In Part 1, we considered the question of why secret combinations, one of the most prolific themes in the Book of Mormon, are so rarely discussed. In Part 2, we explored the nature of easily identifiable secret combinations in the Book of Mormon and the insights the text gives us on their nature and operations. Here we explore the role of related movements and groups that are not explicitly labeled with common “secret combination” terminology, but show circumstantial evidence of also being related to the secret combinations and corruption that the Book of Mormon so vigorously opposes.

Circumstantial Evidence for Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon

Some of the events in the Book of Mormon that may help us understand “secret combinations” or “works of darkness” don’t use those terms. This may be because Mormon as meticulous historian who paid great attention to the sources he relied on may have lacked documentary evidence for such a combination, but the circumstantial evidence still points to secret combinations nonetheless.

The Amlicite Rebellion and Collusion with an Enemy

In Alma 1, we are introduced to Nehor, a demagogue seeking power and gain who has formed his own “church” that teaches everyone will be saved, no repentance needed. His movement appeals to many who gladly give him money. As he rails against the Nephite faith, he is opposed by faithful Gideon. Nehor cancels elderly Gideon with his sword.

Alma, the chief judge, said that Nehor was seeking to establish and enforce priestcraft by the sword, and that if it were “to be enforced among the people, it would prove their entire destruction” (Alma 1:12). The threat of destruction, even total destruction, is a theme associated with secret combinations. It echoes what Book of Mormon writers may have known from material related to the Book of Moses on the brass plates, for in the Creation story in the Book of Moses, we learn that in the premortal realm, Satan had sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3) and in tempting Eve, had “sought to destroy the world” (Moses 4:6). Destruction and chaos is the goal, not an unfortunate side effect of Satan’s plots nor the sad consequence of not having enough funding to do the job correctly. It’s why giving his agents more power, more funding, and bigger weapons and armies is never going to bring peace. Destruction is not a hypothetical threat, for secret combinations caused the complete fall of two ancient civilizations in the Book of Mormon.

The phrase “entire destruction” in Alma’s warning is also how Mormon describes the fate of the Nephites that Mormon supposes his son will see (Words of Mormon 1:2). That term also echoes Mormon’s later observation after introducing the Gadianton robbers: “In the end of this book ye shall see that this Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi” (Helaman 2:13).

The book Mormon referred to is likely the overall book he was preparing rather than the book of Helaman alone. See Brant Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 5, Helaman through Third Nephi (Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, 2007), 57-59.

Alma’s concern in Alma 1 was not limited to Nehor’s murder of Gideon, but included the danger to Nephite society by the corrupt movement Nehor launched. That movement that did not hesitate to silence speech with force. It was not merely censorship, but religious persecution as well. Nehor and his followers would gladly stamp out the Nephite religion, making this movement a threat to Nephite liberty. We don’t know if there were secret plans behind the formation of their “church” (Mormon apparently had no documented evidence for that), but their teaching was “for the sake of riches and honor” (Alma 1:16), falsely disguised as if they were simply expressing their beliefs, exploiting Nephite laws protecting freedom of belief (v. 17).

Nehor was condemned for murder and executed, but his movement continued to spread and gained many followers who left the Nephite church (Alma 1:16-17, 23-24). While claiming freedom of belief, those of the order of Nehor did not hesitate to “persecute those who did belong to the church of God, and had taken upon them the name of Christ” (vv. 19-20).

The order of Nehor grew quickly and soon presented Amlici as a candidate for king. They wished to overthrow the Nephite rule of law under the reign of judges and have a wicked man as king who “would deprive them of their rights and privileges of the church; for it was his intent to destroy the church of God” (Alma 2:4; cf. Moses 4:6). Amlici is described as “a very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world, he being after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword” (Alma 2:1). “Cunning” is a word most often used in the Book of Mormon to describe Satan and corrupt rulers and tyrants and suggests plotting for evil. Indeed, it seems to be a synonym for “subtle” as used to describe the serpent in Genesis 3 and in the Book of Moses, where the serpent, acting as a tool of Satan, was very “subtle” and “had drawn away many after him” (Moses 4:5-6). Similar language is used to describe Amlici:

Now this Amlici had, by his cunning, drawn away much people after him; even so much that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish Amlici to be king over the people. (Alma 2:2)

If the Book of Moses version of Genesis 3 were on the brass plates, then Mormon’s language in describing Amlici can be understood as an allusion to Amlici as a Satanic figure. If so, we should also suspect that Satanic secret combination may be involved in Amlici’s attempt to seize power. After the voice of the people rejected Amlici’s proposal, it was surely a “work of darkness” and fruit of an evil combination that he had the people consecrate him as king and, after stirring them up to anger — the proverbial tool of tyrants in the Book of Mormon — and leading them in a civil war to subject the Nephites to their illicit rule.

