[See previous posts in this series.]

This post will cover 1 Nephi through Jacob, three substantial books of the Book of Mormon, but there’s so little war-related information in those books that one post is sufficient for my purposes. It’s not that there isn’t any war, of course; it’s just that it’s pretty much only mentioned in passing. This is to be expected since, as Nephi informs us, the history part of their existence, including wars, is recorded on other plates (2 Nephi 5:33). The curiosity about what is on those plates is killing me. Alas.

Continue reading →

I had intended for another post to be Part 1, but I attended a promotion ceremony this week, and so… you get this post as Part 1 instead.

This was the first promotion ceremony I’ve attended. A guy I work with was promoted to commander, and I’m always game for a good ceremony and a bit of ritual, especially when I haven’t had a chance to see a ceremony such as this before.

There were a few short speeches by the powers that be expressing the importance of the occasion and the awesomeness of the new commander. He then took the oath of office. Though he had, of course, taken the oath long before, promotion ceremonies include a renewal of that oath. The oath, as found online (and which is the same oath all U.S. government personnel take): Continue reading →

War in the Book of Mormon has always bored me. The war chapters in Alma, for example? Sure, my eyes have gone over the words of those verses and chapters multiple times, but my brain cells were focused on more pleasant things, like Star Trek or rocky road ice cream or… the dentist. I love the Book of Mormon, but it’s the doctrinal aspects that I love. Even the stories take a distant second. I’m all about the doctrine.

War from a couple thousand years ago? Who cares? (I’ve also never really been that into history, as you might imagine.)

But it seems applicable to my life now. Continue reading →