A Note on Envy

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series 

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.


The dark emotion of 'envy' is mention several times in the Book of Mormon associated with intense periods of inequality, or pride cycles.  In the second article on pride I mentioned that envy is difficult to understand in the Book of Mormon because there are few details associated with the word.  Furthermore, I suggested that if we use modern nuances to the word 'envy' we could misunderstand the Book of Mormon message.  Let's take a look at what clues are offered for this word.

What is Envy?  And What Does it Have to do With Inequality?

It is easy to use the logic of today and conclude that the 'envy' or 'envyings' referred to during periods of inequality is describing the envy of the poor for the material wealth of the rich.   However, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case.  For example, the poor are never described as the ones who are envious.  In fact, there is only one time when a specific example of envy is given in the Book of Mormon.

In 2 Nephi 26 and 28, Nephi prophesies that our day will be full of many churches which will "grind upon the face of the poor" (26:20), will "cause envyings, strifes, and malice" (26:21), and will "rob the poor" (28:13).  These prophesies are referring to organizations in our time that will promote priestcrafts - or religiously-based ideologies which justify inequality and vilify the poor, and thus "grind upon" their faces, and "rob" them of resources which should be given to them.

At the end of the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Mormon is reflecting on these earlier prophesies predicting a day of wealthy church leaders persecuting the poor, and then offers his own insights about churches and priestcraft in our day:

Mormon 8:28 Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

This is not an envying of poor to the rich - it is quite the opposite.  This is describing wealthy practitioners of priestcraft who rob the poor, and "grind" their faces, even those who belong to their churches, only to then envy them.

Why would people do that?  Why would someone envy people who have nothing, particularly if they have nothing because of your own craft?  It is an illogical emotion - but one that has modern examples.

Have you ever seen someone, who has had their school tuition paid for by their wealthy parents, then complain about the scholarships and grants given to students of poor and/or minority families?

Have you ever seen a wealthy individual - who has been privileged to never be poor their entire life - complaining about the meager aid given by governments and charities to the poor?  And then demand that such aid be accompanied with work and merit, or else be rescinded?

Have you heard people who have paid their way through school when it was easier to do so express outrage that other people could receive free tuition in the future?

Have you ever felt annoyance at the thought of any advantage another person has received which you haven't, even though you are doing fine yourself?

This is envy.

In each of these examples, the advantaged individuals perceive an injustice being done to them because they have not received the same treatment, when in reality the aid granted to the disadvantaged are designed to make things just.   Justice and equity are not brought about by equal treatment, because everyone's conditions are not equal. 

For the Nephites, a society which administered relief to the poor according not only to needs but also wants, it may have been very tempting for the advantaged to feel envious at the aid which others received, even if that aid was simply designed to facilitate life, righteousness, justice, and equity.  This envy may have led the people to quickly believe and support priestcrafts, which justified inequality and vilified the poor, because it is easier to believe that your wealth is warranted over others, and to believe that the poor have caused their own torment, then to watch others receive benefits which you have not received.

Again, there are few details in the Book of Mormon about what 'envyings, strifes, and malice' means, but considering how the rich are almost always the audience of such lectures then this is the type of envying that I imagine.

Racial Inequality among the Nephites

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.

Skin Color and Racism in the Book of Mormon?

No conversation about the Book of Mormon and racial inequality can escape several controversial passages concerning skin color within the book - so we will address those here before moving on to what I feel is the real message the Book of Mormon history leaves us.

The Nephite civilization was begins with two families who travel to the Americas at the beginning of the book.  Once they arrive in the Americas there was a split between the righteous siblings led by Nephi, and the unrighteous members led by Laman - hence the Nephites and Lamanites.  The Lamanites were cursed, apparently to look different from the Nephites, 2 Nephi 5:21:

And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

The language in this verse and others is very offensive by today's standards, and I believe that if it were translated today this verse would be translated differently to reflect that.  I do not have the expertise and understanding to offer an extensive analysis of these verses here, but I will make two points which I think will help explain what is going on here.

1) I don't think that there was an actual skin color change between the Nephites and Lamanites - but that this change was spiritual and cultural.  With the possible exception of the fact that the Lamanites are culturally described as wild men wearing few clothes and may have actually been darker simply from sun exposure.

