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Dreams Bay

Dreams

Essays

False Love and Toxic Peacemaking

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by

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The organizers of organized religion seem to be trying to push upon the world the idea that: we cannot judge or criticize or oppose anybody ever because Jesus said we should love our enemies. So, let’s scrutinize this.

First of all, yes, this view does have an element of truth: we are commanded to love and forgive our enemies, revile not against those who revile us, not judge others, and try to be peacemakers. But in 2026, every Christian over the age of 5 years old already knows this, so I won’t bore you with the details (I do however provide scriptures for these points in The Commandments).

The problem is that this idea – if taken too far – can be used to pressure us into giving ground to the enemy. And if this enemy is the enemy to all that is lovely and virtuous, even all civilization – even the author of sin, the devil – who was a liar from the beginning, who convinced man to first commit murder and stone the prophets, and who seeks to bring misery and corruption upon all God’s creation, then this starts to become problematic.

To be honest, the idea that striving against evil is wrong because we should always instead seek middle ground and peace seems extremely ungrateful towards all of our fallen American soldiers and police officers. These heroes and patriots willingly gave their lives so that we could feel safe going to sleep at night and be free from oppression, for people who they likely never even met (hence the picture at the top). But I am jumping ahead of myself.

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin

How do we resolve the responsibility to oppose evil with the command to love our enemies and not judge others? Simple: love the sinner but hate the sin.

If people are trying to do things that are bad, we should try to stop them – not because we hate them as a person, but because we hate what they are doing. If someone is sinning, we should encourage them to stop sinning – not because we are judging them to be an intrinsically bad person, but because we are trying to help them and know that sin separates us from God. If someone is squatting in your house, you can kick him out. Not because you hate them as a person, but because squatting is illegal and wrong.

Indeed, loving all people, but hating all sin, are two sides of the same gospel coin, and to only teach one side is to teach a half-truth and a half-gospel. Here are some scriptures authenticating that we should hate sin, and this isn’t a violation against the commandments about being nice:

Revelation 2:6
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

Hebrews 1:9
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Romans 12:9
9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Amos 5:15
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Proverbs 8:13
13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Psalm 5:5
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Psalm 11:5
5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Jesus Being Rude to People

If we are permitted to hate sin, then how should we treat people who are openly and unapologetically sinning and blocking the progress of God’s kingdom? Well, if we follow Jesus’s example, the answer is: we do not have to be nice to these people, and can attack them both verbally and physically. Of course, we don’t do this out of a spirit of spite or malice, but rather because we seek to diminish their power to bring evil to the world. And indeed, I think it is perfectly possible to simultaneously love somebody while still trying to diminish their influence on the world in a bold and forceful fashion. So here are examples of Jesus being like this:

Criticizing the Pharisees

John 8:44
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Matthew 23 – in the whole chapter, Jesus criticizes the pharisees, here is a snippet.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
…33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Cleansing the Temple

John 2:13–15
13 ¶ And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Contradictions

The scriptures I have shared thus far may seem to contradict what we find in Matthew 5:38-44:
38 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
…43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

It’s unfortunate that this scripture seems a bit unclear in 2026, but at the time when Jesus spoke it, the Jews would have understood what he meant: you see, in their time they believed in lex talionis – or an “eye for an eye” – which came from Deuteronomy 19:21. Though to us this law may seem cruel, ironically it was initially established to limit violence and revenge, thus preventing escalating cycles of revenge and family feuds.

So, in this scripture, Jesus is revoking the idea that we should treat others with this “eye for an eye” mindset – meaning that we shouldn’t exact personal vengeance upon those who do us evil. This doesn’t mean that the legal system cannot punish criminals or that we cannot defend ourselves. But it does mean that if someone personally hurts us, we shouldn’t go out of our way to personal hurt them back in revenge – as we are commanded to love even our enemies.

And just to be clear, Jesus definitely didn’t mean here that we aren’t allowed to defend ourselves. Otherwise we wouldn’t have Luke 22:36, which reads:

Luke 22:36
36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

What then did he mean when he said to allow enemies to smite you on the right cheek? Well, in the ancient world, the left hand would have been considered unclean and thus any strikes would have been done with the right hand. Thus, for someone to strike your right check would require a backhanded slap. If someone backhanded slaps you, they typically aren’t intending to immediately rob you or kill you, though they might be trying to bate you into a fight with them. And so in such cases, we should just back off instead of continuing the fight (do not revile against those who revile you – 1 Peter 2:23, D&C 19:30, D&C 31:9, D&C 98:23–24).

