Perhaps the false prophets, preachers, and teachers simply expand the category of “false Christs” or perhaps they represent others who were championing competing religions. In any case, Mormon’s terse account reveals that their presence caused tremendous discord in Zarahemla. First, the contentions led to “crimes” which required formal punishment. Of course, in the ancient world with its overlapping categories of rulership and religion, the presence of a competing religious structure probably also threatened the political structure—hence, the “crimes.”
The situation was serious enough that, in Mormon’s odd phrase, there were “many dissensions away unto the Lamanites.” In other words, the dissenters resolved their resistance to the newly imposed religious/political regime by defecting to the Lamanites. In Book of Mormon terms, the “Lamanites” would have been a non-Nephite group, but not necessarily the very enemies who had just been defeated by Benjamin’s armies. Nevertheless, they did go to some “Lamanite” (read non-Nephite) group. Presumably, they retreated toward the old Jaredite (Olmec) homeland, where their linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage was still viable.