Moroni demanded fellow-citizens’ loyalty in fighting to defend their country or be executed. Dissenters were considered traitors. Rebels or insurrectionists who would not fight in defense of their country, or who promoted civil disobedience, were speedily executed (62:9–10). However, this reality of war must be measured against Moroni’s reluctance to take up the sword in the first place and his willingness to lay it down quickly when opportunity presented itself (52:37).