God calls whole societies to account in a type of corporate accounting.

Quote of the week, by john f. in a comment at TimesAndSeasons.org:

Ether is a microcosm of the Nephite civilization’s decline and downfall. Moroni’s inclusion of it reinforces what could be considered the thesis of the Book of Mormon: "For the Lord God hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence" (2 Nephi 4:4; cf 1 Nephi 2:20). It stands as a second witness that the behavior of individuals, aggregated, can cause widespread societal consequences and that, as uncomfortable as it sounds, God calls whole societies to account in a type of corporate accounting that runs against the grain of current individualistic American notions of autonomous cause and effect.