Conveniently, on the morning after civil war began, a large Lamanite army mysteriously shows up and joins the Amlicites. Mormon, likely lacking evidence from witnesses, does not state that the Lamanites acted in a secret combination with the Amlicites, but the events demand a treasonous conspiracy as the only plausible explanation for the well-timed arrival of a foreign army that seamlessly collaborated with the Amlicites. With the Lord’s help, the Nephites still prevailed. After Alma personally fought against and slayed Amlici, we see him next in face-to-face battle with the king of the Lamanites as if he had been working directly with Amlici.

The story of the Amlicites in the pragmatic Book of Mormon gives a useful depiction of the tactics of would-be tyrants:

• Using anger as a tool to stir people up against an opponent.
• Relying on freedoms protected by law for your benefit to spread your deceptive message, but suppressing the same freedoms for others, including freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
• Seeking to gain power by legitimate means but when that fails, trampling on the law and pursuing their goals by any means necessary, including a violent uprising.
• Engaging in treasonous collaboration with an enemy for one’s own gain and power, putting many lives at risk. In this case, an enemy army was invited or brought into the heart of the Nephite nation to join in the violence to overthrow the legitimate government.

Several of these tactics have been used in many nations in modern times and may be more relevant today than ever. Alma’s inspired leadership plus wise military preparation (Alma 2:12) and watchfulness, including the use  of spies (Alma 2:21), helped the Nephites turn the tide and resist the revolt. Many Amlicites were killed or driven out,  some joining up with the Lamanites, where members of the Order of Nehor would long be found.

The Order of Nehor in Ammonihah and the Plot to Destroy Nephite Freedom

About ten years after the failed rebellion of the Amlicites, the movement associated with Nehor’s name had gained full control in Nephite society in a corner of Nephite territory at Ammonihah, whose wicked and tyrannical chief judge was “after the order and faith of Nehor” (Alma 14:16). Here we have more clear indications of the conspiratorial plots of those in the order of Nehor there. The primary evidence for this comes through revelation to Alma, whom an angel warns that wicked people in Ammonihah “do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people” (Alma 8:17). The word “study” may imply educated elites who were developing theories and schemes to corrupt Nephite society and government, affecting both liberty and religion. This might be compared to some aspects of the rise of Marxism, for example, where we see theoretical work laid down by founders of the movement such as Marx and Lenin, further developed by new generations of academics (e.g., the Frankfurt School and the professors formulating Critical Theory) with new ways of stirring people up to anger and division.

While preaching, Alma implies that the iniquity of the people there threatened “to destroy his [the Lord’s] people” (Alma 9:19) and that “the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges” (Alma 10:27).  Wicked plots for tyrannical power were underway from wealthy and influential elites. Their violent wickedness was soon revealed in how they treated the innocent. That they also showed obvious signs of conflict of interest, actually stirring up crimes to increase their wages in a corrupted legal system (Alma 11:20), should come as no surprise. The elites of Ammonihah are described as cunning lawyers who have corrupted their legal system in order “to get gain” (Alma 10:32, 11:20), a key characteristic of secret combinations and perhaps an allusion to Cain and his murderous secret combination, who killed Abel “for the sake of getting gain” (Moses 5:50; also see Matthew Bowen, “Getting Cain and Gain” in Interpreter).

In the encounter of Zeezrom and the elites with Alma and his new companion in the ministry, Amulek, the wording echoes language from the Book of Moses as if deliberately intended to paint Zeezrom as a tool of Satan like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. For details, see “Further Evidence from the Book of Mormon for a Book of Moses-Like Text on the Brass Plates,” noting especially the parallel language between Alma’s response in Alma 12:1–7 and the Book of Moses’s description of Satan’s tactics in Moses 4:3–6.

