Moroni explained that secret combinations are “most abominable and wicked above all in the sight of God.” He warned: “The sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be…. Suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you” (Ether 8:23). “Shall get above you” sounds like if you defeat a secret combination on one front, it will pop up on another. It makes sense since secret combinations continue the war that started in the premortal realm. It’s global not local, infinite not finite.
An example of how to prevent secret combinations from getting above you is the contrast between what the righteous Lamanites did compared to the Nephites when secret combinations were infiltrating their communities. What the Lamanites did: “When the Lamanites found that there were robbers among them they were exceedingly sorrowful…. and they did use every means in their power to destroy them off the face of the earth.” They hunted “the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites” (Helaman 6:37). What the Nephites did: “On the other hand… the Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations” (Helaman 6:38).
Next I looked for identifying characteristics of men and women who belong to secret organizations. They are: “exceedingly expert in many words. They flatter. They covenant “that no one should know [their] wickedness.” They lay plans to destroy the government and “the souls of men.” “They have their secret signs.” They corrupt the laws of the land. They murder, rob, seek for power, plunder, steal, commit whoredoms. They fill the judgment seats with compatriots, condemn the righteous, and let the guilty go unpunished. They usurp power, do no justice, and get gain and glory of the world. They make it easier to commit sexual sin. They “hearken unto the words of the evil one. They “set their hearts upon the vain things of the world.” All the above references are in Helaman, chapters two and twelve. Nephi quoting Isaiah summarized: They call “evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (2 Nephi 15:20).
These people are not ordinary people who do bad things. They are conspirators who have enlisted in the devil’s army. The Apostle Paul said: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” The eternal battle is “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” [Ephesians 6:12].) Last week in general conference, President Nelson said: “During these perilous times of which the apostle Paul prophesied, Satan is no longer even trying to hide his attacks on God’s plan. Embolden evil abounds.”
Jesus Christ gave the best way to discern good people from those who have covenanted to destroy agency. He said: “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). Lehi identified fruits with opposites: righteousness or wickedness, happiness or misery, good or bad, life or death, incorruption or corruption, sense or insensibility. The good live by eternal law—God’s power, mercy, and justice. Members of secret combinations deem goodness as “a thing of naught [to] destroy God” (2 Nephi 2:11-12). Everyone’s fruits are an extension of his or her core values. I watched a national commentator present his ten core values and compare each to the various political party platforms. I appreciated his candidness and willingness to be vulnerable. It takes courage to express core beliefs publically. In 1943, during World War II, Norman Rockwell painted his four values—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.