Category Archives: TV

Stranger Things Have Happened

26 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by in Agency, Battle, Example, Freedom, General, Obedience, Opposition, Pride, TV

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As is well documented on this blog, gospel lessons can come from anywhere. Sometimes they are obvious, and sometimes not so much. Sometimes, while watching a Netflix series about awkward nerds saving the world from the threats of an unknown realm called the Upside Down and its real life monster versions of Dungeons and Dragons bad guys, we can notice character similarities to the Old Testament progression of the Kings of Israel, …or is that just me?

Well, Stranger Things have happened (in best Dad joke voice).

Lucas, Mike, Eleven, and Dustin react to Dad Joke

Everyone loves a good story. They help us connect to each other through the shared experience. The key to good storytelling is to base the conflict on the real struggles of everyday life. This is how we really identify with the characters, and internalize the story. In today’s society, our stories are told not only through books, but movies, and tv shows. Some are good, and some are not so good.

If we can relate to the struggle, or see similarities in our own lived experiences, we are drawn to it, connect to it, and have a vested interest in the resolution. These stories detail how our heroes defy the odds, fight through the turmoil, and overcome the conflict. We all find inspiration, courage and even hope in these stories. Somehow, we want to incorporate our favorite character’s ability to overcome into our own personal struggles. That is what makes us love the stories and the characters within them.

I’m not saying that we often find ourselves caught in a battle with Vecna, the powerful psychokinetic Wizard trying to grow his power to take over the world through thought control. But, we are all caught in a constant back and forth between right and wrong, and good and evil. Sometimes this battle occurs more overtly with our relationship challenges with one another. Sometimes the struggle is internal within the boundaries of our own heart and mind.

This ancient struggle between right and wrong that occurs inside each of us happens in a very specific way. This battle is over which of our human character traits will be in the driver’s seat in control of our everyday actions. Will we overcome our natural selves, and choose to have honesty, integrity and love control us? Or will be falter, and revert back into our base, natural inclination for selfishness, greed, and passive lethargy?

This particular struggle has been at play inside the human heart for a very, very long time.

This is, of course, where the ancient stories of Saul, David, and Solomon, combine with the slightly more contemporary, albeit entirely fictional, Lucas Sinclair to teach us about this character control struggle.

Lucas Sinclair

First, because Lucas does not currently have a book in the Old Testament, we should all get up to speed on his story. He is one of the characters on the Netflix series, Stranger Things. He plays one of several nerdy boys who spend their time playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basement. This series takes place in the 1980’s, so it obviously precedes video games. We find him in seasons 1-3 utilizing his, and his friends’ nerdy D&D skills and knowledge to fight off attacks from Demogorgans, the Shadow Monster, a.k.a. the Mind Flayer, and some Russians who have taken over the local mall. Through their collective efforts, and Eleven’s amazing mind power, victory was secured.

Season 4 is different. Lucas has now “grown up” and is part of the school’s basketball team. He is not a star, far from it actually. He’s a benchwarmer. He is also desperate for approval and acceptance into the cool kids popular crowd. He sees the basketball team as his ticket out of nerddom, and into the cool circles he only dreamed of before.

Through a wild series of events, Lucas finds himself in the very unlikely scenario where he is forced to choose between his basketball team’s championship game, or his friends Dungeons and Dragons championship match. They are held at the same exact time. Lucas chooses basketball, which is devastating to his friends.

Somehow, Lucas manages to not only play in the basketball game, but he makes the game winning shot at the buzzer, instantly rocketing him up the popularity ladder into stardom.

This scene is one of cinematic mastery. Tense music backdrops both the scenes of Lucas’s final shot, and the final roll in the Dungeons and Dragons challenge match. His basketball heroics are painstakingly highlighted through slow motion focus, concurrently and perfectly congruent to the highlights of the nerd’s game. Slow motion scenes cut back and forth as the highlights simultaneously peak in crescendoed victory in both diametrically opposed games of skill.

With that newfound stardom, however, Lucas is forced to abandon his longtime friends in order to join the cool basketball kids, and soon finds himself actively fighting against these friends in the story.

He is torn between where he has been, where he is, and where he wants to be. Ultimately, Lucas’ true character shines through, and he overcomes the temptation and superficial allure of popularity and fame, and he rejoins his longtime friends in their collective fight against their enemy. He chose to let the right character drive his actions. What a story.

