Alma 2 starts off as a political campaign and ends in a horrible war. When Amlici wanted to be king, he had "drawn away much people after him." If you equate this to the current day, we have a presidential campaign going on where people aspire to be "king." They strategize and campaign and try very hard to draw the voters after them. And when the campaigning is done, we'll do as they did in verses 5 and 6:
5 And it came to pass that the people assembled themselves together throughout all the land, every man according to his mind...
6 And thus they did assemble themselves together to cast in their voices concerning the matter; and they were laid before the judges.
I find it interesting to read this because I think we don't often think about democracy in the ancient world. But this seems like a clear example of democracy to me. Amlici sought to be king, but was rejected by the voice of the people.
Thankfully, today our political battles end may not always end with a gracious loser (or a gracious winner, for that matter), but at least they end without a bloody battle and tens of thousands of deaths.
As sick of the election season as I am already, it's good to find something to be grateful for when it comes to politics!
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