Alma and Amulek were a powerful pair of preachers. They had had an effect on Zeezrom, and Mormon makes certain that his readers understand that they affected more than just Zeezrom. However, it was also true that they were ineffective in turning the hearts of the majority of the people in Ammonihah. The people’s minds and hearts were unchanged, and they still saw Alma and Amulek as resisting their laws. By laws, they meant their religiously supported way of life. The ancient world did not make clean distinctions between political and religious realms, and laws were supported by the belief that God was the lawgiver. Thus, they believed that their laws were violated, and that their lawyers and judges were contradicted, even though modern readers see the discourses of Alma and Amulek as purely religious.