What is a secret combination? According to Moroni, it’s a group of people who are oath-bound to hide one another’s sins. The broader population would never tolerate their behavior, but if they can keep their crimes hidden, then they can pretend to be upstanding citizens. The oaths serve “to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms” (Ether 8:16).
These secret societies attract people who don’t want to live by the rules, who want to be unconstrained by law and by societal norms. But in exchange for this “freedom” to break the law, they become entirely beholden to the group. “They all sware unto him, by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose his life” (Ether 8:14). Is that how you want to live, with your very survival dependent on your loyalty to a group of lawless associates?
No wonder God considers these arrangements “most abominable and wicked above all” (Ether 8:18). When you enter this kind of relationship, you trade integrity for loyalty. Instead of being anchored to true principles and to an unchanging God, you attach yourself to treacherous and dishonest people. What kind of trade is that?
“The Lord worketh not in secret combinations,” writes Moroni (Ether 8:19), echoing Nephi’s testimony, “The Lord God worketh not in darkness” (2 Nephi 26:23).
Moroni gives us a warning: “Whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed” (Ether 8:22).
Then he speaks to us even more pointedly:
The Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you.
Ether 8:24
I suppose that the obvious question is, how would we know? How could we “uphold” combinations which are secret? How can we “awake” to their existence if they’re intentionally hidden?
I don’t think the Lord is asking us to become conspiracy theorists or self-appointed private investigators. I think He’s inviting us to do something much simpler: notice warning signs and encourage, or even demand, better behavior.
What are these warning signs or red flags?
- Prioritizing loyalty to an individual or a group over loyalty to the truth.
- Seeking to hide information which might disqualify someone for a job or leadership opportunity.
- Rationalizing away bad behavior on the grounds that everyone’s doing it, so character doesn’t really matter.
Earlier in the Book of Mormon, we read about two nations, one of which eliminated secret combinations, while the other cultivated them. Here are some of the differences in their behavior:
| Lamanites | Nephites |
|---|---|
| “When the Lamanites found that there were robbers among them they were exceedingly sorrowful; and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth” (Helaman 6:20). | “Satan did stir up the hearts of the more part of the Nephites, insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers, and did enter into their covenants and their oaths” (Helaman 6:21). |
| “The Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites” (Helaman 6:37). | “The Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations” (Helaman 6:38). |
How did the Lamanites “destroy” the secret combinations among them? By preaching the word of God. How did the Nephites “build them up?” By tolerating them, being seduced by them, believing in them, and eventually joining them. Our adherence to truth and our willingness to publicly stand for what’s right are the best countermeasures against the spread of these secret societies. Goodness thrives in the light, while evil festers in the dark.
Today, I will prioritize integrity over loyalty and truth over personal ambition. I will hold myself and others accountable to act in accordance with true principles and not to hide or rationalize wrongdoing.
I’ve been wondering how these warnings could apply in my own life. Thank you for breaking them down into such an easily applicable set of values.
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad the post was useful to you.
Is this not exactly what we are seeing in US politics today? This seems like an exact description. People seeking power to avoid justice, and putting people in positions to hide their sins? It’s shocking to me to see the almost complete complacency, even among those who know this. People will put up with such things when they think the alternative political choice is worse, but if this is “most abominable and wicked above all”, then how could the alternate be worse? I’ve never seen anything so bad as we are seeing today. It makes sense we can’t discuss politics in church, but it truly feels as if Mormon was speaking directly to us today when he said that we can know that we are in an “awful situation”. The sad part is the American people have chosen this with eyes wide open. I’ve been a member of the church my whole life, and I’ve never seen church members support and defend such craziness. It seems a great ploy of the adversary to corrupt the political party where church members have been dominant for the past half century, but I never thought I’d see a majority of members defend and promote what we are seeing today. I really thought if anything they would have just not voted.
The Book of Mormon was written for our day. The greatest warning was against these dynamics, even trading integrity for loyalty. No mention by Mormon about specific policies that have been cited as justifications to defend this, such as economic or belief-based positions. Mormon never said, it’s ok because the other side has different religious beliefs. He never said it’s ok to promote wicked people because they agree with economic policies.
Thanks for the comment, Nate. Character absolutely matters, and we need to hold our leaders to a high standard of moral conduct. President Dallin H. Oaks has reminded us not to judge people harshly when they vote differently from us, and to recognize that a vote for a candidate does not imply an endorsement of all of that candidate’s positions. Still, we all need to resist the human tendency to excuse the immoral actions of our favored candidates. Regardless of whom you voted for in any given election, we must all uphold basic standards of decency and morality and not participate in the rationalization of bad behavior.
I agree with that counsel from President Oaks. The question seems how to understand through the lens of scripture what happened and anticipate what happens next. When the Nephite government had become corrupt, Nephi (son of Helaman) asked similar questions in Helaman 7. Later Samuel the Lamanite, who wasn’t even “the prophet” or high priest of the church at the time, goes into great detail in Helaman 13 describing what is happening in their country as a result of their choices, i.e. an awakening to the “awful situation”. The first presidency also recently advised members to “vote for those who have demonstrated integrity, compassion, and service to others, regardless of party affiliation.” Considering how members have historically voted, this advice seemed to make allowance for breaking with trends, prioritizing these factors. Like the Nephites, it seems we face similar risks when we put personal preferences over character.