Why Do People Refuse to Learn from the Past?

            I have heard, read, and taught for many years that the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ – was written for our day. I understood that the information in the Book of Mormon was written to help us face current events in our lives. Yet, I often feel that I am living Book of Mormon history because the words that I study could be written about events in our day. My studies of the past week or so are a good example.


            Alma was the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ in ancient America about 82-81 B.C. He traveled many miles from one city to another to preach the gospel. After arriving in Ammonihah, Alma began teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and calling people to repentance. Lawyers, judges, and other elite residents of the city sought ways to catch Alma in his words. In doing so, they sought to stir the common people up to anger against Alma. They eventually cast Alma out of the city, and he headed to another city to continue his teaching. However, something happened to change his mind. 


            As he journeyed, Alma was “weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people” in Ammonihah (Alma 8:14). Suddenly, an angel appeared to Alma to give him a message. He told Alma, “I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them … except they repent the Lord God will destroy them” (Alma 8:16). Why was the Lord so displeased with the people of Ammonihah? They were studying how they could “destroy the liberty of thy people” (Alma 8:17).


            Alma immediately returned to Ammonihah and met a man named Amulek who invited him into his home. It just so happened that Amulek was watching for Alma because the angel had appeared to him and told him that Alma was a holy man. Alma stayed with Amulek and his family for “many days” (Alma 8:27) until word came from God that it was time for Alma to preach and prophesy unto the people again and to take Amulek with him for a second witness.


            Amulek preached and testified to the people as did Alma. Some people believed their words, but most of the people did not. The mob did several things: They cast the men out of the city and threw stones at them. They threw their scriptures, wives, and children into a fire where they burned to death. They threw Alma and Amulek into prison and kept them there for many days with daily harassment and assault. One day while the lawyers, judges, and other elites were in the prison harassing and abusing Alma and Amulek, there was a terrible earthquake. Only Alma and Amulek escaped alive and unharmed.


            This is the story that I have studied for the last week or so. I could not help but see the similarity to anger, riots, and destruction taking place in our day. When evil men and women stir great numbers up to anger, they become mobs and capable of committing great sins, such as looting, burning, and murder. Innocent people in Ammonihah were murdered for their beliefs, and their property – scriptures – were destroyed – just like in the riots today.


            There is even a person who can be compared to Alma and Amulek. Bevelyn Beatty is a pro-life advocate, and she was preaching Jesus Christ in the middle of the “autonomous zone” in Seattle. She was not cast out of town or into prison. However, “Beatty and Edmee Chavannes – co-founders of At the Well Ministries – were handcuffed and put in an NYPD vehicle in late May outside a New York City Planned Parenthood allegedly for violating Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines... the same week the George Floyd rioting and protests were raging.” 

“We’re black women, but we do not support Black Lives Matter because they’re hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood that kills African-American babies,” Beatty added to Fox News. “They’re fraudulent hypocrites … and I believe all lives matter because God created them. There are thousands of George Floyds that die every day in their mother’s womb, and it’s just as [unjust] as when he died at the hands of that police officer.”

She also called it “ironic” that they were cited for “illegally protesting” and said de Blasio and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo have an agenda and really don’t care about saving lives, the cable news network noted.

“Let me tell you something, Christians get it the worst,” Beatty said in a Facebook Live video moments before she was handcuffed, Fox News said. “I have not been so harassed by the police until I started doing this!”

            Beatty and Chavannes were preaching in the streets of Seattle and took the time to give a history lesson to a woman protester. It was all caught on a powerful video. She makes a lot of sense, so I hope that you will take the time to watch the video. The human race could be so much further ahead if we would just learn from the mistakes made by people in the past.