Last week, we studied Alma 43-52 for “Come Follow Me.” For me, Alma 47 stands out. This is where Amalickiah uses treachery to obtain the Lamanite kingdom. We might think we’re too smart now to fall for Amalickiah’s tactics, but these tactics are the same ones Satan uses today.
Disguising Evil: First Amalickiah Tactic
In his quest to become the Lamanite king, Amalickiah convinces Lehonti in Alma 47:12 to meet him partway. Lehonti probably feels comfortable with this option. He doesn’t have to go far from his camp. If something were to happen to him, his guards would be right there to help him. Amalickiah has allowed Lehonti to feel safe and like nothing bad’s going to happen. He even convinces Lehonti that Lehonti will still be in charge. Amalickiah claims he just wants to be second-in-command. If you know the end result of this story, you know something very bad happens to Lehonti soon thereafter.
How Satan Uses This Tactic
This tactic could be labeled either “disguising evil” or “making evil look good.” When Satan does this, he leads us to believe that something that’s evil really isn’t that bad. He may mix in something good or twist the words so they make sense, but ultimately evil is evil, no matter how it’s packaged.
One example that comes to mind for me starts with the claim that you don’t really know someone until you’ve lived with them. Okay, I’ll give you that. There are a lot of things you learn about a person once you’ve lived in the same house. Along with this claim, though, is the claim that it’s better to live with someone before marriage. That way you know if you want to really spend the rest of your life married to this person. Someone might even say it’s better to live with the person, decide you’re not right for each other, and then go your separate ways rather than marry the person, and then realize you’re wrong for each other, thereby ending up getting divorced.
In the above example, on the surface, it might feel logical. Get to know someone before you marry them. Great advice. Avoid marrying someone who you’re just going to get divorced from in a few years anyway. More great advice. Yet, this scenerio does not take into account Heavenly Father’s Law of Chastity.
My Literary Nerd Example
As someone who loves to read, Satan’s three-way tactics were actually clear to me in book examples before I thought about them in other aspects of my life. Lately, I’ve encountered several books that are by Christian authors. In some cases, they even claim to be “Christian books.” When I see the Christian label, I often assume it’s going to be clean. I’ve realized that’s not always the case. Some of them have a lot of swearing, graphic violence, or other scenes that I really don’t feel appropriate. Yet, Satan’s used that Christian label so I will let my guard down and assume that it’s a clean, safe book to read. Sure, the characters might mention prayer, but then they also use a member of the Godhead’s name in a non-sacred way.
Poison By Degree: Another Amalickiah Tactic
After convincing Lehonti to meet him partway, Amalickiah has his servants poison Lehonti by degree. This means just a little bit at a time. They don’t administer a ton of poison at first. He likely has no idea what’s happening. His followers probably have no idea that their leader is being slowly poisoned. SPOILER ALERT! Lehonti eventually dies from the poison. Then Amalickiah becomes the leader of both his group and the group that Lehonti was leading.
How Satan Uses This Tactic
In many ways, I think this tactic is the easiest one to fall for. Satan convinces you to do something small that you know is wrong. As you’re comfortable doing that, he convinces you to do something a little bit worse. He continues to build on that, having you do something a little bit worse over time. Eventually, if you continue down this path, you may no longer recognize the person you were before you started to be “poisoned by degrees.”
One example of this is lying. Maybe, the first time, you don’t lie as much as not tell the whole story or keep your mouth shut so someone will assume something untrue. This may lead to you telling lies to cover up previous lies or to justify your lies. Eventually, it may spiral into cheating, stealing, or otherwise being dishonest. Very few people are going to start out by telling some outrageous lie the first time. It’s a gradual process of not letting your conscience bother you until your conscience no longer even registers that your actions are wrong.
Media Examples
While I could give specific examples, I’m going to be a little vague in this section. I’m not looking to call out a specific book, movie, or television show. Speaking in generalized terms is likely more helpful.
