Lessons from the War Chapters: What Manner of Soldiers and Men Ought We to be?

For those who are unfamiliar with the Stripling Warriors, they were a group of 2,000 young men, Lamanites by birth, but Nephites by affiliation, and Christians by religion.  Their parents, a group of converted Lamanites, had made a covenant to never take up arms again, and were under the protection of the Nephites (Alma 23-27).  Because the Nephites were struggling in their war with the Lamanites, these people were about to break their covenant and again take up arms to help the Nephites.  Rather than see their parents break their covenant, these young men, who had not made the same covenant, volunteered to join the Nephite army under the command of their church leader, Helaman (Alma 53:10-17).

The story of the Stripling Warriors is the one part of the war chapters that is widely read and known by members of the church, but I'm going to look at it from a slightly different perspective.  I am going to use the descriptions of the Stripling Warriors as a guideline for who we should be as young men, men and soldiers.

"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him." (Alma 53:20-21)

Can you imagine if all our young men fit this description?  

These young men were placed where they could reinforce the Nephite army belonging to the commander Antipus.  In an effort to decoy the Lamanites out of a stronghold, like was discussed before, Helaman's 2,000 were used as the decoy.  The Lamanites took the bait, and Antipus' army went after the pursuing Lamanites.  The following day, the untested, tired, and probably nerve-wracked 2,000 realized that the Lamanites had stopped their pursuit.  

Not knowing if Antipus had caught up to the Lamanites, or if it was a trap to draw Helaman's army in, Helaman said, "Behold, we know not but they have halted for the purpose that we should come against them, that they might catch us in their snare; Therefore, what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them unto battle?" (Alma 56:43-44)  The answer of these untested and inexperienced young men was, "Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus." (Alma 56:46)

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." (Alma 56:47, 48)

This passage is often used to teach the influence that mothers have on their children.  Not to take away from that very important message, what this example describes to me is the true courage of these young men.  They had never fought.  They had never killed, or had an army fighting to kill them.  Combat is scary, and that's all there is to it.  Their faith overcame their fear.

They returned to find the army of Antipus about to fall, and provide the relief needed to defeat the Lamanites.  After the battle, Helaman took accountability to see how many of these young men had been lost.

"But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war." (Alma 56:56)

Not only were they valiant and successful in their first battle, they dominated.  Not only did they not fear the battle, they did not shy away from using maximum violence to achieve their end state.  They knew that when it was time to fight, you fought with everything.  It probably helps that they were already strong, and had probably spent significant time training.  But they also knew that their cause was just, and therefore held back nothing.

After subsequent battles, Helaman said of his army: "But behold, my little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them. And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted." (Alma 57:19, 20)

"And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.

And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.

Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually."

To all those who are, or desire to be soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, etc... we should look to Helaman's Stripling Warriors as an example of who we should be, and how we should be.

Parents, raise your boys to be young men who can fit the description of these young men, so that they can stand firm and undaunted in the face of physical and spiritual threats.

Two weeks to go...

First, I'd like to apologize for the two week absence. Easter weekend I went home, and it was a busy but awesome weekend. In fact, other than getting crazy sick, the weekend was perfect.  Though, I must add a warning for anyone who is ever tempted...

Definitely a GO.

Big fat NO GO!

Don't try the chocolate covered bacon.  It's not worth it.  Trust me.

On a good note, though, I was able to visit the Birmingham, Alabama temple, and eat some tom yum gai and pad thai (the basic Thai national foods) in celebration of Songkran.

Unfortunately, class over the last two weeks has been fairly busy as well.  We've been going through a process called JOPP (Joint Operational Planning Process), which is how the US military plans out operations.  The scenario we use (and which all the other "advanced" courses, like the captains' career courses, sergeants major academy, etc. use) is based on what the Army calls the GAAT (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey) region.  Of course, the rest of the world calls this area the Caucasus, but we're the Army, so we have to come up with our own name for it, and then make it an acronym. (I'll bet someone got a good OER bullet out of renaming a historic world region...)


Why use the Caucasus?  Probably because it's fairly representative of the geopolitical craziness we face these days.

So, our fictional scenario takes politically correct license, and instead of making a bad guy of Iran (wouldn't want them to think we have plans against them, eh?), we've created the fictional breakaway state of Ahurastan.  Fortunately for Ahurastan, they inherited nearly all of Iran's military capabilities...  Ahurastan, of course, wants to annex Azerbaijan, which is definitely not within the realm of reality, and threatens to do it by force.

