SETTING
Outdoors, Corianton sits in front of a boulder. Standing behind the boulder, which has the appearance of an impersonal desk, Alma looks down gravely at his son.
ALMA
Now, my son, I have somewhat more to say unto thee than what I said unto thy brother; for behold, have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother, his faithfulness, and his diligence in keeping the commandments of God? For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother.
CORIANTON
So, basically you’re saying you wish I was more like him, because he is more like you.
ALMA
Now this is what I have against thee…
CORIANTON
(to himself)
You aren’t even listening to me, old man.
ALMA
…thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom. And this is not all, my son.
CORIANTON
You ought to be asking yourself why I confessed at all. Do I look or sound sorry?
ALMA
Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the harlot Isabel.
CORIANTON
I went where my brother would not go. I went because she asked to be taught.
ALMA
Yea, she did steal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son.
CORIANTON
She stole nothing from me, only took what was given freely.
ALMA
Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted. Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood…?
CORIANTON
You call true love expressed by the young a sin next to murder… and then you wonder why attendance is down at meetings.
ALMA
…or denying the Holy Ghost. For behold, if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is unpardonable…
CORIANTON
O Father, you make yourself deaf and blind to the younger generation, as an offering of righteousness to a jealous god.
ALMA
…yea, and whosoever murdereth against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness.
CORIANTON
Clearly.
ALMA
And now, my son, I would to God that ye had not been guilty of so great a crime.
CORIANTON
Dad! What if I honestly care about her? What if I heard the Spirit whisper, “Care for her, and if she be willing, let her care for you.” What then would be the crime?
ALMA
I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good. But—
CORIANTON
You prophets of Mormon. With a smile on your face, you will disembowel a man if God asks. Why then is my love for Isabel so unbearable to you?
ALMA
—behold, ye cannot hide your crimes from God; and except ye repent they will stand as a testimony against you at the last day.
CORIANTON
Part of me wishes this was my last day. Does that mean anything to you?
ALMA
…a testimony against you…
CORIANTON
Do you understand there are men who have only ever been with her? And not only predators and creeps, but also lonely and timid men—men who have never been accepted as lovers by anyone else? Are they all devils to you? Do you wish no goodness for her? Or maybe from her?
Alma, are you blaming Isabel for the scourge of your own desires?
Corianton’s Soliloquy
(stepping away from his father, alone in a pool of light)
Do you know…? It was no ravenous enterprise. We both knew we wanted to touch, days before we dared to. Did you know even a sex worker gets nervous when she is with someone she cares about, and whom she wants to like her too? She was as nervous as I was.
I was testifying to her: justice, mercy, all things affixed. She kept steering me back toward justice. And the more gravely I testified, the more she grinned.
I asked Isabel why she smiled. She said, “Babe, I’ve had my fill of justice and judges. I ran out of fear a long time ago.”
In that moment, I knew she was as powerful as me. And I wondered, why do men assume they are meant to preside? What does upper body strength have to do with providing spiritual care? So I decided then and there to let her preside. And that was when we began touching.
Later that night, we were holding each other. I said something funny. She started laughing, and she laughed so hard she snorted. Verily, a thundering snort! Louder than even a curelom could snort. I started laughing too, both of us lying there naked in the dark. It was… joyous. No shame. Just joyousness, through and through.
Today, I confessed before God and Dad. I confessed because years before my mind was even fully formed, parents fashioned me into one who confesses habitually. This church has turned repentance into an addiction, as if that could keep sons from doing what all future fathers do.
Father, you see us children as a gift owed to you by God. You’re the one who needs to repent.
I didn’t pay Isabel. Nor did she ever ask me to. Does that matter? Is that relevant to a disciplinary council?
The high council preaches to me about purity. Yet, even as I testify that she is in my heart, all they seek to know is if I was in her mouth.
You know… an hour after she left, just before dawn, I went to relieve myself. As I was standing over the hole in the ground, I noticed two long strands of hair that had fallen from her head. I picked them up carefully, already missing her. I ran the hairs across my face because they were her. They were her in my hands again. How is that anything other than me honestly caring about her? Caring in a good way.
