13 December 2019

Reacting to Social Justice Warriors (SJWs)


The Book of Mormon has so many jewels that help us deal with troubling times!

One of the recent manifestations of troubles is the rise of Social Justice Warriors, sometimes known as SJWs, and their increasingly successful forays into many political and social institutions.  It is easy to think of an SJW as simply a high-spirited defender of various rights and peoples, but all too often we see such folks engage in riotous behavior and some of their more punitive proposals codified in regulation.  They seem nice and good in the beginning, but as they gain some influence, we see many of them taking a decidedly dark turn.

I was reading today in 3 Nephi 3:11-12, where the prophet Mormon give us some insight into a powerful political group called the Gadianton Robbers (v.11) and how the established government and their supporters chose to deal with them (v.12).

I highlight in red a phrase that should ring true of the SJW, who might be identified as one current incarnation of the Robbers:
11 And now it came to pass when Lachoneus received this epistle he was exceedingly astonished, because of the boldness of Giddianhi demanding the possession of the land of the Nephites, and also of threatening the people and avenging the wrongs of those that had received no wrong, save it were they had wronged themselves by dissenting away unto those wicked and abominable robbers.
Most SJWs will loudly trumpet their defense of those who are oppressed (like the "wrong"-ed above).  Some go so far as to take destructive action, perhaps even to commit homocide or extinction (as Giddianhi threatens by letter), to "avenge" a perceived oppression.  Not only can we see the stated aims of SJWs reflected in the Gadiantion Robbers of the past, but we get hints from the methods of the Robbers of what our modern SJWs may do in the future.

Verse 12 lets us know how Lachoneus, the governor of the people, reacted to such "defenders" of the "wronged" in his time:
12 Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them.

The governor called on his people to make an appeal to God for strength against the Robbers. This same counsel might see our society through the wiles of the SJW as well. Robbers sometimes encouraged people to join their ranks, much like SJWs do today, and personal strength was needed to persuade the innocent from being "converted" into Robbers (or SJWs) themselves and turning against God in favor of social praise and riches.

As Lachoneus counsels, let us strengthen ourselves through a renewed commitment to God against mis-guided violence and a rejection of godly principles and living. Instead of turning to charismatic talkers and children and "you are just fine as you are" evangelists, let us hold fast to Jesus Christ and his commandments that persuade us to repentance and betterment and joy.

There will often be Robbers and SJWs among us.  According to Mormon and Lachoneus, our part is not to give in to their demands but to choose higher paths ordained by God.