Mormon begins describing the sufferings of the Nephites. The
Lamanites took many prisoners. The prisoners were men, women, and children.
“Towers existed throughout Nephite history. Mormon wrote to
his son Moroni in the final years of the Nephite wars about conditions facing
their people at ‘the tower of Sherrizah,’ presumably a landmark somewhere in
the land northward that needed no further identification (Moroni 9:7; see
9:16–17).”[1]
“After the renewal of war early in the fourth century AD,
wholesale destruction, not just conquest and exploitation, became the aim of
the Lamanite aggressors. At that point the victims had to either flee or die
(see Mormon 2:3–8), whereas a few centuries before they only had to subject
themselves to the new rulers to be left relatively undisturbed so long as they
paid up. Nearing the final conflict at Cumorah, the wars became even more
decimating and merciless (see Moroni 9:7–19). At length, around AD 380, the
Nephites as a sociopolitical group were exterminated in one climactic battle
wherein hundreds of thousands died in a single day (see Mormon 6:11–15).[2]
The Lamanites killed the husbands and fathers of the women
and children. They have become so depraved, they are feeding the women and
children the flesh of their husbands and fathers. They also give them very
little water.
Mormon compares the depravity of the Lamanites to that of
the Nephites. In Moriantum, Nephites raped Lamanite women. After the raped
them, “they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even
unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto
wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a
token of bravery” (Mormon 9:10).
Mormon laments the state of his people.
“O my beloved son, how can a people like this, that are
without civilization—
“(And only a few years have passed away, and they were a
civil and a delightsome people)
“But O my son, how can a people like this, whose delight is
in so much abomination—
“How can we expect that God will stay his hand in judgment
against us?
“Behold, my heart cries: Wo unto this people. Come out in
judgment, O God, and hide their sins, and wickedness, and abominations from
before thy face” (Mormon 9:10-15).
[1] Mormon’s Map – Civilization,
John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute website.
[2] Last-Ditch
Warfare in Ancient Mesoamerica Recalls the Book of Mormon, John L. Sorenson,
Maxwell Institute website.
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