On the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles, where I was studying when this episode happened. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
One day, when I was teaching the Gospel Doctrine (adult Sunday School) class in the old Mar Vista Ward of the Santa Monica California Stake, the bishop asked me to come to his office after church.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I walked in and sat down, he told me that a small delegation of older sisters \u2014 two, or possibly three \u2014 had come to him to complain that I was teaching \u201csecular humanism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
At first, I was puzzled by what in the world they meant. \u00a0I consider myself very much a \u201chumanist.\u201d \u00a0I always have. \u00a0But I\u2019m a religious<\/em> humanist, not a secular<\/em> one. \u00a0So what had upset these sisters?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Very quickly, though, I figured it out.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
That day, I had taught a lesson about the book of Alma\u2019s \u201cCaptain Moroni.\u201d \u00a0I had suggested that, a great warrior, he had possessed thumos<\/em> (\u03b8\u03c5\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2), \u201cspiritedness,\u201d of the kind ascribed to the \u201cguardians\u201d in Plato\u2019s Republic<\/em>. \u00a0It\u2019s a quality of passion, even of occasional righteous indignation, that makes for a fighter, a good soldier. \u00a0But it\u2019s not always ideal for diplomacy. \u00a0And I cited two cases from Moroni\u2019s biography where his temper had gotten in the way of what he himself was trying to accomplish:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n- \u00a0In Alma 54-55, Ammoron and Moroni set out to negotiate a prisoner exchange. \u00a0Ammoron had proposed it, but Moroni had immediately seen that such an exchange would be in his and his people\u2019s interest. \u00a0Nevertheless, his response to Ammoron\u2019s proposal was angry and indignant and, in the end, the exchange didn\u2019t happen.<\/li>\n
- In Alma 59-62, a fascinating exchange of letters occurs between Moroni, the chief field commander of the Nephite armies, and Pahoran, the chief Nephite judge, whose seat is in the capital city of Zarahemla. \u00a0There had already been complaints from Moroni\u2019s subordinate commanders about a lack of personnel and material support from the civilian authorities, and now Moroni himself writes to complain. \u00a0It\u2019s threatening to undo their military victories and weaken their defense of the Nephite people. \u00a0At first, Moroni admits that he doesn\u2019t know what is causing the problem. \u00a0By the end of that very letter, though, his indignation on the rise, he\u2019s suggesting that Pahoran is a traitor and is threatening to march against him. \u00a0 Pahoran isn\u2019t<\/em> a traitor, of course, and he responds magnanimously and, yes, diplomatically, to Moroni\u2019s angry letter. \u00a0Once again, though, we\u2019ve seen Moroni\u2019s thumos<\/em> get the better of what Plato might have called his nous <\/em>(\u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2), his \u201creason\u201d or \u201cintellect.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s plain that Mormon admires Moroni enormously. \u00a0\u201cYea, verily, verily I say unto you,\u201d he writes at Alma 48:17, \u201cif all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni,\u00a0behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil\u00a0would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.\u201d \u00a0He even names his own son after the earlier Moroni.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he provides us an honest account of a very great man who had human flaws.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I admire that. \u00a0And it strengthens my confidence in the Book of Mormon. \u00a0Moroni isn\u2019t two dimensional, a stick figure, a simplistic caricature, a stained glass image of a saint. \u00a0He\u2019s a real and complex human being. \u00a0The story in which he figures is a real historical account.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Account to be continued.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 One day, when I was teaching the Gospel Doctrine (adult Sunday School) class in the old Mar Vista Ward of the Santa Monica California Stake, the bishop asked me to come to his office after church. \u00a0 When I walked in and sat down, he told me that a small delegation of older […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>