Not all stories have such a happy ending. And especially the stories we will talk about today. But we can learn from negative experiences just as easily as we can from positive ones. From our list above, there are three other examples to learn from. This time, lets look at the three successive kings of Israel in the Old Testament.

Saul, David, and Soloman were all kings of Israel. All of them started their lives, and reigns, in much the same way. They were all chosen because they possessed the character needed to be a righteous king. They were humble, full of faith and relied on the God of Israel. Lets take a peek at each one…

Saul

Saul was chosen as the first King of Israel. He was described as, “a choice young man, …and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he…”. He was chosen by God who, “gave him another heart…and the Spirit of God came upon him…” (1 Samuel 10:9,10).

So far, so good.

Samuel anoints Saul

The prophet Samuel, who anointed Saul to be King, when prophesying of the blessings of obedience, did leave him and the people of Israel some advice. Maybe we could call it foreshadowing?

Samuel warned, “Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:25)

Yikes.

So, what happened to Saul? How did this ancient story play out? How did the internal battle for control of his actions end up? Would he rejoice in ultimate victory and celestial bliss?

Well, If we fast forward just a few chapters, we get this…

“…and there was a javelin in Saul’s, hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it.” (1 Samuel 18:10,11)

Hmm. That’s not good. Sounds like an Old Testament version of pin the tail on the donkey. Saul degenerated From humble, goodly, faithful beginnings to attempted murder. How did he get there?

Let’s look at two examples that may shed light on the slow methodical nature of Saul’s fall. Neither one may seem all that big of a deal, but together, and likely among a host of other small decisions, it proved enough to change his heart and mind. This change of heart then was enough to alter his actions. These actions then led to a person unrecognizable to his younger self. How did he let the wrong internal Saul take control?

First, let’s glance into the experience he had while waiting for the prophet Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to the Lord before a battle that was looming. Samuel had instructed Saul, the leader of the army, to wait, and that he would come at a specific time to offer a sacrifice in the army’s behalf.

When Samuel was late, Saul took it upon himself to offer the sacrifice for Samuel. Saul was king, not prophet. He was not authorized to offer sacrifice. By now, he was likely used to being obeyed, and having events revolve around him, and his timeline. He likely would have been pressured by those around him to do it himself. He was a king after all. He was the one that should dictate when and how things should be done.

How far off was his thought process? He just wanted to make sure the Lord was on his side, didn’t he? But, he had overstepped. He had relied less on faith, and trust in God’s prophet, and more on the arm of flesh, or the perceived reality and pressure of the moment.

When confronted by Samuel, Saul explained why he had proceeded on his own, “because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24). He was worried about what other people would think of him. Sounds like a modern problem as well.

Saul had lost his blessing. Later the scriptures elaborate, “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit [which was not of] the Lord troubled him”. (1 Samuel 16:14)

This absence of the spirit of the Lord in Saul’s heart left it to be filled with opposing sentiments. Anger, greed, and jealousy took its place. This doesn’t usually happen overnight, it takes multiple, small, and consistent choices, changes, and allowances to let the natural man to take over. But, once we invite it in, the floodgates open.

Fast forward a little bit. Now Saul, and his newly named successor, David, are returning from battling the Philistines. Saul overheard the women in his city saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him…”

Now Saul was really jealous. He couldn’t stand to be disrespected. He was offended that David got more credit than he did. He wanted to be the most revered, the most adored, the biggest and the best. He wanted to be perceived as the most powerful. He now allowed the full natural man, the jealous man, the greedy man to drive his actions. His next act was throwing a javelin at David. The wrong Saul was driving the actions. The internal battle was lost. He spent the rest of his life trying to destroy David. Small, seemingly insignificant choices eventually led to a complete change in character.

David

The aforementioned David is our next example. He was the perfect poster child for early potential. The same Samuel the Prophet who had called and anointed Saul, had called and anointed David to be the next King, after Saul and his line proved unworthy.

We know, of course, of his early days when he used the power of faith in God to slay the Giant Goliath with a sling and stones.

David and Goliath – Bible — Image by © Lebrecht Authors/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Corbis

Throughout David’s life he proved again and again to be a capable warrior and King. He became king of all Israel, united its kingdoms under a single banner, and moved the capital to Jerusalem. He even made plans to move the Tabernacle and the ark of the covenant there and wanted to build a permanent temple. David recognized all along who had given him success.

“And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways. and the Lord was with him.”(1 Samuel 18:14), and was “a man after the [Lord’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14)

Until he wasn’t. He slipped and allowed personal gratification with Bathsheba, and the subsequent aftermath with Uriah to ruin it all.

