"And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites; and they did not dwindle in unbelief, but they did wilfully rebel against the gospel of Christ; and they did teach their children that they should not believe, even as their fathers, from the beginning, did dwindle.
And it was because of the wickedness and abomination of their fathers, even as it was in the beginning. And they were taught to hate the children of God, even as the Lamanites were taught to hate the children of Nephi from the beginning."--4 Nephi 1:38-39
Recently I had the thought that the scriptures, especially The Book of Mormon, are truly meant for our day. The closer that they got to Christ visiting the Americas the more and more they fluctuated between righteousness and wickedness (as in really, really bad wickedness). Similarly, we are preparing for Christ's coming and things are, predictably, becoming pretty horrible.
Wars, rumors of wars, murders, whoredoms, thievery, corruption in high places (i.e. politicians and governing bodies), adulteries, secret combinations (gang warfare, including gang justice, gang signs to show that you are part of the group, and promises to back each other up if someone gets caught in their crimes), and other horrible things.
Seriously, it's all in there! Sometimes people wonder why members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints read The Book of Mormon, considering how many war chapters there are, plus the fact that eventually the main people in it die off due to wickedness. And the reason is that it parallels our day and shows us what we need to do to avoid that fate.
But one of the big things I noticed actually came AFTER Christ appeared. He taught them, everything was happy and honky-dory for four hundred years, and then once you got to the generation that didn't remember Him coming then they turned to wickedness, big time.
Now, in those years before the Final Corruption, as I think of it, we get these scriptures (in the same chapter!).
"And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God
There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God."--4 Nephi 1:16-17
Now, comparing that against the previous verses I posted,
you have to ask, "what in the flying fish happened?!"
People let pride and hatred get in the way of the Love of
God and the Love of Christ (i.e. charity, which leads also to a love of fellow
men). And then, after deliberately separating themselves, they taught their children to hate!
"Taught," as in, deliberately went out of their way to make their children hate the enemies that they had made for themselves by pulling away.
Now, what we are dealing with in America right now can easily tie into this theme: there are several groups of people, who had a relative truce, but then they blew up in each others' faces. And in the aftermath the hatred of people became inflamed so that everything is in tumult. Everyone is angry at everyone, and whether it's being deliberately taught or not, children are learning from their parents to fear and/or hate one of the groups involved.
But the true solution to the problem is to not match hate with hate so much as so match hate with love. Which seems like too obvious of a solution, but it really is the answer.
In this case Alma the Younger, a Prophet (son of Alma the Elder, which is pretty obvious) goes on a mission to bring back some people that have become pretty wicked, the Zoramites. He brings along his old mission companion, his most awesome convert, his sons, and his friends from his youth who also went off and became really great missionaries in their time.
The first, most obvious thought, would be to bring back this rebellious group by force. But Alma completely ignores that:
"And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God."
--Alma 31:5
Then we have the case of the Gadianton Robbers (a gang group that ultimately brought down an entire nation to destruction)! They came in two waves, and the first time around the Lamanites try their hand at dispelling the force in a unique way.
"And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words
And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites."
--Helaman 6:36-37
(To those unfamiliar with the Book of Mormon, there are two main bodies in The Book of Mormon called the Nephites and the Lamanites, who are generally always at war with one another.
It's interesting thing to note is that sometimes the title of "Lamanite" has been a bit of a flux term. At first it was a specific group of families, but then later it came to mean anyone that didn't follow God and Jesus Christ.
Additionally, there are times when the Lamanites are more righteous than the Nephites. This is one of those cases.)
SO! What do we learn from these accounts?
That the Word of God changes hearts more than the effect of hatred, of war, of anger, or social diatribe. A soft heart defeats the clenched fist.
Let's give some modern-day examples of this:
1. Let's start with how this Danish town, called Aarhus, is awesome. And how they are not perpetuating the hate as they welcome back young Muslims who were lured into joining ISIS, only to realize that they had made the wrong decision.
In most cases people wouldn't have welcome them back (the article gives a few examples), but Aarhus has created a plan to help former ISIS soldiers return home, find jobs, continue schooling, and get back on their feet as adults AWAY from the fighting. Because hatred only begets hatred, and the best way to conquer the feeling of rejection by society is for society itself to welcome them back in.
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/15/485900076/how-a-danish-town-helped-young-muslims-turn-away-from-isis?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social
2. How about that time, among all the rioting in Egypt, when Muslims protected Christians as they prayed and Christians protected Muslims as they prayed?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353330/Egypt-protests-Christians-join-hands-protect-Muslims-pray-Cairo-protests.html
3. And then there was this protective line, shielding Police Officers in Baltimore from rioters. This was after the shootings of two black men lead to protests and later killings of five Police Officers, creating public protest. These individuals, in turn, protected officers from the rioting in Baltimore.
http://reverbpress.com/news/black-baltimore-protecting-police/
4. When an American in Okinawa, an already existing hotbed of debate, raped and murdered a Japanese woman while she was out for a walk, outcry demanded that Americans be removed from Japan once again.
In a largely unpublicized act, these are Americans chose to express their sorrow for what happened.
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/05/31/americans-show-support-to-okinawa-after-recent-murder-leave-locals-asking-why-doesnt-japanese-news-show-this/
The conclusion is clear.
If we want change it has to come from ourselves, and it has to be an act of peace and not war. By attacking our attackers we become no worse than they are. Instead of teaching our children to hate and to grow up with bias from a young age we need to teach responsibility for actions--all actions, including our own!
Hate can be taught. But so can peace.
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
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