
40主權在民並不表示，暴徒或其他團體可以藉著脅迫或武力，來干預政府的行動。
41The Constitution established a constitutional democratic republic, where the people exercise their power through their elected representatives.
41憲法建立起一個民主憲政共和國，讓人民透過民選代表來行使權力。
42A second inspired principle is the division of delegated power between the nation and its subsidiary states.
42第二個受啟發的原則是，國家與其附屬各州的權力劃分。
43In our federal system, this unprecedented principle has sometimes been altered by inspired amendments, such as those abolishing slavery and extending voting rights to women, mentioned earlier.
43在我們的聯邦體制中，這項前所未有的原則有時會因受啟發的修正案而有所改變，例如前面提到的，廢除奴隸制度和賦予婦女投票權的修正案。
44Significantly, the United States Constitution limits the national government to the exercise of powers granted expressly or by implication, and it reserves all other government powers “to the States respectively, or to the people.”
44值得注意的是，美國憲法限制了合眾國政府只能行使明文規定或默示之權力，並將政府的其他所有權力，「保留給各州政府或人民行使之」。
45Another inspired principle is the separation of powers.
45另外一個受啟發的原則是權力分立制。
46Well over a century before our 1787 Constitutional Convention, the English Parliament pioneered the separation of legislative and executive authority when they wrested certain powers from the king.
46早在1787年制憲會議召開前的一個世紀，英格蘭議會從國王手中奪走某些權力，開創了立法權和行政權分立的先河。
47The inspiration in the American convention was to delegate independent executive, legislative, and judicial powers so these three branches could exercise checks upon one another.
47美國制憲會議中得到的啟發，就是劃分出獨立的行政、立法和司法三權，讓這三個權力機關可以互相制衡。
48A fourth inspired principle is in the cluster of vital guarantees of individual rights and specific limits on government authority in the Bill of Rights, adopted by amendment just three years after the Constitution went into force.
48第四個受啟發的原則，就是權利法案中對個人各種權利的重要保障和對政府權力的特定限制；該法案在憲法生效三年後，就透過修正案而通過了。
49A Bill of Rights was not new.
49權利法案並非創舉，
50Here the inspiration was in the practical implementation of principles pioneered in England, beginning with the Magna Carta.
50但其中的啟發在於，將英格蘭自大憲章起開創的原則，付諸實行。
51The writers of the Constitution were familiar with these because some of the colonial charters had such guarantees.
51美國憲法的起草者十分熟悉這些原則，因為當時一些殖民區的特許狀中，也提供了這些保障。
52Without a Bill of Rights, America could not have served as the host nation for the Restoration of the gospel, which began just three decades later.
52如果沒有權利法案，美國就無法在短短三十年後，成為福音復興的所在地。
53There was divine inspiration in the original provision that there should be no religious test for public office, but the addition of the religious freedom and antiestablishment guarantees in the First Amendment was vital.
53原始條款中提到不得以宗教條件作為擔任公職的條件，這是來自神的啟發。不過，第一條修正案所加上的宗教自由和反建制保障，則極為重要。
54We also see divine inspiration in the First Amendment’s freedoms of speech and press and in the personal protections in other amendments, such as for criminal prosecutions.
54我們也可以從第一條修正案賦予的言論和出版自由，以及其他修正案中對個人的保障，如刑事案中被告的權利，看到神的啟發。
55Fifth and finally, I see divine inspiration in the vital purpose of the entire Constitution.
55我看到的第五個原則，也是最後一個，就是整部憲法的重要目的，是由神所啟發的。
56We are to be governed by law and not by individuals, and our loyalty is to the Constitution and its principles and processes, not to any office holder.
56我們是由法律治理，而不是由個人治理。我們忠於憲法及其中的原則及運作，而不是忠於任何官員。
57In this way, all persons are to be equal before the law.
57如此一來，才能實現法律之前人人平等。
58These principles block the autocratic ambitions that have corrupted democracy in some countries.
58這些原則阻擋了野心專制，因為這樣的野心專制已經破壞了某些國家的民主制度。
59They also mean that none of the three branches of government should be dominant over the others or prevent the others from performing their proper constitutional functions to check one another.
59這些原則也意味著，政府三權機關裡的任何一個，不應支配其他權力機關，也不能妨礙其他權力機關履行憲法所賦予的適當功能，來互相制衡。
60Despite the divinely inspired principles of the United States Constitution, when exercised by imperfect mortals their intended effects have not always been achieved.
60美國憲法中雖然蘊含了神所啟發的原則，但交由不完美的凡人來執行時，往往並非總是能夠發揮應有的功效。
61Important subjects of lawmaking, such as some laws governing family relationships, have been taken from the states by the federal government.
61重要議題的立法權，例如治理家庭關係的法律，已被聯邦政府從各州政府手中取走。
62The First Amendment guarantee of free speech has sometimes been diluted by suppression of unpopular speech.
62不受歡迎的言論受到鉗制，有時也因此削弱了第一條修正案所保障的言論自由。
63The principle of separation of powers has always been under pressure with the ebb and flow of one branch of government exercising or inhibiting the powers delegated to another.
63由於政府各權力機關的消長起伏，某個權力機關可能會行使或限制賦予給其他權力機關的權力，因此，權力分立的原則一直受到考驗。
64There are other threats that undermine the inspired principles of the United States Constitution.
64還有其他因素威脅著美國憲法中受啟發的原則。
65The stature of the Constitution is diminished by efforts to substitute current societal trends as the reason for its founding, instead of liberty and self-government.
