On the Rameumptum

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Can we all agree that the big story of The Book of Mormon is that the “good guys” (the Nephites) are constantly getting proud of themselves for how righteous they are, and then have to be smitten by God through the “bad guys” (the Lamanites). The Nephites fight war after war with the supposedly “uncivilized” and “savage” Lamanites, but when Christ comes to the Americas, it’s the Lamanites who are there to greet Him. The Lamanites become His people. In the end, when everything goes to shit, the Lamanites are at least a little less bad than the Nephites, who are completely destroyed. The promises of God are for the descendants of the Lamanites, right?

It seems to me that Mormons are constantly forgetting that the lesson of The Book of Mormon is about us. We’re the ones who get proud. We’re the ones who think that we “deserve” blessings. We’re the ones who stand on the Rameumptum at times and pray about how blessed we are to be God’s special children. We’re the ones who are going to miss the signs of the Second Coming of Christ. We’re the ones who are going to be destroyed in the end. And all this because we think we’re special, that we don’t need anyone else, that we’re not the “sinners,” that we know already what’s right.

We can talk about wealth inequality, about racial prejudice, or we can talk about LGBT people within the church who are always being told “we love you, we want you to stay,” but are also never told how they fit into God’s plan for the church or for heaven. Elder Oaks talk this last conference was devastating to members of that community. I listened to it, numb, I admit, because it was frankly exactly what I expected of a man who sees the world in clear black and white, in “Nephite” and “Lamanite” terms, in righteous groups and unrighteous groups.

But I’m going to say right now I think that seeing the world this way is actually un-Mormon (though you can use the term un-Christian if you like and that works, too). Believing that only he knows what’s right is not only proud and arrogant, it’s so much like the people in The Book of Mormon who are praying on the rameumptum that it can be hard not to laugh at the irony. Did you not read that part? No, of course you did. You know it perfectly well. You just don’t see yourself in that group.

So I guess what I have to say to all of us is to stop seeing the world in black and white and start seeing it in rainbow. That’s how it really is, and honestly, that’s what seems the truly Mormon way of seeing right and wrong, black and white, good and evil. We’re all sinners. Stop pointing your finger at other people and turn it around to yourself. Pay attention to your own problems. Remember that part in the Bible where Jesus talks about motes and beams? Yeah. Remember that.

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