No less serviceable

I came across an interesting discussion of ritual war within Karl Friday's Samurai Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. On page 32 he says:

To the Japanese of the Nara, Heian and Kamakira eras, ritual and ceremony were not quaint or meaningless customs designed to occupy the time of bored courtiers, they were a visible symbol of the social order and served an important function in vitalizing and renewing the polity...for from the very beginning, court ritual and ceremony were politics.

As such, defense of the emperor and the state involved far more than just guarding the security of his corporeal body, and military service extended into the realm of [the spiritual]. Participation in rites of this sort was, in effect, an alternative type of military service, one equally valued at the time as police work and battlefield activity.

With the both physical and spiritual service being equally important in Ancient Japan I was drawn to a discussion of the spiritual leaders of the Nephite realm. In Alma 48, Mormon praises the military leader Moroni [1] for his military and spiritual might, but he makes sure to point out that:

19...Helaman [the prophet] and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words.
20 And thus they went forth, and the people did humble themselves because of their words, insomuch that they were highly favored of the Lord, and thus they were free from wars and contentions among themselves, yea, even for the space of four years.

The modern Western mind often separates the spiritual from the martial. In fact, any connection of the two usually brings up significant negative connotations like Al Qaeda and religious inspired terrorism. I recently read an article where Jerry Falwell, the former Christian minister at Liberty, caused quite a stir when he said that Christians must put on the "Armor of God". The press office had to quickly point that he only meant that spiritually.

In contrast, the prophets in the Book of Mormon were often their military leaders. (3 Nephie 3:19)Moroni received direction from the prophet on where to position his forces. (Alma 43) He told Pahoran what the Lord had said to him. (Alma 60:31-35) And he blessed a banner which he then used as flags of allegiance and as a battle standard. Yet through all those actions, Moroni and other Nephite generals were still only equal to the prophets of God who cultivated the spirituality of the people. As in many other ancient societies, their spiritual health directly reflected their physical health. And it had a direct bearing on the safety of their realm. This is best summarized by the promise: If you keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land.