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Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Keywords

Latter-day Saints, buried swords, children, Book of Mormon

Abstract

In November 2014 Latter-day Saint children around the world participated in a ritual that would probably seem odd to outsiders-they buried some swords. These weren't actual weapons, of course, only sketches of swords upon which the children were instructed to "write a wrong choice... such as 'fighting with my brother' or 'telling a lie.'" They then "buried" these swords by "crumpling their papers or throwing them away." Similarly, in February 2010 a small group of teenagers stood with their own paper swords around a freshly dug hole on their church's property. "I had my class write down a behavior of theirs, if they had one, which might be considered an act of 'rebellion to God,'" recalled their teacher. "Their challenge was to pick one thing they were serious about stopping. I asked them to pick something they felt they could put aside... forever."

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