[Credit for these ideas on Matthew 5:39 from this essay.]

Indeed, if Jesus intended for us to just meekly go along with and support all evil that we encounter, we wouldn’t find this fiery verse just a few verses before Matthew 5:39 in the same chapter:

Matthew 5:19-20
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus Brings a Sword, not Peace

Yes, we sometimes are supposed to be peacemakers. However, the world will always oppose the true Gospel. So, if you are totally at peace with the world, then you are doing something wrong and your brand of Christianity is too soft, as seen in this scripture:

Matthew 10:34-36
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Exposing works of Darkness

One prominent way in which we are actually not supposed to be peacemakers is when dealing with the workers of darkness. The scriptures don’t tell us to find a middle ground with darkness, but rather to expose it and have no friendship with it. We see this in Ephesians 5:11:
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

The Nicolaitans

Another example of where we shouldn’t be peacemakers is with the Nicolaitans. According to Revelations 2, the Lord was pleased with the church of Ephesus because “thou [the Church] hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (verse 6). By contrast, in verse 15, we find that the Lord is displeased with the church of Pergamos because “So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate”. And just to emphasize, when it says “hast thou”, it is saying that this church has the Nicolaitans, or that Pergamos is allowing the Nicolaitans into itself, a thing which alarms the Lord.

What then do we know about the Nicolaitans? Per Irenaeus, “they lead lives of unrestrained indulgence” and for them “it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery” (source).

The meaning of this scripture is that, when dealing with people who unapologetically sin, the Lord doesn’t want us to be best buddies with them. Instead, we should hate their deeds and not allow them into our churches to influence our children. The way I interpret this is: it might be true that in some circumstances we can allow unapologetic sinners to enter our churches simply as listeners. But, if they become more than listeners and start subverting our doctrines, or even worse, we allow them to become the teachers, then there is a problem [and to note: for people who are not unapologetic sinners, it would be weird for us to treat them as if they are in this group].

Rebuking Sinners to Set an Example

The scriptures also tell us to publicly rebuke those who greatly sin. If you purely were seeking the middle ground and to be a peace maker, of course you wouldn’t do this. So, I guess the commandment to be peacemakers doesn’t apply when you are dealing with evil or black and white issues.

1 Timothy 5:20
20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Titus 1:12-13
12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

Calling People to Repentance

Another example of where we should not strictly be peacemakers is when calling people to repentance. Per the scriptures, when we see others sin, we should call them to repentance. Yes, doing this will have a social cost and will likely cause contention. But saving their eternal souls is worth it, and we actually are taught that if we fail to warn others of their sins, then their sins will fall upon our own heads.

From the eternal perspective, helping a sinner to repent will infinitely benefit them more than momentarily letting them feel good about themselves. Thus, if we fail to warn our friends against sin, then we don’t truly love them, and rather are just trying to get something out of them.

Ezekiel 3:18–19
18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

James 5:19-20
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

2 Timothy 4:2
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Further scriptures: (Mark 6:12, Ezekiel 33:8–9, Luke 24:46–47, Matthew 28:19–20, Alma 29:9, Mosiah 28:3)

Jesus sets us at Variance against the World

The overall pattern I have observed is:

  1. The world does things that are evil
  2. Christians oppose these things because they are evil.
  3. A bunch of false teachers start complaining that Christians should be peace makers, and so shouldn’t criticize anything.
  4. Christians back off, and Satan is able to succeed in doing whatever he was trying to do.
  5. To prevent Christians from waking up, Satan uses his influence to convince Christians that being friends with the world is good, as it makes you nice. An example of this type of subversion can be found in the film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

We can see this in mainly in how being LGBT was normalized and legalized. But most elements of politics can also be seen in this frame. We also can see this in the corruption of media in our society:

  1. A film or game is released by people who have made bad decisions which allow Satan to have an influence on their thinking.
  2. The media has weird and creepy things which contribute to the moral corruption and or loss of faith of the youth.
  3. Saints start criticizing the media.
  4. A bunch of useful idiots start telling them that they need to stop being critical because as Christians we are supposed to be “peace makers”.
  5. The media reaches a wide body of youth, thus decreasing the faith of the youth and the influence that Satan has over the world.

