Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Alma 54 & 55

The Prisoner Exchange

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot to say on these two chapters. The epistle exchanges between Ammoron and Moroni are full of rhetoric. After Ammoron agrees to exchange one Nephite family for one Lamanite soldier, Moroni seems to renege on his offer and decides to liberate the Nephite prisoners without an exchange.

He finds a Lamanite who gets the guards drunk and then Moroni and his army arm the prisoners. They not only free the prisoners, but they gain a city without a single loss of life.

This whole episode regarding the prisoner exchange reminds me of one of the lines in the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He said, "the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field."

Moroni seemed to have this insight as demonstrated in the prisoner exchange that never happened.

Perhaps the next time I read the war chapters, I'll compare Moroni's strategies with those outlined in the Art of War … it might be a learning experience.

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