Rhetorical: Alma gives three specific traits that he suggests should be eliminated from one who is preparing to enter the kingdom of God. Why does he chose these three? In the context of the times, Alma is specifically countering the social evils he sees as being caused by the members of the church.
Let us examine each of these traits in light of the social disruption that has caused Alma to leave the judgment seat:
Pride: This is a trait that tends to divide, to lift up one person over another. The pride that Alma decries is a divisive one. The semantic range of the English word "pride" covers wide territory, from the arguably meretricious to the blatantly disruptive. In Alma's case, there is no question that he sees pride as disruptive. In his case, however, what is the pride that he sees?
In the Book of Mormon, pride is inextricably linked with a shift in social patterns that favor the foreign influences. Pride is associated with the wearing of fine apparel, with riches, and with social distinctions. When Alma tells his people to be stripped of pride, he is just as clearly telling them to cast off the trappings of the world that they have adopted, and which are the root cause of contentions in Nephite society.
Lest we be uncertain that this is Alma's meaning, he very specifically reiterates this principle later in this same sermon:
Alma 5:53
53 And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?
Notice that the "pride of your hearts" is directly equated with "wearing of costly apparel" and "setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, your riches." For Alma, pride and the social divisiveness of the way the Nephites approached wealth are equated. As we have been discussing, this particular relationship between pride and a wealth that could be encapsulated as the "wearing of costly apparel" is a peculiarly Mesoamerican combination.
Envy: This trait is much simpler to analyze. Envy is the desire for something that someone else has. It is no coincidence that it follows pride in Alma's list of traits to be excised from one's heart. Envy of "costly apparel" leads to the acquisition of it, and then the pride in that "costly apparel." The pride is the sin of those who have, envy is the sin of those who want. In Alma 5:53 Alma specifically notes that his people are "setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world." This is envy. They are seeing, and desiring what they see. To Alma, what they see are the "vain things of the world." Clearly, the people see the "riches" and all that goes with them.
Mock or persecute brethren: Pride and Envy lead to divisiveness, and a feeling of superiority over those who do not have that in which one has the Pride - or that which is the object of Envy. Note that in verse 54 Alma asks: "Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren. . ."
The pride of the churchmen is creating social disruption, just as similar attitudes among non-churchmen are creating the tension from a different position. What is more disruptive, however, is that the social division is not simply one of separation, but of derision and persecution. Lest we think it only the non-churchmen who are guilty of these more serious incidents, we need only remember Mormon's synopsis of the situation that faced Alma:
Alma 1:21-22
21 Now there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should not any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves.
22 Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows; yea, they would smite one another with their fists.
The social divisiveness came as much from the church members as from those outside of the church, and this divisiveness included both verbal and physical persecution. This is the reason that Alma specifically wants to eliminate the mocking and persecution of their brethren. This is not a hypothetical sin, but one that they were currently engaging in, and one that was directly ripping at the social fabric.
Spiritual: While Alma's people were guilty of very specific forms of these sins, the same sins and temptations face modern members of the church. Sometimes we too have pride in our wealth, but wealth need not be the object of pride for pride to be divisive. If we have a pride in our faith that leads us to demean other faiths, then we have a pride from which we should be stripped.
We may have an envy of wealth and position, but if we also have an envy of a church calling, or a particular set of friends within the church, we have an envy of which we still need to be stripped.
Certainly, anytime we mock our brethren, either inside or outside of the church, we are setting ourselves above them in our assumption that we may judge them. This self-elevation, and self-importance is a sin from which we too must be stripped.
Even though Alma's discourse has a very specific message for the people to whom it was given, it nevertheless continues to have a powerful meaning to a modern audience, who share human weaknesses with the Nephites of Alma's day.