The root and divine pattern of the damsel in distress

Adam’s adamance

According to the temple account, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, prior to the fall, Satan first came tempting Adam to partake of the forbidden fruit.

LUCIFER APPROACHES ADAM

[Lucifer enters.]

LUCIFER: Well, Adam, you have a new world here.

ADAM: A new world?

LUCIFER: Yes, a new world, patterned after the old one where we used to live.

ADAM: I know nothing about any other world.

LUCIFER: Oh, I see–your eyes are not yet opened. You have forgotten everything. You must eat some of the fruit of this tree.

[Lucifer pantomimes picking two pieces of fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He offers the fruit to Adam.]

LUCIFER: Adam, here is some of the fruit of that tree. It will make you wise.

ADAM: I will not partake of that fruit. Father told me that in the day I should partake of it, I should surely die.

LUCIFER: You shall not surely die, but shall be as the Gods, knowing good and evil.

ADAM: I will not partake of it.

LUCIFER: Oh, you will not? Well, we shall see.

[Adam withdraws from view.]

Satan failed to directly tempt him because Adam was adamant about not breaking God’s commandment. How do you get someone to yield whose very nature is not to budge an inch? Was there no way around Adam’s adamancy? Yes, there was, and Satan, that cunning one, knew that Adam had a weakness which he had planned to exploit. And so off the devil went to tempt Eve.

Eve’s acquiescence

Satan used on Eve the very same approach that he used on Adam, directly tempting her with the wisdom and knowledge that the fruit offered as benefits. Instead of Eve acting like the unyielding Adam, though, she acquiesced and partook of the fruit.

Why did Adam refuse? Because it was his nature to stick to the decision he had made to obey God and not to yield to temptations.

Why did Eve partake? Because it was her nature to yield to persuasive arguments. It was her nature to vacillate.

Why did Satan wait for Eve to be alone? Because if Adam had been around, he would have offered counter arguments to Satan’s temptations and Eve might have drawn strength from Adam’s unyielding nature and resisted the temptation.

Here is how it went down.

EVE PARTAKES OF THE FRUIT

[Eve returns.]

LUCIFER: Eve, here is some of the fruit of that tree. It will make you wise. It is delicious to the taste and very desirable.

EVE: Who are you?

LUCIFER: I am your brother.

EVE: You, my brother, and come here to persuade me to disobey Father?

LUCIFER: I have said nothing about Father. I want you to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that your eyes may be opened, for that is the way Father gained his knowledge. You must eat of this fruit so as to comprehend that everything has its opposite: good and evil, virtue and vice, light and darkness, health and sickness, pleasure and pain. Thus your eyes will be opened, and you will have knowledge.

EVE: Is there no other way?

LUCIFER: There is no other way.

EVE: Then I will partake.

[Eve pantomimes taking one of the pieces of fruit from Lucifer's hand and eating it.]

LUCIFER: There. Now go and get Adam to partake.

[Lucifer pantomimes placing the second piece of fruit in her hand. He withdraws from view.]

Indirectly tempting the adamant Adam

Having received instructions from the devil to tempt Adam to partake, Eve went to find her husband.

ADAM PARTAKES OF THE FRUIT

[Adam returns.]

EVE: Adam, here is some of the fruit of that tree. It is delicious to the taste and very desirable.

ADAM: Eve, do you know what fruit that is?

EVE: Yes. It is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

ADAM: I cannot partake of it. Do you not know that Father commanded us not to partake of the fruit of that tree?

EVE: Do you intend to obey all of Father’s commandments?

ADAM: Yes, all of them.

We see from this that the devil’s plan to indirectly tempt Adam failed, for Adam was still every bit as adamant about obeying all of Father’s commandments as he ever was. The man simply refused to budge and break any commandments. Neither direct nor indirect temptation worked on Adam, for it was against his nature to budge on his decisions. But notice what happened next.

Why did Adam partake of the forbidden fruit?

EVE: Do you not recollect that Father commanded us to multiply and replenish the earth? I have partaken of this fruit and by so doing shall be cast out, and you will be left a lone man in the garden of Eden.

ADAM: Eve, I see that this must be so. I will partake that man may be.

[Adam pantomimes eating the fruit.]

There were three reasons that Eve gave Adam to get him to partake of the fruit. The first was

“It is delicious to the taste and very desirable.”

But that wasn’t enough to get Adam to budge on Father’s commandments. So Eve tried a strategy which appealed to Adam’s desire to obey the commandments. Her reasoning was that since “God commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth,” that required that they remain together, but since now Eve had “partaken of this fruit and by so doing [would] be cast out,” Adam would “be left a lone man in the garden of Eden.”

That got Adam to partake and the standard interpretation is that Adam chose to obey one commandment over another, that he was placed in a situation in which the two commandments conflicted and he chose to obey “the greater commandment” of staying together and having children over “the lesser commandment” of partaking of the fruit. We often take the view that obeying God’s commandment to have children was Adam’s prime motivator.

This is an understandable interpretation, given that the text has Adam saying, “I will partake that man may be.” To everyone who hears that (including me), Adam was obviously talking about having children.

Three commandments

However, that may not be the whole picture. There were three commandments that God gave to Adam.

• Don’t partake of the forbidden fruit.

• Remain together.

• Multiply and replenish the earth.

After Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, God asked him, “Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, if so thou shouldst surely die?” And Adam replied,

“The woman thou gavest me,

and commandest that she should remain with me,

she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat. ”

We see from this response that Adam himself explained the reason why he partook of the forbidden fruit. It was to comply with the commandment that the woman remain with him. This commandment was given to him because God had said that “it was not good that the man should be alone.” But let’s backtrack a bit, for we need to understand what “man” is.

What “man” is

There are four things that “man” is.

• Man is Adam, not Eve (woman/help meet).

• Man is Adam + Eve. (“One flesh.”)

• Man is children and posterity.

• Man is Eve. (Mankind.)

We can do some substitution to try to determine what Adam meant by “man” when he said, “Eve, I see that this must be so. I will partake that man may be.” The exercise might pull some additional information out of the text that is not readily apparent in a cursory first reading.

“I will partake that [children/posterity] may be.”

I think it is safe to say that most people think this is what he was referring to, but neither Adam nor Eve had any concept of what children were, for they were still innocent themselves. So, let’s try another substitute.

“I will partake that [Adam, not Eve] may be.”

Eve had partaken and broken the commandment, whereas Adam had not, therefore, Eve was already spiritually dead (and would later suffer a temporal death). So, we can look upon Eve as spiritually dead when she tempted the spiritually alive Adam. This substitution, then, doesn’t make sense because the words “may be” indicate bringing something into existence, or making something alive. The fall had brought death upon Eve, not life. By partaking of the fruit, then, Adam would also bring death upon himself. Therefore, since he was already spiritually and physically alive, it makes no sense that he needed to partake of death in order to become (spiritually or physically) alive.

“I will partake that [Eve] may be.”

Eve was already spiritually dead, therefore, Adam partaking of the same forbidden fruit does not bring her back to life, it only makes him just as dead as she is. So, this interpretation doesn’t work, either. Let’s try the last substitution.

“I will partake that [Adam + Eve] may be.”

If Adam viewed Eve as part of himself, as literally “the other half” of him, then when he saw (“Eve, I see that this must be so”) that a change had come over her and that she had become fallen, what he saw was that man (Adam + Eve) had already ceased to exist. Half of him was fallen and half of him had not fallen, causing a separation, or death, between the two halves. In truth, Adam never saw Eve as a separate individual, separate from himself. For example, there’s this:

This was bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man; (Abr. 5:17)

and also this:

This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. (Moses 3:23)

In one view, it is said that Eve was his bone and flesh (prior to her being taken out of him), and in another view it is said that Eve is his bone and flesh (after being taken out of him). In either case, she is him. Then we get these scriptures, which reinforce the same idea that Adam + Eve is man:

So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them. (Abr. 4:27)

And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them. (Moses 2:27)

Adam, then, was like unto the left-brain-mind of man and Eve was like unto the right-brain-heart of man. The one is firm, fixed and adamant (unyielding), the other vacillating. They were the personification of our two brain hemispheres. Just as we need both halves of our brain for existence, so they needed to remain with each other to be complete and alive. If you leave the left-brain-mind of man alone to itself, without any interaction with the right-brain-heart, it goes insane, just like all those crazy chess players.  The reverse is also true. A right-brain-heart cannot remain separate from its corresponding left-brain-mind.