2) While the Nephites seem to discriminate against the culture of the Lamanites (for example Enos 1:20), there is no evidence that the Nephites discriminate based on skin color.  When the Lamanites join the church and economic system of the Nephites they are embraced whole-heartily - as in Alma 27, 53, 56; Helaman 6, 13-16; 3 Nephi 2; and 4 Nephi 1.  Thereafter, there does not seem to be any sort of lingering contention between people of Nephite and Lamanite heritage.

3) The implication in the language of some verses which seems to denote a positive value with light skin, and a negative value in dark skin, are not reflected in the history of the Nephites.  The wording is unfortunate, and I do not believe are an intended discussion on race.

Racial Inequality in the Book of Mormon

While the people in the Book of Mormon did not have racial inequalities and discrimination based on skin color, there are racial discriminations based on family line.  The type of racism that matters to ancient Israelites isn't based in the way someone looks, but their blood, and if they come through the correct family line.  Ancient Israel was divided between at least twelve different family lines derived from Jacob's twelve sons in Genesis.  The tribes squabbled and competed, and really only mainly agreed on their discrimination against non-Israelites.

The peoples of the Book of Mormon were comprised of Lehi's family, from the tribe of Manasseh, Ishmael's family from the tribe of Ephraim, the Mulekites - another family who traveled to the Americas - from the tribe of Judah, and leftover Jaredites and other peoples inhabiting the Americas who were non-Israelites.

The Book of Mormon authors make it sound like the Jaredites were completely destroyed, as in every last individual, but this is unlikely since Jaredite names show up among the Nephites long after their recorded destruction.  What the Book of Mormon likely records is the destruction of all the notable Jaredites.  To an ancient Israelite, the only notable non-Israelites are kings and generals, while the rest are not even worth mentioning in the Bible. 

So, if these non-Israelites are not even worth mentioning by presumably righteous prophet-historians, then how were they treated by the Nephites?  Did this affect their economic equality and opportunities?  Were Nephites required in their religion to give their resources to poor non-Israelites?  Did these inequities lead some non-Israelites to war against the Nephites, and is that why Lamanite generals often have Jaredite names?

These questions are difficult to answer without any record of discrimination or inequities along racial lines. However, I should note that if the Nephites strictly followed the Law of Moses, which in many instances says that they did, then non-israelites would not be a part of the economy of the society, and there would be no requirement to aid the poor or other economic requirements we discussed in the article on the Law of Moses.

Then there are racial attitudes between the Israelite tribes - of which there is more evidence for than above.

Back in Israel, the tribe of Judah contained the line of kings governing Israel, while Manasseh and Ephraim had no such benefits.  In the Americas, however, it is always a Nephite that ruled, even after the Mulekites and Nephites combine, with the Mulekites far outnumbering the Nephites.  Even after kings are abolished, the Chief Judges and religious High Priests again seem to be part of Nephi's descendents, and therefore probably part of the tribe of Manasseh, and not Judah.

The envy and malice that may have developed out of this inequity may be part of the envy, malice, and contention mentioned as consequences of inequality and pride cycles.  

It may also be part of the emotion that led to the many Nephite dissensions, especially Amalikiah and the King-men discussed in the post on Dissension and War.  These dissenters desired to have a king, and their leaders are described as "high birth" - which may mean they were from the tribe of Judah (Alma 51:8).  In the Kingdom of Judah, where the characters are from, the tribe of Judah had the right to rule over all of the other tribe members in the kingdom.

Racial inequities may have also played a role in the dissension of the Zoramites, who felt that they were more pure chosen people of God.  Could their feelings of purity have a racial component?  Did they use the racial attitudes to convince poor people to join them in their dissension and remain with them, even though these poor were exploited (Alma 31-35)?

The struggle between Judah and Ephraim/Manasseh may also be what is referred to in Giddianhi's letter to Lachoneus when he says that the conflict between the Gadianton Robbers and the Nephites is so that his people can "recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government" (3 Nephi 3:10).  Were these dissenters from Judah and upset that they were not kings over the people?

To be sure, the central drive behind the dissensions of Amalikiah, the King-men, the Zoramites, and the Gadianton Robbers was so that a few could become rich by destroying the economically limiting laws of the Nephites - the Book of Mormon makes that clear.  However, I wonder if envy from racial inequities made it easier for a few wicked people to deceive many into dissenting, especially considering that the economic benefits from dissenting really only benefited the few.

