M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Protecting Our Families with the Lord's Security Methods, Part 3: A House of Order
by John P. Pratt

A House of Order
The Lord uses another level of security which at first blush does not appear even related to security. The Lord has said,

"You have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction.

"And now a commandment I give unto you--if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house." (D.&C. 93:42-43)

The Lord himself follows the commandment to have his house in order:

"Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion." (D.&C. 132:8)

Note that the Lord said "if you will be delivered, you shall set in order your own house. . ." That makes it sound as if having an orderly house can help one to be "delivered" from the power of the "wicked one". But what does an orderly house have to do with security? To answer this, let us again see what we can learn from the field of computer science about the security of computers against attack from computer viruses and worms. Indeed, that is not just a theoretical discussion because such viruses are another kind of real threat to our computers, including our genealogical records.

Computers.
If you use e-mail, you almost certainly have received a virus at sometime which had the potential of destroying not only your hard disk, but perhaps that of some of your best friends to whom your computer forwarded the virus without your knowledge. How are such deadly viruses possible? Computer viruses are so named because they are so similar to viruses in nature. They are programs which are transmitted to a host on which they run, and then propagate their damage. But it turns out that some computer operating systems are much less vulnerable to viruses than others, and it has to do with having their "house in order." Let us see if we can learn any principles from computer science which could be applied in our homes.

Windows vs. Linux
Let us now consider two different computer systems and how they handle security issues, to learn what we might be able to apply to our own homes. The Windows operating system is based on DOS. When Bill Gates originally purchased DOS to put on the IBM PC, it had been previously called "QDOS", which stood for "Quick and Dirty Operating System". It was written just to be exactly that, a little operating system to allow file management on a small system. Very little thought had been given to security issues. Anyone with a knowledge of the commands could have access to any files on the machine and have free rein to do as desired, including malicious assaults. Nearly all the worms and viruses rampant today attack the Windows operating system.

In contrast, another operating system was also being developed at Bell Labs to be used for large user groups at universities. It was called UNIX, and it had security designed into it from the very beginning. It is now available for home PC's in a version called Linux. Computers which run Linux are virtually virus free, whereas those with Windows have to fight viruses daily. The reason is not just that those who write viruses attack the most popular platform, because more web pages are served by UNIX or Linux servers than all others combined. The reason for the lack of Linux viruses is that it is very difficult to write a virus for Linux because of its innate security system. It seems worth a few paragraphs to describe it, because we can immediate see similarities in how the Lord uses similar principles in the Priesthood and in nature. We can apply similar principles in the home.

In the Linux operating system there are several basic principles. First there is a master user, (or "super-user") of the system. This is like the father or mother of a family. This user knows the password needed to create, access, change or delete any file in the system. This is similar to a parent having the right to access any part of the home (by key if necessary), including even children's rooms to check for pornography or drugs, if needed. The master user can create other users of the system, each of which has his own password, which is known to the master user. These users can constitute a "group", analogous to a family.

Every file in the system is "owned" by one of the users. That is an extremely important concept in itself. Does everything in your home have a "steward", who is its official caretaker? Or are there many things which no one cares for? Both families and computer groups want to share their resources, so how can that best be accomplished if everything has an owner?

In Linux, there are three levels of users defined for every file, and three levels of permission for it. The three levels of users are 1) the owner of the file, 2) others in his group, and 3) everyone else. The three permissions given to those three kinds of users are the ability to 1) know it exists, 2) to use it, and 3) to change or even delete it.

Again, such a system could be employed in a home. The steward of any item could set the permissions for others to use it. Some things could be freely borrowed with permission, others borrowed without needing to ask, and still others might be kept from others even knowing of their existence (such as firearms). But it could really become complicated if everything in the home had to have a tag on it with permissions explicitly defined. But the creators of UNIX thought of that too.

There are certain large directories with permissions set for all the files in that area. There is an area where all the core programs that run the operating system are kept, and only the master user has permission even to know what is in that area. That would be like a locked safe in that family, and in fact it appears as a folder with a lock on it to other users in Linux. Each user has an area which is his private area, like each child in a family having his own room. Everything in that area belongs to that user, just as everything in a child's room could be understood to be his unless otherwise marked. There are also shared areas on the computer where everyone in the group has permission to know about and to use the files, but not to modify them. That would be like a family room where everyone can use the library there, but not mark up nor destroy the books. Again, everything in the family room, kitchen or other public area, could be understood to be useable by any family member, even though one of the parents would probably be the official steward.

So the reason that viruses are virtually non-existent on Linux is that even if a user gets an e-mail with a virus attached, that user would have to be logged in as the master user to have permission to allow that virus to do its damage. The only viruses which exist on Linux have been written and published as examples to show it is possible, but even they can only be executed with permission of the master user. Hence, the system is inherently much more secure than other systems.

The Lord also uses a system of granting different levels of users different permissions to know about, read, or understand his teachings. For example, certain sacred ceremonies are so sacred that they were no even included in the scriptures, but were available only to certain initiates after the Resurrection of Christ. Other teachings were made publicly available, but the key to understanding them was reserved for only a few. That was the case with the Savior's parables. While the general listener could gain something from the story, only those with "ears to hear" were given the key to the real meaning either from the Holy Ghost or from the Savior explaining them personally (see Mat. 13:10-13). The Lord gave scriptures to be read publicly, but not to be changed (Deut. 4:2, Rev. 22:19).

Thus, our families could perhaps be more secure if we maintain a house of order. Besides having permissions to use things, and a steward to care for them, simply having things in order can be a great asset. As a scoutmaster I learned that "the only thing worse than being unprepared is being prepared and not knowing it." That is, if you need a first aid kit and can't find it, then it does no good. And it is especially demoralizing to find that you did indeed have it all the time, but had misplaced it.

Priesthood Keys
The Lord employs a system with different levels of "users" in the priesthood. First, a man must prove himself worthy even to receive the priesthood at all, for it is the power to act in the name of God. Initially, a priesthood holder has the power to "use" the priesthood, but not to govern it. That is very much like one of the user permission levels of Linux. Later, if he is called to preside over a priesthood quorum, he is given the keys of presiding, meaning that he can control to some extent what duties other members of his quorum will exercise. A priest has the authority to baptize, but may only perform a valid baptism with the premission of the bishop of the area, who holds the keys. This arrangement not only keeps everything in order, it also acts as a security check against an errant priesthood holder performing unauthorized acts.

And just as with a super-user in the UNIX system, if someone is high ranking in the Priesthood and misuses authority, truly tragic consequences can result. An example would be when Thomas B. Marsh, president of the quorum of Twelve Apostles, lied about the activities of the Church to the governor of Missouri. His false testimony led to the Extermination Proclamation which resulted in the deaths of many innocent Church members. A similar example during the Savior's ministry was Judas. One of the Savior's trusted apostles went to the dark side and betrayed his master.

So there are many principles we can learn both from the Lord's creatures and from his Priesthood order, as well as from computer science, about how to improve the security in our homes and in our nation. The first great lesson is to learn from intelligence, especially from the prophet, just what the plans of the adversary are. Then we can build various sorts of protective shields, and finally, keep our homes in order so that we are prepared for what is to come.

By building on the example which the Lord has shown us, we can build our own fortress of righteousness and withstand all the fiery darts of the adversary. We can become like the City of Enoch which was a bastion of strength in the midst of a vast society which was heading toward being destroyed in the Great Deluge. Indeed we can build a New Jerusalem, of which it will be said:

And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God;

And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion. . . .

And it shall be said among the wicked: Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand. (D.&C. 45:66-67, 70)

 

Click here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.