Our task is to create a Joint Task Force, and go through the planning motions as if we were actually planning the deployment of a deterrence/combat force to the region.  It involves quite a bit.  Identifying friendly and enemy available combat power and assets, identifying centers of gravity, developing lines of effort, developing the enemy's course of action, and developing our own course of action. 

Frankly, while there are few things in life I enjoy more than fictional staff work, everyone else and I were ruined by Easter weekend.  It broke us.  We have culminated as a staff group.

And what's worse, is that we've still got two weeks of the Military Decision Making Process...

Saying Goodbye... По-русски

I haven't done a Russian blog post in quite a while, so today we're going to talk about how to say "Goodbye" in Russian.  This is important, because, well, words mean things.

Even in Russian.

When you're saying goodbye to someone, the terms you use convey specific meanings.  Saying a full goodbye in English tends to have a definitive connotation, and is often used in a less-than-positive light.

The shorter and much more common use is a simple 'bye.  This is fairly universal and the connotations of its use depend completely on context, intonation and non-verbal cues.

Other phrases, like "See you later," or it's short form of "Later," and any of the myriad variations are generally positive and often used with familiarity, or even sincerity.  If you aren't actually going to see that person later, then you are expressing the desire nonetheless.

In Russian, you say До свидания (Do sviDAnya).  This literally means until our next meeting, but is used as good bye.  However, it does not carry the finality that the English good bye does, and is used commonly, especially in formal or unfamiliar settings.

The much more formal and temporary parting is Пока! (PokA).  This literally means "until", but comes from the concept of пока не увидимся, or until we meet again.  This is used among friends and in familiar and informal situations.  Akin to English 'bye.

Пока!

The last part of the long form above, Увидимся (ooVEEdemsya), is the Russian equivalent of "see you later."  Literally it means we'll see each other (Verb, conjugated for we, with reflexive ending).  The response can either be a a repeat Увидимся or a Пока, which carries essentially the same meaning.

Увидимся с электричкой

To say one's goodbyes would be Прощаться (proschATsya), or попрощаться (poproschATsya).  So, if you wanted to say, "tomorrow we'll say our goodbyes" it would be Завтра мы попрощаемся.

Тяжолое прощание...

Удачи!

Spiritual Lessons from the War Chapters 2: Don't Leave your Stronghold

Last week I left Sunday's post with a to be continued... Today's post continues last week's lesson, with another example. If you recall, last week we talked about how Amalickiah lured Lehonti off the mountain by asking him to come down "just a little."  This started off the string of events which led to Lehonti's death, the murder of the Lamanite king, and Amalickiah becoming the king.  With Amalickiah as king, the Lamanites began their war against the Nephites.

After Teancum's DEVGRU-style assassination of Amalickiah, the Lamanites realize they're in a bit of a pickle and Amalickiah's brother, Ammoron, orders the Lamanites to "maintain those cities, which they had taken by the shedding of blood." (Alma 52:4) The cities they had taken were Nephite cities, which had been built up into strongholds by Moroni, using a robust system of earth and wood-works. The Lamanites had payed dearly for the strongholds they were able to capture, and the Nephites understood how difficult it would be to recapture them.  In an area the Nephites called Boutiful, Teancum "thougth it was not expedient that he should attempt to attack the Lamanites in their forts." (Alma 52:5,6) So Teancum's army dug themselves in and waited for either an opportunity, or reinforcements.

An artist rendition of Moroni's city fortifications

 Fortifications at Becan, Mexico, which follow the pattern of Moroni's fortifications

While waiting, Moroni sent orders to Teancum to attack and recapture one of the occupied cities, named Mulek.  Unfortunately Teancum sees that "it was impossible that he could overpower them while they were in their fortifications." (Alma 52:17) Teancum goes back to the drawing board, and Moroni arrives with reinforcements.  Moroni, Teancum and a number of other leaders hold a Recapture Mulek Working Group, and decide they need to get the Lamanites to come out of the city and then attack.

