If we look at the condition of the world today, we must come to the conclusion that peace is not likely soon to be established on the earth. There is nothing among the nations that tends to peace. Even among the religious societies the tendency is not to peace and union. They do not bring men to a knowledge of God; they do not possess the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," and "one hope of their calling" that are spoken of in the Scripture. Every man has gone according to his own notions, independent of revelations, and hence, confusion and division exist; their churches are broken up, and they are quarreling and contending with one another. And as it is in the religious, so it is in the political world; they are all divided, and the more energy they put forth to make proselytes, the greater are their contentions, and the further they go from the mark. This is the condition they have been in, and the course they have been pursuing for almost eighteen hundred years, until today they have become so divided that I think it would puzzle anyone to tell how many religious denominations there are in Christendom. There are thousands, too, who, in consequence of the strife and contention among the religious sects, have become entirely skeptical respecting religion of every kind, and they have concluded that there is no God; at any rate, that there is no God among "Christians"--that all religionists are fanatics and are deceived. The sectarian systems {98} of religion are calculated to lead men of reflection and intelligence into skepticism, to cause them to deny all interference of God with men and their affairs, and to deny even his right to interfere. The Lord Almighty is the Creator of the earth, he is the Father of all our spirits. He has the right to dictate what we should do, and it is our duty to obey, and to walk according to his requirements. This is natural, and perfectly easy to be comprehended. The gospel has been restored to the earth, and the priesthood again established, and both are enjoyed by this people; but those unacquainted with the working of the gospel and the priesthood look upon us with wonder, and are astonished at the union that exists in our midst. We move as a man, almost; we hearken to the voice of our leader; we are united in our faith and in our work. The world can not understand this, and they behold it with wonder.