SCRIPTURE: “And now it came to pass that Amulon began to exercise authority over Alma and his brethren, and began to persecute [them] …. And Alma and his people … did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts. … And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage. … And in the morning the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep. And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness …. And now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and this people out of this land, for the Lamanites have awakened and do pursue thee; therefore get thee out of this land, and I will stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in pursuit of this people.” –Mosiah 24:8,12,16,19,20,23 (edited for length, not content). [source]
COMMENTARY: I know religious people love to tell stories about the miraculous ways their god saves his people. But I’m more interested in the fact that who he doesn’t save tells us at least as much, if not more, about his character as who he does. If your God is both omniscient and omnipotent, and if he chooses to save some of his people while ignoring the plights of millions of others, what does that tell us about him? An even better question, of course, is: why is the Mormon God able to save fictional characters at a much higher success rate than real live people? But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