65制憲的理由原本是為了自由與自治，但有人試圖以當前的社會趨勢取代之，因而貶低了憲法的地位。
66The authority of the Constitution is trivialized when candidates or officials ignore its principles.
66當候選人或官員不顧憲法原則時，憲法的權威就被輕視了。
67The dignity and force of the Constitution is reduced by those who refer to it like a loyalty test or a political slogan, instead of its lofty status as a source of authorization for and limits on government authority.
67某些人將憲法視為忠誠度的測試或政治口號，而不是地位崇高的權力來源，賦予政府權力並界定政府權力的界限，因而削弱了憲法的尊嚴與力量。
68Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism wherever we live.
68後期聖徒相信從神而來的啟發，因此，不論我們住在何處，都有一份獨特的責任，要支持並捍衛美國憲法，以及憲法裡的各項原則。
69We should trust in the Lord and be positive about this nation’s future.
69我們應當信賴主，並對這個國家的未來抱持樂觀。
70What else are faithful Latter-day Saints to do?
70忠信的後期聖徒還應當做哪些其他的事呢？
71We must pray for the Lord to guide and bless all nations and their leaders.
71我們必須祈求主指引並祝福所有的國家及其領袖。
72This is part of our article of faith.
72這是我們信條裡的一部分。
73Being subject to presidents or rulers of course poses no obstacle to our opposing individual laws or policies.
73當然，服從總統或統治者，並不會妨礙我們反對個別的法律或政策，
74It does require that we exercise our influence civilly and peacefully within the framework of our constitutions and applicable laws.
74這需要我們在憲法和相關法律的框架之內，以文明且和平的方式發揮影響力。
75On contested issues, we should seek to moderate and unify.
75對爭議性的議題，我們應該力求中庸並凝聚共識。
76There are other duties that are part of upholding the inspired Constitution.
76要支持受啟發的憲法，我們至少還有其他的職責。
77We should learn and advocate the inspired principles of the Constitution.
77我們應當學習並倡導憲法中受啟發的原則，
78We should seek out and support wise and good persons who will support those principles in their public actions.
78也應當找出在處理公共事務時，會維護這些原則的賢能人士，並予以支持。
79We should be knowledgeable citizens who are active in making our influence felt in civic affairs.
79我們應當成為有知識的公民，積極發揮我們在公共事務上的影響力。
80In the United States and in other democracies, political influence is exercised by running for office (which we encourage), by voting, by financial support, by membership and service in political parties, and by ongoing communications to officials, parties, and candidates.
80美國和其他民主國家的人民發揮政治影響力的方式，包括了競選公職（我們鼓勵此做法）、投票、財務支持、加入政黨、在政黨任職，以及持續與官員、政黨及候選人溝通。
81To function well, a democracy needs all of these, but a conscientious citizen does not need to provide all of them.
81一個民主政體要運作良好，就必須有上述的所有活動，但是，一位盡職的公民，不需要每個活動都參與。
82There are many political issues, and no party, platform, or individual candidate can satisfy all personal preferences.
82政治議題有很多，但沒有任何一個政黨、政見或個別候選人，能符合每個人個別的優先順序。
83Each citizen must therefore decide which issues are most important to him or her at any particular time.
83因此每位公民都必須決定，哪些議題在某個時間點，對他們是最重要的。
84Then members should seek inspiration on how to exercise their influence according to their individual priorities.
84然後，成員應該尋求靈感，好知道根據個人的優先順序，如何運用他們的影響力。
85This process will not be easy.
85這樣的過程並不容易，
86It may require changing party support or candidate choices, even from election to election.
86要做到這一點，就可能需要改變支持的政黨或候選人，甚至每次選舉都要改變。
87Such independent actions will sometimes require voters to support candidates or political parties or platforms whose other positions they cannot approve.
87這類自主的行動，有時候需要選民支持某些候選人、政黨或政見，即使選民不認同那些候選人、政黨或政見在其他議題上的立場。
88That is one reason we encourage our members to refrain from judging one another in political matters.
88這就是為什麼我們鼓勵成員，要避免在政治議題上相互批判。
89We should never assert that a faithful Latter-day Saint cannot belong to a particular party or vote for a particular candidate.
89千萬不要主觀認定，忠信的後期聖徒不能屬於某個政黨，或不能投票給某位候選人。
90We teach correct principles and leave our members to choose how to prioritize and apply those principles on the issues presented from time to time.
90我們教導正確的原則，讓成員針對不時出現的議題，自行選擇如何排定這些原則的優先順序，並應用在各項議題上。
91We also insist, and we ask our local leaders to insist, that political choices and affiliations not be the subject of teachings or advocacy in any of our Church meetings.
91我們也堅決要求，並請教會在當地的領袖堅決要求，不得在教會的任何聚會中，教導或倡導在政治方面該作何選擇及加入哪個政黨。
92The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will, of course, exercise its right to endorse or oppose specific legislative proposals that we believe will impact the free exercise of religion or the essential interests of Church organizations.
92當然，耶穌基督後期聖徒教會將行使其權利，支持特定的立法提案，或反對那些我們相信會影響宗教自由或傷害教會各組織重大利益的立法提案。
93I testify of the divinely inspired Constitution of the United States and pray that we who recognize the Divine Being who inspired it will always uphold and defend its great principles.
93我們信奉神，是祂啟發了這部憲法。我要為神所啟發的美國憲法作見證，並祈求我們會一直支持並捍衛憲法的偉大原則。
94In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
94奉耶穌基督的名，阿們。■
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