Polarizing topics on social media (Not being Over-Zealous Like Zeniff)

Not Being Over-Zealous Like Zeniff

How do I not get over-passionate about polarizing topics on social media?

Social media is a funny thing. In only a few moments after getting on we can become extremely passionate about a topic that we didn't even know existed only minutes before. How do we deal with such a flood of information and sometimes flood of emotions? How do we navigate what to fight for when there is so much worth fighting for out there.


I am especially guilty of this and this is my experience of receiving a personal answer on the subject.

Zeniff the Spy

Sometimes instead of opening our scriptures at family scripture study we sit in a circle and my husband or I will tell a scripture story "campfire style". This usually includes sound effects and "good guys" and "bad guys". Sometimes toy action figures are makeshift BoM heros and shoe boxes represent armies. My husband is especially good at this to the point that when he tries to end the story the boys will often beg for more.

One story that my boys like is about a spy named Zeniff. Did you know there were stories about spies in the Book of Mormon? Well there are. It is a story of intrigue, violence and trickery. If it was a television series it would be extremely captivating as many stories in the Book of Mormon are. What I didn't realize, however, is how this story would answer a personal question and struggle.

A polarizing topic

There is a certain topic that recently exploded in the media. It is something I’ve studied in depth. In fact, I have a Master’s degree in which I studied both sides of this topic intensely. I also spent time living in a developing country where I witnessed first hand the devastation and sorrow involved in this subject.

As I see people posting about this topic on social media I get anxious. I am afraid that if I don’t speak up it will literally result in death of someone down the line. The subject consumes me. Have I been given a gift and a responsibility by what I have studied and what I know. To the average reader some of the information is so confusing and is easily misrepresented. Is it my duty to point out right and wrong? How much should I share? It is a very polarizing topic and people get really passionate about it. How much should I get involved? To me it is a subject about life and death.

After reading a friend's post one day and commenting on it I was particularly upset. What was I to do? I realized that as important as the topic is I didn’t feel the spirit when I began to debate with others about it. After commenting on the post I unplugged and my family drove 4 hours out to the middle of nowhere and stayed with some friends at a lodge. 

I couldn't sleep

I couldn’t sleep that night because of my thoughts on the topic and I tossed and I turned until I finally got up and read my scriptures. Why was my heart so heavy? Was it my task to save everyone? Even those who would not want to be saved or listen to anything different than what they have decided to believe? I knew I would lose several friends in the process and I was sure I already had. My thoughts were not something I could turn off. I knelt down in prayer asking Heavenly Father what I was to do. Was I supposed to try to contradict all the misinformation out there? Should I stand up and share the information I had spent the last 10 years gathering?

There was no direct answer while I was on my knees. Rather I left it in the Lords hands and asked that he would help me figure this out. Since I had no internet access for 4 days it was a good time to deflate a bit and stay away from the topic and ponder what I was to do.

An inspired talk

The next day we attended a small branch 20 minutes from the lodge. There were probably 30 people in attendance. The church building smelt funny perhaps because it was old or because of the hard working ranchers in attendance; but the feeling was incredible. The spirit was so strong.

A husband and wife were speaking and the woman started talking about Zeniff the spy. I knew the story well but something about the way she told it made me realize that a miracle was occurring. The Lord was answering the heartfelt prayer for comfort that I had offered only hours before in the middle of the night. 

Zeniff the expert and spy

The story begins in Mosiah 9 in the Book of Mormon.

Zeniff was a good man but is mostly known as the father of wicked king Noah and being over-zealous. I can't help but think, however, that he had every reason to be over-zealous about his own "topic". He was the expert on the Lamanties. His job was to spy on the Lamanites and figure out a way to overtake them so that his people could regain the land of their fathers. But while spying on the Lamanites he saw that there was a lot of good among them and did not want them to be destroyed and he stood up for his cause. His army had a mini civil war over this and father fought against father and brother against brother and most of them died. Zeniff and those that were left returned and tell the "wives and children" of those that were lost. 

After such a sacrifice and still believing in what he did Zeniff returned once again with his family and many others and made a bargain with the Lamanites which eventually led to captivity. Zeniff was so over-zealous about his agenda that he was blinded to the the trickery of the king of the Lamanites. Once the Nephites got more established the king of the Lamanites planned to overtake Zeniff's people and subject them to a type of economical slavery.

Zeniff was blinded by his own passion

Zeniff was so blinded by his passion that he missed more important things. Was his cause just? Absolutely, after all "father fought against father" and "brother against brother" over it. But no matter how important our agenda is or how good it is there are two commandments that are more important. To Love the Lord with all of our heart, and love our brethren. Upon these two commandments hinge all of the others. If our cause or passion stands in the way of these two commandments we need to reevaluate. Zeniff forgot to take his agenda before the Lord and in fighting for something important he subjected his family, posterity and all of those that followed him to a bad situation.

Somewhere in this sister's talk I got my answer. I saw myself being like Zeniff. Passionate about a subject that I felt strongly about that I "knew was right." but missing other important things a long the way. Two other things were more important than fighting for this subject and that was to Love the Lord and Love my brethren. As important as my cause was if it stood in the way of either of these other two commandments than it was blinding me to that which was really important.

Now if someone is really seeking the knowledge I will definitely share it but I don't feel as compelled to tackle every article or post that I did before. I can write my own articles and funnel them to the right readers and I can kindly correct somethings once in a great while but for the most part if it is causing me to think about it all day and it takes my attention from my beautiful family or the Lord, than I know that it is not a good thing.

Now I follow the rule that if a topic takes me away from my family mentally or physically, if it makes me not feel the spirit, if I lose who I am in the conversation than I leave it alone as important as it is, I leave it alone. 

Like all of my other posts I am not sure if this makes sense outside of my own head but it was a miracle to me. A beautiful miracle to have my prayer answered once again by the power of the scriptures. I love the scriptures and like Abinidia says a few verses later in Mosiah, that we can understand the scriptures if we "[Apply] our hearts to understanding." (Mosiah 12:27) I'm so grateful to this sister in LaSal Utah who listened to the spirit and without knowing it answered my prayer in her talk. It just goes to show that you never know who you will influence and how, by a simple talk. I thanked her briefly but in that short moment I couldn't even begin to express how her talk affected me.