After reading the thread about the high school daughter being bullied by a younger girl, I started thinking about a conversation my TBM sister and her family friend had recently.
My sis and her buddy were driving together to come visit with a group of us family and friends. Somehow the conversation topic turned to made-up words. My sister’s buddy cheerfully said she had made up the word “stampled” just that morning on her way to our gathering.
The word “stampled” was created while my sister and her friend were discussing Korihor (the friend’s teenage daughters were in the car with them for this conversation). The friend laughed as she told our group that Korihor had been stumped and trampled.
Wow.
The first thought I had was “how pathetic that these ladies use their girl time talking about church stuff on a road trip on a Saturday morning.”
The second thought I had was that these ladies were laughing about a person being trampled to death (at least I know it was just a fictional story anyway).
I wanted to add to the bullying threads with a couple of LDS gems about Korihor.
The first reference is from the Friend, July 1993. The magazine includes the little cartoon drawings along with a summarization of the scriptural story. And yeah, the death of Korihor is included. I’ve included the text below.
https://www.lds.org/friend/1993/07/korihor?ang=eng&query=korihor“A man named Korihor came to Zarahemla. He did not believe in Jesus Christ and preached that what the prophets had said about the Savior was not true. Alma 30:6, 12–14
"Korihor told the people that they were foolish to believe that Jesus would come and suffer for their sins. Alma 30:16–17
"He said that men would not be punished for their sins, because there was no life after death. Many people believed Korihor. They became wicked.Alma 30:18
"Korihor also preached to the people of Ammon, but they were wise and bound him and took him to Ammon, who had him carried out of Jershon.Alma 30:19–20
"When Korihor went to the land of Gideon, the people there would not listen to him, either. The high priest and chief judge had him taken to Alma, in Zarahemla. Alma 30:21, 29
"Alma asked Korihor if he believed in God, and Korihor said no. Alma told him, “I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come.” Alma 30:37–39
"Korihor wanted Alma to perform a miracle to prove that there is a God.Korihor said that if he saw a sign of God’s power, he
would believe in Him.Alma 30:43
"Alma told Korihor that he had already seen many signs of God’s power. He had the scriptures and the testimonies of all the prophets. Alma 30:44
"Alma told Korihor that the earth and everything on it, and the movement of the planets in the sky, are all signs that there is a God. Alma 30:44
"Korihor still refused to believe in God. Alma felt sorry about Korihor’s wickedness and warned him that his soul might be destroyed. Alma 30:45–46
"Korihor still wanted a sign to prove that there is a God. Alma said that the sign from God would be that Korihor would be struck dumb. Alma 30:48–49
"After Alma had said this, Korihor could not speak. Alma 30:50
Korihor wrote that he knew that this sign was from God and that he had always known that there was a God. He asked Alma to pray to remove the curse. Alma 30:52, 54
"Alma, knowing that Korihor would again lie to the people, said that the Lord would decide if Korihor would speak again. Alma 30:55
"The Lord did not restore Korihor’s speech. He had to go from house to house, begging for food. Alma 30:56
"The chief judge sent word throughout the land of what had happened to Korihor. He told those who had believed Korihor to repent. Alma 30:57
"The people repented, and Korihor went to live with the Zoramites. As he went about begging, he was trampled upon and killed. Alma 30:58–59”
So much for being a loving and Christ-like people. Korihor is allegedly struck dumb, made to beg for food, is publicly denounced by the chief judge, and is killed for his disbelief.
This is the story given to the church’s precious, innocent youth!! Nothing like maintaining their innocent state of mind by teaching them that this wicked Korihor deserved to be “stampled” to death.
So then I went to another link on lds.org to see what other leaders had to say about Korihor’s fate.
“President Ezra Taft Benson has taught that “the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.” (Ensign, Jan. 1988, p. 3.)
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/07/countering-korihors-philosophy?lang=engWe exmormons are similar to the “type of apostates in the Book of Mormon” and the Book of Mormon has shown TBMs how to “combat” us.
If TBMs truly liken the scriptures to themselves, then the little girl throwing a rock at the evil apostate’s daughter is merely a stone throw away from following the example of how the people “combated” Korihor.
Gerald M. Lund’s talk “Countering Korihor’s Philosophy” in the Ensign, July 1992 is priceless. Link:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/07/countering-korihors-philosophy?lang=engHere are some excerpts from his talk:
“A Prophet’s Answer:
So how do we deal with these false philosophies? Fortunately, Mormon not only gave us Korihor’s doctrines, he also gave us an inspired answer to them. This is the real value of the Korihor account.
"The first thing to note is that Alma does not get into philosophical debate with Korihor. He doesn’t allow himself to be pulled onto the ground that Korihor tries to define as the area of debate. There is a great lesson in that. We combat false philosophies with revelation and true doctrine, not academic debate.
"Second, Alma exposes Korihor for what he is. (See chart 2 for a summary of how Alma dealt with Korihor.) In effect, Alma says to Korihor: “You know that we don’t profit from our service in the Church, but you say we glut ourselves on the labor of the people. Therefore I say you deliberately twist the truth.” It all comes down to one irrefutable conclusion: Korihor is a liar.”
How many of us have found that discussing doctrinal issues with our TBM loved ones is impossible? Academic debate is not acceptable per Lund.
Korihor exposes the leaders as those who “glut” themselves “on the labor of the people.” That comment just makes me laugh out loud!
And the final excerpt from Lund’s talk:
“A Final, Tragic Lesson
"There is another lesson that Mormon draws from the story of Korihor. After Korihor is confounded by Alma, he demands a sign before he will believe. Korihor receives his sign—he is struck dumb, and evidently deaf as well. (See Alma 30:51.) In that pitiable state, Korihor resorts to begging for his livelihood. He finally goes among a people called the Zoramites, and there he is “run upon and trodden down” until he dies. (Alma 30:59.)
Mormon summarizes the lesson he wants us to learn: “And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.” (Alma 30:60.) How unlike God and his dealings with his children!”
How convenient that Lund neglects to point out that it is the so-called believers/righteous people of the land that “run upon and trodden down” Korihor until he dies. But of course, the good ole Devil gets the blame for God’s people murdering someone that didn’t share their beliefs.
Frankly, the Korihor story is absolutely disturbing to me now that I am an exmormon. But as a TBM I didn’t feel so disturbed by his death.
How sick is that?