What Adam was thinking

Remember those three commandments Adam had received from God?

• Don’t partake of the forbidden fruit.

• Remain together.

• Multiply and replenish the earth.

Well, in Adam’s mind, half of himself (Adam + Eve) had already broken the first one, making it impossible to comply with the second and third commandments. Because only half of himself (Adam + Eve) had partaken of the fruit, man (Adam + Eve) had ceased to exist. In order to save or rescue man (Adam + Eve) and bring man (Adam + Eve) back again into existence, the other half of himself (Adam + Eve) had to also partake of the forbidden fruit. This would allow the now fallen, yet still existing man (Adam + Eve) to comply with the second and third commandments.

Adam’s chief motivation, then, was to rescue man (Adam + Eve), for without Eve, man (Adam + Eve) could not exist. Adam would perform the rescue through condescension (“voluntary descent from one’s rank or dignity in relations with an inferior”), by voluntarily allowing himself to fall. Now Adam and Eve would again be on an equal (fallen) footing and Adam, and through his faith, repentance and unyielding obedience (for this was his nature), could perchance bring both himself and Eve, his other half, back into the presence of God.

This view of Eve as himself did not allow him to merely cut his losses and walk away from her. To lose Eve was to lose himself. This wasn’t some fallen, romantic love affair in which two separate people come together, this was orders of magnitude more intense, because Eve was literally taken out of Adam. They weren’t just made for each other, they were each other! So, the possibility of losing Eve was not an option to Adam. Eve needed to be rescued.

Eve, the prototypical damsel in distress

Adam partook of the forbidden fruit because Eve was in distress and he desired to rescue her. By her transgression, she had lost the promises and would be cut off, both physically and spiritually. She had already shown that she was unable to resist the direct temptations of the devil in her paradisaical state while separated from Adam, so, what kind of a chance did Eve have to resist the devil’s temptations in a fallen state and being alone in a fallen world, with no Adam to rely upon and help rescue her? Not a chance in hell.

(Before I continue, it needs to be understood and emphasized that both the temple and scriptural accounts of this event are most likely just a part, or an abridgment, of the actual conversation that took place between Eve and Adam. Nevertheless, we can see from the few words of Eve which have been given to us by revelation, that she was in dire need of some comfort, for she makes it a point to say to Adam, and this, I believe, is the main point that resonated with Adam, “I…shall be cast out.”)

Now, everyone who has dealt with a woman in distress knows just how very nervous and agitated they can become. It is likely that Eve unloaded a barrage of words on Adam to get him to partake of that fruit, crying to him with tears of sorrow, as a weeping woman pleading for rescue. Adam likely had never seen tears before, so the sight of a hysterical woman must have been a shock to him. As this was a life and death situation—for Eve was now slated to die (spiritually and physically), alone, in the dreary world outside of the garden—it is highly unlikely that the conversation we have recorded in the temple and in the scriptures is the full account.

So, she likely used every argument she could think of to persuade Adam to partake of the fruit and to be kicked out and die with her. Obviously something she said actually worked to get him to partake, whereas the direct temptations of the devil had failed. Was it the appeal to keep the replenish commandment? Probably not. For in order to stay together, Adam would still need to break a commandment, and the end result would be the same. So why did he partake? It can only be because she was a damsel in distress and he thought to save or rescue her.

How to bring down an adamant Adam

Now this was the devious plan of the adversary, by which he would get around the adamant nature of Adam. The strategy was to use Eve to destroy Adam by putting Eve in peril (through her fall), which would cause Adam to voluntarily put himself in peril (through his own fall) in order to save her. It worked because it was based upon the nature of Adam, which was patterned after God Himself. In other words, although it was Adam’s nature to be totally obedient, it was also his nature to save his loved ones, even if it meant the voluntary sacrifice of his own life. Sound familiar?

Damsel in distress and rescue as gospel principles

As a result of these events, God patterned the entire gospel on that interaction between Adam and Eve, which resulted in the fall. How so?

By partaking of the fruit, Eve became the prototypical damsel in distress and all her daughters would follow this pattern, becoming themselves, in the gospel plan, damsels in distress.

Adam became the prototypical knight in shining armor that puts himself in jeopardy in order to rescue the maiden from the danger she is in, and all his sons would follow this same pattern, becoming saviors (or rescuers) on mount Zion.

The cries of Eve to Adam to save her from her dilemma is the prototypical prayer, by which all prayers to God, in which we plead to Him for mercy and salvation, is patterned after. Just as she wept to Adam, so are we to weep to God. When we perform a proper prayer, after this order of Eve, we take upon us the role of the damsel in distress, and God hears and answers our prayers.

Adam’s response to Eve, in which he condescended to save her from her distress, is the prototype after which the atonement of Jesus Christ is patterned. The condescension of God, then, is patterned after the condescension of Adam.

The male priesthood orders, which administer the ordinances of salvation, are based on the “rescuer,” while all female priesthood orders are based upon the “damsel in distress.”

When Jesus faces God, He pleads with Him in our behalf as a Damsel in Distress. When He faces us, He stands as our Rescuer. When a man faces Christ, he pleads with Him as a damsel in distress. When he faces his wife and children, it is as a rescuer. When a woman faces her husband or Christ, it is as a damsel in distress. When she faces her children, it is as a rescuer. Children all have the role of damsels in distress until they are of age.

The root and pattern of the damsel in distress can be traced to Eve, from the time of her fall, and the rescuer principle can be traced to Adam, from the time of his fall. The gospel given to Adam and Eve after their fall, and given to all of their children, retains the same pattern.

The ancient church, as written in our scriptural canon, was almost entirely based upon assigning men the role of rescuer and women the role of damsels in distress, with but few exceptions. The men fought the wars, not the women, and thus they became the protectors of the women. The men were expected to be the providers for their families (rescuing them from hunger, etc.), not the women. The women and children had claim on their husbands, not the other way around. And when it came to leadership, the leader was typically male. In the modern church, we now use the word preside, which is also an expected role of the men, as stated in the Proclamation on the Family.

Some Book of Mormon instances of damsel in distress

Captain Moroni’s title of liberty was “in defense of our wives.” That is damsel in distress. The kidnapped Lamanite women created a damsel in distress situation which brought out the vast Lamanite army to search for 24 women. Jacob’s rebuke of Nephite husbands because of their desire for additional wives and how they were making their wives feel bad was a damsel in distress theme, the rescue provided by the Lord who sent His prophet to call the husbands to repentance. The Nephites were commanded to defend their wives and children against Lamanite aggression even unto bloodshed. Why didn’t the Lord just authorize the Nephites to wipe out the Lamanite threat? Well, one reason might have been so that Nephite wives would have a continual source of potential distress, in the form of the Lamanites. This would allow them to more fully cleave unto their rescuing husbands.

Damsel in distress found in non-gospel cultures

Because the damsel in distress theme has gospel origins from the time of our first parents, it is to be expected that we would find it played out in many different non-gospel cultures and stories of all ages, and that is, in fact, what we see.

Fascinating Womanhood was based on damsel in distress

The book, Fascinating Womanhood, which was written by a Mormon woman, attempted to teach women what “true” femininity was. As might be expected, it had (and still has) a polarizing effect upon both men and women, some swearing by it, others wanting to burn it. It stood out like a sore thumb among many other self-help books because it claimed to be based on biblical principles, on the very laws of God. It relied heavily upon the damsel in distress theme, where woman were taught to use their weakness to activate a man’s strength, or, to put it another way, they were taught to more fully assume the role of the damsel in distress, to which, it was claimed, men naturally responded (like Adam did) by seeking to rescue them. These teachings completely contradicted modern ideas, which seek to make strong, empowered women that do not need to rely upon men. (Another book was written by the author’s husband, called Man of Steel and Velvet, which was written for men and based upon the rescuer role of men.)

