People

Flattery has three levels.

Flattery 101:  Money 

Flattery picks up where the sincere compliment ends.  Telling someone he or she is smart, beautiful, strong, handsome, talented, etc., can be sincere, but can also turn into a sweet-talk, soft-soap, kiss-up manipulation.  As Shakespeare put it, “O, flatter me, for love delights in praises.”

The goal at this level is usually monetary gain.

Flattery 202:  Power

At the second level, flattery has a deeper meaning and dangerous purpose which should especially concern us today.  As I explain in my book on agency, every major villain in the Book of Mormon excelled at flattery – sympathetic promising words on the tongue of a charismatic personality – to gain power.  To name a few:     

• Sherem was “learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery …”[i]

• King Noah’s people “became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king …”[ii]

• Amalickiah, the villain of choice in king-men days, was “a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words …”[iii]

• Even Alma the Younger, in his pre-angel-appearance days, “was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people …”[iv] 

There must be a reason 15 such examples are given in the Book of Mormon.  The Lord warns against “the wise, and the learned, … who are puffed up because of their learning”[v] because He knows where it can lead. 

Flattery 303:  Destruction

An old adage says, “Flattery will get you nowhere.”  Ha.  Whoever came up with that didn’t understand one of the most devastating tools in the adversary’s arsenal.

Flattery in this final stage promises to relieve people of personal responsibility, and thereby achieves the destruction of individual eternal progress. 

In the famous debate between Alma and Korihor the Anti-Christ, Alma said it is better that Korihor “be lost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by thy flattering words …”[vi]

This scripture plainly connects flattery with destruction of souls. 

Flattery for financial manipulation and even to gain power are but stepping stones to Satan’s ultimate goal – the prevention of God’s work to bring to pass our eternal life.  For if consequences can be detached from actions, justice ceases to exist and therefore God would cease to be God.[vii]  That’s how critical the battle.   

It begins subtly:  It’s okay to be selfish, it’s okay to be lustful, it’s okay to be lazy.  Don’t worry, no problem, it’s not your fault.  Do what you want, we’ll all end up in heaven anyway.  

• Nephi warned that “there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God – he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at lastwe shall be saved in the kingdom of God.”[viii] 

• Moroni prophesied that “there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day.”[ix]

• Korihor taught that “every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.”[x] 

• Nehor, implied there would be no consequences to actions, no matter number or severity:  “And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.”[xi]

All four scenarios violate justice – that punishments must fit the crime and rewards must equal the deed.  False promises and carnally pleasing doctrines (a whiff of the great and abominable church here) provide excuses for riotous and lascivious living.  Punishment?  Meh.  Can be ignored or at most paid for with a few stripes. 

The fact is, many welcome such no-consequences individuals and even heap honors on them. 

“But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer … ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.”[xii]

Compare Today

Villains throughout history provided an excuse coupled with a guarantee.  They promised a consequence-free existence.  They promised someone else will pay.

They still do.  The phrase “you have the right” is key to the flattery recipe used today.  In their quest for power, modern-day flatterers promise:

• The right to food
• The right to adequate housing
• The right to gainful employment
• The right to an education
• The right to health care
• And so on

The problem is when someone is told he has a “right”, it’s easy to assume that someone else will provide it … at no cost to himself.

Thus we hear promises that government will eliminate student debt, provide jobs, become the single-payer for health care, issue forgivable loans, provide free education, and provide housing.

That is flattery today.  And it all smacks of the adversary’s plan …

• To separate consequences from action;
• To agitate for equal outcomes rather than equal opportunities;
• To reward the laborer and the lazy equally;
• To live without the fear of being accountable; 
• To eliminate the incentive to act and not be acted upon;
• To crush the idea of personal responsibility – why work if goodies are free and loans forgivable?

In sum, to destroy the path to exaltation.

So how do these flatterers propose to pay for all these promises? 

By simply printing more money.

What could possibly go wrong?

Gary Lawrence, author and pollster, welcomes comments:  [email protected]

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[i]  Jacob 7:4

[ii]  Mosiah 11:7

[iii]  Alma 46:10

[iv]  Mosiah 27:8

[v]  2 Nephi 9: 42

[vi]  Alma 30:47

[vii]  Alma 42:13

[viii]  2 Nephi 28:8

[ix]  Mormon 8:31

[x]  Alma 30:17

[xi]  Alma 1:4

[xii]  Helaman 13:27