Alma and Amulek are cast into prison by the weaponized system of justice there (Alma 14). For all their pretense to be serving their beloved nation and protecting their people, the elites of Ammonihah were ruthless murderers, employing the power of the state to eradicate their enemies. Had they succeeded in spreading their particular combination across Nephite society, the nation’s collapse may have come much earlier.

Fortunately, Zeezrom repented but the majority of the people, stirred up by their elites, were angry and accused the preachers of having “reviled against their law and also against their lawyers and judges” (Alma 14:2). It is common for those who have corrupted state institutions to condemn and punish those who point out the corruption, as if they were unpatriotic enemies of the state. Mere censorship was not enough for the thugs in charge. Many believers, apparently largely the men, were chased away and then many of their wives and children were gathered and brutally cast into a fire with their scriptures – an important symbol of the censorship mentality of their rulers. Alma and Amulek were forced to watch in horror. The conspiring lawyers and judges had no qualms about imprisoning innocent men or even burning alive righteous women and children — anything is justified if it advances their power. Such wicked, deranged, demonic beasts who crave power were present in Nephite society and surely are among us today. When they gain power, laws are trampled, rights are violated, the innocent are abused, and destruction sooner or later is likely to follow. In this case, it came suddenly, sparing Nephite society from the spread of the Ammonihah virus, thanks to an angry Lamanite army looking for an easy target (Alma 16).   

From the scenes at Ammonihah, we learn more about Satanic works of darkness and those pursuing them:

• There are elite people who are part of networks or movements like the order of Nehor. They share corrupt ideologies rooted in wicked, materialistic ideologies. Using their wealth, their networks, and their skills or ambition, they may ascend to high levels in society where their greed and corruption can adversely affect society. 
• Their lust for power may drive them to devise plans to overthrow national freedom.
• When in any position of power, they may abuse their positions for gain, such as taking actions to stir up crime or other misbehavior to increase their wealth or influence, a classic case of conflict of interest.
• Such people, though they may have social graces and present themselves as praiseworthy public servants, are essentially amoral, such that they do not hesitate to slaughter the innocent if it advances their agenda.
• Censorship was an important tool to stop the spread of knowledge or beliefs that threatened their power. Burning scriptures along with believers shows how dangerously fanatic the elites were in stopping ideas they didn’t like.

King Noah and His Band of Corrupt Priests

King Noah as the son of King Zeniff ascended the throne without conspiracy, but his flare for tyranny and murderous censorship in silencing Abinadi paints him and his band of corrupt priests as role models for aspiring conspirators. Noah begins his reign with a purge of his father’s priests and selects those who share his debased values. Surely there was an oath of loyalty to the new king, but the text does not use terms related to secret combinations in the account. They pursue a reckless course of neglecting their duties while pursuing personal pleasure and gain, taxing the people at an oppressive tax of 20% of their substance to support themselves and their many wives and concubines (Mosiah 11:1-6).

As the Book of Mormon often shows, corrupt leaders have a corrupting influence on the people, for “they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and his priests” (Mosiah 11:7). King Noah then “spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines; and so also did his priests spend their time with harlots” (Mosiah 11:14). He also devoted resources to producing “wine in abundance, and therefore he became a wine-bibber, and also his people” (Mosiah 11:15). This was not just immoral leadership, but represented a neglect of vital duties for the welfare and defense of the people. 

In response, the Lord sent the prophet Abinadi to call the people to repentance, which included condemning their wicked leaders. The priests and King Noah sought to kill Abinadi as a result, and eventually succeed. They consulted together to find excuses to impose the unjust death penalty (Mosiah 17:5-7), a conspiracy to kill an unjust man, which wickedness was compounded by their efforts to kill the one man among the priests, Alma, who spoke out in favor of Abinadi (Mosiah 17:1-4). Through the wickedness of this debauched gang, the people of the City of Nephi would be brought into bondage. A righteous man was murdered, another they sought to kill, and the people were led into wickedness and then into full-fledged captivity by their enemies, all because of the wickedness of a corrupt, selfish gang that became the political and religious leaders of the people. These are the fruits of secret combinations, though not explicitly labelled as such.

