The “Title of Liberty,” like the Good Samaritan, proclaimed the cause of the outcast and downtrodden against “the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and authority, yea, even those king-men” (Alma 60:17).” — Hugh Nibley
In the Book of Mormon there is constant tension between the rich and “high born” and the “despised” poor. On more than one occasion, the “king-men” take over the elected government and proceed to reward their friends, corrupt the courts, and eliminate the regulations that protect the people.
One such king-man, Amalickiah, rose from among those who were “exceedingly wroth” “because of their exceedingly great riches” and “was desirous to be a king” (Alma 45:22-24 through Alma 46:1-9). He used a combination of flattery and promoting dissension to persuade people to support his ambitions.
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. (Alma 46:10)
And there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah. (Alma 46:7)
On hearing of the efforts of Amalickiah to take over the government, Moroni, the chief captain of the army, rallied the people of the church to repent and rise up to oppose the king-men. Republicans have long twisted the meaning of these events. Moroni did not raise the Title of Liberty to overthrow the elected, democratic government, but to defend it. And it was the freemen, like Moroni, Pahoran, and Helaman, not the king-men, who created and defended government regulations, because regulations create a level playing field that leads to prosperity for all (Alma 62:47-48).
Our times are no less perilous than Moroni’s day. The parallels between these Book of Mormon warnings and the present situation couldn’t be more clear. Where is our Moroni come to rally the people against the king-men who have taken over our government? Who is warning the members of the Church to not support those politicians who steal from the poor to give to the rich, who tear children from their mothers, and who eliminate regulations that protect workers, consumers, and the environment?
Many Saints mistakenly saw Mitt Romney in the role of Moroni in the 2012 Presidential election. But the recording of him saying, “My job is not to worry about those people” (The poorest 47 percent of Americans!), revealed that he is clearly one of the king-men. Also his political positions have always been hard to pin down. He changes his colors like a chameleon to whatever position best helps himself. Currently, as a US Senate candidate in Utah, he is again supportive of Trump.
LDS Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) briefly flirted with the idea of standing up to Trump. He said enough to doom his chances of re-election (among the right-wing Republican primary voters in his state), but when it came time to vote on tax cuts for the rich, and putting a partisan bully on the Supreme Court, Flake fell into line with his party.
Perhaps we have no Moroni today because our times are more similar to 3 Nephi 7 (complete destruction of the government) than they are to Alma 46 (initial defeat and banishment of Amalickiah). If this is the case, the need for the Latter-day Saints to repent and stop supporting the king-men is even more desperate.
Tomorrow let us all “gird on our armor” and defeat the king-men at the polls!
Source: “Freemen and King-men in the Book of Mormon,” Hugh Nibley, Chapter 17, The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Deseret Book Company, 1989.
Good to point out that word regulations on Alma.