Tuesday, February 23, 2016

We must stop Trump before it is too late

The Book of Mormon warns us of times like these. Most importantly, the Savior warned us about the spirit of contention:
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil...behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away. (3 Nephi 11:29-30)
Further, throughout the entire Book of Mormon, there is a continuous theme of "stirring up to anger" for the express purpose of gaining political power. There is Amalickiah (Alma 46:30; 48:3), the Amalekites who were Nephite dissenters (Alma 27:2), Amlici (Alma 2:8), the Zoramites (Alma 35:10), and more. What you will notice from each of these examples is that in each instance "stirring up to anger" was used as a means to an end. When used skillfully, it is a very powerful tool for influencing politics. But it is also extremely dangerous. The great Nephite-Lamanite war recorded in the Book of Alma came because Amalickiah used this method, as did many other needless conflicts.

Whoever Donald Trump may be personally, the fact is that his rise to political power has been fueled by his ability to harness contention. This video gives a good introduction to how this has played out so far.



In such an important election as this one, we have a duty to make sure that such things are "done away." I think it is safe to assume that we, as a people, understand this principle better than the population at large. Because of this, we must take a leading role in the fight against those candidates who gain their power by stirring up to anger. The chiefest of these is Donald Trump. We were given the Book of Mormon for a reason, and perhaps now is one of the times we were meant to use that knowledge. The best way to stop him is to vigorously support a candidate who has better values AND who has a good chance of winning.


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