Here is a sad commentary on human nature in the context of spiritual matters. Apostates become more hardened still. Aaron has attempted to preach the gospel to the Amulonites around 90 b.c. but with no success because of the hardness of their hearts (see Alma 23:14). The Amulonites stir up their Lamanite colleagues against the Anti-Nephi-Lehies—the converts of Ammon and Aaron and their colleagues (see Alma 24:1–2). The Amulonites participate in the slaying of the believers who have laid down their arms and are prepared to suffer death at the hands of the enemy. The attackers who are Lamanites by lineage are softened in their hearts when they see the devotion of the fallen converts, their brethren; however, the Amulonites and Amalekites are the last to desist. There is scarcely any manifestation of the hardness of hearts that exceeds that as demonstrated by apostates to the faith. The examples of the Amulonites and the Amalekites confirm this troubling fact. Eventually the Amulonites turn against their Lamanite allies and are subsequently hunted down and slain (Alma 25:8–12).