They try first by sending representatives to Mulek, asking the Lamanite captain, Jacob, to come out and meet them on the plains for battle.  Jacob says thanks, but no thanks and stays in the stronghold.
"Moroni, having no hopes of meeting them upon fair grounds, therefore, he resolved upon a plan that he might decoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds." (Alma 52:21) The plan involved Teancum taking a small group and march out in the open, baiting the Lamanite army, while Moroni's army would hide and then recapture the city when the Lamanites were out chasing Teancum.

Here we see how important our strongholds in life can be.  Teancum could have attacked Mulek, and would have probably inflicted some measure of damage on the Lamanites, but it was "impossible that he could overpower them" while they held fast in the stronghold.  In our lives we have our own strongholds.  The Church, the priesthood, and the Gospel.  Our families and our faith.  They can be strong, and they can be weak, depending on the amount of effort we put into building up the fortifications.  Regardless of their condition, though, they are our strongholds, and so long as we hold to them, Satan cannot overpower us.  It doesn't mean we will escape uninjured, but we will remain alive.

Satan understands this, and uses his own strategems and ruses to try and bait us out of our strongholds, where he can have hopes of meeting us on fair grounds.  Much like Moroni and Teancum, Satan knows that to get us out of our strongholds, he needs to use bait that is seemingly both minor enough to keep us in our comfort zone, but lucrative enough to make the risks worth the effort.  This may be through an improper friendship with someone other than our spouse.  It may be with recreational substances, things that only break the word of wisdom just a little.  It may be with groups of desired friends or coworkers.  It may be with financial and worldly success.  Regardless, Satan will place a small, but enticing temptation clearly in front of you, while hiding his own armies in the forests to the side.

Teancum and his men go out, and Jacob sees them and thinks, "they're not that far away, and there aren't very many of them..." The Lamanites kit up and set out after Teancum, "supposing by their numbers to overpower Teancum because of the smallness of his numbers." (Alma 52:23) Teancum sees that the Lamanites took the bait, and they pick up a double-time.  The Lamanites see this and think Teancum's group is now scared, which just gets the Lamanites going even faster.  At this point, the Lamanites have swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. If we recall the capabilities of Teancum's army, we feel somewhat sorry for the gullible Lamanites. 

This is where Satan's baits really get us.  Just like a fishing hook has a barb on the end, so that it just keeps sinking in deeper.  When we go after that small temptation, thinking, "it's nothing, really," we find that it feels good, maybe exhilarating, maybe liberating.  We enjoy the thrill of the chase.  We enjoy the rush that comes from bending the rules and pushing the line.  But our stronghold is still right there behind us, we can still see it, and the prize is just up ahead, running scared!  But Satan's temptation will always be able to out run us, just as Teancum's superior soldiers could the Lamanites.  The short-lived exhilaration, the brief high, the thrill of a look or a tease, leaves us wanting more.  So we quicken our march toward our prize, each second further and further away from our stronghold. 

With the Lamanites out of Mulek, Moroni's army attacks and quickly renders the minimal protection force ineffective.  Moroni then leaves some of his army in Mulek to maintain the city, and takes the rest and marches in pursuit of the Lamanite army.  Little did the Lamanites know, Teancum was leading them into a trap, where Lehi and his army stood waiting.  We'll talk about Lehi more on another day, but he had a particular reputation among the Lamanites, and when Jacob's army learned that Teancum and Lehi were together ahead of them, "they fled in much confusion, lest perhaps they should not obtain the city Mulek before Lehi should overtake them." (Alma 52:28)

Suddenly the temptation was too big for them to control, the thrill and exhilaration gone and the realization of their predicament was clear.  They had let themselves get a long way from their strongholds.

The brilliance of Moroni's plan, was that he knew the Lamanites would turn tail and run at the sight of both Lehi and Teancum together, and he planned to meet them unexpectedly as they raced for their stronghold.   But what Jacob didn't know what that in leaving his stronghold, he allowed Moroni to capture it, and that he was racing into Moroni's army.  Jacob and the Lamanites had no sanctuary, and were now under assault from much stronger forces.  Then, when the Lamanites were decisively engaged with Moroni, Lehi and Teancum would attack from their rear, encircling and destroying them.  The Lamanites fought furiously for their lives, but in the end, they were either killed or captured.