The King-men: Aiding Enemies by Neglecting Defense

Alma 51 describes another internal political crisis in which some elite voices in Nephite society wanted to make some significant changes in their law: “those who were desirous that Pahoran should be dethroned from the judgment-seat were called king-men, for they were desirous that the law should be altered in a manner to overthrow the free government and to establish a king over the land” (v. 5). They may have been disgruntled descendants of the Mulekites who believed that their descent from Mulek made them of a royal line, for they “professed the blood of nobility” (v. 21); see Lyle H. Hamblin, “Proper Names and Political Claims: Semitic Echoes as Foundations for Claims to the Nephite Throne,” and A. Keith Thompson, “Apostate Religion in the Book of Mormon,” both in Interpreter.

This was settled by taking the issue to the “voice of the people,” who decided “in favor of the freemen” and left the king-men “obliged to maintain the cause of freedom” (v. 7). However, when news came of an imminent Lamanite attack, “they were glad in their hearts; and they refused to take up arms, for they were so wroth with the chief judge, and also with the people of liberty, that they would not take up arms to defend their country” (v. 13).

We are not told of any oaths or covenants they made in their common effort to seek power, but like others who sought to overthrow the liberty of the Nephites, including the Amlicites, Amalickiah, and the Order of Nehor group at Ammonihah, there surely were secret plans among them for how that power would be used and perhaps in their own steps to obtain it, including the group decision to aid an attacking enemy. This united movement involved collusion and ultimately treason, making it an implicit example of a secret combination.

Amalickiah

Few stories of a conspirator seeking power are more remarkable than the trajectory of Amalickiah, a man who sought power at all costs. His conspiracy with fellow power-seekers involved treachery, treason, and bloodshed at a remarkable scale, one that threatened the entire Nephite civilization and gained control over the Lamanites, bringing them  great havoc and loss in the end. Amalickiah is introduced in Alma 46 as a powerful man who wanted to be king (see Hamblin’s “Proper Names and Political Claims: Semitic Echoes as Foundations for Claims to the Nephite Throne” for insights into Amalickiah and his followers). Power was not his only goal. He loathed the prophet Helaman and the believers in the Nephite religion, and wanted to slay them (v. 2) and “to destroy the church of God” (10). Fueled by a demonic hatred of religion and a burning lust for power, he had many followers whom he promised positions of power if they would support him. This was a secret combination aimed at seeking power and religious persecution and censorship, though the term “secret” is not explicitly applied.

Amalickiah’s story is one of the best known among the conspirators and megalomaniacs of the Book of Mormon, but readers are encouraged to view his acts with the lens of the Book of Mormon’s warnings against secret combinations and corrupt government. Consider his efforts to influence public opinion and gain power by democratic means, then turning to violence when that fails. Consider his treachery in pretending to be on the side of the Lamanite army that refused to pursue an insane, unnecessary war, making friends with their general in a secret deal in which the general would capture his army and appoint Amalickiah as his second-in-command, only to poison his new friend and take his position. Consider his pretended loyalty to the Lamanite king, when his goal was to have him assassinated so that he could take his place. Consider how he feigned great outrage after the assassination, and how deftly he blamed others for what he had arranged. Consider how quickly he would lie, betray, and murder to gain power step by step, and how he then sought to control the organs of public opinion and information to stir the Lamanites up to war with state propaganda (Alma 48:1). Vicious, ugly, demonic, and yet he was a smooth talker and great persuader who gained the affections of the murdered king’s wife and of many people.

So much about his tale of deceit, treachery, and success should be carefully applied to our own day as well. It only take one rare villain like this in a generation to afflict millions of lives. They do exist and have marred the terrain of world history time and time again. Surely there were sound reasons for our Founding Fathers giving us a government deliberately designed to make it difficult for great power to be in the hands of any one man. The story of Amalickiah is not unlike the stories of many murderous villains in history. As wild as his treachery and success was, there is nothing implausible about the great evil he was able to achieve with the help of his willing accomplices, all seeking for power and gain themselves.

