{"id":21145,"date":"2012-06-25T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T17:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=21145"},"modified":"2012-06-24T18:38:43","modified_gmt":"2012-06-24T23:38:43","slug":"literary-bmgd-26-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2012\/06\/literary-bmgd-26-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary BMGD #26: War"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
William Wines Phelps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, the focus of Book of Mormon lesson #26, have to be the most unusual group in the Book of Mormon.\u00a0 Their choice of pacifism is unequaled in scripture, except possibly by the people of Enoch. While the lesson concentrates on their conversion and how that led them to turn to pacifism, I think the fact that they chose pacifism is instructive, something that should make us all ponder what really matters.<\/p>\n

Perhaps their pacifist views, along with the troubles in Missouri, influenced William Wines Phelps, one of the first poets of Mormonism, leading him to write the following condemnation of war:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

War<\/h3>\n

By W. W. Phelps<\/p>\n

\n
What is the token ere evils unbar;<\/dd>\n
Pestilence, famine; the black list of crime;<\/dd>\n
Thieves rush for honor, and vagabonds fame<\/dd>\n
Kingdoms for conquest, when plunder’s the game?\u2014<\/p>\n
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WAR.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
What is the signal of nations ajar;<\/dd>\n
Murder and treason; the banquet of fools;<\/dd>\n
Tempest of passions; the bonfire of wrath;<\/dd>\n
Hero of death, like Goliath of Gath?\u2014<\/p>\n
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WAR.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
What is the ‘fire-shower of ruin’ afar;<\/dd>\n
Waste and destruction; the lion of wo;<\/dd>\n
Cup full of fury, from Babylon’s whore;<\/dd>\n
Feast of the Devil to revel in gore?\u2014<\/p>\n
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WAR.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
What is the red-sign of misery’s car:<\/dd>\n
Women bereaved, and children distressed;<\/dd>\n
Cities in ashes, and virtue forgot;<\/dd>\n
Curse of all curses;\u2014old Lucifer’s blot?\u2014<\/p>\n
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WAR.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

The Wasp, v1 n14, 16 July 1842, p. 4<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Phelps’ language seems to me complex and dark, mirroring his subject. All that is evil is connected with war, and Phelps sees no virtue in it at all — surely the same logic and feeling that led the Anti-Nephi-Lehies to choose pacifism, even in the face of danger. Our language and attitude towards war today seems different\u2014not that we think war is good exactly, but that we see it as acceptable in some cases and even glorify it at times. I wish that the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies made us think more about how we should feel about war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, the focus of Book of Mormon lesson #26, have to be the most unusual group in the Book of Mormon.\u00a0 Their choice of pacifism is unequaled in scripture, except possibly by the people of Enoch. While the lesson concentrates on their conversion and how that led them to turn to pacifism, I think the fact that they chose pacifism is instructive, something that should make us all ponder what really matters. Perhaps their pacifist views, along with the troubles in Missouri, influenced William Wines Phelps, one of the first poets of Mormonism, leading him to write the following condemnation of war:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-school-lesson-book-of-mormon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21145"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21149,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21145\/revisions\/21149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}