Modern movements against the damsel in distress stereotype

Go back a hundred years and virtually all dramas in plays, movies, radio or print (and later in television) were based on the damsel in distress theme. Times, however, have changed. Now there is a concerted effort in media of all forms to remove it and replace it with either equal roles for the sexes or a dude in distress theme. The strong female who can mop up the floor of any guy or group of guys is now found everywhere. The weak female needing male attention and help is virtually non-existent in current media. The heroine who rescues the dude in distress is becoming more and more prevalent. For example, take Disney, which used to base their fairy tales on damsel in distress and now have the fair maiden saving the man from the fire breathing dragon.   In many of the kiss and sex scenes nowadays in movies and television, it is the woman who initiates (and often dominates) and the man is on the receiving (submissive) end.

The blurring, elimination and/or reversal of the damsel in distress/rescuer theme in media is manifestly intentional. It is done according to a plan. Damsel in distress is painted as a antiquated cultural artifact that needs to be eliminated from society. And much of society has bought into that view. Even Mormon society. For example, ordaining women to the male priesthood orders would confound the damsel in distress and rescuer roles found within the church, yet there are many in the church who feel that this should happen because they do not see damsel in distress as a divinely appointed principle.

Damsel in distress in prophecy

In a previous post, I explained that at some point in the future, the women of the church shall be ordained to the male priesthood orders, and that they would fulfill the prophecy of the wicked, ruling daughters of Zion found in Isaiah 3:12-23. My next post on the orders of the priesthood was an extension of the daughters in Zion post. This post may also be viewed as an extension of the same topic, but in this post I would like to unfold that Isaiah prophecy some more and also tell what will happen afterward.

The return of the order of the Nehors

Given that there are forces at work to subvert the damsel in distress doctrine, both within and without the church, it might be asked, what would be the result of total subversion, meaning these forces completely unfolded? The answer to that question is this: when there are no more damsels in distress, there is no more need for rescue or a rescuer. In other words, there will be no more need for salvation and for a Savior, for all are saved and no one is in distress and all can rejoice. In other words, complete subversion of damsel in distress leads to Nehor’s doctrine.

And it came to pass that in the first year of the reign of Alma in the judgment-seat, there was a man brought before him to be judged, a man who was large, and was noted for his much strength.

And he had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.

And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.

And it came to pass that he did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money.

And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching. (Alma 1:2-6)

Notice, in particular, that Mormon describes Nehor as being “lifted up in the pride of his heart” and he said that he began “to wear very costly apparel,” which is a similar description to how Isaiah described the wicked, ruling daughters of Zion in Isaiah 3:12-23. The daughters of Zion, then, spoken of by Isaiah in those verses, will be Nehors.

A change in conditions

Subversion of damsel in distress and the rescuer principles can only happen during times of economic prosperity and peace, for when women have money and can provide for their own, and have no need for protection, or can purchase it with their money, they do not need to be rescued by any man. Therefore, the Lord will deal with His wicked daughters by changing the conditions among men, taking away the prosperity and peace, so that Isaiah 3: 24-26 and Isaiah 4:1 will be the next thing that happens, ushering in an immediate re-installment of the damsel in distress and rescuer doctrine, for all women left alive will be in distress and will look to any man left alive to rescue them. Thus, all those who remain alive will be humbled to the dust.

And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. (Isaiah 3: 24-26;4:1)

Now, the Lord’s plan is to use the same instrument to distress the wicked, ruling daughters of Zion as He did the ancient Nephite women, namely, Lamanite aggression. All those souls that survive shall repent of their sins and cleave unto their husbands, and the husbands unto their wives.

What of the righteous?

These prophecies speak of men and women who will, in their wickedness, confound the gospel doctrines of damsel in distress and rescue, but one might ask, will the righteous, meaning those who promote and support these divine principles, be among the people of the Lord when the prophesied destruction takes place? The answer is, “No.” The Lord will remove all of His people who obey His laws to places of safety prior to the Lamanites being sent in, but know this: prior to that time, all those who refuse to support any philosophy of (wo)men that subverts the Lord’s damsel in distress principle, will be tested with persecution. So, plan accordingly.

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AN ANARCHICAL VIEW OF THE KEYS pt. 2

NETWORK MODELS

When we want to obtain something from Heaven’s hand we have to first connect to the mind of the Lord and let His thoughts filter into our own consciousness, otherwise there is a high likelihood that the things received are not of God. The Latin word ‘data’ is a past participle of the verb ‘dare’ and translates as “Things given.” If we want to make sure that what we are getting is in fact coming from the Source of all good, it can be extremely helpful to have some type of network model. Man has devised many different types of network

Network Model for Working with God

models but all of them are characterized by the following components: a set of nodes, and connections between nodes. The nodes receive inputs, and process them to obtain an output. The connections determine the information flow between nodes. They can be unidirectional, when the information flows only one way, and bidirectional, when the information flows either way. The interactions of nodes through the connections lead to a global behavior of the network, which cannot always be observed in the elements of the network. This global behavior is said to be emergent. This means that the abilities of the network supersede those of its elements alone, making networks very powerful tools.

Network Models

One very popular class of networks is an artificial neural network or ANN. This is a mathematical model inspired by biological neural networks in our body’s own anatomy. These artificial neural networks are used to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to find patterns in data. Artificial Neural Networks, especially those that are more closely based on the Central Nervous System’s Neural Pathways of the Lord, can help us to “make His pathways straight” as we are admonished to do by both Isaiah and John the Baptist (Matt. 3:3,Isaiah 40:3, Luke 3:4). Anyone who studies network systems will be familiar with mathematical equations where  signifies some predefined activation function. Anyone who studies the Holy Scriptures will know that a pre-stood ey is a similar concept. Enthusiasts in the field of computers will know that   is sometimes used to show that a data processor has an unlocked multiplier, meaning it can be easily over-locked to much higher frequencies. But do those same enthusiasts think to apply that practical knowledge in their Elder’s Quorums to enthuse themselves and their brethren with the Spirit of God and over-lock to the Most High frequency? We could look at network models in cognitive psychology, theoretical neuroscience, or even artificial intelligence, but ANNs and even the CNS will only get us so far in understanding spiritual matters. The ancient Jews had their network model known as abbalah with its Tree of Life Diagram for explaining the “Condescension of God” and bestowing Keys. The Masons borrow heavily from the ancient Jews and we borrow heavily from the Masons.  But sadly, the Church Inc. has become better at storing than restoring. Great truths are locked away in mountain vaults and if ever they are brought out to see the light of day and benefit the general membership of the Church, the “Brethren” react with excommunications.

THEIR ARMS ARE TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD

There have been of late some increasingly heavy-handed and under-handed practices employed by Church leadership. The same secret cabals embedded in secular society have been even more openly brutal in their exercise of unrighteous dominion. Even when the worst they manage to do is to manage an army of potentially powerful servants of the Lord through spiritless management meetings, the outcomes are embarrassing to enraging for serious servants of the Lord like Alan Rock Waterman and his anonymous Bishop friend who exposed Saltican City’s latest training video for the vainglorious affront to God that it is. (see Pure Mormonism blog post Training Day) The die-rectors of the video were sure to coach L. Tom Perry and his little crew of actors to mention the word “Keys” as many times as possible. The editors of this P.R.iesthood Training/ Power Draining tutorial were sure to leave exactly 33 mentions of the word “Keys”. 33 is the degree of a Master Mason. 33 is the precise number of minutes that the lights went out at this year’s Super Bowl Mass Ritual. It is a literal and spiritual power failure that the secret combinations wish to perpetuate on us.

https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/priesthood-keys?lang=eng

If we desire to be men of God, our spiritual actions had better pack a punch. The earliest usage of the word ‘punch’ meant to puncture, so it carried that cleaving quality common to all keys. But by the late 16^th century – right around the time that Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa was socially pressured into retracting some of his harder-hitting work in a similar manner to what Joseph Smith Jr. would do over two centuries later – this key-word, “punch” as a verb and its accompanying sign, “punch” as a physical action were somewhat corrupted. ‘Punch’ as a noun now signified “a blow with the fist.”  It still managed to retain a figurative sense of “forceful, vigorous quality” down through the centuries of the so-called Enlightenment. But unfortunately when we hear the word “punch” these days the first thing to enter or “puncture” our mind is typically a picture of brute force and secondly the vigor which is a quality which can only be imparted by the spirit. Thus evil magicians were able to triumph over good magicians.

