There was an iconic comedian in the 1960s and 1970s whose name was Flip Wilson He and his persona, Geraldine, became household names. He popularized the sayings "What you see is what you get" and "The Devil Made Me Do It." Audiences would roar with laughter, I think, in part, because we could all identify with those catch phrases, especially the one blaming the devil for the wrong things you do. "The devil made me buy that red dress; The devil made me eat that chocolate cake." On his serious side, he also said, "Violence is the tool of the ignorant." Timely.
We may want to excuse ourselves with a version of "the Devil made me do it," when we give in to temptation. "I was sorely tempted," we might say. Of course you were and so was I! Temptation is all around us, but that does not excuse us from giving into it. C. S. Lewis said of temptation: A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. A man who give in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in."
The people of Ammonihah were among those bad people. The prophet told us that . . . Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people. . . therefore, they would not hearken unto the words of Alma. (Alma 8:9) They attempted to excuse themselves by telling Alma that they didn't believe him or his God and that since he was no longer the chief judge, he had no authority over them. They spit at him, reviled him, and threw him out of their city.
Not believing in something doesn't make the something untrue. It doesn't alter the consequences of ignoring the something from occurring. I can say I don't believe in gravity, but if I jump off of a tall building, I will fall, no matter what I believe.
They can't say, "the devil made me do it." When Alma acknowledged that Satan had hold on their hearts, he noted the consequential results: therefore they would not hearken unto the words of Alma. (Alma 8: 9) He didn't say could not; he said would not. Resisting or giving in to temptation are choices. The people of Ammonihah didn't know how bad they were because they had given in to temptation so consistently that it had become a way of life.
What lesson can I take away? People so deeply in sin that they don't think they are sinning cannot tolerate the truth when they hear it. They resort to anger, violence, and destruction to vent their anger against the truth-teller. They want nothing to do with their righteous accuser because he holds up a mirror up before them. Like Dracula, they don't like mirrors.
I need to listen to those who love me and seek to help me see my personal blind spots. I need to ignore those who don't really know me and lash out through their ignorance. Sometimes, the mirror is my best friend.
© June 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings
Buntin Danielson
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