The voice of the people

On Tuesday The Daily Show and The Colbert Report returned after a break of nearly three weeks. So I finally have an inkling of what's going on in the world again.

I get probably at least 90% of my world and national news from those two shows. I'm so apathetic about politics that I can't stomach it without a heaping spoonful of comedy. I find the majority of American pundits and politicians distasteful, whether ultraconservative or ultraliberal (the moderates don't make for good TV so they seem to largely be ignored). I much prefer the theatricality of British government, whether it's this weekend's diamond jubilee (congrats to Elizabeth on 60 years of--not ruling, certainly, but reigning, I guess), last year's royal wedding (I can't believe it's already been 13 months since we were introduced to Pippa Middleton's butt), or the Prime minister's questions from any era.

I usually avoid talking about politics, and I write about it even less frequently. But I do have opinions on these issues, and if you've been reading the assigned chapters for the last few Sunday School lessons, it's been impossible not to think at least a little about politics and government (here's the study guide link for this week's lesson). There are a number of things about the Nephite government in this section that I find fascinating, especially when contrasted with how things are today (I deliberately used "government" rather than "politics," because the examples in the Book of Mormon are almost exclusively voting and governing rather than campaigning and politicking).

For starters, the church/state dynamic is intriguing. They're kind of separated and kind of not. There wasn't a formal church organization for the first few hundred years of their civilization, but the Nephite kings often doubled as the recognized prophet in the land, including the final two monarchs. Last week's lesson covered the founding of the church under Alma, and this week's covers King Mosiah changing their government from kingly rule to a system of judges. The people rejoiced in their newfound freedom, but the chief judges who presided for the next 200+ years served indefinitely, either for life or until they resigned. And one of their sons usually took their place. In addition, many of the chief judges were also the head of the church.

Abolishing the kingdom actually had the opposite effect on taxes that you would expect. Under Mosiah's father, King Benjamin, it appears that the people paid no taxes (see Mosiah 2:14). Once the switch was made to judges, there must have been some taxes, since the judges were paid for their time (see Alma 30:33), though it's likely the taxes were low. Whatever the rates, though, I'm sure the people of Limhi were pleased. Their community was absorbed into Mosiah's two lessons ago, after enduring 20% taxes under wicked King Noah (see Mosiah 11:3) and a whopping 50% while in bondage to the Lamanites (see Mosiah 19:15).

So, the Nephites were subject to taxes, and went from a monarchy to a system that was practically a monarchy, and a theocracy at that. All that considered, though...they really had a remarkable level of freedom. A few examples:

--In last week's lesson we see an account of church members being caught committing sins and taken before Mosiah for judgment. Since they had only violated church policy and not the law of the land, the king did nothing and referred them back to their ecclesiastical leaders to be disciplined (see Mosiah 26:6-12). I wonder how Mosiah would've addressed modern controversies like the debates on marriage, birth control, etc.?

--This week's chapters include the story of Nehor, a false prophet whose philosophies wreaked havoc with the church. Alma was the chief judge over the government and the high priest over the church, but no action was taken against Nehor until he killed a man (a violation of the civil law) after a heated religious debate (see Alma 1:1-14). Even though the church was the dominant influence in their society, they actually did have a clear separation of church and state.

--The Nephites were so committed to freedom, and to enacting laws in accordance with "the voice of the people," that it was legally possible to vote out their government and reestablish a monarchy, even though they knew that the would-be king was intent on destroying the church. Fortunately he lost at the polls (see Alma 2:1-7).

The most interesting part of this section of the Book of Mormon to me: under their new system of government many members of the church "began to be exceedingly rich," yet they "did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all...whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need" (Alma 1:29-30). The term "liberal" is practically a profanity to many Mormons, but here it is in its true usage in our most important book of scripture. I will likely never register with a specific political party (largely because of the apathy referenced at the beginning of this post), but I subscribe generally to liberal ideals in economic matters. I recognize that there is a big difference between the generosity of individual citizens described in these verses and government-mandated liberality and "entitlements," but staunch conservative candidates and their supporters too often give the impression that they do not possess this mindset. I will almost always end up voting for the candidate who I feel is more concerned with helping the less fortunate.

If any of my readers have any thoughts on what I've said here, or on the Nephite government and how it compares (for better or worse) to our present system, please share them in the comments.