Of Mormon 8:31 and mass murders 

   Let me share the scripture the Sunday School teacher cried over today (well, she got emotional, but I wasn't close enough to see if a tear actually came to her eye) as she made a connection to the Connecticut murders. 
   It says that the Lord would bring these "these things" (meaning the Book of Mormon and the gospel) forth in a day in which there would be "works of darkness." Then, in verse 31, it says, "Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations."

   As I watched the teacher get close to tears, I wondered if the Spirit was touching her, saying, This might be just one incident -- Sandy Hook -- but it is, indeed, part of the the wickedness the prophet Mormon saw coming.

  And, after class, I wondered at a more specific connection between Sandy Hook and Mormon 8:31. In all the years since the gun was invented -- what would that be, 1450? -- has there ever been a day when guns have brought forth so many mass murders? Further, have mass murders using other kinds of weapons been very common in any other age? I am not speaking of wars, nor of genocides, but of private citizens killing each other just for the sport of killing, whether the killing is with the guns or with cleavers. 

   I came away wondering if mass killings were sparse before our day. They existed, but they were not so common, and they might be a mark upon our time. It would seem possible, if nothing else, that the ease of killing a mass of people increased when guns were invented that did not need to be reloaded by hand after each shot.

   If this is the case, of all murders that might take place, perhaps it is the mass murders, as much as any, that show the fulfillment of Mormon 8:31. It is a day of wickedness, and that is enough for there to be fulfillment of Mormon 8:31. Whether mass murders are a mark of our day, as it might seem to me, we would not know without a deeper study.
   I would be interested to know.
   (This post was updated Dec. 23.)