Religious Freedom in the Book of Mormon

The Church has a website dedicated to religious freedom.  From it we can see the major emphasis that has been placed in recent years on this important topic.  For example, the site lists about 30 talks by general authorities since 2009 related to religious freedom with 20 of those given in the past three years.  Clearly this is something that we should be paying attention to, and in speaking to the need for us to understand religious freedom, Elder Oaks said this: “Not many can be elected to public office. Not many can plan the strategy or author the key arguments to be used in this contest. Not many will go to law school or seek a degree in political science to serve this cause. But literally everyone, from kindergarten children through the ranks of professionals and mothers and fathers and friends and neighbors, can and should understand what religious freedom is and why it is important.”

                One of the tools to help us understand religious freedom and the effects of limiting religious freedom is the Book of Mormon.  In it we find several examples of those groups who sought to limit religious freedom as well as those who sought to protect it.  In the very first chapter even we see how Lehi was persecuted among the Jews because of his religious beliefs: “When the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away” (1 Nephi 1:20).  It was at least in part this persecution that caused him to have to flee into the wilderness with his family.  Later once they were in the promised land, Nephi likewise had to flee from his brothers who did “seek to take away [his] life” because of his faithfulness to his religious convictions (2 Nephi 5:2).  Later the people of Ammonihah showed incredible intolerance to differing religious beliefs as they put to death those who believed in the words of Alma and Amulek: “And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire” (Alma 14:8).  The Zoramites similarly persecuted those who believed in Alma’s words by casting them out from their city: “And it came to pass that after they had found out the minds of all the people, those who were in favor of the words which had been spoken by Alma and his brethren were cast out of the land” (Alma 35:6).   At the time of the major war between the Nephites and the Lamanites, religious freedom was a huge concern of Moroni.  He knew that the intent of Amalickiah was to “destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them” (Alma 46:10).  If the Lamanites won, the Nephite freedom to worship their God as they wished would be taken away.  So Moroni gathered the Nephites together with this rallying cry: “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” (Alma 46:12).  He fought valiantly to preserve their religious freedoms that their enemies sought to take away. 

                These and other examples show what can happen when religious liberty is taken away, and they should inspire us to protect the freedom of conscience for all people who seek to live peaceably their religion.  We must protect our laws so that what was true at one time among the Nephites is true for us: “Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds…. Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him” (Alma 30:7, 9).