As we learn about past civilizations that have been completely destroyed, we ask ourselves how it could be. How can an entire race of people become extinct not by natural disaster, drastic climate change, dreaded illness, or by any other natural cause, but by their own wickedness and hate for each other. How can this happen, and who fault is it?
I was contemplating this thought earlier today and although I didn't find any sound, bullet-proof explanation, I did form a theory.
Let's use a Nephite People as our example.
After the visitation of Christ to the people of Nephi shortly after His death, the people became converted to His gospel and remained righteous for around 200 years. Imagine, 200 years without any wars or contention of any sort. So how within a single generation could they have gone from a flourishing zion-like people to heaps of drying bones strewn across the earth. Well the obvious reason is that they became prideful. But what is the source of this pride? Was it that they were wealthy? it could have been, and yet this pride was among all of them. Not just the rich. So there was obviously for to it then that.
Let's ask ourselves this question. When a parent tell their child to or to not do something, why does the child tend to turn away and disobey them? They are raised in ignorance, which turns to rebellion.
How often when a mother tells her child to do this or to not do this does the child respond "Why? What's the point?" and the mother replies because I know better then you. Children want answers. Children learn through receiving answers to their curious questions and the simple answer of "because I know more then you" doesn't cut it. How often in the latter end of those 200 years of peace do you think children would ask their parents why certain things were so and the parents responded "because I know what you don't." Probably fairly often. If a child is not taught why certain things are bad, then they often begin to wonder if they really are bad. They seek to appease their curiosity by dabbling in those very things they were warned against because they were raised in ignorance to good and bad. Not to reason behind good and bad.
As for rebellion:
Inside every human being is an inherent need to learn, grow and create, but how can we do these things without opposition? Opposition gives us purpose. A reason for doing and becoming. Something for us to fight against, to inspire us to become great.
We need this opposition and if it is not given us, we seek it out.
For the Nephites, they went through 200 years being taught to fight against the devil and to promote righteousness and peace among mankind. But what if after 200 years they began enjoying the peace so much that their soul focus was on goodness and they ceased to teach to fight against wickedness and furthermore, ceased to teach the types of wickedness which must be fought against?
The children would have grown up in ignorance as to the ways of the devil, knowing nothing but goodness. Then the devil comes tempting. They suddenly realize this new way of being. This strange new way to life. They haven't been taught that this is the thing which must be fought against or even what the results of this way of life are. They have an intrinsic need to fight against something so they fight against the only thing they know. Righteousness.
They have found something new. Something in which one person can find competition. Something to fight for. A way to become something big and powerful. And so they discover pride, fight against themselves, and become the source of their own destruction because they were not taught what to fight against.
They were raised in ignorance to their questions and rebellion because of that ignorance.
Now, I do not know if this was the cause for the destruction of so many civilizations in our worlds history, but I do see how this is becoming the case in our own modern world. And it cannot be so.
-CarsonKG
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