Note: a great YouTube channel that exposes the evil in our media is Taylor Alesia.

In summary, we receive so many scriptures about how we are enemies with the world to prevent pressure from the world from subverting our doctrines and morality. Just look at all of them:

James 4:4
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Revelation 3:15–16
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Deporting Various Peoples

* The liar, Satan, is expert at weaponizing people’s desire to do good and be merciful to instead help accomplish his evil plans.

If you have read my essay Democrats Import Voters, and my other essays on politics, you will know that unrestricted mass migration from third world countries destabilizes western civilization. Only people who are dumb or people who are from third world countries or people whose God is not my God would support open borders and getting rid of immigration enforcement.

And so it is funny when people who are not truly Christians themselves try to use Christianity against Christians so that they can destroy the societies of Christians. Which occurs when they release rhetoric about how deportation is anti-Christian.

Firstly, according to the scriptures, we should be subject to earthly governors, who do indeed have the authority to enforce laws (Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1, 1 Peter 2:13–17). And illegal immigration is against the law, and has always been, and there is not even a single country in the world that does not have laws restricting immigration. So just by this we know that we are allowed to enforce our borders.

But what’s more is that in the Bible we find many accounts where groups who are contrary to God’s will are deported, and this is written as a good and awesome thing.

Deporting Witches and Sorcerers

1 Samuel 28:3
…And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

2 Kings 23:24
24 ¶ Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

Deporting Gay People

1 Kings 15:12
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

1 Kings 22:46
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

2 Kings 23:7
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

The Book of Mormon

Much of this more militant form of Christianity of which I have been espousing actually comes from the Book of Mormon. For those who don’t believe in the book of Mormon or who think it is evil or something, I have tried to prove it is true and address your concerns in these two essays:

Responsibility to Overthrow Secret Combinations from our Land

One of the most interesting doctrines of the Book of Mormon is that the gentiles in the last days will have such a big problem with secret combinations (or what we would nowadays call “conspiracies”) that the sword of justice hangs above their head for their dark works. As seen in Ether 8:18–26, quoted below, the gentiles have a responsibility to root out these secret combinations, otherwise their civilization will be destroyed. And just a hint, these prophecies also imply that the gentiles will fail and be destroyed, as discussed in Why The Mormon Church Might Be Deceived (Part 3 – Prophecies within LDS Scripture). But my point here is that: when dealing with secret combinations, our modus operandi should not be to take the “middle position” and be “peace makers”. Rather, we should militantly be trying to destroy these secret societies and punish their members for their crimes – because if we are not able to do so, God will destroy our entire nation.

Mormon 8:27 – The last days will have a problem with secret combinations.

2 Nephi 26:20-22 – The gentiles will have problems with secret combinations during the last days.

3 Nephi 4:28, 3 Nephi 5:5-6, Helaman 6:20, & Helaman 6:37 – Members of Secret Combinations should be punished by the law for their many crimes.

Ether 8:18–26 (for brevity, I won’t quote the whole chapter, but it has a lot of really good segments outside the snippet below).
22 And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
…25 For it cometh to pass that 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; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.

I believe the following framework illustrates how Satan uses the unwillingness to fight evil among Christians to infiltrate and take over the churches:

  1. A worker of Satan partially infiltrates a Church.
  2. He does weird things, drawing criticism.
  3. Everyone who exposes the weird things he does is shushed and told that they need to become peace makers.
  4. Every single person the worker of Satan promotes in the Church is a fellow worker of Satan, and these workers of Satan all secretly work together to recommend and promote each other up the ranks.
  5. Nothing bad would ever have happened if the normal Christians had allowed themselves to be able to be reasoned with – instead of instantly shutting down any criticism as “stirring up contention”.
  6. This whole process is greatly accelerated when Satan uses his servants to exclusively discuss “not being contentious” in Church and never discuss any of the other scriptures such as those regarding the uncovering of the works of darkness.

We should resist evil. Either with our words, or if necessary with our swords.

