No Bad Marks

Alma 2
King Mosiah has set up a new government of judges throughout the land.  He and Alma the elder have passed away and now it is in the charge of Alma the younger to lead out as the "chief judge and the governor of the people of Nephi" (v16) He had already successfully dealt with Nehor in Alma 1, the first anti-Christ who tried to lead the hearts of the people away from God's true gospel.  Now, in the fifth year of the reign of the judges, it is Amlici who has let Satan get hold of his heart to convince a lot of followers that he should be their king and they should separate themselves from Alma and the Nephites and God's true church when the voice of the people would not make him their king. When the dissenters made Amlici their king (vs10) his first order was to "take up arms against their brethren; so they could become subjects to him as well. There was a war, close to 19,000 people died, the Amlicites (their new name) joined the Lamanites and brought them to war against the Nephites.   Amlici died at the hand of Alma (vs31) and many Lamanites are slain with their bodies being cast into the river Sidon so as to create a crossing for the Nephites to pursue the fleeing Lamanites and Amlicites (vs34) as they are scattered into the wilderness.
Alma 3
The Amlicites put a mark upon themselves (vs4) to be "distinguished from the Nephites"

Dear Landro,

There have been several thoughts that came to my mind as I read this very sad story that Alma faced in his early years as leader of the Nephites.
There was a note that I wrote next to the verses about the Amlicites marking themselves, "no bad marks-Punchinello"
This is from the story You Are Special by Max Lucado.  In this story, Punchinello, a Wemmick,  judges his own worth based on the opinions and judgments of others.  Other Wemmicks would give you a sticker of a gold star on your body if you had good traits and dots if you had bad ones.  Eli, the maker of the wooden Wemmicks reminds him that He made him and it wasn't a mistake.
I do not think that Amlici truly knew that he was a child of God.  He allowed Satan to take over his heart and mind that he led others to follow him down to this worldly place of pride, contention, war, bloodshed, hate and destruction.  They were so convinced of their beliefs that they marked themselves to distinguish them from followers of God to followers of Satan.
In first Nephi when Laman and Lemuel separated themselves from Nephi, God put a mark upon them, "And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions." (Alma 3:8)
These people cursed themselves with their own marks so they could belong to the wrong group.  "They had come out in open rebellion against God;" (3:18)
It's easy to mark ourselves and let others do it as well. It is easy to divide ourselves from what can truly bring happiness in your life long term verses what is enjoyable for the moment.
Please know that you are a child of God, he made you to do something very special and unique in this world.  If you follow Him, you will do good in this world and you will help others to do this as well. You may not see it now, but the curses you put upon yourself are as subtle as caring more about the world thinks of you through your desires, words and actions.
Don't let the praises or criticisms of the world stick, so you can become the man that God and your mother know you can be.
"The stickers only stick if they matter to you.  The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers."

xomp

P.S. "A house divided against itself cannot stand...….It will become all one thing or all the other." Pres Abraham Lincoln  If you want our family, your future family to Stand Forever (Lawerence Corbridge Jan 2019) with God, choose the right side, the only winning side.