He had allowed a single moment, or a series of lead-up moments, to derail his ultimate potential. What a king he could have been. But, he chose to open himself up to be driven, and influenced by the natural inclination towards selfishness, and instant gratification. Good David lost the internal battle of will to Bad David. And, If it can happen to him, it can happen to any of us. It takes constant, continuous, cognizant, and relentless hard work to fend off temptation, pride, and the natural man. These choices happen every single day. They seem small, but are meaningful.

Although the promise of his exaltation was lost (Doctrine and Covenants 132:39), David did try and reconcile with God for the rest of his life. He continued to worship the God of Israel, and charged his son Solomon to keep the Lord’s commandments when he passed on his throne. “And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest…” (1 Kings 2:3)

Solomon

As David’s son, Soloman also learned from an early age to worship and love God. After he was named king, he remained humble, and relied on the special gifts God had blessed him with. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as at the sand this is on the sea shore.” (1 Kings 4:29)

Not only was Solomon the smartest guy in the world, he was one of the kindest. He, and Israel were blessed immensely. He built a temple and dedicated it to the Lord. He had not one, but two visions where he saw the Lord in dreams.

In his dedicatory prayer for the newly constructed temple, he admonished his people to, “…know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. Let you heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:60,61).

However, Solomon didn’t take his own advise. only a few chapters later, we read, “But king Solomon loved many strange (foreign) women…of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love…And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart… For it came to pass, that when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods:.. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord…” (1 Kings 11:1-6)

He even built high places unto these other gods, and sacrificed unto them. Yikes. I guess he went all in.

To us in 2022, this may seem like an easy thing to avoid. We may think, “well, at least I’m not building a temple to some weird gods named Ashteroth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech. I’m in good shape.”

But, if we look into what those gods represented at that time, and how they were worshipped, it’s not so different from what is “worshipped” today in ever increasing numbers.

Overall, Solomon had allowed himself to be compromised. He had allowed himself to stray too far from the doctrine of God. He spent more and more time concentrating, and validating the beliefs of others than he did feeding his own faith. This allowed the truth to dwindle in his own heart, and fed the natural man and his indulgence.

In time, Solomon’s commitment to truth wavered. Subsequently, the blessings that came because of his commitment to the truth, were taken away. He lost the blessings because he lost sight of the source of the blessings. What a shame.

So what can we learn from these stories? What is the takeaway? How can we be more like the young versions of Saul, David, Solomon, and even Lucas?

The one glaring principle that is taught in flashing neon lights in these stories is one we read in the Doctrine and Covenants…

“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39)

So how do we avoid the fates of Saul, David, and Solomon?

We can recognize that we are in a battle. We are fighting everyday for control over our heart and actions. We can recognize that every little decision we make can have lasting, far reaching influence on our own future, or even the future of our family. We can recognize that if we really want to reach our full potential, we have to limit that base, natural man that wants us to succumb to our lesser characteristics.

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

We can recognize that we can never relax into a state of comfortable complacency, no matter how strong we are today. We can recognize that fidelity to God and his Gospel strengthens us, and develops the character traits that provide protection against rage and ruin, and provides infinite potential for the world to come.

We can decide now to reject the worldly thoughts, ideas, and temptations that will surely come to us with ever increasing frequency and power. We can look for the modern iterations of the false gods that plagued ancient Israel.

We can recognize that without God, or his blessings, we are nothing. Without God, our intelligence and understanding are limited, our strength is temporary, and our happiness is fleeting.

We can recognize the source of every single blessing we enjoy. We can recognize our own weaknesses and predispositions and actively seek to fortify them. We can decide, and choose which characteristics we will allow to inform, and guide our actions.

We can recognize that we have the power of choice, and we “are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. … I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto this great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit” (2 Nephi 2:27,28)

I hope we all take the time to watch our step, and focus on each small decision we make every day so that we can fight off the natural man, and his pernicious, poisonous pitfalls.

Big Brother

17 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in TV, Types

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A few years ago, my wife and I used to watch ‘Big Brother’ pretty regularly.  Hopefully most of you are familiar with the show (or others like it) – only because it will allow this comparison to be clearer, but for those of you who are not familiar with the show, I will include a brief summary.