In other words, I am saying that perhaps a few iniquitous people used racial feelings developed from some very real racial inequities and behaviors, probably as well as some imaginary or exaggerated ones, to deceive the people into supporting secret combinations, priestcrafts, and dissensions, in the end only make a few people rich, and not to actually resolve any racial issue.


What do you all think?


What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality - Table of Contents

The Pride Cycle

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.

The Classic Pride Cycle

Anyone who has studied the Book of Mormon can attest to the oft repeated cycle of God's people, the 'Nephites', who are righteous for a time, become prideful and wicked, and then are punished by God until they become righteous again.  As pride is an oft repeated theme in every circumstance, the pattern is often referred to as the "Pride Cycle", and is frequently used to warn against the dangers of pride in church talks and lessons.

In those lessons this kind of graphic is often used:

This graphic is organized in such a way as to make it easy to apply to one's personal life.  It warns that prosperity - or having things easy in life - can lead one to forget God, and feelings of entitlement to the actually unnatural flow of blessings.  The antidote is humility which allows oneself to reconnect with God, and root out damaging pride from one's heart.

As applicable as this graphic and lesson are to modern life, it is not an accurate portrayal of events in the Book of Mormon narrative.  So let's look at what the narrative really describes.

Inequality, not Prosperity, initiates 'Pride Cycles'

Pride and entitlement can certainly form with an easy life, but what triggers the Nephites' problems is not prosperity, but inequality.  In every reported instance of 'pride', and its consequences among the Nephites what first occurs is a sharp divide between the rich and poor.  Some people may indeed be prospering, but the prosperity is not equally distributed.

Once inequality begins it is then that "pride" is identified as the sin of the Nephites.  But is this the same "pride" that we use today?  Is it hubris, a feeling of self-importance, comparing oneself to others in order to illustrate superiority?  Yes it is referring to these things, but in a very specific context.

Pride in the Book of Mormon refers to  the feeling among the rich during times of economic inequality that they should be richer than those around them.  It is living in an unequal world, not acting to correct it, and then swelling with emotional justification for the iniquity that you commit.

Pride is happily living in inequality, and it is among the most hated iniquities by God mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

Pride is Manifested through the Persecution of the Poor

Pride becomes significant in the Book of Mormon narrative when there are outward and social manifestations of that pride.  Most often this happens with the rich no longer giving resources to the poor, and also developing a disdain and harassing the poor - all of which are described as 'persecuting' the the poor.

In future articles you will see that the persecution of the poor expands beyond simple disdain and withholding resources, to individuals who twist the religion, cultural beliefs, and laws of the land to ensure that the poor receive less and less, while a minority receives more and more.  This process is called priestcraft, and it is organized by secret combinations.

All these persecutions happen in part because of the hubris of personal pride, but also because the rich are no longer emotionally and spiritually connected to those around them, and can no longer empathize with the poor.  Deep down they know that their religion requires them to assist the poor, but they do not want to part with their resources because they have "set their hearts upon them", and so they come to hate the poor.

2 Nephi 9:30 - But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world.  For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god.  And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.

Examples of Inequality and Persecution

In short, pride is not really the central feature or central sin of the 'Pride Cycle', its simply a consequence - the important features are the inequality an its concomitant persecution of the poor.  Furthermore, as you will see it is 'iniquity' and 'abomination' to the Nephites that there be wealth inequality among them without any action to correct the inequality; and it is an even greater iniquity to persecute the poor.

Alma 4

In this chapter, the society has been wealthy and unequal for six years, but have managed to be so without persecuting the poor - a feat that we will touch on further in a future article.  Unfortunately, the conditions leading to the magnanimity of the people do not last beyond the six years:

6 And it came to pass in the eight year... that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches...

The High Priest Alma and his teachers see the wickedness of the people.

8 For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own will and pleasure.  
...
12 Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst. ...

15 .... and [Alma] seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him.

The next twelve chapters include Alma's work among the Nephite people from city to city by preaching the gospel.  He preaches that they should humble themselves, and remove pride from their hearts - but more importantly he works to correct inequalities by preaching that the wealthy should share their resources.

Jacob 2

In this chapter Jacob is lecturing the first generation of Nephites concerning their wickedness:

13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your  brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads... because ye suppose that ye are better than they.

