A Metanarrative of War
In the Book of Mormon, many chapters are devoted to people at war with each other. We sometimes think there are unjustified aggressions against innocent people, but that is untrue. Consider these verses in Alma 50, “… inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And we see that these promises have been verified to the people of Nephi; for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves, which brought upon them their wars and their destructions. And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times…”
I want to apply these chapters on war to the personal conflicts we struggle with each day, such as rebellion, addiction, bad habits, temptations, and procrastination. Each of these either stifles our growth and progress, binds us unnecessarily to external substances or forces, or cuts us off from our connection with God.
The first step we take is to identify the enemy. Some are obvious, but many are subtle and much more challenging to discover. Self-reflection and comparing ourselves to well-established standards of morality and ethics are where we begin. Ultimately, we must use Jesus Christ as the standard, which is impossible without his divine help and atonement.
Using an abstraction of war, think of addictions as invading armies, cravings and temptations as enemy scouts and spies, and negative thoughts as propaganda and psychological warfare. Perhaps the most insidious enemy is our rebellion against truth.
In the Book of Mormon, the rebellious Nephites became the worst of the worst. Those who sinned against the greatest light became so dark that they eventually became extinct. Former members are the harshest critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lucifer became Satan because of rebellion and seeking to destroy the agency of God’s children.
When we discuss Satan, our ultimate enemy, we must identify how his battle plan is being implemented. The scriptures talk about good becoming evil and good becoming evil. This doesn’t happen overnight. Satan is patient and subtle. If he can work his plan over a generation or two to affect the next ten, he will. He is the author of post-modernism. I don’t have the time to explain it here, but it is being implemented mainly in our schools and universities. It would be best if you familiarized yourself with it. It is the most deadly pandemic of the mind and soul you can imagine. In short, it is changing reality as we know it. Its catchphrase of becoming woke is meant to mean waking us to reality, but instead, it is trying to convince us to deny reality.
We are fighting wars on internal, external, and social fronts. Enemies surround us internally and externally. If we are to preserve our liberties, personal and societal, we must fight. However, remember the promises in the Book of Mormon: “And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times…” I was just going to say that, in the end, God wins, but that is not accurate. God always wins; we just need to be on his side.
—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—