Acts of Captain Moroni

Lessons of the Past

Moroni did not seek celebrity. His chief concern for his nation was to keep it FREE of those who sought celebrity. Moroni was horrified that some people wanted to change the political system from a democracy to a subjugating monarchy! "It came to pass that when Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, had heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah," [Alma 46:11] the brewer of contention in the nation and man seeking celebrity to become King!

Moroni remembered the lesson learned from the wicked King Noah who caused the people to reject the Christian religion and kill the prophet, Abinadi, who confronted him found in The Book of Mosiah, chapters 11-19.

Out of that tragedy, the Church of Christ formed under the direction of Alma the Elder (former high priest of King Noah) constituting a separation of church and state for the first time among the Nephites. Under the leadership of its third High Priest, the Church of Jesus Christ thrived. Perhaps, as a student of history, Moroni thought that a king could destroy the Church’s autonomy, possibly, definitely.

Moroni understood that his people could not afford to descend into internal turmoil with the constant threat of invasion due to frequent dissent of disillusioned citizens. Captain Moroni's nation constructed the vehicle of its own destruction! Greed, the promise of power, and pride helped a noble nation destroy itself from within. Captain Moroni would not let that happen on his watch--and it did not!

Moroni envisioned, two thousand years ago, a land of liberty that some contemporaries wanted to snatch away! Unless all citizens desired liberty, freedom was tenuous. Moroni desired to keep freedom against classism. 

Kingdom or Freedom

Amalickiah, rivaled for the liberty of the people, wanting to gather up the freedoms of the people and dispense them to those whom he desired. He wanted to be king, but not just over his birth nation, he wanted to rule all the nations associated with his society or their enemies referred to as Lamanites in Scripture! That's getting ahead, however.

Amalickiah asserted power would always rest in possession of a few families in his society due to inheritance. Not unlike politics in many modern nations, a certain class of people ruled society; though, the possibility that others could step into leadership did and does exist. Such an occurrence was slim then and now. It existed, though.

Amalickiah only wanted to change who possessed the power and what type of power leaders held so that he could have it all! No possibility of any others to lead would exist in his power structure. To stop this, the Title of Liberty Moroni started rooted out Amalickiah’s design in the Nephite nations. Unfortunately, it also led to one of the most bitter battles of Nephite history.
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Moroni, angry determination, went in supplication to God with the understanding that He would not allow the Christians cause, freedom, to cease unless the believers themselves brought that end due to disobedience. He petitioned the Lord to keep the Nephites free, and dedicated himself further to freedom's cause! Satisfied he enlisted heaven's aid, Moroni went throughout the nation campaigning for freedom opposite Amalickiah’s campaign for a monarchy.
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Captain Moroni petitioned the people, saying, “Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them,” [Alma 46:20] The Title of Liberty.

CHOOSING Liberty

The people responded overwhelmingly in favor of freedom and liberty, to the consternation of Amalickiah, who fled the land in response--joining his nation's enemies. Nephite citizens took a promise before God to maintain the rights of free people to act and worship with only God as their King. Those Amalickiah left behind and could not flee either accepted this Title of Liberty entering a covenant to maintain liberty or suffered capital punishment. It became a capital offense to desire any type of government other than one offering freedom of religion and democracy. Each citizen took an oath to maintain freedom!

Nephite citizens did not have the right to speak against the government outside of choosing the next chief judge or judges. Moroni effectively and lawfully made it illegal to try to change the structure of Nephite Government with the Title of Liberty, which became a recognized label throughout Nephite culture following--keeping the government democratic until its defeat nearly 500 years later.
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Any time God has representation on the earth where He institutes His laws in a nation, that nation will be a free nation to religion, if nothing else! Freedom to choose is a right God desires for all people in every land. Until all people are free to worship and exercise dominion over their individual lives, as Moroni believed, freedom is tenuous.