This is the trap Satan lays for us.  We think we're leaving our strongholds for something small but safe.  Instead, a much greater force awaits to ambush us as we find ourselves further and further from our strongholds.  And while we're gone, our strongholds themselves are spoiled as part of the plot, and all because we thought we could go out and back quickly.  In the end, just like the Lamanites, if we take Satan's baits and leave our strongholds, we will find ourselves in his hands.  His is a long con, though.  The first few times he may even allow us to catch the bait, to boost our confidence and lull us into a false sense of security.  But just as Lehonti thought he was in control, all the while being poisoned by Amalickiah, and Jacob who thought he was in control while Teancum teased them along toward Lehi, when we leave our strongholds, we are never in control.

These two tactical engagement, given in great detail, were included in Mormon's abridgement of the records for a reason.  Remember, Mormon chose very carefully what to include, and there is nothing idle in the Book of Mormon.  So, don't come down from your mountains, and don't leave your strongholds!

Centers of Gravity

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a little bit, you might remember my post about ends, ways and means... and bacon.  Well, now that we're out of the world of C500 Tactics, we're in C400 Joint Operations. (Don't ask why C500 comes before C400.  It was probably done that way because some SAMS dude used Jedi Design when creating the course)

This means we're back to ends, ways, means, but not in the same way as before.  Now we're using ends ways and means to determine Centers of Gravity.  Neither black holes, nor the center of the earth are considered centers of gravity, though they may argue with that.  Also, they're not the same thing as center of mass type of center of gravity; the kind you wish had been lower in your 1997 Ford Explorer. 

No, it's not like this...

What a center of gravity is, according to the very dead Carl von Clausewitz, is the "source of all power" and the one thing you have to destroy to defeat your enemy.  Kind of like the One Ring.  So, when you're trying to divine your enemy's center of gravity, just imagine whichever thing they might be cooing "My Preciousssss!" over.  That will probably be it.

Maybe more like this...?

 

Did you know that in order to determine your own and your enemy's center of gravity, you can use ends, ways and means?  You probably can't use bacon, but it may help you think better because you won't be hungry.  That being said, you need to first, determine both your and your enemy's ends.  Then you need to figure out the ways that you both could achieve those ends, and then determine the means available to conduct the ways.  (Remember, ways = verbs, ends = nouns)

*FLASHBACK*

So, let's imagine that you wake up Saturday morning to discover your spouse made breakfast.  Unfortunately you soon discover that your kids ate all the bacon, and this just will not do. What is the ultimate problem?  You don't get any bacon.  What is the ultimate solution to this problem?  You getting some bacon.  So, this will be your End - Get some bacon.

What are the possible Ways you can make this happen?
You can throw a fit like a two-year old, screaming "I want my bacon!"
You can bribe your spouse to go get you more bacon and cook it.
You can call your neighbor to see if they have bacon to give you.
You can go to the store and buy more bacon.

What resources (Means) do you have/need to execute your ways?
Transportation to get to the store
Money to buy bacon/bribe spouse
A phone to contact a friend or neighbor
A stove and pan to cook your bacon

*END FLASHBACK*

We've determined our end.  Now, let's analyze our ways.  Throwing a fit probably won't get us anything. Out. Bribing our spouse to go get and cook us more bacon probably won't work either, because they've got to get the kids to swimming lessons.  Out.  We could call our neighbor, but we run the risk of them not having bacon, or not being willing to give it to us.  Out.  That leaves going to the store and buying us bacon. (both verbs, see)

From our means, we have to determine which are necessary for us to enact our way and achieve our end. A phone is useless.  A stove to cook bacon is needed, so as to avoid salmonella and other food borne diseases. Transportation is also needed to get us to the store.  Money is important as well.  But do any of these things actually provide us with bacon?  NO!  We need a store that sells bacon.

All of these things equal critical factors: Critical Capabilities (things you have to be able to do/provide), Critical Requirements (things you have to have to do those things) and Critical Vulnerabilities (things you need, but can easily be taken away).  So, our critical requirement is procuring bacon.  Our critical capabilities are transportation, money to purchase, and a stuff to cook with.  Our critical vulnerabilities are sufficient money, gas in our car, and store hours.

Of our means available, we need to validate which is our true center of gravity, by doing what Joe Strange and Dale Eikmeier tell us and determine "does/uses" criteria.   The true center of gravity "does" what our end state is.  All our other requirements are "used" by the "doer" to achieve our end state. Since our end state is getting bacon, we have already determined that our center of gravity is the store.  All the other things are "used" to achieve our end state, but cannot actually achieve it.

End State Achieved!

