Culture: Mormon catalogues the social problems he sees in the Gadianton takeover, of which he thoroughly disapproved. All of these manifestations of unrighteousness are rejections of the traditional Nephite religion. However, from the perspective of a Mesoamerican culture, it seems likely that this catalogue of evils was an acceptable part of the larger society from the surrounding city-states.
Mormon excoriates the differential treatment meted to “the righteous” and the wealthy. The righteous, of course, were church members and believers; they were discriminated against because of their poverty (Hel. 6:39) or, to be more precise, because they were not of the same class as the wealthy. While Mormon uses righteousness as the distinguishing marker here, the real differentiation is social status. Because classes were defined by visible goods and the egalitarian church members did not accumulate such goods for purposes of social distinction, the believers did not receive the same privileges as the elite class.
Mormon indicates that the elites received favorable treatment because of their “money.” This is certainly Joseph’s anachronism because money was not the medium of exchange anywhere in the New World. (See commentary accompanying Alma 7:6, Alma 11 superscription, and Alma 11:5–19.) Nevertheless, the idea is correct. The deciding factor was certainly economic position, something defined by “money” in modern society, but by the display of prestige goods in Mesoamerica.
Mormon’s next evidence of the Gadiantons’ unrighteousness is that they desired to be “held in office at the head of government, to rule and do according to their wills, that they might get gain and glory of the world.” Those at the apex of the political and social hierarchy (“glory of the world”) controlled access to elite goods and, therefore, to “gain.” Again, Mormon’s description is an exact match for what we know of conditions in Mesoamerica at this period.
Mormon’s accusation that the Gadiantons used their political and social prestige to enable easy “adultery” has less direct supporting evidence but may be related to the widespread Mesoamerican practice of plural wives and concubinage, a situation Jacob had labeled some five hundred years earlier as “whoredoms.” (See commentary accompanying Jacob 2:31–35.) The traditional Nephite religion allowed one wife. If the Mesoamerican tradition, now adopted by the Gadiantons, allowed multiple wives, then Mormon would not recognize these alliances as marriages and therefore termed them adultery.
His final items—stealing and killing—may be related to the Mesoamerican practice of waging war to create tribute relationships with other cities. (See commentary accompanying Helaman 6:17.)