I did not confess to condemn myself. I confessed to condemn my father and his church. This day, and forever, I will follow the gospel of my heart. And if Isabel lets me, I will follow her again, and she will lead me. Yea, I prophecy that one day I will sail with her into the land northward, far beyond this pious stake of Zion. We will have our manner and our kingdom, and none such as Father will ever make us afraid again.
ALMA
(upstage in the shadows)
She did steal away the hearts of many.
Fade to black. End of scene.
Notes and Discussion Questions
Thank you for reading! This dialogue draws from Alma’s counsel to his son Corianton in the Book of Mormon, Alma 39. So, readers… what are your reactions to this fictional dialogue? What spoke to you? What did you find yourself resisting or not caring for? Why? Comments on this piece are welcome below.
Wheat & Tares 
Recently Dan McClellan posted a discussion about these passages that proposed that a “harlot” isn’t necessarily a sex worker. He stated there is evidence that a harlot also could refer to an apostate, a person who preaches against Jesus Christ. He says it’s possible that the sin greater than murder wasn’t sex, but it was leading people astray from following Christ.
I enjoy hearing about different ways to understand the scriptures rather than always seeing the same interpretations. Thank you for your story.
I agree with lws329’s and McClellan’s take on what the sin next to murder actually is. It makes much more sense that it is the destruction of another’s ability to gain salvation, the destruction of another’s soul. I am not advocating for wanton sexuality. I think we are misinterpreting a scriptural passage in our overly zealous efforts to condemn others.
“she did steal away the hearts of many”
I’ve always read this as the terrible thing, i.e., stealing away hearts. There’s more than one way to do that. Several interpretations are reasonable and maybe all of them have some truth.
For the interpretation that it’s sex, or love of another person more than church or dad or Christ, the OP makes sense to me. It feels real and relatable. All except the need to confess. I recognize that you need that part to parallel Alma 39, but it’s the one part of the story about which I’m incredulous.
It’s an interesting story! Always refreshing to hear a different perspective. At the same time, I agree with the comments already made. A few years ago, having never had the ‘sex as sin next to murder’ interpretation sit well with me, I diagrammed this sentence. It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment. Alma says “these things” are are the sin next to murder. What are these things? Previous to this sentence, Alma talks about forsaking the ministry (thing 1) and Corianton allowing his heart to be stolen (thing 2). For me, a current day application is church leaders who do not actually minister/help/are kind to those in their congregations (leadership roulette) and church members who let other people come between them and being like Jesus (thinking of how Trump & MAGA Republicans have ‘stolen the hearts’ of many church members).
Adultery and its like may not look like the sin next to murder in isolation. But when it is viewed on a larger scale so that all of its horrific abuses in the broader community are manifested–it is definitely the sin next to murder. And in some cases death is preferable.
That said, I do believe that Alma was also speaking of the grievous sin of causing people to turn away from the gospel. He himself agonized over the damage that he done to the church when he was a rebellious youth. And so, both unbridled passion and unfaithfulness working together can become the perfect recipe for wounding the tender hearts and minds of the Lord’s little ones.
Very interesting comments, all. Thank you.
Christian, thank you for your specific feedback about the confessional element. Corianton’s obsessive need to confess is certainly my own temperament leaking through into the story. I was a guilt-ridden teenager who constantly confessed to his bishop, a guilt-ridden missionary who constantly confessed to his MP, and a guilt-ridden college student who confessed to his singles ward Bishop. Perhaps I could justify it better in the story. Similar to an in-person talkback at a theatre workshop, your comment is the type of feedback I would take into the rewriting process for the next draft.
Thanks also to lws329 for leading out with a declaration of the validity of alternate readings of Alma 39. Even though I may disagree with the specific interpretation, I say amen to employing multiple critical approaches, saying, “Hey, what if…” and giving ourselves permission to think outside the box on scripture. It set the tone for all the comments that followed!
Lastly, as I have elsewhere, and probably will again from time to time, let me roundly condemn the horrific rhetoric of equating normal sexual expression with murder. This appalling doctrinal assertion, popularized over the pulpit by President Spencer W. Kimball—regrettably taken to heart by Boomers as they embarked on parenthood—did excruciating emotional harm to many of my generation as we navigated puberty. It is disgusting rhetoric. It is scientifically unenlightened. And for good measure, let me also suggest that it is wholly unprophetic. What do I do with the medieval notion of calling sex outside of marriage a sin next to murder? I dust my feet of it. May it be the bigoted notion we wisely stigmatize, for the emotional safety of today’s young people.
