3 Nephi 6:14

"And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord."
3 Nephi 6:14


Interesting how intertwined equality and the church are. When there is no equality, the church starts to break apart. Inequality doesn't seem like that big of a deal at first... especially to us, because we live in a very unequal society. For instance, 20 percent of the people hold more than 80 percent of the material wealth. If we are trying to build Zion, with no poor, that is a big challenge right there. :) We're used to inequity, so it is easy for it to creep in in other ways as well. Anything that isn't familiar to us, we question. Styles of clothing, speech patterns... whatever it is. Or we start thinking that this or that person is more important because of a title, or something else. Easy to do. I wonder if, since a few of the Lamanites were able to keep the church intact, if their dedication to equality had something to do with that. It doesn't say so explicitly, but it is an interesting thought. It seems like a hard thing to achieve equality. The City of Enoch probably had to work on it for quite a while. We have to unlearn ways of thinking and behaving and learn something better. I can't imagine it not being worth the effort though. :) I think it would be wonderful to be able to converse without labels and judgments and politics in the way... to realize without question that we are all valuable, and to treat each other that way. :)