There you are!  Now you, too, can determine centers of gravity.

The Commander's Role in the Operations Process

The other day in class we were learning about the commander's role in the operations process.  Now, I understand that this is getting in to unfiltered doctrine, here, but there'll be a youtube clip coming up to help keep us from losing our sanity.

So, within the operations process (how the Army plans and then does the things it does), the commander has specific roles, other than to stand around and supervise.  That may come as a surprise to some, but it's true... at least doctrinally.  The commanders role is to lead and assess by understanding, visualizing, describing and directing.  The figure below is one of the Army's convoluted ways of trying to visually depict this role.

Since I understand that reading doctrine and looking at Army doctrinal figures isn't the most entertaining way of grasping this idea, here's a clip that sums everything up quite well:



In this clip, when Buford and his cavalry arrived at Gettysburg he immediately understood the situation.  He understood the environment and how it would impact the coming battle, and fully understood the problem facing him and the Union in general.
Buford could visualize the battle unfolding as if before his eyes, and could see his own end state - what needed to happen.  He could see the results of not succeeding.
He then described both the situation as it would be if they were unsuccessful, and what his own cavalry needed to do, including their end state - deny Lee the high ground until Meade's army could arrive.  He described the desired effect.
Finally, Buford then directs his troops as to what they were to do.  But he didn't give detailed commands, he described his intent and what his end state was, and then told his men to execute.

Who knew doctrine could be so easy?

A Spiritual Lesson from the War Chapters 1: Don't Come Down From Your Mountain

This Sunday I'm going to do a little plagiarizing/paraphrasing of one of the lessons presented by John Bytheway from the Book of Mormon's war chapters.  Because I believe that each and every lesson given in these chapters has a direct application to our lives, whether we are in the military or not, I believe that the detailed tactical information Mormon chose to include is there for a specific reason.  The spiritual lessons we'll look at today are an example of how we can apply these lessons to our lives, and are an example of how we can "liken the scriptures" to our own lives.

DON'T COME DOWN FROM YOUR MOUNTAIN

Background: After Moroni's victory over Zarahemnah, a new group of dissenters rose up among the Nephites.  This group, "lifted up on their hearts because of their exceedingly great riches," (Alma 45:24) was led by Amalickiah, "a large and a strong man" who "was desirous to be a king; and these people... were also desirous that he should be their king." (Alma 46:3,4).  They governmental system among the Nephites had for many years been a system of elected judges, and based on individual freedom and liberty.  Amalickiah wanted to be king because he wanted control over people.  Not just the Nephites, but anyone he could get control over.

An artist's rendition of Amalickiah

Moroni sees the threat of Amalickiah and his movement, and takes measures against Amalickiah's followers, but Amalickiah and his most loyal followers realize that their future among the Nephites will not end well, and "fearing that he should not gain the point, he took those of his people who would and departed into the land of Nephi," where the Lamanites were.  Moroni tries to stop them, but Amalickiah and "a small number of his men" escaped.

Now living among the Lamanites, Amalickiah immediately goes to work "and did stir up the Lamanites to anger against the people of Nephi, insomuch that the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation throughout all his land, among all his people, that they should gather themselves together again to go to battle against the Nephites."  Unfortunately for the Lamanite king, a good number of his soldiers remembered what happened to Zarahemnah, and "feared to go to battle against the Nephites lest they should lose their lives."  "And it came to pass that they would not, or the more part of them would not, obey the commandments of the king."

So, the king gets mad, and gives Amalickiah command over the Lamanites who would be obedient, which is exactly what Amalickiah wants - power over people.  "Now behold, this was the desire of Amalickiah; for he being a very subtle man to do evil therefore he laid the plan in his heart to dethrone the king of the Lamanites."  By thinking that he had power over Amalickiah, the king began giving away his power to his enemy.  Amalickiah's next goal was to gain control over the Lamanites who would not obey the king.

Those Lamanites had bugged out and took up a defensive position at the top of a mountain called Antipus, thinking that the obedient Lamanites were coming to fight them.  But Amalickiah wanted "to gain favor with the armies of the Lamanites, that he might place himself at their head and dethrone the king and take possession of the kingdom." Amalickiah sets up camp at the base of the mountain, and sends "a secret embassy" up to the leader of the Lamanites at the top, named Lehonti, and asks Lehonti to come down to the camp to speak with Amalickiah.  "And it came to pass that when Lehonti received the message he durst not go down to the foot of the mountain."  Lehonti knew that it was suicide to go down, and his group was "fixed in their minds with a determined resolution" not to go to war with the Nephites.  Amalickiah sends his people up a second and third time, each time getting the "fixed with a determined resolution" answer of "no."

