Against Nothing

By Matt Palmer

          I choose to be against nothing. I consider intentional opposition a waste of time and effort. I believe it to be a spiritually deleterious practice. Instead, I choose to live for something.

          Captain Moroni thrived in conflict. Most of what we know about him concerns his successful defense against Lamanite aggression into Nephite lands. Surely, if anyone stood against someone or something successfully, it’s Captain Moroni, right? Yet, Captain Moroni was never against the Lamanites. Yes, he physically resisted them as opponents in war. But he was not motivated by what he was against.

Moroni’s title of liberty read: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.” Mormon said of Moroni: “he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, and their children, and their peace, and that they might live unto the Lord their God, and that they might maintain that which was called  by their enemies the cause of Christians” (Alma 48:10). Moroni lived for these things, and these values brought him into conflict with the Lamanites and his own people. But he was not fighting against these people. He was fighting to uphold his own chosen values of liberty and freedom of worship, which were endangered by aggression from within and without Nephite society.

In his epistle to Pahoran, Moroni threatened to topple the Nephite government to root out what he mistakenly believed to be carelessness and selfishness in Pahoran’s administration. Mind how Moroni voiced his plans:

I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom, yea, if there be even a spark of freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct. Behold, I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear and it is according to his commandments that  I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered so much loss.

Alma 60:27-28

Moroni closes his epistle with this: “Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.” (Alma 60:36)

The distinction between Moroni being for freedom as opposed to being against power may seem like hair splitting. But in Moroni, we see someone deeply committed to his values, even under the most difficult circumstances. After Moroni and Pahoran’s successful revanche in Zarahemla, many of the insurrectionist king-men were put to death, but only “whosoever would not take up arms in the defense of their country, but would fight against it” (Alma 62:9). These men stole the Nephite throne in a time of war, causing incredible hardship and unnecessary death. After defeating them in battle, Moroni and Pahoran gave them a chance to continue in freedom with them, apparently even fighting alongside them in the struggle for freedom during that time. The same mercy was extended to an earlier group of king-men dissenters who had taken up arms against the cause of freedom under Amalickiah (Alma 46:35).

The Lamanite army was given similar treatment. After Lamanite prisoners of war expressed a desire to live in a freer land and join the Nephites, we read that “as many as were desirous, unto them it was granted according to their desires” (Alma 62:28). Moroni was never simply against the Lamanites or the king-men. After he had removed any impediments to freedom, Moroni ceased all contention and embraced any who would share those values. Indeed, so sensitive was Moroni’s conscience, that he deliberated over the propriety of defeating the Lamanite armies by stratagem. Moroni “knowing that it was the only desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their liberty, and their church, therefore he thought it no sin that he should defend them by stratagem” (Alma 43:30).

On the other hand, consider the man who once served as Moroni’s opposition, Amalickiah. Amalickiah lived in opposition to the Nephites and their desire for freedom. After Helaman set out to preach the word of God to the Nephites, a band of dissenters rejected Helaman’s teachings, “being lifted up in their hearts, because of their exceedingly great riches; therefore they grew rich in their own eyes, and would not give heed to their words, to walk uprightly before God” (Alma 45:24). These men, led by Amalickiah, “gathered together against their brethren” (Alma 46:1). Amalickiah sought 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” (Alma 46:10). Perhaps it is significant that Amalickiah’s initial sin was that of pride in his riches, where he saw his own value in opposition to those who had less wealth and status than he had obtained.

After Amalickiah fled Nephite territory due to his failed insurrection, he continued his quest to destroy the Nephite government with the Lamanites. In order to persuade the Lamanites to embark on their war of aggression into Nephite lands, Amalickiah began his efforts as king with a massive, state-sponsored propaganda campaign.

it came to pass that, as soon as Amalickiah had obtained the kingdom he began to inspire the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi, yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites. And thus he did inspire their hearts against the Nephites, insomuch that … he sought to reign over all the land…. Therefore, he had accomplished his design, for he had hardened the hearts of the Lamanites and blinded their minds, and stirred them up to anger, insomuch that he had gathered together a numerous host to go to battle against the Nephites

Alma 48:1-2

It is quite telling that Amalickiah was unable to get the Lamanites to commit the grievous sin of aggressive violence, risking their lives and fortunes to attack the Nephites, without first persuading them to change their mindset to one of opposition to the Nephites.

After Amalickiah’s army failed to sack the city of Noah, Mormon records that “he was exceedingly angry with his people, because he had not obtained his desire over the Nephites; he had not subjected them to the yoke of bondage. Yea, he was exceedingly wroth, and he did curse God, and also Moroni, swearing with an oath that he would drink his blood; and this because Moroni had kept the commandments of God in preparing for the safety of his people” (Alma 49:26-27). Mormon immediately contrasts this mindset with that of the Nephites: “on the other hand, the people of Nephi did thank the Lord their God, because of his matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies” (Alma 49:28).

One name by which we call Lucifer is “the adversary.” Lucifer’s primary motivation is to resist, to be against God. He is the necessary opposition that seeks to thwart the work of God, the foil to the narratives of the righteous. God’s motivations, on the other hand, are expressed in purely positive terms: “for behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world would through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). God is for His children’s ascension. Lucifer is against God, and thus seeks to frustrate His work.

Our culture is rife with antagonism. So much of our political discourse is dedicated to scoring points against the other party or candidate rather than articulating a good vision of what their government could be. People lose their faith and spend their efforts attacking the church they have left rather than seeking something they find to be superior. We protest and counter-protest each other without making any attempts to understand each other.

So what? Is there a real difference between being against oppression and being in favor of freedom, like Moroni? Come and see. Try seeking light instead of rejecting darkness. Foment charity in your home, instead of merely resisting contention. Embrace chastity, instead of being against licentiousness and concupiscence. Run toward the Lord, not just away from Babylon. Sincerely pursue Christ with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, and everything else will fall into place.

If we find ourselves merely against something or someone, we may find ourselves controlled by our own opposition, as we think only in terms relative to things we oppose. Pursing righteousness for its own sake, however, decouples us from wickedness by necessity, and we may focus only on walking the path we have chosen for ourselves, embracing more fully our God-given agency. It is sufficient to choose what you want to live for. Then there is no need to be against anything.

Joseph Smith phrased this way of thinking perfectly in the 13^th Article of Faith: “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say with we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

There can be a profound difference in choosing to live for something positive. We don’t need to be against the world. We can deliberately choose our most important values and seek to build them as strengths in ourselves. We can seek after Christ with the intent of hearing and following Him, and we will find Him. So, I am against nothing. But I am for Christ, and that is all I need.