Zeezrom and the Mob

The first time Alma preached in Ammonihah, the crowd was merciless. They “withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city” (Alma 8:13). That could have been the end of the story, except that an angel sent him back.

The second time he preached, they protested that it wasn’t sufficient for God to send only a single messenger with such bad news. (See Alma 9:2, 6.) When Amulek stepped forward to endorse Alma’s message, they complained that he was reviling their lawyers. (See Alma 10:24, 29.) With that invitation, the foremost of their lawyers, Zeezrom stepped forward to interrogate Amulek. (See Alma 10:31.)

If Zeezrom thought he had some power of persuasion over these people, he was soon to learn differently. After Amulek’s testimony persuaded him, he tried to speak on behalf of these two men:

Zeezrom…knew concerning the blindness of the minds, which he had caused among the people by his lying words. …

And it came to pass that he began to cry unto the people, saying: Behold, I am guilty, and these men are spotless before God. And he began to plead for them from that time forth; but they reviled him, saying: Art thou also possessed with the devil? And they spit upon him, and cast him out from among them.

Alma 14:6-7

It must have been hard for Zeezrom to discover that he had been following, not leading this mob.

How did the people react when Alma and Amulek were miraculously delivered from prison? When the building tumbled to the ground, the people “came running together by multitudes to know the cause of it; it; and when they saw Alma and Amulek coming forth out of the prison, and the walls thereof had fallen to the earth, they were struck with great fear.” What a dramatic opportunity to admit they had been wrong, to at least accept the possibility that Alma and Amulek were being protected by God. But sadly, they responded with emotion, not reason. They “fled from the presence of Alma and Amulek even as a goat fleeth with her young from two lions; and thus they did flee from the presence of Alma and Amulek” (Alma 14:29).

Mob mentality (or herd mentality) occurs when the decisions of individuals within a group are overwhelmingly driven by the perceived expectations of the group. In such circumstances, people stop arriving at independent conclusions and simply follow the crowd. As Zeezrom learned, it may be impossible to reason with people who are in this condition. Until group members are willing to question themselves and their colleagues, to listen to opposing points of view, and to think things through more objectively, they essentially yield their agency to the group, with significant risk of making unwise or even destructive decisions.

Today, I will follow the example of Zeezrom, by independently evaluating the facts instead of relying on the echo chamber of other people’s interpretations and recommendations. I will remember that we are all susceptible to mob mentality, and I will strive to avoid the fallacy of the people of Ammonihah, by considering opposing views, slowing down long enough to think for myself, and involving the Lord in my decisions.