Big Brother is a reality TV show (but it’s also very much a game).  The premise of the show involves a select group of people, called ‘houseguests’, living together in a specially constructed large house. During their time in the house they are isolated from the outside world and are not commonly aware of outside events (no TV, no internet, no social media, no letters, etc.).  In-house television cameras as well as personal audio microphones continuously monitor the contestants during their stay and record every word and action between contestants. Each game (involving the house guests) lasts for about three months, with at least ten contestants entering the house. To win the final cash prize, a contestant must survive periodic (usually weekly) evictions and be the last housemate or houseguest remaining in the house by the series’ conclusion.  Similar to other game shows like survivor, biggest loser, etc. there are challenges, competitions, and prizes for various events, but the basic idea is to be the last one standing at the end.

This show (similar to other TV game shows) was developed primarily for TV viewers, so naturally it is jam-packed with drama (intrigue, deception, alliances, conniving, lies, false promises, and every other tactic that contestants can come up with) in order to win, which obviously gets people to watch.

The fundamental purpose of every single contestant is to win the $500k prize.  Let’s be clear on that point.  Otherwise, why enter the game?  A subtle secondary purpose might be to become famous, so let’s just assume that’s a part of the overall purpose). Each individual is trying to win the individual prize.  There are no team prizes, as it is not a team game.  It is every man for himself, yet as it has always been (and always will be) the contestants enter into ‘alliances’ with other contestants in order to improve their individual chances, help eliminate other strong contestants, or to create some type of a team.  This is where it gets tricky – and exciting.

Once the alliances start to form (which is usually right away), the viewers have an advantage over the contestants, because the viewer can see the entire game all at once (at least what the network wants to show us – which if we are honest is just enough to make the drama reach it’s absolute maximum point).  The viewer is privy to both sides (or all sides) of the story.  The viewer can see that the alliances that are formed don’t have an ounce of loyalty – at least not when it comes down to ‘you or me’.   Because we can see one contestant enter into 2 or 3 alliances and promise or (or swear) loyalty to each.  The viewer knows (and can easily see) that each contestant is only loyal to the alliance if (or as long as) it is beneficial to him/her.

Inevitably, we all see the episode where one of the alliance members is ‘blindsided’ and voted out, and then acts hurt or emotional and completely surprised about it.  Let’s remember our first fundamental here – each contestant entered the game to win.  The contestant cannot be surprised when another contestant turns on them can they?  Is that possible?  How is that a difficult concept for the contestant to understand?  That doesn’t make it easier to swallow when you’re the one that was blindsided, but you had to expect it at some point right?  It’s not even strange to see an alliance within an alliance – or alliances all over the place, because every contestant is trying to put him or herself in the best position overall – to end up on top.

After the contestants are eliminated, the orchestrator(s) of the eviction is always found saying something like this: ‘no hard feelings (contestant name), I had to get you out before you got me out’ or ‘you were such a strong competitor, we had to get you out as soon as we could’.   Meanwhile, the eliminated contestant is sitting there in shock (while watching this all play out)– angry and bitter and hurt – wondering what happened.  Then the show host asks that question “what happened”?  “Didn’t you see this coming”?  With rare exceptions they quietly sob and say, “no, I guess I trusted them.  I thought we were a team.  I really did believe that they had my back, and that they would look out for me.  I thought that we had an alliance.”

If the orchestrators and schemers could hear those words (of the dejected contestants) – they would likely laugh and say something like this; “oh that’s cute, you actually thought I cared about you”.  Or if they are honest it would be something like this “that is so cute that you actually thought I had any plans of bringing you with me, because I didn’t.  None.  I used you just like I plan on using everyone else here to get what I want.  But I’ll take it as a compliment that you believed me, because that means I played a good game”.

We’ve all seen it a hundred times right? And as a viewer of the show it is so easy to see it coming.  We can yell at the screen, we can groan and ask them if they are blind, and we can even wonder to ourselves if they’ve every actually watched the show before (because it happens every single season, literally over and over again).  But then we see the face of the dejected and evicted houseguest and realize – they actually believed the schemer.  They really did think that he had their back.  They actually and honestly believed it.  And then you understand – and you get a little sad for them.

Now, if we have ‘eyes to see and ear to hear’ we can see the exact same things happening in our game of life.  We can hear those who would like us to join their ‘alliance’ and they speak softly and encouragingly: “Unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us – not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance” (3 Ne. 3:7).  Come and be part of our alliance.  It looks like you don’t have many on your team, and/or your team is made up of weak old-timers and stiffs.  We are strong and you can be a partner with us.  We have money, we have power, and we have a solid backing of sponsors and supporters.   These are the orchestrators, who claim to have our back, yet will toss us away as soon as it fits their (unspoken) strategies.  And, as I mentioned, if we have eyes to see, we too can see it coming from a mile away.