One subtle but intriguing detail about Amalickiah is that he was a Zoramite, or rather, a descendant of Zoram₁, detail we only learn later in a letter from his wicked brother, Ammoron, who became king of the Lamanites upon Amalickiah’s death (undoubtedly with any input from the Lamanite people). As Ammoron continues his brother’s war against the Nephites, he writes an infuriating letter to Moroni agreeing to an exchange of prisoners while making ironic accusations against Moroni. After pretending to be seeking justice and standing for the rights of the Lamanites to rule (Alma 54:17), he ends with “I am Ammoron, and a descendant of Zoram, whom your fathers pressed and brought out of Jerusalem” (Alma 54:23). His ancestors and his Lamanite subjects were all victims of the Nephites, and he was just standing up for justice and the rights of others (v. 24), a claim that seems to be common among ancient and modern oppressors. This anger and pretended sense of victimhood may have been a common factor in the final group we consider, the elite among the Zoramites.

The Zoramite Elites and Their Threat to Liberty and Religion

Classic symptoms of brutal, corrupt power and secret works of darkness are seen in the account of the Zoramites, the proudful and materialistic apostates who were led into a form of idolatry, and would become a threat to the Nephite nation.

We know little about the background of the Zoramites. They were led by a man named Zoram₂ (Alma 30:59, 31:1), a name that suggests he was a descendant of the original Zoram₁ introduced as Laban’s servant in 1 Nephi 4:35. Many of his followers may have been Zoramites by ancestry (see Jacob 1:13).

For the descendants of Zoram₁ like Zoram₂, Ammoron, and Amalickiah, we can imagine how his story could be a source of grievance against Nephite government and religion. It would take little effort to depict Zoram₁ as an oppressed victim, kidnapped by Nephi₁, the murderer of Laban, the thief of the brass plates, and a heretic and self-declared prophet. One could say that Zoram₁ was forced to abandon his home and friends to suffer for years as his oppressors took him to a distant land where the Nephites would again continue their oppression. That could have been a powerful narrative supported with large grains of truth found even in the “confessions” of Nephi₁’s record.

Scholars have explored several aspects of the Zoramites. Godfrey Ellis in “The Rise and Fall of Korihor, a Zoramite” (Interpreter, 2021) makes a plausible case that Korihor, after being struck dumb, went as a beggar to the Zoramites (where he would be trampled to death) because he was (originally) one of them. In numerous areas, Ellis shows that Zoramite beliefs align with Korihor’s teachings. Ellis notes that the account of Korihor in our current Alma 30 continues smoothly into the account the Zoramites in Alma 31 without a break in the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon.  Perhaps we should read the text with that sense, that the two stories are directly linked and give us insight into the Zoramite perspective.

Meanwhile, in “Insights into the Story of Korihor Based on Intertextual Comparisons” (Interpreter, 2024), Noel Hudson proposes that Korihor might have been originally aligned with the order of Nehors, perhaps at Ammonihah, and once stricken by the Lord, may have chosen to seek refuge among the his ideological peers, the Zoramites, because Ammonihah had been destroyed by a Lamanite army—in fact, the choice of Ammonihah may have been deliberately guided by a branch of the order of Nehors among the Lamanites that despised the branch at Ammonihah for not assisting in the Amlicite civil war.

Alma₂ is greatly concerned about this “people who had separated themselves from the Nephites” (Alma 30:59) and “were dissenters from the Nephites” (31:8) as well as religious apostates. He takes two of his sons, two of the sons of Mosiah, and Amulek on a mission to preach to the apostate Zoramites. He soon learns that their apostacy is worse than he had feared, as they practice a form of idolatry in which they seem to worship themselves, as once a week the elites take turns standing on a tower and offering prayers of gratitude for being better than everyone else and free of the delusions of belief in Christ (Alma 31:12–23).

The Zoramites saw themselves as uniquely gifted and blessed elites, the only ones chosen by God (Alma 31:16–18), but actually were a “perverse people” whose “hearts were set upon gold, and upon silver, and upon all manner of fine goods” (31:24), feeling no obligation to serve others. They loathed and mistreated the lower class among them. Korihor’s arrival or return as a mere beggar also was not well received, in spite of having similar ideology and perhaps having been one of them.

