In Derision

To Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, the Lord declared:

The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee;

While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand.

Doctrine and Covenants 122:1-2

This sounds like an expansion of Moroni’s prophecy sixteen years earlier that Joseph’s “name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people” (Joseph Smith—History 1:33). But instead of merely saying that people would speak evil of Joseph, this time, the Lord identified the critics as “fools” and identified the evil speaking as “derision“—contemptuous ridicule or mockery.”

When Moroni worried in prayer that the Gentiles would mock at His words, God responded, “Fools mock, but they shall mourn” (Ether 12:26). A wise leader or friend might provide counsel, caution, and corrective feedback, but always with a sense of respect and love, never with the desire to demean or diminish.

Mocking others—treating them as though they were beneath us or even worthless—is foolish because it’s inaccurate. All of God’s children have inestimable worth. Mistreating them reveals more about our own spiritual blindness than their weakness.

In Lehi’s dream, people in the great and spacious building pointed “the finger of scorn” at the people who were eating the fruit of the tree of life. They were trying to influence behavior, but not in constructive ways. Nephi tells us that he and his family “heeded them not … for as many as heeded them, had fallen away” (1 Nephi 8:33-34).

We can recognize constructive feedback because it is delivered with respect. Mocking and derision, even when they come from a supposed friends or even from ourselves, is foolish and unworthy of our attention.

Today, I will ignore contemptuous language. I will recognize that those who mock and ridicule others are acting foolishly and that their words and actions are unlikely to lead to positive outcomes.