Slippery Slope

Ether 14

And the war goes on.  I apologize if I sound like this has gone on forever, but it has!  The iniquity of the people brings a curse upon the land.  War abounds and carnage covers the land.

That pretty much sums up the entire chapter.  Coriantumr survives battle after battle, just as has been prophesied he would.  So many lives lost; so must destruction!

V25 says “And thus we see the Lord did visit them in the fullness of his wrath, and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction.”  I have learned to read carefully those verses that start with “thus we see”.  This verse gives us counsel worth paying attention to.  What happens when a people become wicked and steeped in abominable traditions?  It would seem obvious to me they too are ripe for destruction.  They have prepared their own way.  They have no one to blame but their own poor choices.  The Lord lets the wicked punish the wicked.  (Mormon 4:5)  How is this done?  “. . .they stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.”  In other words, when we lose the Spirit of the Lord and make evil choices, it seems to be the nature of the wicked to become contentious.  What words are synonymous with contentious?  Argumentative, subject to litigation, antagonistic, prickly, combative, touchy are a few that were listed when I did a search.  Could I add cynical?  It has been my experience that cynicism seems to creep into the hearts of those who approach this slippery slope. 

So, does this mean that a person who embraces these behaviors will be headed to a fate similar to the fate of the Jaredites – utter destruction?  I can’t answer that, but I do know as a person becomes combative, they destroy any good that could surround them.  They almost seem repulsed at goodness.  And, of course, we know that the real utter destruction is what might have been – in this life as well as the next.