We’ve reached a milestone in American history. Emotions are running high. Liberals are elated; conservatives are disheartened.
This past election was a watershed moment in time. Everyone,
on both sides of the political spectrum, is in agreement about that, but for
very different reasons. Everything has changed.
Until recent decades, the majority of Americans stood
steadfastly for certain core values, whether liberal or conservative. A
back-and-forth tug-of-war dominated politics and ensured that neither
philosophy could dominate for long. But now, that’s over.
Curiously, the Book of Mormon prophet, Mosiah, had something
to say on this subject.
Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth
anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part
of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye
observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.
(Mosiah 29: 26)
For over 200 years, the self correcting nature of our
political system worked just as Mosiah explained. Mosiah referenced what we
have called “the moral majority” in our time, those who possess the innate
goodness manifest by a free people. This “voice of the people,” according to
Mosiah, could be counted on to steady the ship of state with the ballast of
common sense and tiller of personal responsibility.
But that may be lost to us now. What most Americans do not
comprehend is that the creeping secularism on the left has infiltrated and
infected every aspect of our lives, altering and eroding traditional American
values. Like a metastatic cancer, it has overwhelmed the body politic, leaving
us morally and culturally bankrupt.
Once a marginal movement in American culture, progressive
secularism has grown greatly in the last three or four decades, in both
political and social influence. With the outcome of this election, the door was
thrown open wide to further and radically revise traditional American values.
That trend may now be irreversible.
Secularism has won the day. Conservatism is in decline. The
so called “moral majority” in America is no longer the guiding hand in American
politics. Radical, politically correct and progressive notions and institutions
are now dominant, the order of the day.
Those living on the public dole, whatever form that takes,
represent nearly half the population, giving rise to a dominant entitlement
culture in America, displacing the self sufficient, individualist attitude that
has characterized the majority of Americans for generations. These who are
dependent upon on one form of public assistance or another will invariably
elect a leader who will promise to give them more benefits, more perks.
The reelection of Barak Obama confirms this. It is a sure
indication, an overt manifestation of the topsy-turvy state of affairs in
America today.
Mosiah also cited what will happen to any nation occupying
“this land” when the majority loses its bearings.
And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth
choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you;
yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has
hitherto visited this land. (Mosiah 29: 27)
In the simple and straightforward manner typical of Book of
Mormon prophets, Mosiah calls poor judgment “iniquity.” With this past
election, it’s clear that the voice of the people, the majority, has chosen
poorly.
If, in your opinion, that is an overstatement, if you
disagree, just give it a little time to see how this all plays out. We will all
be made to suffer for this debacle.
Further, Mosiah
emphatically declares that “the judgments of God” will come upon us for acquiescing
to such perfidy. Clearly, if we haven’t sensed it before, we will soon be
forced to acknowledge that we are all on board a fateful Titanic.
What is also clear is that the righteous will not be exempt
from these chastisements. They seldom are, given the historical record. In
fact, if there is a truism that can be distilled from the Nephite record, it is
that. So those of us living out the “Nephite nightmare” in our day and time
cannot expect our righteousness to exempt us from what Mosiah promised.
The message for us in this crucial moment in American
history is, What form will these “judgments of God” and “great destruction”
take? To answer that question, we must turn again to events in Nephite history,
since that would have been Mosiah’s perspective when he cited judgments and
destruction.
While there were many wars, contentions, a drought and predations
by Gadianton robbers in Nephite history that could be called judgments, there
was one destruction that far exceeds the rest, which immediately leaps to mind.
You can read about it for yourself in 3 Nephi. I strongly suggest you do,
because like all Nephite ills, this woe awaits us who occupy “this land.”
