Claim. Religious people have walked a path of persecution because they had no nation to defend them; the goal of religion is therefore to find a nation of goodness, not merely to save individuals.
Elaboration. SMM diagnoses the structural weakness of religion-without-state: “Why did religious people have to walk the path of persecution and bloody sacrifice wherever they went? It is because they had no nation. If only there had been a nation with a sovereign leader … However, there has been no such nation; that is why these problems have occurred. They have been a people without a nation” (CSG 13.1 §2, 56-159, 1972.5.14). The corollary is normative: “Without a nation, no matter how good or happy your family is, evil people can destroy it. That is why we need to find a nation. Religious people have not understood this. We must find a nation of goodness. This is the purpose of religion” (ibid, 57-260, 1972.6.4). SMM also rebukes the privatizing move: “The mission of religious people has been the creation of a homeland, but they often still maintain the selfish desire for personal salvation” (ibid, 15-280, 1965.10.30). Restoration is therefore inherently political-substantial, not interior alone — Heaven needs a nation as its foothold.
See also. restoration