How does such a terrible thing happen? It happens subtly. The second definition of the word ‘punch’ as a noun provides us with a key to understanding how our keys are effectively disabled by tricksters, traitors and tyrants. ‘Punch’ can also mean “a mixed drink”. This definition actually traces back to the most ancient Proto-Indo-European roots of the word. It is derived from Sanskrit ‘panchan-s’ through Hindi ‘panch’ meaning “five,” in reference to the number of original ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, spice). If we think about it there is a more subconscious reference going on here as well, because “five” is also the number of fingers on a man’s hand. It is funny to think how in current-day Christ-Shun culture we use the phrase “spike the punch” meaning “to add alcohol to a fruit drink.” The original recipe for true punch invariably held to by our ancestors until relatively recently already and always included alcoholic spirits. The five original ingredients of punch and the five fingers of the hand have symbolic reference to the five elements of water, fire, earth, air and lastly but most importantly, spirit which circulates throughout all the rest. At all Church functions the vital ingredient of spirit has been removed and more often than not even the fruit is reduced to a few thin citrus slices floating atop an artificially flavored concoction of kill-aid served up in a cauldron at cult-sure-all activities. Mormon style magicians love to substitute spirit with gobs of ice cream.

You might say it is my intention to restore some of the veil piercing power by spiking the punch bowl and getting this millennial paradisiacal party started. Let’s add some much needed, finely distilled spirits of such great men as Smith, Swedenborg, Agrippa, Wovoka, Tenskwatawa, Drew-Ali, Turner, Elijah, David, Moses, Alma, Moroni, etc. The Doctrine & Covenants, Section 121 verse 35, clearly affirms that our keys, through which the powers of heaven are meant to flow have been severely lessened only because we have listened to the vain teachings of this world and we fail to learn this “one lesson.” And what might that one lesson be? It is that we are the noble and great ones who Father Abraham witnessed gathered in council before this world ever was. WE ARE THEM AND THEY ARE US. We sojourn here below with only one thing standing between the mortal frame and its maker. That one thing is our individual portion of Holy Spirit taught in Sunday School as the Spirit Body being composed of the Light of Christ in all men and women. It is given freely but even so, it is up to us to maintain and cherish as the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

This is the Grand Truth behind the formula that follows in verses 36 and 37 of Section 121. – “The rights (keys) of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven.” Note it says “power[s]” (plural) and “heaven” (singular) because we are talking about many forms emanating out of one spirit. And when the scripture says that, “the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor hand-led only upon the principles of righteousness,” it is saying that we must see ourselves as they are if we want to be a conduit for inheriting their attributes. Continuing, we read that these attributes may be conferred upon us but that whenever we “exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls (unions of spiritual+physical bodies) of the children of men (including our own)….behold, the heavens withdraw themselves (this time it is expressed in plural form as heaven[s] since the very Hosts of Heaven are made up of the same substance as Heaven itself ); the Spirit of the Lord is grieved (this refers to the substance of spirit itself, which is one single source); and when it is withdrawn (that is, when it contracts or retracts from one particular space into another area for expression of itself), Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!

“Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”

This phrase at the ending of Section 121 verse 37 is very interesting. Talk about packing a punch as well as a bunch of meaning! First it must be noted that these words do not appear as their own sentence within the text but rather they follow a comma stringing them onto the line of ideas laid out above. Why then is the word Amen written with a capital ‘A’? You may say that this is standard use of the word in the English language and you would be correct. But why? It is because Amen represents a name. Originally conceived of as the head of a trinity of gods in ancient Egypt, Amen or Amun was closely associated with the wind, but soon began to be identified with all other Egyptian deities. The organic ensuing virtual monotheism did not sit well with Pharoah Amen-hotep IV who changed his name to Akhen-aten and attempted to force everyone to worship the Aten (Sun Disk) for a period.

This historical scenario is essentially an earthly reenactment of the heavenly drama wherein Lucifer (Light Bearer) tries to overthrow God the Father and establish himself as supreme. God the Father is the Most High example of Pre-Stood Power in righteousness. If we think of Him as Amun, God of the Wind, we can see how the element of Air has a unifying effect upon all other elements. They all benefit from his perfect parenting approach. Air can cause the solid Earth to be enlivened by the softest caress or whip it into shape through the means of strong blasts. Air gently stirs the Waters in the ocean and in the firmament to keep them from stagnating and sometimes works them up into a frenzy granting them permission and power to crash and flood the stubborn land and its inhabitants. Air embodies spirit so effortlessly that it can fan a small flickering flame into a raging Fire or extinguish it if it so chooses. It is understandable that a fiery devil like Lucifer would feel himself superior to the more conforming elements of Earth and Water. To him they would seem so subservient. Not seeing the divine spark in all creation around him and feeling more than a little threatened at the fact that in spite of their humble subservient natures, both Water and Earth could easily snuff him out if so directed, it must have seemed logical to Lucifer’s archetypal male instinct to assert his personality fiercely. The narcissist made good on his threat to collude with metallic minions, especially gold and silver, in whose shiny surfaces he could see his twinkling self image reflected. And he bought up armies to oppress the land and navies to oppress the seas. For a time the wild child thought he had triumphed over the elements of Water and Earth as made specifically clear when his heart leaps like a flame and we hear him say, “Now is the great day of my power. I reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth.” After all, being a Prince of the Air was he not the Rightful Heir to the throne of all creation?

But if the Light Bearer pictured himself like in the distinct artwork of the Egyptian Amarna Period during Akhen-aten’s reign, with the Sun’s rays shooting straight and unbending, he was soon forced to admit that even in the purest form he could take he was still subject to bending when presented with a large heavenly body or even refraction when simply attempting to cut through water. Akhen-aten called himself the Son of the Sun and has been called “The First Individual” by bedazzled historians. Individualism has its proper place within the bounds the Lord has set, but sooner or later the Lucifer in all of us has to acknowledge his interdependence with every one of his brothers and sisters. With a realization of the equality of all things and our oneness with them comes great power. And so, Fathair chose the Spirit of Christ, the 5^th Element as the One who could not only best glorify Himself, but also play a redeeming role for all the other three elements, feisty Fire included. We sometimes call spirit the 5^th Element because it seems so beyond the realm of our understanding, but in truth Spirit is “The First” who Father said He would send. Father recognized that Spirit even pre-seeded Himself. So it wasn’t just that God the Father saw Himself in Jesus. He wisely saw Jesus in Himself. In the Millennium the entire Family can sit calm and enjoy the sitcom of life when they realize that Lucifer exists only as the comical prankster and flashy star of the show. Good old Lucile Ball may cause drama but she keeps things entertaining and she is such a sweetheart that in the end you gotta Love Lucy with the pure love of Christ. The Fresh Prince of Bell Aire can be a trouble maker but when viewed with love we see how he values the unity of the family as much as anyone, perhaps a little more than most since he and his counterpart Jazzy Jeff have experienced being cast out on numerous occasions.

