We can easily see in the experience of the Nephites of this period why secret societies and clandestine combinations are not compatible with the ways of righteousness. If anything is good, it should be to the benefit of all. If it is not good, it is of evil and is of the devil. Unity in evil is conspiracy; unity without permanency of purpose is merely coalition; but unity that is lasting and real, comes from the Lord, and only that which is good endures to the end. Therefore, when men combine to foist upon others the will of the few; when they aggregate to themselves the power to live and let live; when they submerge all else to selfish and wanton practices, they open the floodgates of iniquity, and in spite of right, make might the criterion, or test by which a thing is tried, or judged. It was just this sort of combination that brought misery to the Nephites. It was a secret society that destroyed them as a nation, and a hidden motive in their actions that brought down upon them the retribution of the lie. It was "the secret combination of the friends and kindreds of those who murdered the prophets" that was the cause of the Nephites' surrender to evil.
Now this combination which promised secrecy to its followers concerning each other's criminal acts, had a hidden purpose by which its adherents hoped to usurp both religious and political power. A combination of religious and political authority reposing in the hands of one, or a few men, would leave none to whom they need answer. With this end in view, the members of this diabolical organization assembled together and chose one of their number as their leader whom they called King, and "he was one of the chiefest who had given his voice against the prophets who testified of Jesus."