14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing?  Behold, I say unto you, Nay.  But he condemeth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you.   ...

17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.   ...

20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?

21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh?  And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other...

Helaman 4

At the end of Helaman 3, the commentator Mormon notes that the Nephites become very wealthy and prideful.  Then, at the beginning of chapter 4 this wealth leads to contentions among the people, so much that dissenters leave the Nephites and join their sworn enemies the Lamanites and cause a war and terrible bloodshed:

11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.

12 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek...   

Mormon then lists a wave of additional wickedness that came as a result of inequality and oppression of the poor, including lying, stealing, murdering, adultery, etc.  But their main 'wickedness and abomination' was their pride, manifested in their oppression of the poor.

Conclusions

Alma 4, Jacob 2, and Helaman 4 are three of many chapters which include some iteration of this pride cycle.  A full study reveals that, as a society, the Nephites' primary wickedness is economic inequality, and the pride, persecutions, and other wickedness accompanying with it.  Inequality is a central theme in every instance of pride and destruction, and there is never a time when inequality exists for any significant period of time which does not also lead to other wickedness and destruction.

In the end, the Nephite people fall because they are unequal, they do not act to correct it, and eventually in their inequality they persecute the poor and humble.  This is their pride.

As you will see, as the Nephite version of pride is so entwined with inequality that humility alone is insufficient as a remedy.  The Nephites learn that in order to resolve their problems they need to address more than just the pride - they learn to address the inequality.

In the next article we will continue to discuss the details of the pride cycles, including its consequences.  I will also include a list of all the chapters containing some iteration of the pride cycle.

Chapters Containing the Some Iteration of the Pride Cycle

Jacob 2
Mosiah 11 
Mosiah 24
Alma 1
Alma 4
Alma 45
Alma 62 
Helaman 3-4
Helaman 6-7
Helaman 13
3 Nephi 6
4 Nephi
Ether 10


What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality - Table of Contents

Historical Narrative - Pride, Priestcrafts, and Secret Combinations

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.

This article will serve as an introduction to the historical narrative portions of the Book of Mormon which address the topic of inequality.  This history also builds the stage for the following sub-series on the Book of Mormon.

As it turns out, the majority of the book's narrative speaks to inequality in some form or another.

Economic Elements of the Historical Narrative

As was stated in Understanding Inequality in the Book of Mormon - Pt I, the Book of Mormon rarely talks about economic inequality as we would today, and instead uses religious terminology and themes to address 'iniquity' - which is a type of wickedness usually involving social inequities.

Before we take a look at the economic elements of the narrative it would be useful to describe as best I can the general economics of the book.

From what I can tell, most people in the narrative appear to practice subsistence agriculture - this is to say small farms with the purpose of feeding one's family.  At times the narrative specifically mentions the rise of specialists - lawyers, merchants, weavers, politicians, craftsmen, etc - but the abundance of these specialists appears to be the exception to the norm during certain periods of wealth.

In the narrative, there are no businesses, no corporations, or really anything similar to our complex modern economic system.  The only "for profit" organizations are "secret combinations" - cults which seek to deceive and murder to become rich and powerful.

With such a simple subsistence economic system there are only three quick ways to become rich - to be a king and tax the people, to use religion in order to deceive people, or to rob the people by stealing from them directly, or otherwise ensuring that resources are not distributed to them.  As all of these methods are considered 'iniquity', the Book of Mormon addresses the "rich", and those that "set their hearts upon riches" and commit iniquities, very harshly.

The narrative generally describes 'rich' and 'poor' in relative terms, with only a few clues as to the absolute wealth and poverty of the people.  One clue that is offered is that the rich separate themselves from the poor by wearing "costly apparel", which to me signifies that the rich were simply wealthy enough to pay specialists for their needs, rather than to make clothing themselves.  My guess is this means that the absolute inequality in the narrative was, for the most part, probably pretty minor, with the average rich likely only having a few times more the resources as the average poor.

Nothing like today where something like the richest 50 families own more than the poorest half of the planet.

But the absolute inequality is not what matters in the narrative - it's the relative inequality that causes problems.

What is Contained in this Sub-Series

With the above items in mind, let's look at some of the elements which we will address in this sub-topic series:

The Law of Moses - Throughout the Book of Mormon, it is mentioned that the people strictly follow the Law of Moses, but we are not given details about what this means.  There are several aspects of the Law of Moses that theoretically regulate the economy in ways which limit inequality, including the law of the Sabbath Day and Jubilee.

