One thing I have to admire about the Lamanites is that they take their promises very seriously. When Moroni had Zarahemnah surrounded and outmatched, Moroni offered to let Zarahemnah retreat, if he promised to never come back. But Zarahemnah had enough honor and integrity to refuse to make a promise that he wasn't willing to keep.
However, given how binding their oaths and promises were to them, you'd think that more of the Lamanites would learn not to make rash promises. Yet, in Alma 49, a group of Lamanite captains swore an oath to destroy the people of a certain Nephite city before even assessing the strength of the city they pledged to invade. Upon discovering that the city had become a mighty fortress, those Lamanites led a suicidal attack against the city, despite its obvious strength, for their oaths' sake. This demonstrates an admirable amount of integrity, but a bewildering amount of foolishness.
We should keep our promises, but we should also be careful not to make promises we can't, shouldn't, or really won't want to keep. If we're going to have enough integrity to keep our word, and we probably should, we should be very careful about what we give our word to do. Zarahemnah had the right idea. He refused to make a promise that he wasn't willing to keep, and when he changed his mind and made the promise, he kept it.
I know that the Lamanites weren't exactly exemplars of virtue, but there were a few things they got right. They were better at keeping promises than most good guys are; they just weren't all very careful about what promises they made. We can learn from both aspects of this example. We can learn to only make promises that we're willing to keep, and we can learn to keep all the promises we make. Wisdom and integrity are both great virtues, especially when we use them both together by making good promises and keeping them.
I'm not sure what a person is supposed to do when they've made a bad promise, like some Lamanites did. I suppose you'd have to figure out which is the lesser of two evils: breaking your promise, or keeping it. It's a tricky predicament, but thankfully, it's one we can avoid. One way to keep ourselves from having to keep a foolish promise is to not make such a promise in the first place. As long as we're committed to living with integrity, we should be very careful about what promises we make.
1 comment:
You seem to be trying to understand the motives of the peoples of the Book of Mormon by today's standards and experiences. They were Middle Eastern, ancient Hebrew, Israelite peoples; patriarchal, word is my bond type of people. The argument between the Lamanites and the Nephites is the same one as between the descendants of Issac and Ishmael; a dispute over birthright and inheritance. Why do today's suicide bombers do what they do? Because they believe their cause is just and right. They don't think about the consequences and foolishness of their actions, they simply do what they believe in. Same for the Lamanites.
Perhaps a little more study from the Institute manual, and a few films like "Journey of Faith" would help your understanding of the dynamics between the two groups.
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