“The only Book of Mormon group given an exemption from military service was the famous people of Ammon. … Normally one duty of ancient peoples was to take up arms in defense of their tribe or nation … Moroni had power to punish any person in the land of Zarahemla who would not ‘defend [his] country’ (Alma 51:15; Alma 46:35). … [Moroni] symbolically portrayed the brutal fate of those who would not fight (see Alma 46:21–22). Under extreme and desperate circumstances, this duty fell even upon old men, women, and children (see Mosiah 10:9; Alma 54:12)” (Welch, “Exemption from Military Duty,” 189–90).