Rameumptom - The Religion of Division.

President Hinckley has warned LDS:

We do not need to wear our religion on our sleeves. We certainly do not need to be boastful about it or to be arrogant in any way. Such becomes a negation of the Spirit of the Christ whom we ought to try to emulate. That Spirit finds expression in the heart and the soul, in the quiet and unboastful manner of our lives.

Can it be that we need to guard against the religion of the Zoramites? Of course, my question is rhetorical, for all people fall victim to that monster, PRIDE, in our lives, and it is one of the common human weaknesses that we must all stand ready to reject.

The Zoramites crafted themselves a religion epitomizing all the worst elements of organized religious zeal. They evidently could work themselves into a religious fervor, but did so by denigrating their fellows. They prayed the same sanctimonious prayer (in Alma 31:15-18):

15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.
16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ.
17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast aelected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bbind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen

Clearly it was important to the Zoramites that they distinguish themselves from their brethren, the Nephites, who had prophets claiming that this being called Christ would come and that he would redeem the world. They refused to believe in the Law of Moses, prefering to go to church but once a week, speaking of their God only on that day.

We also learn in Alma 32 that this religion was materialistic. While it was okay for the poor to build the building that housed the great Rameumptum it was not okay for them to worship God therein. Because they could not afford fine apparel they were cast out of the synagogues of the Zoramites.

We know this because of the amusing consequences of Alma and his missionary friends, who convert all the poor. They convince they poor that they don't need to worship in a synagogue, but that they can pray and worship their god whereever they are. This beautiful notion apparently leaves the Zoramites in a bind, because no longer do the poor envy them for their grand show of religiosity. The Book of Mormon explains that the preaching of the Word "destroyed the craft of the Zoramites". It's amusing terminology. The Zoramites throw the poor out of their community, thus seperating themselves from the only righteous folk among them. Then they get mad at the people of Ammon who live in the land of Jershon, which bordered the land of the Zoramites, because the Ammonites help the poor refugees, administering to their physical and spiritual needs with great compassion. This really torks the Zoramites off, and they end up joining with the Lamanites and causing some large number of battles and wars with the Nephites. The whole people of Ammon in the land of Jershon actually relocate at this time, because they have made a covenant never to take up the sword against anyone, and we hear no more of this religion of Rameumptom.

It's kinda sad and makes me wonder why this sort of thing happens. Why do people desire so much to be different from each other? Sure, there are many ways to do good things, but why must one's desires to be seperate lead so many to misery and pride, to judgement of others. Why is it that we feel better about ourselves by debasing those around us? What is it about us that makes us believe that if we can cast our brother into a pit, that we are somehow better than them?

So I guess Pres. Hinckley's warning is appropriate, for we LDS believe in one true church. It's a tough line to follow at times. We want to love and accept, and be tolerant of others, especially of their faith, but at the same time we believe in a single source of divine priesthood authority. It has been noted that the early saints had a problem with pride, that when they arrived in Missouri, part of the reason they were ostracized by their neighbors, causing them to rise up in violence and cast out the early-Mormon settlers, was because the Mormons treated their neighbors as second class people. The non-elect. They were apostates. They were not a part of Zion and didn't need to be included. Do we run the risk of doing the same? Are we so busy with our callings and church meetings that we don't have time for those around us? Do we have time to be neighborly, to create a community, and just do good with others of different faiths?

Dare I ask this question? How many times do we turn the Testimony pulpit into a Rameumptom? Something to think about... as always the Book of Mormon warns us of the trap of taking religious strength from pride, rather than from the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost. Best regards,

--Ray