Peace out and god bless
Jake C.,
I think most Latter-day Saints intuit a spectrum of sorts–going from relatively mild to terribly destructive–and let those in the position to judge determine the gravity of the sin in question. For the most part the church is very tolerant (these days) towards youth who are struggling with the Law of Chastity. Of course, on the other side of the spectrum there are obvious horrors that are difficult to speak of. Even so, there is a pervasive attitude of permissiveness that bumps right up against the worst indiscretions that has pulverized the family over the last couple of generations. And while most of that element of society hasn’t sought to hurt anyone outright it is taking its toll–especially on children and single mothers. For many children of divorce the loss they suffer is akin to the death of a loved one.
Well, Jack, these are your opinions, and I hope the fact that I am allowing your statement to remain on the thread beneath a creative writing post (not an op-ed piece exploring LDS sexual rhetoric and marriage culture), should let you know I believe you are entitled to your beliefs and I grant your sincerity. That said, you have now failed twice to engage the original post, instead attempting to school us all on why we should believe what you believe. You have done this on other posts as well, and it is never appreciated nor helpful.
So, if you are not going to engage with what I actually wrote, and if you are inclined to continue being dismissive of all opposing viewpoints, then I thank you for sharing your two cents and ask you to move along. This post is not about you or me. It’s about granting some grace to a literary character named Isabel, a woman that the Church apparently has no hesitation about reducing to the insulting label of “harlot.”
Jake C.,
Think of it this way: I am engaging with the content of your post by implying that the youthful character you’ve constructed is naive. He doesn’t understand why his father (the church) would consider his transgression such a grievous sin. And I’ve spelled out some pretty-good reasons for the Alma’s (the church’s) concerns on that score. So yes, what I’m saying may sound like orthodox gatekeeping–but it has relevance to your OP (IMO).
Re: Isabel: If you want to characterize her as being more virtuous than Alma does that’s your prerogative as an artist. Nevertheless, I don’t think the church is being insulting by using the very label (for Isabel) that’s found in the Book of Mormon. The church typically takes the Book of Mormon at its word.
And with that, I’ve hit my three comment limit.
Actually, Jack, thanks for this follow-up comment. Though our ideological differences remain, it’s helpful to have you directly relate your personal beliefs to specific aspects of the story which stood out to you. I hope the rest of your Sabbath goes well
I’ll risk posting a fourth comment and thank you for your gracious reply. Even though we have our differences I sure envy your gift for writing.
Best to you as well.
Thinking about this piece brought me thoughts of Les Misérables. Fantine was vilified by her coworkers and employer for having a child, though the two were abandoned by the child’s father. Cosette was raised by, and Fantine exploited by, unscrupulous Thenardiers because there were no childcare options. Sex work became Fantine’s only option to provide for Cosette.
How often is sex work reflective of lack of opportunity for women to provide well for themselves and their children? Lack of accountability for some men’s unseemly behavior? A societal lack of charity for the most vulnerable? Et cetera. Historically and currently? I don’t think God calls women “harlots”.
How often is Justice unjust?
In 1999 Sweden passed a “John” law which made only paying for sex a crime, not providing it.
I found this legal analysis of various laws applied to sex as a trade.
https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1606&context=jlp
I suppose it’s already been said at least once in the comments, but when I read the original text in the BoM, I don’t get the sense that Corianton had “confessed.” The way in which Alma explains to Corianton what Corianton had done that was problematic suggests to me instead that Alma is reciting what he has learned from others about Corianton’s behavior.
Thank you for the parallels you’ve drawn, Sasso! I agree.
Adam F., I’d have to reread it, but I suspect if we’re taking the Book of Mormon’s text on its own merits, you are right. It’s likely more a case of Alma calling his son out than his son revealing something heretofore secret. Of course, one can confess to something after having been called out by others in the know. Accusation may compel confession. But I see what you’re saying. Thank you for chiming in!