This scripture from the Book of Mormon conveys my philosophy excellently. Basically, it tells us that we should resist evil verbally and if necessary with violent force. Moreover, it elaborates that doing this is part of faith: faith isn’t merely believing that God will take away our troubles, rather it is trusting in God that he will deliver us when we go to war against the enemy. And so, we demonstrate our faith by acting to vanquish evil.

Alma 61:13-14
13 But behold he doth not command us that we shall subject ourselves to our enemies, but that we should put our trust in him, and he will deliver us.
14 Therefore, my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God.

Even the Least Degree of Allowance Towards Sin

We also find in the book of Mormon that we are not supposed to entertain even the least degree of sin. Thus, when dealing with evil, we shouldn’t try to compromise or make peace; rather, we should go completely against the evil until it is gone.

Alma 45:16
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

A bunch of Christians are probably saying that this goes against grace, so let me clarify: This verse isn’t saying that we are saved by our works or by being perfect (no one is without sin except Jesus), because it is understood that we can completely get rid of sin from ourselves through grace. Thus, if we access the transformative power of grace, the Lord, when he sees us, will indeed find us to be completely spotless. And just remember, the Bible says exactly the same thing as the Book of Mormon in this regard:

Revelation 21:27
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Ephesians 5:5
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

James 2:10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Isaiah 35:8
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

* I discuss all this a lot more in The Atonement as a Blood Transfusion and Hyper-Grace is Wrong and Following the Commandments / Works Matter.

Beyond salvation, we also learn from the Book of Mormon that we must strive to completely disagree with sin because the holy spirit doesn’t dwell in unholy temples:

Helaman 4:24 (see also 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 which has the same message)
24 And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples.

Moroni

One of the most awesome characters in the Book of Mormon to express my above ideology is Moroni, who was a battle chief and saint heavily inspired by God.

Responsibility to Defend Your Country

Moroni emphasized that we have a divine duty to defend our nation against evil even unto bloodshed. Thus, those who refuse to fight evil, for whatever reason, perhaps calling themselves peace makers, are not actually “the good guys”. Instead, they simply have been deceived into becoming lukewarm and good for nothing.

Alma 60 – the whole chapter covers this topic, but for brevity here are a few selected verses:

5 But behold, great has been the slaughter among our people; yea, thousands have fallen by the sword, while it might have otherwise been if ye had rendered unto our armies sufficient strength and succor for them. Yea, great has been your neglect towards us.
…7 Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren.
…10 And now, my beloved brethren—for ye ought to be beloved; yea, and ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people; but behold, ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance; yea, for known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings—
11 Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain.
…19 Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies?
…21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?
22 Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?
23 Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.

And just to be clear: yes, we are allowed to defend ourselves unto bloodshed – read Alma 43:46–47.

Blocking dissenters from fleeing to land northward

The account of Moroni also justifies military action taken by the saints. We should have already known this from the many military commandments contained in the Old Testament, but people tend to ignore the Old Testament, so it is good to find a different record from a different place saying the same thing.

I guess I should provide a little context on Nephite history so that this all makes sense: Moroni was a Nephite, and the Nephites were generally the people who held the Gospel. For most of their history, they warred against the Lamanites, who generally were murderous and wicked, as they did not have the Gospel. But their history more was of a repeated retreat farther and farther up north away from the Lamanites, as the Lamanites were much more numerous than the Nephites, and often times during wars, the Nephites would retreat into their northernmost lands while they fought to reclaim their territory farther south. Importantly, many of the largest wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites were actually caused by “Nephite dissenters” – former Nephites who got angry at the larger body of Nephites, so joined the Lamanites and then persuaded the Lamanites to fight against the Nephites (in my view, parallels between the Nephite dissenters getting aide from the Lamanites can be seen in US politics today in how people from 3rd world countries are brought here for political purposes – see Democrats Import Voters).

So with that context, in this section, Moroni stops Morianton (a Nephite dissenter) from fleeing up into the narrow passage leading up into the northern wilderness. Moroni did this because if Morianton was allowed to settle up there, he would then be able to completely block any ability for the Nephites to flee from the Lamanites through the narrow pass up further north (as they had hitherto done during conflict). This then would allow Morianton to ally himself with the Lamanites and together surround and destroy the Nephites.