The Pre-Stood promotes unity and peace not discord and destruction. For this reason, Lucifer is thrust out of heaven only to be sent early to Earth, that precise spot where all the “Good Sons of God” were waiting to receive an inheritance. The harmonic balance of proper Pre-Stood practices explain why Satan is cast to the sides of the bottomless pit and his dangerous nature bound for a million years only to be released again for a season. Why in God’s Name would YHWH do such a thing? Doesn’t He know how horribly and unworthily the Prodigal Son of the Morning has been behaving? The Tetragramaton knows exactly what He is doing as He proceeds through the eternal sequence of:

Yod    =    Foundation

Hei     =    Breath

Vav    =    Nail

Hei     =    Breath

Yod    =    Foundation

Hei      =   Breath

Vav     =   Nail

Hei      =   Breath

Connecting inhalation with exhalation, foundational building materials with thrusts of the nail, Amen, the God of the Wind and Architect of the Universe turns His invisible blew-prints into solid structures that can stand for eternity. That breath and spirit are in the similitude of one another as God the Father to God the Son should not be a big surprise since we all know that the cessation of breathing causes the spirit to withdraw from a body. But at Church there are many who call themselves teachers who do not comprehend these things and consider them interesting perhaps, but not pertinent to their salvation. If Jesus tries to tell them about Earthly things, they won’t believe it. So how can He possibly tell them about Heavenly things? And yet we go to Church every week and listen to them teach about the Kingdom and doctrines of salvation? Tell me; where is the righteousness in that? The scriptures say that “if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.” (D&C 42:14) We could say that unless you are alive in the awareness of the infinite possibilities available through a simple connection between Spirit and breath, then you should keep your mouth shut and not counsel your brother and sister. Your careless verbiage and spiritually bad breath does serious damage. Maybe its time every man start learning directly from the Master instead of the sympathetic but cowardly Nicodemus types in the Church and in the Bloggernacle.

Jesus:  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus:  How can these things be?

Jesus:  Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
- John 3:8-10

I am not writing to or for Priesthood Pretenders. For those tempted to not take the truths I am sharing here to heart just because they are not coming from a world/church authority or credentialed expert of any kind – for those tempted to write this off as a long-winded and useless tangent about aerodynamics, may I suggest you read an Uchtdorf talk.

“Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”

Such a fascinating phrase, and we’ve only just begun to discover the richness in this one little word – Amen! It turns out that Amen is itself a Key-Word of the Pre-Stood. Notice how it can be used to lock or to open, to seal or to separate. On the one hand we can and ought to use it to condemn unrighteous dominion; on the other hand we can use it to express agreement, as it is commonly used at the end of prayers. Pre-Stood Power is eternal and can not be destroyed or cease to exist. So, the “Amen” in this phrase does not refer to “the priesthood” in the slightest. Nor does it refer precisely to “the authority” since pre-stood authority is represented by keys which are to the powers inseparably connected, co-existing as eternal companions. Authority is digital in nature it can shut on and off but it never actually vanishes. In this scripture Priesthood = Spirit or Life-Energy which is shared collectively by all forms in the universe; ie. Yin, and Authority = Keys or Rights to use that energy which are held personally; ie. Yang. The “Amen” here only refers directly to “that man” who abuses his rights to the pre-stood.

LDSA identified this scripture as an exception to the norm in that it seems to conflate power with authority. But even though power and authority together really do form one pre-stood, the Holy Scriptures are linguistically designed to dissect and then reassemble concepts for the enlightenment of our minds. This scripture stays true to that teaching technique. So the “or” can be seen as equating priesthood with authority but simultaneously and more specifically its function is to lay down the law for “that man” who transgresses. Either his keys get disabled till he repents “or” if he persists with his wickedness through this life and on through the next and so on and so forth, the very form of his spirit-body begins to fragment to the point of absorption back into the native nothingness also known as outer darkness. That’s why those who slumber and wait for the resurrection to roll around are waiting in vain, waiting in vanity for Jesus to play not the central role He accepted but to take over the individual’s own personal role in God’s plan. In essence they are waiting for Jesus to become Lucifer. They will eventually wake up and come around but the scriptures say that it will take a longer time than in the case of the just who rise in the morning of the first resurrection.

When one who actually possesses the Key of Amen utters the phrase “Amen, to the priesthood of that man” directed with real intent towards another individual, the effect is actually one of loving kindness because it softens some of the more immediately destructive consequences of the abuser’s actions and neutralizes negative vibes for any of the innocent victims that the Key Master is able to take into his protective scope. Why should it be that such a sharp phrase, when uttered by a speaker who possesses a fluent command of the god-language of pre-stood, would have a positive effect even on the target? Because defense is the righteous use of the sword and the sword of defense, being a key itself, is always double-edged. Look up the verb defend and you will see it defined with a double meaning as it can be used to describe “protecting from an attack on” and or “speaking or writing in favor of.” The dual purpose of keys is shown as our minds easily see these two ideas to be one action in truth. As a true defender you must not think that you are simply defending a victim and deafeating the victimizer. This narrow view only allows for a narrow get away at best never a full resolution. Remember the line spoken by Jacopo to the Count of Monte Cristo:

“I swore an oath, and I will protect you. Even if it means I must protect you from yourself.”

We too have an Oath & Covenant to uphold, do we not? (D&C 84) If you have the mindset of inflicting wounds rather than performing spiritual surgery then your slices will lack the swiftness of godly justice and they will not go clean through. This can cause further harm and infection to all involved including your self. Truly hating the sin of unrighteous dominion requires a true love for that man found exercising it. Your goal is to exorcize it from the person detangling them from its cancerous evil if possible. And if necessary even unto the cleaving of body from spirit. Obiwan Kanobi told Luke that a light saber is a weapon of elegance and can not be used the same as a clumsy blaster. Jedi Master Jesus taught us to “resist not evil.” To Joseph he recommended:

43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;

44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.

- D&C 121:43-44

This and other (s)wordplay techniques are displayed beautifully by Ammon, who spared the life of the King after he promised to grant Ammon’s brethren and his own son their freedom. In An Alternate View of the Keys LDSA wrote:

“Unrighteous dominion is dominion without the consent of the governed….the priesthood cannot be used without the consent of those it is intended to serve. It is their agency that authorizes the priesthood”

See, when a man is attempting to exercise more power than he has been authorized to handle, the effects are destructive, first to himself then to others. We are serving through severing. By loping off that portion of power which is in excess to the keys granted that man via the agency of others, we prevent the man from choking. But the loosed chunk of power doesn’t simply float out into space; it gets assimilated into the one who is acting as defender of the faith. Like Nephi, we will have to be prepared to take on the energy, even the negative energy, of that man and transmute it into energy that can serve the purposes of the Lord. If you lash out in hate then hate will flow into you from the one you wound. The pre-stood power belongs to all men and women and so, inseparably connected keys are had by each as well. This is why according to the workings of the Lord, “the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld” unless or until, as per D&C 70, verse 14, we are equal in temporal things, “and this not grudgingly.” Temporal things include administrative functions. So no more of this saying that LDS women are already so special they do not need the type of training that males require and therefore do not need the administrative keys of the priesthood. Funny how most wards would not function even in the mundane practices with which they busy themselves if it were not for the adept administration of the Relief Society.

The Prophet of the Restoration revealed the collective holding of pre-stood power through evenly distributed key-sets among the whole Family of God. Everyone has a right to the power of pre-stood. The Armenians, who demonstrate a high concentration of the blood of Israel in the traditions they observe as well as their spirit, have a word ամեն pronounced aːmˈɛn that means “every“. Additionally it is used in the same form at the conclusion of prayers, much as in English. Another word which hints at the need for sharing the rights to the powers of Heaven among all men comes from a much more ancient source via latter-day revelation. This one also alludes to the significance of the heavy breath sound of the ‘H’ added to Abram’s name when God made him FatHer of the Nations by blessing him with seed through Hagar and SaraH. Joseph Smith said it was revealed to him that the Adamic language word for God was AHMAN, that the name for Christ was SON AHMAN and the name for mankind was SONS AHMAN. When once we as spirit children of God (Sons Ahman) took on physical form (Adam) in the Terrestrial World we still enjoyed direct contact with God so the Earth at that time was known as ADAM ONDI AHMAN (Adam in the presence of God). If we say, “Ahman to the pre-stood of that man” we are essentially saying, “The pre-stood belongs to All Men/Ahman….so don’t you be a Lucifer and try to dominate it.” A man who would step on another’s RTC (Right to Choose) needs to remember he is only acting as a man. If he would act in the name of AHMAN he needs to receive the ‘H’ (Holy Breath of Life) in the middle of his self important name after the manner of AbraHam. Only when a bullying boy grows a healthy respect for the oneness of All Men can God make A Man into A-H-Man.