An artist's rendition of Lehonti

The fourth time Amalickiah himself goes up, almost to the camp, and asks Lehonti to come down, and to even bring his guards with him.  The determined resolution proved less fixed when Lehonti only had to go down a little, feeling secure with his guards.  Amalickiah proposes that Lehonti's army surrounds his own army at night, and in the morning, they would surrender to Lehonti. 

We often find ourselves in our spiritual defensive positions at the top of the Gospel mountain.  It is up here that we ourselves are "fixed in our minds with a determined resolution" not to come down from our mountain.  How many times do we look at the major sins and say things like, "I'll never do that"?  "I'll never start drinking or smoking." "I'm never going to have an affair." "I wouldn't ever get into drugs or pornography."  Sounds pretty easy that way, and just like Lehonti, we know better than to go down to the spiritual Amalickiah waiting to destroy us.  We know, just like Lehonti knew, that Amalickiah was there to destroy us.  But then Amalickiah comes UP to US, and says, "Come down, just a little."  "Don't worry, you can bring your guards, you'll be safe."  "I don't want to hurt you, I actually want to be your servant.  I want to give YOU the power." We read as Lehonti actually goes down, thinking, "Doofus! You knew who he was, and you went anyway?" 

But when Satan comes up to us and says, "Come down, just a little," do we listen?  When he says, "Young women, I'm not asking you to break the law of chastity.  I'm just saying that if you dress less modestly, boys will find you more attractive." "Young men, I'm not asking you to break the law of chastity.  I'm just saying that it's perfectly innocent to buy that Maxim, or the SI swimsuit edition." "Yeah, sure it's a rated R movie, but it's just because of a few swear words.  Otherwise it would totally be PG-13" "Yeah, this movie's pushing some boundaries, but hey, it's still PG-13, right?  So it's still just fine." "You know, the prophet asked you not to have more than one piercing in your ear, and no body piercings, but he's really kind of old, and he doesn't really get what's in style today.  A fashionable little diamond nose stud is plenty conservative." "I'm not asking you to stop going to church, I'm just saying that stake conference isn't really sacrament meeting, so if you go golfing instead, you're not actually missing anything."

He even asks us to bring our guards and feel secure. "You're a mature adult, you're strong enough to handle this." "As the designated driver, you can even get free sodas at the bar." "Yeah, the dress is strapless, but you look so good in it." "Everyone swears a little.  Sometimes you just need to vent." "Your shirts cover up the belly button piercing, so no one will even know it's there." "The girls in the pictures still have some clothing on, so it's not really pornography." The great lie here is that Satan wants us to think that we're still in charge, and that we're still safe.  Is Satan a different being because he was willing to come up to us?  No. We still know who he is and what he wants.

The condition was that Amalickiah would become second in command to Lehonti. Lehonti agrees, surrounds Amalickiah's army, they surrender and Amalickiah becomes second in command.  "Now this was the very thing which Amalikciah desired." "Now it was the custom among the Lamanites, if their chief leader was killed, to appoint the second leader to be their chief leader."

"And it came to pass that Amalickiah caused that one of his servants should administer poison by degrees to Lehonti, that he died."

This is what happens to us.  When we agree to "come down, just a little" we get ourselves ensnared in the trap.  We feel secure and empowered.  We feel safe.  We feel like we were in command.  Just like Lehonti felt like he was in command all the way up till the point that he died.  Isn't it interesting that Amalickiah didn't order his servant to just kill Lehonti?  He ordered him to be poisoned, by degrees.  Lehonti slowly died, never knowing what had happened to him.  In the same way Satan will poison us, by degrees, once we come down from our own mountain.  We will continue to think we're in charge, that we're safe, and that we're doing what's right, all the way up until we find ourselves taking that drink, watching that movie, or in a situation where we can no longer resist that affair.  Very rarely does anyone go from the top of the mountain to the enemy camp below in one step.  Instead, we get lured out, little by little.

So, the lesson of this section: Seize and retain the high ground! Don't come down from your mountain!

To be continued...