Divinity
Mention the word divine and people immediately think of what; cathedrals, crucifix, Mary, God, Jesus, candy? Mention the name Jesus, and what comes to mind? Religion? The cross? Pain, suffering, guilt, salvation? Revulsion? This mental process indicates an assumption; symbolic mental connections previously stored in our minds drawn upon in communication by word in print or vocalized. Of course it is our assumptions that get us into trouble. In Mathematics, the equation that represents a relationship doesn’t care about the validity of one’s premise. It will allow confidence in a wrong solution. In demotic speech, people are familiar with the utterance: To assume makes an ass of you and me. And when a person stops to ponder this aphorism, it is soon apparent that assumptions are the cause of humor, embarrassment, and in severe cases spiritual and/or physical harm to other living beings. It is not a place we like to be for long, unless everyone concerned is having a jolly good belly laugh. Laughing relieves the tension built up inside, whether from feeling inadequate, or feelings of unexpressed love.
In the album Octave, the Moody Blues versed this simple aphorism: “Remember when you smile, love’s in your eyes.” Smiling and laughing are love’s expression. Laughter is bonding, providing a sense of community whether with one, or a thousand. It connects human souls together, bypassing the usual defenses, inhibitions, and assumptions we bury ourselves with, which we do not to hide from being seen by others, but to avoid revealing ourselves to ourselves. As Eric Hoffer observed, it is the attaching of oneself to a mass movement that allows us to displace the identity of who we are, with the identity of the group. Sometimes we join a group to find expression of those things we enjoy and wish to share with others. Other times we join a group in order to find meaning in our lives; to give it purpose, and definition. In this, we run from our feelings of inadequacy, impotency, mediocrity, and the mundane. We look to the group to give us what is lacking, to fill the hollow vacancy within. The drive for personal expression, the need to define ourselves is the energy that fuels mass movements, whether in associations, politics, or religion. When the creative expressions of natural love are inhibited, whether alone or in a group, we become frustrated, and start looking for substitutes to release that energy, or satisfy the hunger.
Mass movements go through developmental stages, just as humans do, and indeed are a manifestation of human development at the social level. These phases are the creative, the practical, the stagnant. In a movement’s beginning, there is opportunity for creative expression, for recognition, the natural realization of self-confidence and self-esteem. Self-acceptance is afforded, and the soul finds a measure of fulfillment. But the practicalities of moving forward and accommodating the creativity of additional members tends to suppress and over-ride creativity. Ultimately practicality drives the movement into stagnation; for the exigencies of managing movements inevitably lead to the suppression and destruction of individual expression, the loss of individual spirituality in the corporate whole. Then, rather than being the vehicle of personal change, it becomes the instrument of rigidity. Thus, Mass Movements, whether religion, politics, or business, tend to be instruments of stagnation and infantilism, rather than growth. Michael Ellner, president of HEAL summed up this condition: “Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information, and religions destroy spirituality."
The seeds of a movement’s dissolution are sown in its founding, for they are the very substance of the individual’s questing hunger. Said Hoffer: “The estrangement from the self, without which there can be neither selflessness nor a full assimilation of the individual into a compact whole, produces, as already mentioned, a proclivity for passionate attitudes, including passionate hatred. There are also other factors which favor the growth of hatred in an atmosphere of unity and selflessness. The act of self-denial seems to confer on us the right to be harsh and merciless toward others. The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breed pride and arrogance. The true believer is apt to see himself as one of the chosen, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a prince disguised in meekness, who is destined to inherit this earth and the kingdom of heaven, too. He who is not of his faith is evil; he who will not listen shall perish. … when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are also rid of personal responsibility. There is no telling to what extremes of cruelty and ruthlessness a man will go when he is freed from the fears, hesitations, doubts and the vague stirrings of decency that go with individual judgment. When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom, freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse. Herein undoubtedly lies part of the attractiveness of a mass movement.” Mass movements are the breeding ground of the True Believer. When they enter the stagnant stage, a vacuum is produced in the absence of creativity which is filled by the True Believer, who inevitably becomes a tyrant when acquiring the reigns of leadership.