Amen is key in our service to the Lord because from man’s perspective, where one thing ends another begins. And Amen is key in the work God does for us as a consistent connector because He tells us that, for Him, there is no beginning and no end to His works. (D&C 29:33) Heavenly Father and Mother are simply breathing and birthing. We can see how Amen corresponds to the Wind, Breath of Life and the Spirit in its special relationship with all things. We know that God can create things out of thin air, but have we ever stopped to realize how we do the same thing with ideas and words? We use a primordial form of the Amen Key – ‘Aum’. We pause and think a while and we fill the supposedly dead space with “Ummmm.” Then, magically the vibration helps us to pull the ideas out of thin air and push that air through our voice box for projection in the more dense form of word. Progressively denser forms can result from thoughts to words to action. Look at us! Aren’t we some little creators?

It is this ‘Aum’ or ‘Om’ with which Jesus often leads his sayings. We find them translated into English as “Verily” or sometimes “Verily,Verily” These initial Amens are unparalleled in Hebrew literature, because they do not refer to the words of a previous speaker but instead introduce a new thought. In the Old Testament there are three different modes of usage for the Amen, but it is always used either in response to the words of another or as a final subscript to a story or psalm. Jesus’ uses of the Amen Key in the Gospels break the rules of traditional Hebrew because whereas the Jewish idiom was only ever used with a backward reference to an earlier speaker or statement, Jesus used the word to affirm his own utterances, not those of another person. This unique usage of the initial amen, single or double in form, to introduce solemn statements of Jesus in the Gospels had no parallel in Jewish practice and most likely indicates that Jesus received this Key during His travels in India.

This key is very good for extracting things from the Aether or Akasha as it was called by the Hindus. Akasha is the spirit substance similar to air but inheriting qualities from each of the elements and able to manifest as any one of them. This is the two in one identity that Jesus tries to explain to Phillip and to the rest of us when He says “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” (John 14:11) I encourage the reader to take the time to study that chapter. Jesus proceeds to give another Key for working with Akasha. And here is the punch-line….Akasha is one of the pancha mahabhuta or “five great elements.”  There is that number again.

PROTECTION AGAINST PRIESTHOODLUMS

The cuckolds who are running the CoJCoLDS (into the ground) maintain that:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restoration of the original Church established by Jesus Christ.”
(James E. Faust in General Conference – April, 2006)

But where do we get this idea that Jesus ever even founded a church after the manner of men? This is a Catholic crud of a creed that the Protestants never saw any need to protest. While it had become painfully obvious that the Vatican councils were not qualified to lead men to Christ, they unfortunately did not consider that perhaps Peter was no more meant for the task than the Pope. European Reformers never paused to think about the proper role of prophets and apostles any more than the apostate Christians and Jews before them. It was a scramble to collect the scattered keys from Saint Peter’s broken chain. Whoever could collect them all would win. Even Joseph got a bit carried away with his Modern-Day Mohammedean feat of fusing the best of Judaism and Christianity while refuting the more corrupt parts. The obsession with keys has continued and grown since the early days of the Restoration Movement; to the point where even the president of a low-lying branch on the Mormon Tree can feel lofty enough to come to a branch member’s doorstep and reprimand him for following the Lord directly without going through the proper channels of Priesthoodlum Leadership.

If this is the case with a branch president, what might we expect to find in the upper echelons? More often than not the wicked priest will not even dare come to you in your home, at least not at first. He wants to get you in his office because it is by virtue of his office that he maintains power and influence. This is his typical tactic and it reveals him to be in direct opposition to the will of the Lord regarding pre-stood practices put forth in D&C 121: 41. Always remember when someone seeks to exercise authority over you or your family by “virtue of the priesthood” you can turn off his office with a flip of the switch or flip of the bird. Keys are digital, locking and unlocking. Digitus means finger. The middle finger (according to the esoteric system discussed in part 1) contains the Compass (V) symbol of the Holy Pre-Stood. The Square (L) is located in the pinky finger on the left hand. And many of us will remember being told that some General Authority somewhere once said that a deacon holding the Aaronic Priesthood has more power and authority in his little finger than the Pope has in his whole body. I’m confident that most tyrannical Stake Presidents probably approximate a similar power level to that of the Catholic Cardinals. So when they try to make you “kiss the ring” you know what to do.

To “that man” who comes to your door, talking about the keys that he holds over you, I would ask if he has the keys to Your House? When he responds that he of course does not and is not speaking of literal but rather spiritual keys, then, pointing to Your Heart, ask “Do you hold the keys to this sir?” Borrow a line from Old Joshua who said, “As for me and my house; we will serve the LORD.” Watch as the “Big Man” shrinks before your very eyes. Gird up your loins man, fresh courage take. Look his goliath ego straight between the eyes and, if you love your brother, launch a smooth stone at the “place of the skull”. You must hit Goliath in his Golgotha to evoke the Authority of Christ. The stone must be smooth so as to be aerodynamic. And you must bring no more, no less than Five stones to the showdown. God has endowed a man with all he needs to defend himself and the best defense is Four Fingers and a Thumb – not clenched in a fist but palm forward, flat, smooth, the fingers close together, and the thumb extended.

Fear not repercussions from the upper echelons of the ecclesia. Echelon is the Latin letter ‘e’ and an uppercase ‘E’ is still nothing more than the Fifth letter. So it is only his ‘5’ against yours. And if you use your ‘5’ as a humble vessel for a power higher than the Saltican City, then you will surely triumph with a perfect ‘10’. They can only extract 10 percent at maximum. These imposters, dressed in the robes of the false priesthood, are often unable to even muster a full five. So they yell “Four!” as they take mocking shots at the visage of the poor righteous teacher. They prefer the elite status of country club members swinging for Devil and Country in the secret game of G.O.L.F. (an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.) Remember these are not pre-stood wielders only priesthood holders. Understand that the Boy’s Club has had its proficiency in pre-stood power severely weakened from years of service as squires, armor bearers for King Saul, whose armor young David declined to don. Their spirit bodies have atrophied from the meaningless, rubber-stamp gesture of constantly raising their arm to the square only to sustain squalid, squealing swine who revel in their slop, unlike the prodigal son who despised the shame of it and resolved to return to his Father’s House. If you and I wish to strengthen our spiritual sinews so that we may serve the Lord with all our might, we can not afford to squander our inheritance. The enemy wants you to raise your hand, he needs you to bow your head and say “yes.” Your enemy hopes you will become “yes men” as so many of your “brethren” have done, because in this way, when we concur, he can conquer.

Keys like golf clubs are only symbols of the divine mascu-linear energy which, as we have seen, is only ½ the Pre-Stood. Phallic phalanges grip their clubs and keys fruitlessly without putting holes and locks nearby. Even if the wives of the General Authorities are unaware, the Master Masons who direct the affairs of the Church are keenly aware that the power of the male is cut in half and will wither without the presence of a female companion by his side. Thus there is a strict policy among them to never remain unmarried for long even after the death of a spouse. To ask a woman for her hand in marriage is literally to ask her to lend a hand to the Great Work. Men who do not acknowledge that the female possesses pre-stood power independently from males will never fully magnify their own pre-stood potential. Little boys like to play with themselves. A man who mistakenly thinks he received his pre-stood power or authorization from the hands of other men will never fully activate the power within himself.

Locks and Keys Always Have and Always Will Go Together. One is Not Without the Other.

It is the mother who passes pre-stood power along to male offspring in the form of the cross (X) chromosome. The father plays an administrative role and passes along the ke(Y) chromosome which designates the child as another ‘key’ bearer. The boy will learn from both but will one day have to leave the mother and the father and cleave unto a wife if he is ever to learn how the lock (potential power) and key (latent authority) operate to release and reseal in Heaven and on Earth. In the case of female offspring, a double dosage of pre-stood power is deposited. The Xtra dose from the father is that which assigns her gender determining the placement of her power. Therefore, it is from the father that she receives her pre-stood power. But the young woman will not experience full unlocking of her divine potential until she joins herself to a young man. The woman is a gate through which all enter this world. The man holds the key to that gate. Both embody spiritual DNA from the Father as well as the Mother and so both may bestow pre-stood power. But it is the Father who decides in what capacity each new life will serve, whether as a priest or priestess. He is not, as many like to think, the sole dispenser of the pre-stood power; unless we are to see the work of the Father as hit and miss. Since when did an X signify a miss?  The world may address a divine daughter of God with the title ‘Ms.’ but she is no miss.