There will be many who will speak ‘flattering words’, and yet are full of ‘cunning devices’.  They have learned this art from the master liar and if we don’t think that’s true – then we are naïve.  So, to illustrate the past in order to understand the present and future – let’s encapsulate the entire big brother premise in a single concise statement – based on someone playing that game in 72 B.C. – which happens to be a chapter heading from the Book of Mormon (Alma 47) which reads “Amalickiah uses treachery, murder, and intrigue to become the king of the Lamanites”.    Since there is no way to adequately capture or explain all of that intrigue – I will encourage you to read chapters 46-51 of Alma for the full story as it’s much better than any season of big brother. 1

In summary: Amalickiah dissents from the Nephites (because they didn’t elect him to be their king) – so he became ‘wroth’ and convinced his cronies (who happened to be lower judges in the land who also “were seeking for power” which is the hallmark of bad guys.  He led his ‘alliance’ with flatteries that “if they would support him and establish him to be their king that he would make them rulers over the people”.  So they run away and convince the (existing) king of the Lamanites to go to battle against the Nephites  – because if that happened (war with the Nephites) it would be beneficial to Amalickiah  – so he (Amalickiah) “being a very subtle man to do evil”… laid a plan in his heart to dethrone the king of the Lamanites”.  He takes the army that the king gives him (the king gave him orders to compel the other Lamanite armies to go to battle), but had absolutly no intention of actually fighting (or compelling the other Lamanite armies to fight with them) because he actually surrenders to Lehonti (a Lamanite chief) as a ploy to become #2 in charge (of now two armies), poisons Lehonti to become the chief commander of both armies, and then comes back with a larger army to the real king and under the guise of  ‘bowing down as if to reverence him because of his greatness’ has one of his cronies stab the king, cause a distraction, blame the existing servants of the king and become the king of all the Lamanites.  “Thus, by his fraud, Amalickiah gained the hearts of the people”.  It was quite the show.  He was able to ‘gain the hearts’ of people with false promises and cunning treachery.  Another telling truth about this ‘leader’ is found in the statement that Amalickiah “did not care for the blood of his people”.  He was in it for himself.   As I read these stories I wonder how the Lamanites missed it…

The Book of Mormon is literally full of examples just like this.  How many times do we read about individuals and/or groups that dissent or revolt because they (the dissenting group) want to see themselves in power?  Like 683.  It seems that every few years there is another group that wants to have a king (which is code for “I want this guy to be king so that he can give me more power”).  And in each case, this revolt starts with a fancy talker who convinces many by flattery, that if they elect him to be the king he will put them in power, somehow convincing everyone that they really will defeat everyone else (even though everyone else is the whole city) and somehow take over (sound like big brother yet)?  They honestly believe that when the battle has been won, they will share the loot or that they really will be put in power and everything will be awesome.  Not likely.

The point of all of this is to highlight the fact that these secret bands, or alliances that promise security and protection are so ridiculously unloyal.   Because truth is truth, and truth says that (speaking of the devil) “the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell”  (Alma 30:60).  Interestingly enough, this scripture comes after a fancy talker was left on his own after joining an ‘alliance’ with the sweetest talker of them all.  If you think I’m joking, just imagine the devil in the diary room after your eviction from heaven (because you joined his alliance because of his ‘pleasing words’ only to then be stabbed in the back when you needed him most) where he says something like this: “oh that’s cute, you actually thought I cared about you”.  Or if he’s brutally honest it would be something like this “that is so cute that you actually thought I had any plans of bringing you joy, because I didn’t.  None.  I used you just like I plan on using everyone else here to get what I want – which happens to be your misery.  But I’ll take it as a compliment that you believed me, because that means I played a good game”.

The best example of these ‘alliances’ being made of lies, comes from the book of Helaman, when the prophet Nephi is lamenting the people’s wickedness on his garden tower and the people wonder what he’s doing.  He tells them in chapter 8 (among other things) to “go ye into the judgment seat, and search, and behold your judge is murdered, and he lieth in his blood; and he hath been murdered by his brother who seeketh to sit in the judgment seat.  That pretty much sums up the whole reason that alliances don’t last – because everyone that belongs to that alliance is after the same thing – power (or in this case, the judgment seat).   Yet Nephi continues “behold, they both belong to your secret band”.   What?  How is this possible?  How is it that everyone in our secret little band is not loyal to the cause?  Especially to one’s own brother within the secret band…oh yeah, it’s because every single person who belongs to our secret little band wants to be in charge of our secret little band, and as soon as they see a window of opportunity – they will throw their ‘oaths’ out the window and do whatever they can for their own individual benefit.