True Believers are frustrated people who fill the internal emptiness with purpose, meaning, and self-validation by external means. The natural love experienced as an infant atrophies, and substitutes of all kinds replace that void. Faith is substituted for self-esteem, pride for self-confidence, certitude for understanding, enforced loyalty for love. For those members who have a long history with the Morg, these characteristics should be evident. Mormonism officially entered the stagnant stage when Harold B. Lee instituted the correlation program. It is at this period in the church’s long decline of creativity that policies, programs, and practices were substituted for the spiritual core of its religion. By this time, the mandate for its top leadership to obtain special witness of Jesus’ divinity and approbation had been absent for over fifty years. In such a spiritual vacuum, these men had no choice but to implement increasingly mundane practices and rules, just as the chief priests had done in ancient Israel. Today the member is compelled to outward conformance via the most trivial rituals and performances, such as itemized by Paul Toscano, as related in my previous blog. The list of incantations, observances, blessings, cursings, spellbinding, and divination increase as substitutes for the loss of spiritual vitality absent in its movement and movers. Of course in such an environment of spiritual destitution there is plenty of opportunity for mendacity on the part of the leadership, as Reinhold Niebuhr describes: “Extreme orthodoxy betrays by its very frenzy that the poison of skepticism has entered the soul of the church; for men insist most vehemently upon their certainties when their hold upon them has been shaken. Frantic orthodoxy is a method for obscuring doubt.” The act of insistence in blind faith produces misrepresentation.
Said Charles Moore: "If you base a religion on faith, and believing what somebody says, then you are vulnerable to believing a lie. And if you believe a lie, you are constantly in conflict with yourself, because your heart knows better. Your heart and mind are divided. Consequently, your whole life is in hostility, anger, striking out. Faith based religions are the basic cause of war. Liars silence the messenger because liars are threatened by the truth. People who tell the truth, are willing to listen to any opposition because it doesn't threaten them. People who lie get very angry with any opposition, because they feel threatened, because they know they are lying, even if it be unconsciously." So when Boyd Packer says some truths are not very useful, and threatens to excommunicate truthsayers, that is, spiritually kill the member who attempts to declare the truth, he is a liar and knows the church history IS a fraud. When Gordon Hinckley spiritually kills members who refuse to be silent, he is a liar, and knows the church founding is a fraud. When Jeffrey Holland metaphorically pounds the pulpit in General Conference, using body language that expresses anger, with covert threats against those seeking to declare the Book of Mormon is a fraud, he is a liar, and knows that the book is indeed, a fraud.
When members of Morgdumb awaken to this mendacity of its leaders, their sense of purpose and confidence is shattered. At some point they cast about for a means of exit. Often such people cannot be reconciled to any religion, for Morgdoc asserts there can be no other genuine Church. The doctrine of Apostasy precludes it. If the genuine organization was not restored, then in truth it never existed, and the entire house of cards of Faith implodes. Many become agnostic or atheist. But in gravitating to another “ism” there is one inherent component fueling it: the need for a substitute. If they were a True Believer, they remain one. If they were a fanatic, they continue to be fanatical. When a person leaves Mormonism (or any other form of “ism”), the Church seldom leaves them. They often retain the attitudes, behaviors, and mentality that captured and held them in it, not realizing the defect runs deeper than faulty dogma and mendacity. This behavior manifests itself in divorce, addiction, or any other transition out of dysfunctional behavior. The need for substitutes remains, and they begin looking for another familiar forum to fill the social void. Even in the few who recognize their own complicity in allowing the spiritual abuse, few continue the journey of self-restoration. Hence we see the ex/post Mormon gravitating to others in forums and conferences and movements of various kinds which provides a new identity. In various ways it is proclaimed they are “recovering”, but it isn’t really recovery, it is validation of the individual’s new identity, and the acknowledgement of the spiritual deprivation experienced in a tyrannical, controlling organization. Atheism becomes a dominant, driving force in these environments, and often the True Believing mentality wages the same kind of spiritual warfare that was waged upon them by the 15 Apostates. As Eric Hoffer wrote:
“The fanatics of various hues eye each other with suspicion and are ready to fly at each other's throat. But they are neighbors and almost of one family. They hate each other with the hatred of brothers. They are as far apart and close together as Saul and Paul. And it is easier for a fanatic Communist to be converted to fascism, chauvinism or Catholicism than to become a sober liberal. The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a God or not. The atheist is a religious person. He believes in atheism as though it were a new religion. He is an atheist with devoutness and unction. According to Renan, "The day after that on which the world should no longer believe in God, atheists would be the wretchedest of all men.'' ”
There is on these forums a certain crowd of atheists who dominate the conversations of others who prefer to retain their Christian beliefs. Nothing satisfies these zealots of atheism until they have thoroughly castigated and destroyed—in their minds—the logic of the Christian believer. They delude themselves with the idea they have deconstructed Mormonism, Christianity, and God with impeccable logic. Never mind the majority never had any formal training in logic and rhetoric. And as indicated in the beginning, even if their logic is sound, that still does not prevent them from making erroneous conclusions because their basic assumptions rarely get analyzed openly where they can be examined. The certitude of some of these individuals is astounding. They will quote all manner of scientific fact, all the while being ignorant of the scientific investigation behind the scene of mainstream, condoned theory. Some of them have no idea that much of what they read about science is outdated, refuted, or is a product of a broken peer review process, which often utilizes consensus—a political methodology—rather than honest examination of the submitting scientist’s premise and conclusions. They exhibit nearly a fanatical faith in the scientific process, a process which does not have a Guardian or Overseer, nor does it have a Consciousness that guides its destiny. The altar of God is replaced with the altar of the scientific process. Many of these folks do not realize the scientific process is a seldom-honored method, employed by fallible and questing men inhabiting their own movements.
