A Latter-day Captain Moroni

We are almost finished with Alma in our family Book of Mormon reading. It's one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon because it is so relevant to our day.

Reading chapter 46 gave me goosebumps! Here is the chapter heading:

Amalickiah conspires to be king--Moroni raises the title of liberty--He rallies the people to defend their religion--True believers are called Christians--A remnant of Joseph shall be preserved--Amalickiah and the dissenters flee to the land of Nephi--Those who will not support the cause of freedom are put to death.

A wicked man, Amalickiah, gathers dissenters around him by flattering them; "And there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they dissented from the church; . . . Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one. Yea, and we see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men." (Alma 46:7-9)

Mormon's commentary "Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous' sake."

At this time Moroni, who was made chief captain over the Nephite armies at age twenty-five, got fed up and rent his coat then wrote upon a piece of it "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" and then he fastened it to a pole, calling it the title of liberty. (Alma 43:17, 46:12, 13)

He rallied the people to a remembrance of their blessings, the commandments and instilled in them a desire to protect and maintain their liberties. Moroni took his army to stand against Amalickiah and the dissenters who followed him. Amalickiah saw that Moroni's army was more numerous than his own so he fled into the wilderness with a small number of his men. The rest were taken back to Zarahemla and forced to chose - either enter into a covenant of peace or be put to death. (The final solution!) It's interesting to note that "there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom." (Alma 46:35)

I especially like verse 38 "And Helaman and the high priests did also maintain order in the church; yea, even for the space of four years did they have much peace and rejoicing." (Emphasis mine.)

Now turn over to chapter 48, verses 11 - 13, and 17 for a description of Moroni:

And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people. Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his right, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. . . .Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. 

Why would Mormon include so much detail with this story? Well, he saw our day and knew what we would be facing. I believe we are at a moment in history very similar to the one Captain Moroni faced. Our current President is a cunning, flatterer who was elected by people who didn't really know who he is and what he wants to do to this country. It's as if he desires to be a king!

On to the scene comes a man like unto Captain Moroni in the form of Mitt Romney! I just finished his book No Apology and am convinced that this is the man brought up to raise the title of liberty and rally the American people to save this country. His world view is through the lens of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He understands the unique mission and destiny of this land of freedom. He doesn't want to be king, or be in charge for the money or power he could accrue, he wants to serve and save this nation, returning it to a land of liberty and opportunity! He has the knowledge and the experience to do the job. The most recent impressive endorsement comes from a group of 400 economists, including five Nobel Laureates. They believe his policies are the ones that will turn around the economy and put us on the right path to greatness again.

I've never been so passionate about an election before. I've even put my money where my mouth is, contributing to Romney's campaign. I truly believe that he has come to the nation for such a time as this (see Esther 4:14).