Iniquitous Kings - In the first half of the narrative, as well as the book of Ether, the people are ruled by kings.  At times, these kings are terribly wicked, and exact harsh taxes on the people in order to live lavish lifestyles.  These taxes are very hard on the people, and are the primary cause of inequality in the early half of the Book of Mormon.

Because of the economic inequality which iniquitous kings cause, kings are abolished, and the Nephites form a new church and a new government dedicated to correcting inequalities, and a renewed interested in justice, equity, democracy, and the Law of Moses.

The Pride Cycle - Throughout the narrative, the Nephites go through cycles, where economic inequality is introduced, leading the rich to become prideful and to begin persecuting the poor.  In these cycles, 'pride' is a consequence of inequality, and is manifested through inaction on correcting iniquities, justification of the poor, and persecuting the poor by withholding resources.

Consequences of Inequality and Pride - This article takes a closer look at the consequences of economic inequality, including the creation of new inequities in education and justice, and serious social problems described as 'strifes', 'envyings', and 'malice'.  In order to counteract the inequities and their consequences, the church of God and the government of the people act to counteract inequality.

     A Note on Envy - The Book of Mormon frequently mentions 'envy' as a emotion coinciding
     every instance of pride and inequality in the book, however it provides little details about what is
     meant by the word.  This article explores a possible explanation of the word using modern
     examples.

Priestcraft - Priestcraft refers to anytime religion is used to make individuals rich and/or famous.  It is manifested by people twisting religion in order to deceive people into giving them money directly, or to convince them that economic inequalities are not wrong, and therefore there is no moral obligation to correct it.

Priestcraft is a serious problem all throughout the narrative, but especially from the book of Alma on. Eventually, priestcrafts become the ideological underpinnings of all economic inequality in the Book of Mormon.

Secret Combinations Pt I - Secret combinations are cults of people who will do whatever they can to become rich - generally through deceit, robbing, and even murder.  At times they work in the shadows and put their own members in powerful political positions and then become rich through robbing the poor; and at other times they use warfare and chaos to plunder the land.  With every strategy they seek to destroy the government and laws of the land that put limits on their greed and punish their iniquities.

In Secret Combinations Pt II - Gadianton Robbers we look at the most dangerous secret combination, the "Gadianton Robbers", who sought to become rich by destroying the government which combated inequalities.  Once that was accomplished, they enriched themselves and persecuted the poor.

Dissension and War - Throughout the narrative, laws and religious principles are put into place to limit kings, priestcrafts, persecutions, strife, and secret combinations - but the wicked who would do anything to become rich simply dissent from the church and from their own government in order to practice commit their iniquities more easily.  When the Nephites act to limit or stop these dissensions, the dissenters join neighboring peoples to wage on God's people to destroy the government once and for all.

Most wars then in the Book of Mormon are fought over the whether the few should be free from laws and morality to commit iniquities, at the expense of the rights of the many, or whether a strong government and religion should exist to punish iniquities and to correct inequalities.

Racial Inequities - Most of this series will focus on economic inequality, following the predominant content of the Book of Mormon, but there are a few insights concerning racial equality which could be interesting to address here.

This article explores the possibility that racial tensions between those belonging to the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh fueled the priestcrafts, secret combinations, dissensions, and war mentioned above.

Twilight of the Nephites and Conclusions - This concluding article to this chapter recaps the principles provided above through reading 4 Nephi and the concluding saga of the Nephites.  The people finally obtain peace when economic inequality is completely done away with.  Once inequality returns, and along with it pride, persecution, priestcrafts, and secret combinations, the people are eventually destroyed.

I hope you enjoy, and feel free to comment.

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality - Table of Contents

Iniquitous Kings

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.

The Disastrous Reigns of Iniquitous Kings

During the majority of the historical chronology in the Book of Mormon, the people were ruled by kings.  These kings for the most part had complete economic and ideological control over the people, and some kings used this power to bring chaos and ruin upon the people in the selfish pursuit of riches and power.  Kings ruled during the entire history of the Jaredite people (the Book of Ether), and the iniquity of many of these kings was the source of all of their problems.

