Ills of society, then and now. How many of these evil characteristics can we identify in our present-day society of Saints? Indulging in pride, accumulating excessive riches, oppressing the poor, withholding food from the hungry, withholding clothing from the naked, smiting the humble, mocking sacred things, denying prophecy and revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, being contentious, boasting in one’s own strength, depreciating God’s commandments, and altering, corrupting, and trampling on civil laws.
No wonder the Nephites began to “dwindle,” and “the judgments of God did stare them in the face.” The Spirit of the Lord withdrew from them collectively, because he cannot “dwell in unholy temples.”
Brigham Young University professor Douglas Brinley compared our time to that of the Nephites: “Could it be that we have so many more material possessions than the Nephites did that our level of pride, selfishness, and arrogance dwarfs theirs? Without BMWs, TVs, VCRs, radial tires, wristwatches, dishwashers, central air and heat, wrinkle-free clothing, and medical cures, they still managed to become prideful. We have been inundated with many more conveniences and luxuries conducive to prideful feelings than they were. Yet, pride destroyed the Nephites. And our prophets are describing us as having similar tendencies. Are we so money conscious, materially oriented, and insecure that we are headed down the same Nephite path?”3