When over half of the population desires wicked laws and wicked rulers, the state of the people becomes precarious. Fortunately, this is rarely the case. However, the Lord has previously demonstrated his willingness to destroy those who have met this requirement. Certainly, the judgments of God did come upon Noah’s people, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Jews, and the Nephites. A typical example can be found in Helaman:
For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who choose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.
Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction. (Hel 5:2-3)
“This scripture (Mosiah 29:27) should make all Americans pause in this day of wickedness to ask themselves whether the ‘voice of the people’—that is, the majority—now seeks evil rather than light….The scripture is explicit in saying that if ’the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come.’….But it is a majority which is being reduced each day, as is shown in the rapid increase in crime, immorality, venereal disease, pornography and the other vile blotches upon our land. In a moral way, America is drifting…If we remain adrift, we shall perish, and we shall bring destruction upon our own heads.” (Church News, July 4, 1970)
Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Mr. Frank Stanton, CBS president emeritus, told a Brigham Young University audience that network television standards will continue to decline because they are based on society’s standards. He said, ’Standards come from the audience…; the audience determines the programming and program content.’ Further, he said, ’ I believe there will be more infractions with respect to immorality and violence and it will get a lot worse before it gets better because of the changing standards of our society.’ (The Daily Universe, Feb. 2, 1989, p. 1). What a sad commentary on our society!…If television viewing choices serve as a valid measure of our society, they who choose evil surely are more numerous than they who choose good.” (Ensign, May 1989, p. 9 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 242)