The Nephite/Lamanite civilizations were also ruled by iniquitous kings at times - featured primarily in the book of Mosiah - but at the end of Mosiah kings are abolished among the Nephites, and for the rest of the narrative the people are governed by elected judges.  This change is remarkable, and most of the economic content that we are interested in occurs during this post-Mosiah period.  However, in order to best appreciate the economic uniqueness of this later time it is important to take a look at the events and conditions leading to it.

Iniquitous Kings of the Jaredites

 
In 31 pages the book of Ether gives a short account of the entire history of the Jaredite people - a history spanning about 2000 years.  Moroni wrote the book centuries after the Jaredites using much larger records written by Ether.  Aside from the story of the initial voyage to America of the Jaredites, the rest of the details in the short record are focused on the iniquities (ie economic wickedness) of the people, and complements similar details in the rest of the Book of Mormon.  Moroni's details in the book of Ether also complement his own prophesies about our day, in which he says that the problems of the Jaredites will be had among us, but worse (Ether 8).  So, despite its small size, it is an important record to consider.

Over the generations, the Jaredites experience almost comical cycles of righteousness and wickedness.  When a king comes to power who seeks the welfare of the people, then there is a period of peace and prosperity; when kings come to power who seek their own welfare, and create a lavish lifestyles for themselves at the expense of the people, then there are long periods of war, bloodshed, poverty, and iniquity.  The cycle worsens when people are so desirous to become rich that they murder their own royal family members in order for themselves to be placed on the throne - throwing the whole civilization into long and bloody tug-a-war contests among ruling families.

In order to facilitate the quick succession to the throne, wicked people join in secret societies and combinations, using the murderous plans of Cain, the first murderer.  These secret societies seek after power and money for a few, and manage to not only cause more bloodshed and war, but to even corrupt the hearts of all the people until everyone commits iniquity (Ether 9:6).  Eventually, the secret societies seeking riches corrupt all of the Jaredites, and the whole civilizations crumbles.

Moroni's details emphasize two things:

a) The primary wickedness of the Jaredites are their economic iniquities - that a few would seek to be rich over all others at any cost, including murder.  This is the wickedness that led to their destruction;

And b) that it is extraordinarily easy for a society to be corrupted when an iniquitous king is in charge and/or when secret societies seeking wealth exist and are ideologically and politically powerful.

Nephite Era Kings

Like the Jaredites, the first 500 years of the Nephite civilization is ruled by kings.  There is little record of most of these kings until the book of Mosiah.  My guess is this is probably because Mormon's account of this history was lost in the early translation of the Book of Mormon, and the records that are included covering this timeline were written by authors who had a different purpose than Mormon.

Of the kings who are written about we have an example of one very iniquitous king - king Noah - and a couple examples of a righteous kings, including Benjamin.

King Noah did unspeakable damage to his people as a result of his selfishness.  Mosiah 11 details how he levied a large tax on his people, all of which would be used to support the lavish and riotous lifestyle of him and his priests.  They had many wives and concubines, they built a spacious palace and temple to flaunt their wealth, and they built wine-presses in order for themselves to have unlimited amounts of wine. 

The people suffered as a result of King Noah's iniquity, not only because they labored in poverty to support the iniquity, but also because they were lied to and deceived by the priests of Noah - the religious authority of the land - until the people came to be iniquitous and idolatrous themselves, setting their hearts upon riches and committing iniquities in the selfish pursuit of wealth, in emulation of their king.

This twisting of religion in order to become wealthy, and its consequences on the people, is called Priestcraft in the Book of Mormon.

Seeing the iniquities of not only Noah, but now all the people, the Lord sends a prophet named Abinadi.  In Mosiah 12 Abinadi preaches that because of iniquities the people will be brought into bondage, and some will be destroyed, and that they obviously are not following the Law of Moses.  The people harden their hearts, save only a few, and Abinadi is put to death.  The few believers flee the land, led by Alma, but the rest are indeed put in bondage as Abinadi said when an army of Lamanites - likely drawn by the ostentatious displays of wealth - invade and put an even greater tax on the people (Mosiah 7).  And thus the people are "bound with the bands" of their own "iniquities" (Mosiah 23:12), as Abinadi had predicted.

