“Defend It”

Helaman’s young army proclaimed their willingness to fight by explaining why it was necessary. “We would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone,” they said to Helaman; “therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus” (Alma 56:46).

These young warriors had grown up in homes where their parents had vowed never to fight, not even to defend themselves or their families. (See Alma 24:17-19.) Yet those same parents, when they saw so many Nephites fighting and dying to defend them, “were moved with compassion and were desirous to take up arms in the defence of their country” (Alma 53:13). These young men understood that some things are worth fighting for.

I don’t know if the chief judge, Pahoran, had heard this affirmation of Helaman’s army, but he expressed an expanded version of the sentiment in his letter to Captain Moroni:

We would not shed the blood of the Lamanites if they would stay in their own land.

We would not shed the blood of our brethren if they would not rise up in rebellion and take the sword against us.

We would subject ourselves to the yoke of bondage if it were requisite with the justice of God, or if he should command us so to do.

But behold he doth not command us that we shall subject ourselves to our enemies, but that we should put our trust in him, and he will deliver us.

Alma 61:10-13

Most of us rarely face threats to our physical safety, but all of us make decisions regularly about when to let things go and when to speak up. Defending the truth and defending the vulnerable doesn’t require us to be harsh or disrespectful, but it does require courage and resoluteness. Some things are non-negotiable. Some issues are important enough that we must take a stand and make our voices heard.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them.

“The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship,” General Conference, April 2014

Today, I will speak up in defense of true principles and on behalf of vulnerable people. I will remember that some things are worth fighting for. I will treat others with civility while maintaining my wholehearted commitment to the truth and to my values.