Right around the mid-point of the Book of Mormon, we read about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. There’s some interesting politics going on at the time that are beyond the scope of this post, but the short version is: a group of Lamanites convert and repent of their sins (including violence). They become pacifists and, as they become pacifists, they also become scapegoats and enemies to the main body of their people.
So those in power send an army to replace their king and subdue (or wipe out?) the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. But instead of responding to violence with violence, the people pray, unarmed, and face slaughter. We read that 1,005 are killed, but more than 1,000 members of the attacking army, horrified at the scene, throw down their weapons and join the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
The people are willing to be martyrs, but Ammon believes in their future. He convinces them to go to Zarahemla and he asks the powers that be there to accept and take in these refugees from violence. The chief judges polls the Nephites, and, as a result of the feedback he receives, both gives them the land of Jershon and sends the army to defend Jershon from invading Lamanites, a thing which turns out not to be an idle threat: it resulted in the biggest battle the people of Lehi had seen since leaving Jerusalem, with tens of thousands of Lamanites killed or scattered and some unreported (but large) number of Nephites also dead.
The Book of Mormon, we’re often told, was “written for our day.” And this particular history—again, right in the middle of the book of scripture—strikes me as particularly salient for today, both because of what it says and what it does not say.
First, what it does not say: it does not say whether Jershon was empty land or whether people lived there. If people lived there, it does not say whether they gave up their land to allow the Anti-Nephi-Lehies to take it or whether they lived next to their new neighbors.
It also does not say that political leaders among the Nephites claimed spuriously that Anti-Nephi-Lehies were eating pets or taking over apartment buildings. It does not say that they phoned in bomb threats to schools, hospitals, and municipal buildings in Jershon.
Did all of the Nephites unquestioningly accept their new neighbors? I mean, human nature suggests that they didn’t, that some people were bitter about living in close contact with, and expending resources to protect, their former enemies. But critically, the Book of Mormon doesn’t give voice to those people, if they existed. It is very clear in its assertion: the people of God have an obligation not only to accept, but to actively protect and succor, refugees. Even where that protection and succor come at a cost to the people who were already there.
And on top of this general Christian duty to care for the immigrant, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ we have additional religious obligations: our baptismal covenant obligates us to bear the burden of others who have been baptized, to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who need comfort. Haitians and Venezuelans (and other immigrants too, but since the current violent scapegoating focuses on Haitians and Venezuelans, that’s where I’m going to focus too) are not only our brothers and sisters in the broadest sense, many of them have participated in the same baptism we have. Haiti has more than 25,000 members, five stakes, and a temple. Venezuela has 177,000 members, 33 stakes, and a temple. Not every refugee and immigrant from those countries is a member of the LDS Church, but some of them are.
Again, it’s not that we don’t owe any duty to people who aren’t members of the church; we’re all brothers and sisters and scripture is very clear that God’s chosen people have a special duty to the immigrant and the stranger. But that special duty is, perhaps, compounded by a shared baptism, with the covenants that come with that baptism.
And here’s the thing: while the Nephites paid real costs—including both land and lives—for their protection of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, they also reaped the benefits. While the Anti-Nephi-Lehies did not fight, they immediately contributed to the war effort, effectively by pay a tax of some portion of the food that they raised. And a generation later, their sons, who had not taken a vow of pacifism, became loyal citizens of the Nephite nation, and proved instrumental in defending the Nephites from a new generation of invading Lamanites.
The evidence is abundantly clear that the costs associated with immigrants are outweighed by the economic benefits to the host community of immigration, the lower criminality they bring with them, and the influx of new people and ideas. But even without these benefits, the Book of Mormon tells us, we have an obligation to not only passively accept, but to actively protect, the immigrants and refugees who look for protection and opportunity within our borders.