All this confusion and craze over keys in the latter days is so much male chauvinism. Pre-stood is explained as consisting of two parts – power and authority – but truly it is one thing. Power and authority are not separate things because one aspect serves no purpose without the other. Priesthood really is all things in one and out of it all things are able to manifest as distinct but interconnected forms. Love is the power of which all creation is made, and will is the authority by which all creation is made. Keys are essentially solidified will, so there are as many keys as there are creations or solid forms in God’s Kingdom. They are all protruding from “key spots” in the “all-in-one compound” which father Lehi attempts to describe in 2 Nephi 2: 5-14 and which we commonly call “nothing.” While inserted firmly into the “nothingness” a key reveals the potential locked deep within the dark. But if the will should come to see the “nothingness” as inferior or undesirable and cease to cleave to her, the sustaining embrace is broken. The form goes limp, the darkness, still trying to cleave together, cleaves itself shut and neither side’s potential is fulfilled in that area. This is what happens when men calling themselves “brethren” claim seniority and superiority over each other instead of living up to Jesus’ command to give as freely as they are given.

There is no point in trying to overstate that which was, is and ever will be pre-stood as separate concepts of power and authority unless your motive is to keep others under “lock and key.” It all fits and all belongs together. After the mental deconstruct which is necessary to comprehend the workings of the Lord, should one persist in keeping asunder what God puts together, then he is not worthy to use keys, not to latch or unlatch. If your church leader is not talking on the topic of the possibility for fluid interconnectedness of  “your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds” like King Benjamin did with his congregation it is probably because he himself stands in need of re-minding. Forgetfulness of these metaphysical principles is rampant in today’s world. But so is the re-awakening of millions around the globe. There is no good reason we should not be hearing and talking about it at Church.

We all suffer from fragmented psyches at some level. Re-membering means putting ourselves back together mentally. Failure to do so results in a furtherance of fragmentation from the realm of thoughts, to that of words, and finally in-deed. Unfortunately, the higher you go, the more you find that the leader is “No King Benjamin”. There are some sinister elements who seek to occult this knowledge of truth from the rest of us. To those elements functioning within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I issue an invitation to repent now before it is too late. You know that it is possible to divide Churches but you also know that you will have to divide so-called individuals to accomplish your devilish designs. You hope through diabolical doctrine to create a division in and among people. You know that the division you create will eventually yield a Division of Robots of the False Priesthood. But you know you can’t win them all. Have you paused to consider the remnant you cast aside? Your unrighteous dominion has made us grow strong as you steadily weaken. For he who seeks to divide the indivisible will suffer dissolution of his self. But channeling the immortal spirit of King Benjamin crying from the dust, “this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, re-member, and perish not.” (Mosiah 4:30)

I agree with LDSA that keys can be categorized as either active or suspended. However I do not agree that the President of the Church has all the keys activated. If they were activated he would act differently. Rather, I take Jesus at His word and can authoritatively paraphrase Him by stating that the First Presidency and other so-called priesthood leaders do not enter the Kingdom and have forgotten how to properly use their keys so they jealously keep others from going in. (Matt. 23:13) I agree with LDSA that keys can be misused to temporarily impede the work of the Lord. But I do not agree that serious magnifiers of the pre-stood power need be affected by the actions or inaction of “presiding authorities.” In fact I believe that for me to defer development of real pre-stood initiative upon the earth to a group of men who are obviously deferring to their own egos and by default to the kings of a culture of corruption would be in direct opposition to the cause of righteousness. Scripture is the progeny of Premonition plus Reason and she testifies plainly against the teachers of religion while telling of “men inspired of heaven” who will defy the power structure of those priesthoodlums who would hold the pre-stood power hostage.

This is of course a personal decision, as is everything in life. And we must be careful not to discourage anyone else in whatever path they may have chosen. But it is my understanding that many LDS men have not chosen but rather vacillate between the type of heavenly justification, which is prerequisite for pre-stood power activation and the worldly justification that plays into the Enemy’s plans. As LDS men who claim to believe in modern revelation and restoration era scripture we must be aware of the day to day decisions that place us personally in one of the two camps described in the very prophesies we are discussing. If we choose to postpone the carrying out of personally revealed directives from the Heavenly Headquarters the signal is likely to get jammed by interference from Radio Salticana. Standing orders are for standing armies and standing armies are for Evil Empires.

OVERcoming the NATURAL man means unleashing the SUPERNATURAL power of the pre-stood through our own bodies. MY DEAR BRETHREN, NOW IS THE TIME TO REACH OUT IN RIGHTEOUS ACTION WITH THE PRE-STOOD!

The daughters of Zion shall rule over the people of the Lord

Mormon Heretic wrote in a comment on another blog:

Paul told us that we should “covet to prophesy” (1 Cor 14:39)

Numbers 11:29, And Moses said unto him,

Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

Why can’t the people be prophets and receive revelation? Paul and Moses weren’t opposed to the idea.

Yes, why can’t they, indeed?  So, in that spirit, I will share a few observations and you can determine whether this is given by the spirit of prophecy and revelation.

Isaiah 3

Isaiah chapters 2-14 were quoted by Nephi because these prophecies would be fulfilled again in the last days. How do we know this?

But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness; in the which I know that no man can err; nevertheless, in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.

Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them. (2 Nephi 25:7–8)

Now, with this understanding, what do we find in Isaiah 3, which was quoted by Nephi?

As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isa. 3:12)

Isaiah then goes on to describe these daughters of Zion that rule over the people. Nephi later launches his own prophecy of the same events, but in much plainer language. I notice some similarities between Nephi’s prophecy of the apostate churches of God in 2 Nephi 28 and Isaiah’s prophecy of the wicked daughters of Zion in Isaiah 3.

Isaiah says,

“The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

“What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.”  (Isa. 3:14-15)

Nephi says,

“They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.”  (2 Ne. 28:13)

Isaiah says,

“Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:”  (Isa. 3:16)

Nephi says,

“They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.”  (2 Ne. 28:14)

Isaiah prophesies at length about the jewelry, ornaments and fine clothing of the wicked daughters of Zion who rule the Lord’s people. (See Isa. 3:18-23.)  Nephi also mentions “fine clothing.”

So, I wonder if women at some point will receive the same priesthood that is given to the men, becoming “rulers,” and then beautify the church buildings and themselves from the coffers of the poor?

1 Samuel 8

There is a principle under which this can be accomplished, found in 1 Samuel 8.  That chapter’s heading gives a good summary of its content.

The Israelites seek for a king to rule over them—Samuel rehearses the nature and evils of kingly rule—The Lord consents to give them a king.

There are currently some Mormons using the Internet to call for the ordination of women to the priesthood.  Should their voices become more vocal and widely publicized, there is the possibility that the First Presidency may respond, perhaps by issuing a statement, perhaps by inquiring of the Lord.

If the Lord says, “No,” there is the possibility that these voices will not accept the Lord’s answer in humility and submit to His will and pleasure, but instead will keep petitioning for change until the Lord finally consents, just like Joseph Smith did with Martin Harris and the 116 manuscript pages, or like the children of Israel did in 1 Samuel 8 when the Lord finally consented and gave them a king.

Another possibility (and I think the more likely) is that this change will happen after the breakup of the church, when the churches descend into all manner of iniquity.  I’m just beginning to make prophetic sense of this and cannot, as yet, see it clearly enough to make that precise determination, but at the very least, it appears to me that the seeds for the fulfillment of the ruling daughters of Zion prophecy have already been sown and are starting to grow.  Take that however you will.