King Benjamin stands in stark contrast to Noah.  Near the end of his life, Benjamin gathers the people together in Mosiah 2-5 in order to give them his last counsel.  In this famous speech he emphasizes how he has been in the service of the people his entire life, and did not seek after the riches of the people.  He had done away with slavery and unjust confinement, but had punished the crimes of those who plundered and stole; he labored for his own support so that the people would not be laden with taxes (Mosiah 2:13-14).

His purpose in speaking is to suggest to the people that they ought to labor to serve one another, and to serve their God with their whole souls, but it also serves as a clue to the history before Benjamin, as he speaks as if he were an exception to the norm. 

The Law of Mosiah - The End of Kings, and Beginning of Laws and Ideals Promoting Equality

Throughout the book of Mosiah there is a growing realization among the characters that the iniquities of kings led to inequality among the people, and then to the majority of the people committing iniquities themselves.  They realize that in order to prevent the inequality and iniquities they would need to abolish kings, establish strong laws, and emphasize an ethic of equality in their culture and religion.


Alma, having seen first-hand the wickedness of king Noah, establishes an equitable society far away from Noah and his iniquities.  He forms a church among the people, but instructs his priests that they are to work for their own food, and not to esteem themselves as better than others; furthermore, he instructs the people to impart of their resources to the poor (Mosiah 18:26-29).  He refuses to be a king, but instructs the people that they should consider all people equal, and they they should have liberty among them, which will not happen if they have a king who commits iniquities (Mosiah 23:5-16).

In addition to teaching the people to serve one another, King Benjamin preaches that the people should impart of their resources to the poor, and to not turn away the beggar.  Furthermore, he emphasizes that while they may receive a remission of their sins through faith in Christ and repentance, they would only retain a remission of their sins by helping the poor (Mosiah 4).  He has the people covenant to help those around them.

Benjamin's son Mosiah takes on the mantle of a righteous king after Benjamin's passing, carrying on the tradition of serving the people, helping the poor, laboring for his own support, and not seeking after filthy lucre at the cost of his people (Mosiah 29).  Alma and his people later join Mosiah's people, and Mosiah appoints Alma as the leader of the church.  Like Alma, Mosiah instructs the priests that they should labor for their own support, and that there should be "equality among all men" (Mosiah 27:3-7).

A record of the Jaredite people is found and king Mosiah translates it.  A mixture of reading their disastrous record, learning of the iniquities of king Noah through Alma, and knowing his own history leads Mosiah to the conclusion that kings should be abolished.  Near the end of his life he gathers the people together and reminds them of the iniquities which kings can so easily commit.  In Mosiah 29 he says:

"17 For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction!" ...

 "31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings."

"32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike..."

He then admonishes the people to choose judges who will uphold a strict law against iniquities, and these judges would rule the people by election.  The people anxiously agree, and a new government is formed on principles of equity and justice, rights and liberty, and democracy, in an episode not so dissimilar from the birth of the United States of America.

These new judges do not have the economic and ideological powers that ancient kings had, and furthermore their powers are divided between a chief judge, and probably a court of higher judges, and a court of lower judges, modeled after the ancient Jews.

This political change leads to less intense episodes of economic inequality, but as we will see it does not end inequities entirely.

Context for the Rest of This Series

Although there is a lot more great economic content and details in the books of Mosiah and Ether which are not included in this post, the rest of this sub-series will focus on books afterwards.  I do think that it is helpful to point out a few items in the paragraphs above that provide context for the types of inequality that we will discuss later.

• Previous to King Mosiah, the only rich people are kings and their lackeys.  Inequality is present whenever there is a greedy and iniquitous king.

• The iniquities and greed of kings leads the people themselves to be greedy and iniquitous, although relative to the king they are poor and laden with taxes.  When strong laws and leadership exist which promote equality the people also engender equality, and usually are more wealthy as well.

• The end of the book of Mosiah reveals the growing realization that equality is an important moral and that it needs to be specifically taught - not only to priests, but to all the people - in order for it to be followed

• The Laws of Moses, and the laws of King Benjamin, previous to Mosiah were laws preventing iniquities among the people, and encouraging equality.  King Mosiah expanded upon these laws, including the abolishing of kings, and established elected judges to rule the people.

• King Benjamin taught a Gospel which includes the absolute requirement of assistance to the poor.  This type of preaching is continued by Alma, Mosiah, and all the prophets and righteous political leaders succeeding them.

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality - Table of Contents