Here are the verses illustrating all this:

Alma 50:29-33
29 Therefore, Morianton put it into their hearts that they should flee to the land which was northward, which was covered with large bodies of water, and take possession of the land which was northward.
…32 Now behold, the people who were in the land Bountiful, or rather Moroni, feared that they would hearken to the words of Morianton and unite with his people, and thus he would obtain possession of those parts of the land, which would lay a foundation for serious consequences among the people of Nephi, yea, which consequences would lead to the overthrow of their liberty.
33 Therefore Moroni sent an army, with their camp, to head the people of Morianton, to stop their flight into the land northward.

So why do I bring this up? Because many believe that Christians can never fight, or if they do fight it can only be under very specific defensive conditions. However, this scripture shows this is not always the case: if there is a land that is critical for foreign policy, it is OK for the saints to offensively interact with that land, even if they don’t already live in it. I suppose a modern equivalent would be a Christian country using military force to keep the straits of Hormuz open.

Deporting Lamanites from the East and West Wilderness, and then settling those lands

Another example of this type of offensive behavior can be found when Moroni deported the Lamanites out of parts of the surrounding wilderness. Again, just to provide further context: basically, Moroni was trying to create a straight-line border between the Nephites and the Lamanites from the sea east and the sea west, thus making it easier for the Nephites to defend themselves. By taking this area of wilderness away from the Lamanites, Moroni made it more difficult for the Lamanites to penetrate deeply into the Nephite heartland or block their northern avenue of escape.

Why does this matter? Because it proves that it is indeed sometimes OK for the saints to offensively take over lands, deport the former inhabitants of said lands, and colonize those lands, as long as there are very good strategic reasons for why this is necessary.

Here is the scripture in question:

Alma 50:7-14
7 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his armies should go forth into the east wilderness; yea, and they went forth and drove all the Lamanites who were in the east wilderness into their own lands, which were south of the land of Zarahemla.
…9 And it came to pass that when Moroni had driven all the Lamanites out of the east wilderness, which was north of the lands of their own possessions, he caused that the inhabitants who were in the land of Zarahemla and in the land round about should go forth into the east wilderness, even to the borders by the seashore, and possess the land.
…11 And thus he cut off all the strongholds of the Lamanites in the east wilderness, yea, and also on the west, fortifying the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites, between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi, from the west sea, running by the head of the river Sidon—the Nephites possessing all the land northward, yea, even all the land which was northward of the land Bountiful, according to their pleasure.
…13 And it came to pass that the Nephites began the foundation of a city, and they called the name of the city Moroni; and it was by the east sea; and it was on the south by the line of the possessions of the Lamanites.
14 And they also began a foundation for a city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron, joining the borders of Aaron and Moroni; and they called the name of the city, or the land, Nephihah.

Moroni was Awesome

Finally, I just want to emphasize that the Book of Mormon really, really likes captain Moroni. It goes so far as to say that if all people were like Moroni, then Satan’s influence over the world would be destroyed. So, let us be like Morni and fight evil, rather than cower and compromise with the enemy of our souls.

Alma 48:11-17
11 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;
12 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.
…17 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.

Conclusions

Hopefully this essay establishes the scriptural precedent that we have a responsibility to fight evil. Yes, we are also supposed to be kind and loving and forgiving and reasonable and peacemakers. But when we are dealing with things that are truly evil – meaning they will cause harm upon the world unless they are stopped – then the prerogative becomes to stop them via whatever means necessary, for the sake of all the innocents that would otherwise be harmed.

I think all of this is easier to understand with respect to the position of pre-mortal souls. If you are a soul in heaven waiting for an opportunity to be sent to earth and receive a body, of course you wouldn’t want to be born into a family full of contention, led by parents who are not peacemakers and instead are impolite and cruel. But that doesn’t mean you want to live in a society full of people who are push-overs and never willing to stand against evil either – because if that was the case, then the forces of evil would easily conquer the planet and put all humanity into slavery.

Thus, ultimately, our goal should be to have good discernment between things that are truly evil and things with which can be reasoned. Let us all be peacemakers during the good days when we are not up against the forces of darkness, but let us be fighters when the time comes to make a stand against the enemy to our souls, even that same enemy who seeks to tear down all civilization. Or in other words, let us become the heroes that that the helpless and innocent need most to bring about a better future for all of God’s elect – whether already on earth, or as yet unborn.

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