Promised land people
When God leads His faithful servants away from the society that tried to kill them (Noah, Moses, Nephi), He doesn't take them to the promised land the next day. If He did, they would immediately set up the same society they just left--or possibly something worse. It's what they're familiar with, and what they're in the habit of doing. We've left the kingdom that hated us; let's set up a new dictatorship (see the Puritans in New England). Nephi's brother Laman made it clear he feared and respected Laban, and would, if given the choice, become a similar war leader.
The government set up by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America was not perfect, but it was much more balanced and careful than the oppressive systems they knew. It took a hundred and fifty years of experience and growth before they could make this change stick. Among other things, the people who had been serfs or nobility in the Old World had to die out, while their children and grandchildren adjusted their expectations to survival conditions. We also needed a certain amount of infrastructure in place and functioning: production, transportation, stable cities, trade, and postal service.
Now that careful, balanced system has been replaced piecemeal. What was nuanced checks and balances has become loaded dice. There's weights in that washer; it's thumping and shifting across the floor. The guiding principles have been watered down, shaved off, chopped up, undercut, and whitewashed.
It's time to rediscover what our Founding Fathers had learned by hard experience: no man is an island; we're all part of the same society. Our survival depends on helping each other. Government is necessary, yet must be limited. Everyone has the right to be heard, but hurting each other must be reduced as much as possible. Allow other opinions, especially ones you disagree with; listen and learn, but don't accept so much that your own brain falls out. Above all, forgive, and keep trying.
God needs us to work on becoming a promised land people before He comes. He has told us, and we can see for ourselves, that we don't need to go to a new promised land; short of leaving the earth, there's nowhere else to go. Instead, His instructions now are to build up the Kingdom of God where we are.
And what is the Kingdom of God? It is a state of being: I am not nothing, but I am not God. I have value as one of God's children. So do you, and everyone around you; we all have equal value before God. We're in families so we can learn together. Grow the kind of diligent relationships God wants, full of love, patience, brotherly kindness, meekness, long-suffering, peacemaking, mourning and comforting, without persecution.
God gave me a body; He gave you one, too, and everyone else has their own set of parts. I get to choose what to do with my body, but there are limits. If I choose to hurt other people, that hurts our relationships. If I choose to hurt my own body, that hurts me and those around me. Taking care of my body is part of making God my King.
Parents are in charge of teaching their children. Parents who listen and learn will get better at parenting; some things we learned must be unlearned, because those actions hurt people. The same principles that govern family relationships should govern our interactions outside our families: work, love, patience, long-suffering, being slow to anger, listen, mourn, comfort, do not bully.
Some families have broken apart; some relationships cannot be mended. Trust is gone. In those cases, like the people leaving for the promised land, we must let go. We need to be the most forgiving, forgiving-est people that ever were, but we are not called to be doormats. There is a line each of us must set for ourselves: this much I will allow and no more. There is no place for persecution or bullying in the Kingdom of God. We must each set and enforce boundaries to prevent being taken advantage of. And we must allow the people around us to set their own boundaries, including when they decide to shut us out. They are not required to keep us in their lives, just as we are not required to maintain close relationships with those who hurt us. We do need to stop hurting each other!
In this process, God's promise to us is: He will help us. Through our faithful efforts, our repentance and forgiveness, we can come to Jesus Christ. He reaches out to us; we will become like our Savior Jesus Christ, full of grace, mercy, and truth. When He comes we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2, Moroni 7:48)
