Premises
1. If we are to “flee Babylon” and “Establish Zion“, we must understand clearly the difference between them.
2. If we are to step over the line dividing them, we must understand where that line is exactly. And,
3. The more clear we are about the nature of Zion, the more obvious it will be to us how to proceed to build it.
Assumptions
We assume the following to be true:
1. “Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion” – President Ezra Taft Benson.
2. “The antithesis and antagonist of Zion is Babylon” – Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
ie. Zion and Babylon are opposites.
3. “The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen.” (along with his explanatory remarks) – Pres. Ezra Taft Benson.
4. “the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores.” ie. “Babylon has a culture” – Elder David R. Stone.
5. Culture = “The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.” (Emphasis added)
Conclusions Based on the Above Assumptions
1. Pride is the great steppingstone to Babylon.
2. Humility is the great steppingstone to Zion.
3. Pride and Humility both have two aspects – how we relate to God, and how we relate to our fellowman.
4. Pride is when a) we reject God and/or His wisdom, and, b) we see ourselves as greater-than, or less-than, others. In other words, when we suffer from pride, we break both the First and Second great commandments.
5. Humility, then, is when we value God and His wisdom, and, we “esteem [our] brother as [ourselves]“. We value their rights and well-being equally with ours. Humility is keeping the First and Second Great Commandments.
6. Babylon is any culture which has integrated the two elements of pride into the permanent operations of their social institutions (churches, businesses, schools, governments, etc.).
7. Zion is any culture which integrates Humility into their social institutions.
8. Pride-based institutions reinforce Pride in the people, and lead them down the path to societal destruction.
9. Humility-based institutions reinforce the Humility in the people, and lead them to societal bliss.
10. If we wish to flee Babylon and establish Zion, we need to abandon pride-based social institutions and build and participate fully in humility-based institutions.