Just like the social structure of the Morg, these people are friendly and cordial when introduced to new fallout (potential converts). But the ostracism they learned as members is a ready tool, implemented with ridicule if need be, to eschew those who do not wish to part with their beliefs. Nothing changes. As Eric says, it is far easier to transition from one movement to another; to move from Nazism to Communism is a simple matter, rather than looking inward to discover the defective attitudes causing the behavior. No certitude excels the True Believer, and his big brother, the fanatic. Scientific certitude affords the True Believing atheist a substitute for the insecurity of not knowing who they are, nor where they are going. It is a form of blind faith and displacement of confidence in a different form of God they create and worship: the God of Rational Thought. The irony is, even during the Age of Reason, Deity was never eschewed.
It is heart-rending to observe the same forms of manipulation and obfuscation practiced in Mormonism upon the newly execrated. Disturbing in any setting surely, but vulnerability is acute among these souls who have lost friends, sometimes family, and a social community that will no longer grace them with their affections and humor. The devastation is much greater than with those who transition from sect to sect, or one dogma to another. The only way to end this circular carnival of dysfunction is to cease substituting human needs with cheap fixes. One must begin with experiencing divine love. Notice that Hoffer’s solution is the gentle philosopher who considers virtue the only good. But virtue finds its substance in self-love that is an endowment of divine love, whether it be as parent to child, or a gift from a celestial Being. Interestingly, Eric writes fondly of his parents, and the godmother who cared for him during his blindness and death of his mother. That love carried him throughout his itinerant life. In the final analysis, a person must begin the transition by inserting love as their driving force. When this happens, self-esteem increases, self-confidence increases, the need for certitude about the world and one's future subsides, and serene natural bonding with others fills the soul. Jesus was first a healer; a physician of the body and the soul. The two are entwined. Whether one believes He existed or was divine is no consequence. His remedy was the ancient art and doctrine of spiritual health. Following His code of behavior will maximize the harmony, peace, and raised consciousness prattled about on the Web. Casting one’s bread of love upon the water returns more than what was given. If Man created God, then the power of Godliness resides in Man, and it only requires release to attain the state of Transcendence.
For myself, I trust in the transcendent experience mentioned in earlier posts. There is one detail in the account that I have not mentioned. Those who are familiar with the Hindu Chakras will recognize the significance of this. At the termination of the 2½ day instruction by the Master Healer, He placed His finger midway between the Crown and Third Eye points of my forehead, and then again on the Heart point of my breastbone. In this act I understood He was enfusing this experience of spiritual wisdom, intuition, facility of transcendence, His love, compassion, and healing force into my soul. He was reuniting my heart with my mind and leaving His imprint there. At the time of this experience I knew practically nothing about Chakras. I had read of them briefly in connection with Yoga while on the mission to Norway twenty years earlier. I never thought there was any substance to the concept then and had forgotten all about it. Only today, more than twenty years later, in discussing ideas for this blogpost with my wife did I realize just how significant that act was. At the time, it seemed just as natural as breathing. But it was the culmination of the transformation that I experienced. For days afterward I was not sure exactly what world I was in. Often it seemed I had one leg still in that other Realm. People who have experienced Near Death, or an Out of Body state will immediately recognize the divine love I experienced, and the feeling of completeness it grants.
The sorry part of sharing this divine love is its rejection by those who have been so spiritually malnourished they have difficulty accepting their self-worth. All that can be done for them is partial infusions until their souls are revitalized sufficient to partake of its fulness. It is this infusion that generates change and rebirth.
SethSmee
REFERENCES
Niebuhr, Does Civilization Need Religion?
Hoffer, The True Believer, The Ordeal of Change
The Laura Lee Show, Charles Moore interview, History of Western Civilization
Teachings of Jesus
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