I think we’ve all encountered those books, television shows, or movies that start out fairly clean. Maybe, it throws in a swear word three or four chapters in. Perhaps, the first season has an inappropriate scene in one episode, but otherwise, it’s a good show. Maybe, there’s a scene that’s a bit gory about an hour and a half into the first movie of your five-movie series marathon. We’ve all had those moments where we encounter a scene that does not quite align with our values.
Slowly those swear words get more common. The scenes get a little more risque. The violence becomes a bit more common. Maybe, it takes a specific scene or a series of scenes to make you realize that it’s no longer appropriate to continue with this book, movie, or television show.
For me, the poisoning of my mind by degrees media is the hardest to give up. If you’re like me, you find yourself invested in these people’s lives. You want to know what happens. You want to know how their story ends. With a television show, you might think back to the first season, the one where it really was an enjoyable, good show. Quitting on it can be hard, but it’s important to do that before you’ve been fully poisoned by the inappropriateness of the media’s new message.
The Sneak Attack: A Third Amalickiah Tactic
After Amalickiah obtains power over the Lamanite army, he meets up with the Lamanite king again. When the king puts forth his hand to raise Amalickiah up, Amalickiah stabs and kills the king. I think of this as a sneak attack. The king didn’t see it coming at all. He trusted Amalickiah and thought they were on the same side.
How Satan Uses the Sneak Attack
I think the sneak attack in general probably isn’t as efficient of a tactic for Satan if he’s trying to pull someone away from the path of righteousness if that person is trying to stay on the path. While we may not see the sneak attack coming, because it’s so in your face, people striving to live righteously are more likely to leave the situation right away.
Yet, the sneak attack may work when it comes from a friend, family member, or someone else that you trust. While you’re unlikely to go along with a friend’s plan to rob a bank or go on a cross-country crime spree, maybe a friend could convince you to watch an inappropriate movie or otherwise engage in something you know to be wrong. Peer pressure is the key to an efficient sneak attack on Satan’s part.
How This Works In Our Media
For me, the sneak attack approach is most effective when it comes towards the end of a book or movie. By that point, I’m invested in the outcome. If it’s a true sneak attack, I’ve let my guard down a bit. At this point, I assume it’s going to be a clean, good book or movie. I’m ready to just see how the story plays out.
For me, a specific book comes to mind, although I can’t remember the name of the book. I was around 75% of the way through it when our two main characters got married. I’m not sure how much detail the author went into when it came to their wedding night, but I was definitely uncomfortable enough that I skipped ahead several pages only to find that it didn’t get any more appropriate. I skipped to the end of the chapter, was able to read a bit more only to again encounter a similar scene.
At that point, I probably should have just quit reading the book. I knew it wasn’t going to end well, but I just wanted to know how their story ended. I think I ended up eventually skipping to the last chapter only to realize this was part of a series, and the book ended on a cliffhanger.
While I was definitely tempted to get the next book to see how their story played out, I resisted the temptation. I didn’t need that type of book in my life. The sad thing was that it was an intriguing plot. It could have been so interesting. Looking back, I probably should have seen the sneak attack coming. Yet, up to that point, if the book had been a movie, it would have been PG, maybe mild PG-13 at the worst.
How Can I Avoid the Three Tactics?
One thing to realize is that we can’t fully avoid encountering Satan’s three tactics for drawing us in. We are going to be tempted. We are going to see things we don’t want to see, hear things we don’t want to hear, or encounter situations that are not good. Hiding out in a remote location where we never encounter another person is about the only way to even hope to not encounter any of Satan’s tactics. Even then, I think it would be impossible.
Yet, we can do things to not be influenced by these tactics. Showing faith in Heavenly Father and trying to live righteously will make us better in tune with the Spirit. The “Primary answers,” such as praying, reading our scriptures, going to church, serving others, and attending the temple can help us be better in tune with the Spirit.
As we are better in tune with the Spirit, we are more likely to recognize when it’s telling us that we are headed down the wrong direction or when we are being prompted to do or not do a specific thing. The Spirit will help us recognize when our media options do not align with our values. The Spirit could even warn us to not pick up that first book or watch the first episode of a series that’s going to later not be as appropriate as it first started. In some cases, we may never know why we were prompted to not read the book or watch the television show.
