Integrity

The weight of a word

And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness. -- Alma 44:20Let's play pretend and put ourselves in the Nephites' shoes and "liken" it unto us. Suppose that an army of our nation's enemies invaded us. ISIS has entered US soil and started butchering our citizens. Even though we were greatly outnumbered (43:21), our armies relied on the strength of the Lord and somehow prevailed. Here is our chance to wipe out an enormous army bent on our annihilation. At the peak of our victory, when the enemy is down, our captain stops the fighting to offer them a chance to basically promise that they won't fight again and they can get away for free. When I read this, I am struck by the fact that promises are a really big deal to the Nephites. Captain Moroni is willing to let an entire army of bloodthirsty enemies who attacked them leave on nothing but their word.