Here are some thoughts about identifying and coping with unrighteous dominion:2 aHow long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?
3 Yea, O Lord, ahow long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful boppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with ccompassion toward them?
34 Behold, there are many acalled, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
35 Because their ahearts are set so much upon the things of this bworld, and caspire to the dhonors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—
36 That the arights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be bcontrolled nor handled only upon the cprinciples of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to acover our bsins, or to gratify our cpride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or ddominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens ewithdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to akick against the pricks, to bpersecute the saints, and to cfight against God.
39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
40 Hence many are called, but afew are chosen.
41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the bpriesthood, only by cpersuasion, by dlong-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
42 By akindness, and pure bknowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the csoul without dhypocrisy, and without guile—
1. Identifying UD -- bullying, compulsion, forcing, Satan's methods, fear-mongering, back-biting, false accusations, constraints on free speech.
2. "Remember that to be Accused is NOT the same as to be Convicted" of wrong-doing. Bullies assertively accuse of wrong-doing, usually in bold but vague terms. Those who exercise the "true independence of heaven" (Brigham Young) do not accept/believe the accusations without doing some checking and verification first, and then they remember the role of repentance and the Atonement without condemning the accused.
3. Our inclination (I've noticed) when someone in authority (e.g. police, administrators) says one has done Wrong or is in Trouble, our tendency is to believe him, feel bad/worried and to immediately concede -- then later feel bad about caving in, once one has had time to think things through more calmly.
4. Bullies want us to act NOW, immediately, basically while the fear-hormones are still clouding our thinking. Therefore, we should resolve in advance (like now) while we are thinking calmly that we will NOT REACT WITH FEAR, knee-jerk quickly -- but will give ourselves time to settle, think things through, act out of love and faith and sound principles.
5. Sometimes we flee, sometimes we fight -- and the Lord will tell us "whither to flee" and "whether to fight" (see Alma 48, for example). Often this comes by direct personal revelation; we must seek this inspiration daily and BEFORE the provocation of bullies.
I would appreciate others' thought on how to cope with unrighteous dominion. It can be a real trial in life, and is SO common.