Our Decline: Secret Combinations: Book of Mormon

“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.” (Moroni, Ether 8:21-25, Book of Mormon)

“And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God.” (Moroni, Ether 8:18, Book of Mormon)

Moroni, giving us words of council after the fall of his civilization: “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.” (Moroni, Mormon 9:31, Book of Mormon)

“ And it came to pass...that the Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations. And thus they did obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did trample under their feet and smite and rend and turn their backs upon the poor and the meek, and the humble followers of God. And thus we see that they were in an awful state, and ripening for an everlasting destruction.” (Mormon, Helaman 6:38-40, Book of Mormon)

“And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them.” (Scriptural, The voice of the Lord speaking to the people of Nephi after earthquakes and destruction 3 Nephi 9:9, Book of Mormon)

“Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was the ‘keystone of our religion’ and the ‘most correct’ book on earth. This most correct book on earth states that the downfall of two great American civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire was to overthrow the freedom of the people. ‘And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking,’ says Moroni, ‘and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.’ Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out the greatest threat as the godless conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon — it is a conspiracy fact.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Civic Standards for the Faithful Saints, Ensign, p 59. July 1972.)

“The Book of Mormon narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. But in its descriptions of the problems of today's society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions of those problems.

“I know of no other writing which sets forth with such clarity the tragic consequences to societies that follow courses contrary to the commandments of God. Its pages trace the stories of two distinct civilizations that flourished on the Western Hemisphere. Each began as a small nation, its people walking in the fear of the Lord. But with prosperity came growing evils. The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who countenanced and even encouraged loose and lascivious living. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction of two great civilizations in two different eras.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, also stated verbatim in his 1981 work Be Thou an Example. First Presidency Message, Ensign, August 2005.)

“Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the [Book of Mormon] to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism, and so forth.…And our nation will continue to degenerate unless we read and heed the words of the God of this land, Jesus Christ, and quit building up and upholding the secret combinations which the Book of Mormon tells us proved the downfall of both previous American civilizations.” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning: A Modern-Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon, p. 80. January 1988.)

“Next Moroni turns the key so that all who have ears to hear can understand what the secret combination is and can identify those who build it up. ‘For it cometh to pass,’ he says, ‘that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries.’ This is a worldwide conspiracy.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah, p. 66.)

“For so great had been the spreading of this wicked and secret society that it had corrupted the hearts of all the people;” (Moroni, The Book of Mormon, Ether 9:6)

“Having been commanded by the Lord to do so, Nephi boldly told the people that they had united themselves to this band of robbers:

Yea wo be unto you because of that great abomination which has come among you; and ye have united yourselves unto it, yea to that secret band which was established by Gadianton! (Helaman 7:25)

“One can only imagine that those righteous Nephites who has been seduced into upholding, supporting, and partaking of the spoils of the Robbers were profoundly shocked when charged with having united with a criminal conspiracy. People in our nation today are ofttimes startled and angered when told that the welfare state practices they favor are the identical political programs proposed by the Communists to bring about socialism….The record is clear that the reason the conspiracy had succeeded in capturing control of the government was that the Nephites had been seduced into partaking of its spoils. (Helaman 6:38–39)” (H. Verlan Andersen, Many are Called But Few are Chosen)

“Is the Book of Mormon true? Yes.
Who is it for? Us.
What is its purpose? To bring men to Christ.
How does it do this? By testifying of Christ and revealing his enemies.” (Ezra Taft Benson, The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God, Ensign, p. 63. May 1975.)

“And behold 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. Behold I do not mean the end of the book of Helaman, but I mean the end of the book of Nephi, from which I have taken all the account which I have written.” (Mormon, The Book of Mormon, Helaman 2:13.)

“And…they had altered and trampled under their feet the law of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and they saw that their laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people....therefore they were ripening for destruction for the laws had become corrupted.” (Mormon, Helaman 4:22, 5:2.)

“Pride results in secret combinations which are built up to get power, gain, and glory of the world. This fruit of the sin of pride, namely secret combinations, brought down both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations and has been and will yet be the cause of the fall of many nations.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Beware of Pride, Ensign, May 1989.)

“Now the people of Akish were desirous for gain, even as Akish was desirous for power; wherefore, the sons of Akish did offer them money, by which means they drew away the more part of the people after them.” (Moroni, Ether, Book of Mormon, 9:11.)