Not Your Usual Message on Gratitude

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

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


I have been working on the next two chapters of this series, and will hopefully publish them soon.  In the meantime, in honor of Thanksgiving I thought I would write about a message on gratitude from the Book of Mormon - one that is not your usual message on gratitude.

Heresy of the Zoramites

Alma 31 - 35 contains one of the more important stories from the Book of Mormon, the heresy of the Zoramites, depicted in the picture above.

As we covered in the articles on Priestcraft and Dissension and War, the Zoramites are Nephites who have separated themselves from Nephite government, religion, and society in order to more easily commit iniquity.  Their iniquity is in the form of systematically robbing and persecuting a poor class of people among them.  They are able to justify rejecting the law of Moses, the inequality among them, and their horrible treatment of the poor through their twisted new religion - hence their inequality, in addition to being iniquity, is also a priestcraft (or a process of using religion to make oneself rich).

The only aspect of the Zoramite religion that is in the form of anything that could be considered virtuous is their gratitude.  Once a week the wealthy Zoramites gather together and one by one stand atop a tower and declare their thanks to God.  The Zoramites had manipulated the poor into building the very tower and synagogues which the wealthy used, but the poor were religiously barred from entering and worshiping themselves.

Of course, their "gratitude" is not actually genuine, humble, or anything at all virtuous.  This is what they say in Alma 31:

"16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren... but we believe that thou has elected us to be thy holy children... ...

"18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen."

After their prayer, they go about their week without any thought to their God or their fellow man - only to themselves.

There are several errors which the Zoramites make in these chapters.

First, their religion is not genuine, it is only designed to enrich themselves.  Genuine religion of the Nephites recognized inequality as 'iniquity and abomination' (Jacob 2), and that a primary tenet of religion is to assist the poor, not persecute them and rob from them.  By twisting the gospel to teach that they were chosen and exalted above others it became easier to accept and perpetuate inequality.

Second, they thank the Lord that they are chosen and better than their fellow men, but the only difference between them and the poor in their camp is their wealth - wealth which was created by robbing the poor, and certainly was not bestowed by God.  Their gratitude, without a correct recognition of where their "blessings" and "chosen" state came from is iniquity.

In the end, this iniquity of the Zoramites is unforgivable.  They reject the message of Alma and his missionaries, and throughout the rest of the book of Alma they are destroyed.

Avoiding the Errors of the Zoramites

I think there are some lessons we could learn from the allegory of the Zoramites.  Unfortunately, Thanksgiving has some similarities to the Zoramites - we gather once a year in ostentatious displays of our wealth in the form of decorations and food, and then we give thanks for our many blessings.  Afterwards we go out the next day and buy, buy, buy!

Gratitude, if done correctly, can invite a sense of humility and a desire to share prosperity with those less fortunate.  But gratitude to God, as with the Zoramites, can also fan pride, and create a sense of 'chosen-ness'; at worse, it can perpetuate the illusion that the distribution of blessings in the world is justified, as if God willed it to be so.

But inequality is not the will of God.  In the next chapter of this series we will cover what the Book of Mormon teaches about prosperity - or why some people are wealthy and others poor.  In short, just like in the story of the Zoramites, God does not create inequality, it naturally occurs, or is created by humans.  It is our privilege and responsibility to use our blessings to raise up all those less fortunate, and by keeping this commandment we prosper as a people.

Thanking God for blessings is appropriate, but it must be combined with a humility forged from recognizing the source of economic inequality in the world today.  God does not create or justify inequality, and in fact condemns it. 

So in this Thanksgiving season I would invite you to consider these things:

• What does your gratitude inspire you to do?  
• Does it inspire you to give to others?  
• Or Do you feel envy and anger at the charity and other social assistance which others receive?  Or feel threatened by those who are needy - the poor, homeless, refugees, etc? 

• If you believe that you are blessed and/or a chosen people by God, what does this belief inspire you to do or be?  
• Do you utilize your wealth and other blessings to lift others?
• Or do you see others as undeserving of receiving the same blessings that you have enjoyed?

• If you believe that God has blessed you and others - which I and many others do - how do you juxtapose this idea with unjust inequality in the world today? (the next chapter in this series will cover this question via the Book of Mormon in detail)
• Do you recognize to what extent your social and economic opportunities and ease have come from your privileges - the country that you live in, the wealth and education of your family, the wealth and safety of your community, and your race?
• Do you recognize the many millions of people in the U.S. and worldwide who work at poverty wages to facilitate low prices, low prices which ultimately increase the value of our wealth?

•  How will you dedicate yourself this Thanksgiving and Christmas season to ensuring that the blessings and gratitude you have felt can be experienced by all?

I am thankful for all that I am blessed with this Thanksgiving holiday.  I also recognize that I was privileged to receive these blessings because I was born in America, because I am white, and because I grew up in a wealthy and educated family and community.  I recognize the contributions of all those millions who do not share my blessings.

I will show my gratitude to God by using my blessings and privileges to dedicate my life to ensuring that others can feel the gratitude which I feel.  I would invite you all to do the same.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and travel in safety!