Culture: The Zoramites’ first question is whether they should believe in one God, which immediately tells us about both their religion and socio-political associations. They obviously believe in more than one God but know that Alma does not.
Why would they be polytheists? Antionum lies between Nephite and Lamanite territories (Alma 31:3). The Zoramites had geographically moved away from the Nephites and toward the Lamanites, probably making a similar cultural move simultaneously. Similar Lamanite religious ideas influenced Zoramite practice. They may have misunderstood (possibly deliberately) the Nephite God/Son of God, which Zeezrom had focused on in his debate with Alma at Ammonihah (Alma 11:28–35).
As another change, the Zoramites have excluded the farmers whom Alma is addressing—which I have hypothesized as an extended kin group—from participating in the religion. Why would they join a religio-political system that would exploit their labor but exclude them from community worship? I find it unlikely that this particular clan had voluntarily come to Antionum. Therefore, they were probably already there. The establishment of Antionum probably did not create a city but developed an existing site or village by that name, providing a regional center for the several scattered hamlets that were unattached to the larger city-states (or “lands”). This group would have expected the relationship with the new city to benefit them in some way but were disappointed.
Alma expects this clan to be familiar with Nephite scripture, or at least with the brass plates (v. 2). Since the brass plates were unknown in the region until the Nephites arrived in Zarahemla about 200 B.C., these farm folk had been affiliated with the Nephites before the Zoramite arrival. I conclude that, like many farming populations in the ancient world, these folk adopted at least some elements of the dominant city. Thus, they had a Nephite background and had adopted the Zoramite religion, but were unhappy with the results.