< ALMA 24 >
v. 1 ... were stirred up by the Amalekites and by the Amulonites to anger against their brethren.
Fear and anger
Fear and anger are really good tools for mobilizing human behavior.
Fear narrows attention, anger simplifies complexity. They both allow the brain to bypass slow moral reasoning by pushing us into fight or flight mode. Nuance fades, group identity hardens, and it becomes us vs. them. People don't care about truth, they care about: who is the enemy?
The reality is that truth is slow, but fear is fast, it demands reaction vs. truth which invites reflection.
Satan doesn't need people to be evil, he needs them to be afraid and offended. That allows them to justify almost anything.
Fear and anger
Fear and anger are really good tools for mobilizing human behavior.
Fear narrows attention, anger simplifies complexity. They both allow the brain to bypass slow moral reasoning by pushing us into fight or flight mode. Nuance fades, group identity hardens, and it becomes us vs. them. People don't care about truth, they care about: who is the enemy?
The reality is that truth is slow, but fear is fast, it demands reaction vs. truth which invites reflection.
Satan doesn't need people to be evil, he needs them to be afraid and offended. That allows them to justify almost anything.
v. 14 .... therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.
Plan of salvation: This phrase only appears in the Book of Mormon (Alma 24:14, Alma 42:5) and the Pearl of Great Price (Moses 6:62).
Plan of salvation: This phrase only appears in the Book of Mormon (Alma 24:14, Alma 42:5) and the Pearl of Great Price (Moses 6:62).
v. 30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.
Knowledge and accountability
Before you know, you are innocent. After you know, you are willingly chosing otherwise.
This carries moral weight and so the brain has to build up defenses, rationalize the position to quiet the conscience. Those defenses harden after time.
There are only two ways to fix that internal dissonance: 1) Humble repentance 2) Justify your actions.
That's why peple can't leave it alone, they have to prove it isn't true to justify their failure.
People who once believed know the language, know the arguments, know the weaknesses of human institutions so they can be much more articulate and vicous than people who don't know.
As noted: The same sun that melts wax can harden clay. The light is the same, it's the material that changes.
Knowledge and accountability
Before you know, you are innocent. After you know, you are willingly chosing otherwise.
This carries moral weight and so the brain has to build up defenses, rationalize the position to quiet the conscience. Those defenses harden after time.
There are only two ways to fix that internal dissonance: 1) Humble repentance 2) Justify your actions.
That's why peple can't leave it alone, they have to prove it isn't true to justify their failure.
People who once believed know the language, know the arguments, know the weaknesses of human institutions so they can be much more articulate and vicous than people who don't know.
As noted: The same sun that melts wax can harden clay. The light is the same, it's the material that changes.