Alma 53-54

(April 29, 2015)

                There were two thoughts that I had as I read through these chapters.  The first was on Moroni, and his actions in judging Ammoron.  It would seem, at first glance, that calling someone a child of Hell is a deviation from the instruction to judge not.  But somehow it must be reconcilable, and I think that it comes down to the type of judgment being entered into.

                Moroni was not judging someone as beyond redemption, but rather that the person was clearly choosing a path of sin.  The obligation on each of us to be non-judgmental doesn’t mean that our minds need be so open that everything falls out.  Standards still exist, commandments still exist (even upon those who disbelieve them), and it is not being judgmental to recognize this so long as we realize that the person we are considering is ultimately His child and not ours, and ultimately His judgment is the one that matters.

                The second thought was on Ammoron, and his defense of his position.  It has been said that the worst thing you can do to someone who isn’t a victim is to convince them that they are a victim – and the worst thing you can do for someone who is a victim is convince them that they are a victim.  Once you begin to believe in your own victimhood, you have truly partaken of Satan’s plan whereby you are no longer an agent unto yourself.  Walking that path brings nothing but destruction on the person who believes that way.