Those among the despised poor of the Zoramites who believe the Gospel message brough by Alma₂ and his sons will be treated even worse. The proud elites, “the more popular part of the Zoramites ”–those that held the most influence over the people–consulted together and came up with a secret plan, for they were angry about the preaching of the word since it threatened to “destroy their craft” (Alma 35:3). Here we have elites with a conflict of interest planning to stop the spread of information that threatens their scheme or business model (“misinformation” in today’s parlance). Their plan is a secret one, though the secret aspect is not revealed until several verses later. These “more popular” influencers in Zoramite society including rulers, priests, and teachers (v. 5), then “sent and gathered together throughout all the land all the people, and consulted with them concerning the words which had been spoken” (v. 4). Now their secret plot is revealed:

Now their rulers and their priests and their teachers did not let the people know concerning their desires; therefore they found out privily the minds of all the people.

And it came to pass that after they had found out the minds of all the people, those who were in favor of the words which had been spoken by Alma and his brethren were cast out of the land; and they were many; and they came over also into the land of Jershon. (Ama 35:5,6)

In other words, the elites secretly (“privily”) gathered data on each person to determine what they thought, and then punished them for the thought crime of thinking in a way that might threaten their power.

So the believers among the Zoramites are cast out for their thought crimes after being identified in a society-wide domestic spying effort. Welcome to an ancient surveillance state.

The Zoramites’ dangerous surveillance of its people, the vile secret plot employing that data, and the hateful, paranoid casting out of “wrong thinkers” are important but often overlooked aspects of the Book of Mormon’s teachings on “the craft” of corrupt leaders and influencers in society. It may have prophetic relevance for our day.

Mao Zedong employed a similar cunning tactic with the movement called “Let a thousand flowers bloom.” It was an effort to celebrate diversity, especially diversity of thought. The government told the people that it needed to answer to the people, and thus it was important to hear the people’s voice, including the people’s criticism of possible errors made by the government. So there was a refreshing era of openness as people expressed their thoughts about the problems they saw in the government Many bold souls yearning for freedom or concerned about corruption spoke out. Their words were “privily” gathered, recorded, and secretly judged. Then came the time of reckoning in which those who now appeared to be enemies of Communism would be purged, often brutally. It was the Zoramite surveillance plot, followed by similar casting out, though sometimes much more brutal.

We can see the Zoramites as a corrupt society whose noble elites engaged in pathetic public virtue signaling but were cruel thugs ready to impoverish and persecute anyone who might threaten their power. Being cast out by these greedy elites likely involved loss of property (their home, their belongings, their crops and animals, and their land or inheritance, if any), in addition to the loss of their rights. It was devastating and obviously unexpected. The many new believers had no time to prepare.

Now consider the courageous response of the nearby people of Ammon (Alma 35:6–10), once refugees themselves who now welcomed the displaced Nephites in another of the Book of Mormon’s many subtle ironies. The oppressed, cast-out Zoramites, who were still Nephites, looked to the people of Ammon, Lamanites by ancestry, for aid. However, the inhumane leader of the Zoramites threatened the people of Ammon if they did not cast out those refugees. The people of Ammon bravely ignored the threats and comforted the believing refugees who are fleeing state-sponsored religious persecution. They nourished them, clothed them, and gave them “lands for their inheritance” in the appropriately named land of Jershon, a word that is clearly related to the Hebrew word for “inheritance,” one of many Hebraic wordplays in the Book of Mormon that challenge any claim that Joseph Smith could have been its author. See Stephen D. Ricks, “A Nickname and a Slam Dunk: Notes on the Book of Mormon Names Zeezrom and Jershon” (Interpreter, 2014). That beautiful response is a counterpoint to the dark tragedy of Zoramite callousness and oppression.

The Zoramite threats against the people of Ammon were not empty words, but reflected a murderous reality. As often happened in the Book of Mormon, the Nephite dissenters team up with their enemies to stir up violence: “they began to mix with the Lamanites and to stir them up also to anger against them [the people of Ammon]” (Alma 35:10). Soon armies of the Zoramites and Lamanites are attacking the land of Jershon, where Nephite armies have come and are joined by the refugees to oppose the onslaught, while people of Ammon have fled to safety to the land of Melek (35:13-14). A difficult war breaks out (Alma 43–44), with the Zoramites now officially being Lamanites (Alma 43:3), but an especially hardened and murderous group. That war is soon over, but the Zoramite will continue to play a violent role as they assist their fellow Zoramite, Amalickiah, in his treacherous wars.  Amalickiah appointed many of these fierce, hateful Zoramites as chief captains in his army (Alma 48:5).

