The Pride Cycle

Today I'd like to discuss the pride cycle, a theme that permeates the Book of Mormon. Though, it comes from Latter-day Saint scripture, this is a universal concept that all religious people can appreciate.

The cycle begins when a society is doing well. When the people are rich and prosperous, they start to become prideful. They see the success around themselves, and then decide they don't need God. People act more selfishly, cast out the poor, and even covet power.

Then God sends some kind of calamity. In the Book of Mormon, it's usually the Lamanites coming in to kill a lot of people. The people are brought down to humility and start to remember God. They pray for forgiveness. They start to treat everyone else more kindly. Then comes a period of rebuilding, and because of the peace and good intentions between everyone, it comes back to the beginning of the cycle.

It's almost funny how many times this cycle happens in the Book of Mormon -- almost always from the point of view of the Nephites. A few times it turns out that the Lamanites are more righteous than the Nephites. And the whole time I'm thinking, "You know ... wouldn't they figure it out eventually? Wouldn't they see that turning to God and helping each other is the way to peace and prosperity? Wouldn't they look at what happened 20 years ago, and not ever do that again?"

Even miracles like the sign and star of Jesus only brought peace for a few years. Then it was quickly back to pride and secret combinations. When Jesus appeared, himself, it appeared to break the cycle. It took a little more than 160 years before people started turning back to pride. Then, they got really low, and this time, they didn't come back. The Nephites stopped turning to God completely, and their sorrow was not spiritual sorrow. Shortly after that, they were wiped out by the Lamanites.

Is it possible for us humans to be rich and prosperous, while at the same time remain humble, caring, and inclusive? I emphatically say, "Yes." There's a way. In fact, I think God wants us to be prosperous. He says as much when he gave Adam the first commandment to be fruitful and multiply. He has indicated that he wants us to succeed. We just have to remember God, and then we'd live in a much happier world.

It seems we prove time and time again that when left to our devices, we screw things up royally. The fall of a society almost always comes after a time of great prosperity. And here in the United States, we have clearly been experiencing great prosperity, economic strength, and untold riches. But we also have great pride, inequities, murders, and hurtful scams. People are full of pride as they look for ways to take advantage of others -- such as buying hundreds of rolls of toilet paper during a pandemic with the hopes of selling online with exorbitant profit. 

Every year, here in the states, it seems to be getting worse, and people lose a little more faith in each other as it progresses. They are also more and more forsaking God, attributing all the riches to their own devices and cunning. As we become more prideful, divisive, uncaring, and exclusive, what could possibly happen next but our own downfall?

We can only do our best and try to help others to do their best. Remember God. Remember why we're here on earth. Be humble. Remember where all our blessings come from, and we could achieve that perfect society of a God-loving rich and prosperous people.