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The Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective

TitleThe Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2005
AuthorsJohnson, Sherrie Mills
JournalJournal of Book of Mormon Studies
Volume14
Issue1
Pagination75-85, 129-130
KeywordsAlma the Younger; Apostasy; Ethnicity; Missionary Work; Zarahemla (Polity); Zoramite (Apostate Group)
Abstract

The Zoramites’ transformation from quiescent dissidents to aggressive enemies of their former brethren and mother culture is a powerful study of human nature. The Book of Mormon does not delineate the reasons that the Zoramites separated themselves from the larger population at Zarahemla, but they obviously felt a great deal of animosity toward their former brethren. Perhaps they had been marginalized in Nephite society because of their ethnicity. They constructed a culture that deliberately differed in many ways from that at Zarahemla, and they expelled all who were converted by Alma. Because of their extreme hatred of the Nephites, the Zoramites ultimately joined with the Lamanites as fierce enemies of the Nephites.

URLhttps://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol14/iss1/8