The final specific deed of the Zoramites that is recorded in the Book of Mormon reveals something important about their often overlooked relationship to secret combinations. In 3 Nephi 1, after the great sign of Christ’s birth has been given, many are converted and there is peace n the land, except for the Gadianton robbers who remain entrenched in the mountains and continue causing slaughter among the people (3 Nephi 1:27), and continue growing in strength from dissenters among the Nephites (v. 28) but also among the Lamanites. The dissenters among the Lamanites are being stirred up and seduced by the Zoramites:

And there was also a cause of much sorrow among the Lamanites; for behold, they had many children who did grow up and began to wax strong in years, that they became for themselves, and were led away by some who were Zoramites, by their lyings and their flattering words, to join those Gadianton robbers. (3 Nephi 1:29)

Lamanite youths are being seduced and groomed by Zoramites among them to depart from their generally faithful society at that time and to join the violent terrorists in the hills, a secret society of ancient warriors for “justice” seeking to overthrow the entire nations of the Lamanites and the Nephites (see Part 2). The elite Zoramites not only employ secretive, corrupt schemes to persecute and oppress their own people, but act as recruiters for the one of the most dreaded and dangerous secret combinations in Nephite history.

Summary of Key Characteristics of Book of Mormon Secret Combinations

Reviewing Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series, our survey of the traits and activities of secret combinations in the Book of Mormon yields a variety of characteristics to note:

• Symptoms of secret combinations often include people in government becoming wealthy, sometimes debauched, and almost always expanding their power.
• Political assassinations, attempted assassinations, secret murders, or the execution of good people are often signs that secret combinations are at work.
• Corrupted laws and systems of justice are common characteristics of secret combinations. Two-tiered systems may arise in which the well-connected wicked face no consequences for their crimes, while others may face harsh penalties for similar crimes, or may face punishment while actually innocent of crime.
• Secret combinations are far from irresistible. They are vulnerable to disclosure and public awareness. They can be resisted effectively by law enforcement or military action when needed. They are also vulnerable to competitors seeking to take their power. Most importantly, righteous people teaching the Gospel is an extreme threat to their power and can even shut them down.
• Secret combinations often are initiated or run by elites with wealth, education and influence, such as the lawyers and merchants of Nephite society or those already in positions of power such as judges.
• Secret combinations may not be monolithic organizations but can rely on multiple networks and social circles for support, coalesced around a common cause.
• Secret combinations have a demoralizing impact on society, stirring up selfishness, greed, anger, and corruption.
• Crime and violence can be a consequence of secret combinations or a tool they employ to achieve power. As in Ammonihah, leaders may have selfish incentives for actually promoting more crime.
• Military-scale violence is also a common aspect of the work and consequences of secret combinations. The outbreak or threat of civil war or incursions of enemy groups in the land can be a symptom of foul play from power-hungry secret combinations. Support for enemies that may attack and threaten a people, or the neglect of defense as an indirect way to aid enemies, can be signs of secret combinations at play. 
• Secret combinations rely on public influence to deceive and flatter people or to stir up anger, hate, and sometimes a sense of victimhood. This is done to manipulate and exploit those they deceive for their own gain. Secret combinations may take control of the voices that people hear to ensure that they only hear the flattering words or lies that are needed to maintain power or achieve other corrupt objectives. Widespread deception can be an indicator of such combinations at work.
• The leaders of secret combinations are far from geniuses who can reign with total control of everything. In spite of great erudition and eloquence in some cases, they are typically greedy, selfish thugs whose actions can lead to the destruction of the kingdoms they seek or the toppling of their own thrones, with chaos and poverty for all.
• Censorship in various forms is used to prevent disclosure of  and accountability for wicked acts and to silence critics or other threats to power. It is also done to ensure that only messages favorable to the secret combination or its regime are heard by the people, again as a tool to eliminate threats and cement public support.
• As we see with the Zoramites, corrupt elites can pose many dangers to the freedom of a people, including hatching secret plots to persecute potential threats using state-sponsored surveillance, launching violent wars for selfish purposes, and grooming youth to support vile secret combinations.

