Moroni took military action against the king-men. Although their crime was refusing to fight, their abstinence presented a danger to the Zarahemla polity, nor was the refusal likely to last longer than it was politically advantageous for them. At any moment, they could become a fighting force against Moroni’s army. They were not religiously pledged pacifists, like the people of Ammon, who were willing to die rather than break their oath. The king-men, in contrast, had made a decision of convenience and selfishness.
Literature: Mormon uses the imagery of height in characterizing the conflict: Moroni intended to “pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth.” The image symbolizes their already higher social status, which they seek to make even higher. Moroni counters by leveling it. After a building is razed, it is the same as the surrounding ground, which symbolizes the Nephite social ideal of egalitarianism.