They are following a leader (Satan) who will lead them to spiritual death. They have turned their backs on the God who can save them, and so rather than save, he “shall scatter you forth that ye shall become meat for dogs and wild beasts.” This sounds like a very un-Christ-like cursing. What it is, however, is the application of the penalty of the foundational promise. Without the protection of God, they Nephites will be subject to being overrun. At this point, the statement is not a cursing but a prophecy. The disintegration of their political entity will create these conditions.