The hard part is trying to figure out how they ever think their deception and scheme will last.  They were part of the same ‘alliances’ when they schemed to murder the chief judge, but somehow think that other ‘alliances’ within their overall alliance will somehow stop trying to ‘get gain’ once they have become the chief judge.  Only to be disappointed (put this cycle on repeat) because the people in this alliance are only interested in themselves.  Shocker right? Yet, we see it over and over again and we want to scream at the TV or the book – how did you not see this coming?

These secret bands are the people who will do “all in their power, by whatever means available, to bring us down, to woo the people with sophistry, and to take control of the society”. 2   These are the people that will step on others to get on top.  These are the people that will say anything and everything (knowing full well that it’s not true) in order to get ‘followers’ or people to believe in their cause, their projects, or their purposes (code for give them money), while having completely different intentions all along the way.   These are the people that do not care for the blood of their followers.  And, if we think that secret bands or alliances are only to be found in reality TV game shows, we are naïve.  These secret bands are found everywhere in life.  They have been for a long time (see Moses 5:51) and they are among us now (see Ether 8:20).

It seems so easy for us to see these things playing out when we read them in the Book of Mormon, or we watch big brother on TV, but for some reason it is a bit more difficult when we are ‘in the game’.  Somehow we miss the ‘tells’ or some of the seemingly insignificant things that help us realize that these groups may not actually have our best interests at heart.  In fact, they may be out to abuse us entirely – regardless of what their slogan(s) or outward appearances may be.   When we watch the game from the outside – we are able to see the true intent of the schemers, and wonder with that same prophet Nephi – “HOW could [these participants] have given way to the enticing of him who is seeking to hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery and endless wo?”… “Behold, he shall scatter you forth that ye shall become meat for dogs and wild beasts” (Hel. 7: 16-21).  How indeed.  Doesn’t everyone know that Satan an his followers do not have good intentions – despite what they are telling you?  Somehow everyone seems to miss it – perhaps because we are trying so hard to ‘play the game’ to get our own schemes in place – that we miss out on the fact that we’ve been hooked.   How many movies have this as a premise?  Lots.

This same amazing prophet (Nephi), includes a phrase that I absolutely love in verse 25 of chapter 7 (still in Helaman) which says “wo be unto you because of that great abomination which has come among you; and ye have united yourselves unto it, yea, to that secret band…”.  I cringe when I think of all of us who are so busy getting on with life, constantly making choices, choosing sides on hot button issues within and without the church, aligning ourselves with the ‘right’ people, groups, or activities (playing the game of life) only to realize that the greatest evil in the entire world (that great abomination) has quietly come among us and has become the most pervasive thoughts, groups, organization, or ideas in our society and not only have we allowed it, but we have ‘united ourselves unto it’ because they sounded so reasonable and logical (not to mention the social pressure, conforming thoughts and the widespread acceptance they receive).  What an awful thought.  Imagine sitting on the wrong side of that eviction (after being completely blindsided) and wondering how this all came to be (asking yourself – what happened?).

So, let us have ‘eyes to see’ so that we “suffer not that these combinations get above [us], which are built up to get power and gain.  When we shall see these things come among us (and they are among us now), that we shall awake to a sense of our awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among us…. For whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies.” 3  

Let us not think that these groups, people, ideas, organizations, thoughts, etc. will be labeled as clearly as we would hope.  No doubt they will come packaged in very enticing ways that seem to fit the mold of goodness and justice and rights and fairness and privileges.  They will all claim to be good, and they will all claim to lead us to safety.  Let us be ever dependent upon the spirit and the truth, and the chosen leaders of the church.

Notes

1 When you read these chapters, I have found it very helpful to see the ‘types’.  For example, Amalickiah is a fascinating ‘type’ for Satan and how he fought in the premortal world, and how he works today, and Moroni is a type for Christ and/or Michael in leading the forces against Satan both then and now.  I think we can learn a lot by assuming that these ‘types’ are some of the reasons the war chapters are included in the Book of Mormon for us to read – today.

2 Gordon B. Hinckley, ‘The Times in Which We Live’ – January 2002

3 See Ether 8 (the whole chapter)