Does This Really Matter? Why Should We Worry?

We have the greatest blessings imaginable in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we really need to worry about corruption or negative trends in society? Should we not just focus on the joy of the Gospel and not worry about the depressing, sinister things of the world? It’s common and rather tempting to feel that way, but unfortunately, that approach is not consistent with the Lord’s teachings and even the Lord’s commandments to us in our day. Consider the warnings from Moroni in his closing addendum to Mormon’s own book. Moroni wrote that the Book of Mormon would come forth “in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness” (Mormon 8:26). It would “come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations” (v. 27).

For those paying attention to the Book of Mormon’s teachings, what Moroni then says reflects the fruits of corrupt leaders and secret combinations as discussed many times in the Book of Mormon, including the works of the Zoramites:

Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies — because of the praise of the world?

Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?

Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Mormon 8:35–41)

If you cannot sense the seriousness of Moroni’s language and the earnestness of his warning to us, in our day, and the call to repentance and the implicit call to action, then you are sadly missing a great portion of the meaning, value, and divine intent of the scriptures. I suspect Moroni may have prophetically sensed the apathy that would arise among us Gentiles about the message of scripture. Perhaps that is why he repeated this message even more strongly in his comments in Ether 8 after discussing the secret combinations that caused so much sorrow for the fallen people.

And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.

And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.

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.

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.

Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

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.

Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved. (Ether 8:20–26)

There are dire implications of these warnings from Moroni – if he was a prophet of God, and if the Book of Mormon really was written for our day. How shall we know when it is time to “awake to a sense of [our] awful situation”? While this must largely be left as an exercise for the diligent and prayerful student of the scriptures and of the times, we shall lightly explore some aspects of this delicate and painful issue in Part 4 after reviewing some of the insights from modern and credible authorities that may help us better appreciate the authenticity of the ancient and sacred Book of Mormon.

For now, it suffices to say that the Lord inspired ancient prophets who saw our day to give us warnings and commandments. They matter. Paying attention to the danger of secret combinations is not just a good idea, but a commandment of the Lord. We cannot justify neglect of scripture’s pervasive teachings by waiting until local or central leaders give us specific marching orders for the local, state, national,, or global issues that may need our attention, especially when that could easily be interpreted as illegal political meddling with severe consequences. This is a time to learn, to be active in our society, and to do much good on our own, “that evil may be done away” (Ether 8:26), not waiting to be commanded in all things (Doctrine & Covenants 58:26)–or rather, not waiting to be commanded yet again after the clear commandments already received.

Summary

Again, it must be emphasized that the Book of Mormon’s teachings on secret combinations are complex and nuanced, showing a variety of forms, tactics, characteristics, and objectives. Ranging from the petty corruption of officials faced with conflicts of interest to widespread murderous movements seeking total power and the total destruction of their enemies, including the church of God, or ranging from small internal cabals to fierce guerrilla armies seeking to conquer a nation violently, the Book of Mormon’s treatment is expansive, impressive, and thought provoking with many touchpoints not just to world history but to our era in particular. There is much to study and learn, and many lessons to apply to our day.

A consistent theme in the Book of Mormon is that wicked rulers and secret combinations seek to manipulate people by stirring them up to anger, while also manipulating information via censorship, oaths of secrecy, or propaganda to maintain and expand power. Those pursuing such routes are not likely to be the good guys. But as the Book of Mormon shows, being an opponent of someone evil does not necessarily make one virtuous. As with the Jaredites in the end, people may be pressured to join one side of a doomed battle between two angry gangs. To be on the Lord’s side, we must be followers of Christ and live and teach his Gospel, while avoiding the deceptions of wicked men and resisting their wickedness. We should stand for religious liberty and the freedom to speak freely and teach freely. Liberty is in decline in many nations, not just in those ruled by obvious totalitarians. It’s imperative that we stand for liberty today, and the Book of Mormon gives us many keys to do so.

The importance of the modern battle to preserve liberty may become more clear in Part 4 (also available at Meridian Magazine). There we will examine some calm, rational insights from those who have been close to some notable secret societies, including the scholarly work of a respected professor. Such insights may help us evaluate the Book of Mormon’s teachings and warnings and better appreciate how relevant it is for our day.