Moroni's Justified Letter to Pahoran

I have written before about Moroni’s letter to Pahoran recorded in Alma 60 and suggested that it proved to be a source of revelation for Pahoran.  Indeed, I believe that this letter written by Moroni was justified and exactly what the Lord wanted him to write.  Often I fear that the general feeling in the Church towards this letter and the return letter by Pahoran is this: “Moroni in a moment of rashness falsely accused Pahoran of being a traitor to the country, and Pahoran in return showed great restraint and forgiveness in his response.” And with that we mentally dismiss the letter as Moroni’s mistake and move on.  But the reality is much different: Pahoran certainly showed a noble character in his response and is justly praised for his ability to not take offense, but Moroni was not mistaken in sending the letter.  Yes, he did question whether Pahoran was a traitor to the country, but it was a valid question given the lack of support Moroni had experienced (v18).  And, most importantly, the letter was not just written to Pahoran and there were traitors in the government who were indeed worthy of the condemnation of Moroni’s letter.

                The letter clearly was written to more than just Pahoran and there were recipients who were rightly chastised by it.  Moroni began by addressing Pahoran “and also to all those who have been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war” (v1).  Throughout the letter he wrote consistently in the plural form, using such phrases as “ye yourselves know”, “your thrones”, “my beloved brethren”, “ye are also traitors to your country”, and “except ye do bestir yourselves” (v2, 7, 10, 18, 29).  All of these show that Moroni was intentionally writing to a much larger group than just Pahoran himself.  And we know that at least some of these did indeed deserve the chastisement of Moroni because that is what the Lord told him.  Moroni wrote, “Behold, the Lord saith unto me: If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them” (v33).  So if we believe in Moroni’s ability to receive revelation then we have to believe that his letter was absolutely justified and was in fact written in obedience to the Lord’s commands to him.  And clearly Pahoran thought it was, for though he asserted his own loyalty to the country, he wrote back, “Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle, for I was somewhat worried concerning what we should do” (Alma 61:19).  Pahoran did not resent the letter but it was a great “joy” to him because from it he figured out what to do.  The letter had exactly the intended effect, namely that it spurred the government—particularly Pahoran—into action.       

                One other important note about the letter is that Moroni’s main motivation, in addition to following the direction the Lord gave him, was the slaughter of innocent civilians.  What made him so justifiably upset was that innocent Nephites, including children, were being killed unnecessarily.  There was “an exceedingly great slaughter” at Nephihah that was the immediate catalyst for the letter, and undoubtedly that meant civilians and women and children who were killed because the government hadn’t sent enough troops to defend the city (Alma 59:7).  This was Moroni’s main complaint: “Great has been the slaughter among our people; yea, thousands have fallen by the sword…. Ye might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword” (Alma 60:5, 8). Five times in the letter he referred to the loss of “thousands” of Nephites whose deaths could have been prevented if the government had done more.  And there was no mistake or misunderstanding there on Moroni’s part—that had actually happened and his righteous indignation was justified as he observed the intense suffering of his people.  He was particularly concerned about the most innocent in society: “The Lamanites are coming upon us, taking possession of our lands, and they are murdering our people with the sword, yea, our women and our children, and also carrying them away captive, causing them that they should suffer all manner of afflictions” (v17).  He also referred to their “little ones” who needed defending (v29).  Moroni was no hothead who was upset that he wasn’t personally being supported in his high office of chief commander; rather, he was overcome with grief over the slaughter of innocent women and children who suffered death at the hands of the brutal Lamanites.  That was his motivation for sending his letter to the government, and because of it the government was indeed able to rally and come to the defense of their people.