Some Thoughts from Alma 30

Since there are very few who come onto my blog consistently, I will presume that all of you know that I'm Mormon. For those who didn't you know now. One of my favorite books to read is actually the Book of Mormon. I like the book for many different reason.

The first and most important is the spiritual power which the book gives me. The second would be the spiritual insights and answers. However, somewhere, probably just below those top two answers are the philosophical and ethical answers and insights which the Book of Mormon provides.

I was recently reading Alma chapter 30. It is a narrative of a man who is anti-Christ, or seeks to destroy the testimony of Christ amongst the people. He preaches doctrines like no man can know the future and therefore no one can know that a savior of the world would come. That a man can't know that which he cannot see and that there is no life after death.

In the end, however, he gets in a debate with the prophet Alma, who testifies of the existence of God. Afterwards, Korihor is cursed by God and is struck dumb and becomes a beggar. Korihor in the end is trampled by horses as he is begging one day in the street.

The reason why this chapter has always fascinated me is because it addresses greatly the issue of free speech. The narrator of the story is the historian/prophet Mormon. He begins by explaining that the people of Nephi had been living in peace for quite some time. However, Korihor began to contend against the doctrine of Christ and went about the land trying to destroy the faith of those who believed.

At this point in the history of Korihor Mormon takes a brief pause to explain something very important.

“Now there was no law against a man's belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.”

What does Mormon mean by putting people on unequal grounds? He continues three verses later, "For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds."

So men were "equal" in there standing before the law. Being Christian, or atheist, shouldn't put men on unequal grounds or that's to say the law should not be used to favor one group above the other.

I've always enjoyed this chapter because it shows that over two-thousand years ago there was a civilization that valued speech as much as I do today. It also shows that freedom can be a messy thing. The same freedom which ensures that prophets like Alma can teach good and uplifting things also ensures people like Korihor could mislead people.

As President Thomas S. Monson once said, "The power to lead is the power to mislead and the power to mislead is the power to destroy."

Jason Bentley is just a punk college kid who is attending Brigham Young University.