Welcome to the Classic Speaches Podcasts presented by BYU Speaches, bringing you treasured talks from 70 years of BYU Devotionals.

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This devotional address entitled, Allegiance to God, was given on October 19th of 1999 by D. Todd

Christofferson, then a member of the presidency of the 70 of the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints.

I'm grateful to the concert choir.

As I sat here, I was thinking the last time President Bateman and I were together on the stand

was at a morningside program in Memphis, Tennessee, December 31st last year just before the Liberty Bowl game. President, I hope this turns out better than that game.

My years and Kathy's years as students at BYU were in the decade of the 1960s.

It's hard for me to think of it as historical times, but I realize that for most of you, those

years seem like ancient history. If you know something of that history, you'll remember that

it was a turbulent decade in the United States. There was much of dissension and protest and

rebellion. Many began to question the legitimacy of authority, any authority.

The words the establishment became a disparaging label for government and college officials

and the institutions they represented.

We were advised by some younger sages quite full of their own wisdom not to trust anyone

over 30, including parents.

By the way, these wise men are now over 30 themselves, so I suppose we can safely ignore

their advice.

This opposition to authority did not fade away with the end of that decade.

If anything, the tendency has intensified.

Some claim that any exercise of authority is per se abusive and repressive, that it infringes

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