Because of this prophetic spirit, in which I sense where this is heading, I am inclined to view the current calls to ordain women to the male priesthood orders as not inspired of God.  Regardless of their egalitarian nature and sincerity, these voices do not strike me as desirous to know the will of God and to do it, but to bend the will of God to their own wills.  Others are simply caught up in the conversation with no dog in the fight one way or another, just with a desire to do the will of God, whatever that may be.

Ultimately, all this recent online talk may come to nothing (except maybe more dissensions, discord and division) because of the prophetic cycle—where the spirit of prophecy descends, makes a prediction based on current conditions, the conditions then change, the prophecy remains unfulfilled, then the conditions change again and it is fulfilled every whit—but because of this very cycle, I thought to leave these thoughts here on this blog.

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CAIN & ABEL – DIE-IT & DIET

Cain was not Abel. His focus on this feeling of separateness induced by fore-bitten fruit caused the lousy sensation of jeal-lousy against and blocked any gell-ing with his brother. Cain did not play well with others. And this continued to the point of feeling himself consumed by this thought of not being Abel, thinking himself Un-Abel . Like all of us, C-a-I-n asked the question, “Can-I?” If he would have put the question to God, he would have had his doubt reversed from “Can-I?” to “I-Can!” Instead of asking God, Cain answered that question with his own (T)houghts determining in a negative belief wherein he said to himself, “I Can’T” Our forefather’s uncertainty in his own spiritual abilities caused him to give Forbidden Fruits of the Field (F.F.F. or 666) as an offering to the Lord. When it was rejected, it was because we can not fool ourselves by sacrificing something other than our sinful selves through humility and faith. The story of Abel’s sacrifice not only symbolically speaks of the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God but literally relates how he, himself was sacrificed. In a very real way, Abel was the first Christ. Unfortunately, Self Sacrifice is not well understood and much less the Savior(Him)Self. Mormon and Muslim scripture show us how Abraham broke with a horrible family tradition of fathers sacrificing their sons. The true man of integrity does not rely on pseudo-sacrifice and suppose that the practice will save his soul.

While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

God favors neither fruit nor flesh but rather He recognizes only the First-Fruits of the First-Born not the First-Killed. Cain was the firstborn but like Esau, he did not correctly understand his birthright. And as we will see, he too sold it for a “mess of pottage”. Genesis says that Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. The record does not say it was an orchard or vineyard but a field from whence Cain, “presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord” and a field to which Cain beckoned his brother with the plan to slay him. Fields which are naturally occurring do not yield anything that man’s stomach can handle without much prior processing. But sheep’s stomachs are made to process the grasses and the meat of grass-fed sheep and other ruminants like bison, venison and goats provided early man with much strength and nutrients. Even if a field is cleared with much toil and “sweat of the brow” to make way for strictly wheat or barely to be grown, grains are typically poisonous to humans until we grind them into powder and cook almost any remaining nutrients out of them.

Mineral deficiencies and birth defects are the legacy of grain based diets. You will remember, ‘pastel’ comes from an Italian word that literally means “material reduced to a paste” and is a diminutive form of the word ‘pasta’. Pasta is made from grains reduced to a paste. This is the same stuff used to put piñatas together. It tastes like crap and production is costly. The agricultural revolution brought us slave food, and since we are what we eat, it inevitably brought us to become slaves. Slaves are miserable and misery seeks company. But healthier humans do not become slaves of their own volition. The situation soon deteriorated All-Over (Oliver) the globe, from healthy hunter-gatherers to Twisted scenes wherein the human race is reduced to orphans begging oppressors, “Please Sir. Can-I have some more?” Seeds are nature’s microchips the original nano-technology. They will hold whatsoever information as is input and execute the same when planted. Ingestion of so many grains makes one more easily engrained by whatever spell the ruling class casts over the seeds that are then cast over the earth for a continued sowing and reaping of their cycle of death. Live by the sickle, die by the sickle. Eating sticky gruel or pottage everyday will produce a sickly populace with a pasty, pale complexion. And the robust Afrikan race may seem to have adjusted physically to a slave diet of cruel gruel. But on the inside, their spirits reject what they have been fed, urging their physical bodies to go against the grain. The effects are felt and it is no coincidence that Afrikan Americans are at highest risk for the blood disease called Sickle Cell Anemia. The mutation that causes all SCDs (Sickle Cell Diseases) originated in Cameroon, Senegal, Benin and other West African areas. This mutation causes haemoglobin to collapse in on itself occasionally. When enough haemoglobin collapses in on itself the red blood cells loose their natural holy torus shape and become sickle-shaped.

Silly Satan, Paste is for the Outside of the Body, Not the Inside of the Body.

Imagine the envy boiling the blood inside Cain as he sees his able-bodied brother, blessed with a life-energy that flowed to him almost effortlessly, without compulsory means (D&C 121:46). Perhaps Cain had tried his hand at sheep herding and found that the animals did not readily obey him as they did his sibling. Watching Abel, the Good Shepherd, Cain may have wondered in awe at his almost magical ability to be trusted and obeyed by the beasts. Protecting one’s flock and self from predators can drive a man crazy but even more maddening to Cain, would have been witnessing how Abel made it look so easy. How had he regained such oneness with nature in this post Eden existence? Eons later Arab slave drivers and white anthropologists would encounter the Masai tribe of North Africa with similar fascination and bewilderment.

Chiefly herders of cattle and goats, the Masai have lived primarily on dairy products, including milk and blood, with some meat, and with a varying percentage of fruit and vegetable foods. Like their progenitor, Abel, they continue blood sacrifice. They have found favor with the Lord through occasional blood letting which is acceptable in the Lord’s sight and does not require the same kind of slaughter called for under the Law of Moses. Anthropologists observe that in every instance these cattle people dominate the surrounding tribes who, in contrast to the Masai, are all agrarian. The Masai are characterized by superb physical development, great bravery and a mental acumen that makes it possible for them to dominate because of their superior intelligence. Dr. Weston Price writes:

“The Masai are tall and strong. In driving over the veldt we frequently saw one or two men or boys guarding an entire herd with only their spears. Their skill in killing a lion with a spear is one of the most superb of human achievements.”

The ‘Abel’ Bodied Massai

The Bible describes Cain as becoming “furious and downcast” that the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but did not for Cain and his offering. The Lord asks Cain why he is so upset and tells him: “If you do right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.” The Septuagint version has an alternate translation which provides some insight. Here the Lord is recorded as saying: “Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? Be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou mayest rule over him.” It sounds as if God is explaining that He is not so much disapproving of Cain’s chosen livelihood but of the way he has gone about it. Is it possible that the Lord is giving some sound advice on how to balance his diet or prepare his meals in a healthier manner? Could the words “rightly divided” be referring to proper preparation or even to sharing his harvest with others according to the ways of a just and loving steward rather than insisting on  land ownership and later ownership of people which Cain’s agricultural revolution spawned? The Lord admonishes the vexed Cain to, “Be still.” “Calm yourself. You will get the hang of it if you only relax and put your trust in Me,” seems to be God’s message to Cain. Cain is told that his external environment will submit to him and he will rule it. But for this to happen he must muster up inner courage and master himself. Sadly, Cain does not heed the voice of the Lord. He allows himself to be overcome with resentment. Resentment turns to rage and he commits fratricide. An unspeakable evil was unleashed on the planet and the Curse of Cain has since spread and affected many the world over.

Additional text, not had in the Bible, is found in The Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:31

“And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.”

Satan Crowns Cain

LDS theologians and Cain himself might very well say that he did in fact master something – the Devil himself. But all that happened here was that his failure to master the devil in his self resulted in an open portal through which evil could work and would flow for millennia to come. For this reason the title ‘Master Mahan’ was passed from Cain to his son Lamech and purity of the bloodline has been of utmost importance within the secret combinations ever since. The passing gene-rations must not feel or think themselves free to pursue their own lives in liberty and in this way they are not masters at all but puppets. To the extent that the dark half of our nature comes to rule our spirit, it causes our countenance to fall and our surroundings follow suit. This is why Cain could only gain anything through lies and the exercise of force, whilst Abel, who walked in holiness before the Lord, had no need of secrets or manipulation. This is the story of two men inhabiting the same physical dimension but operating from very different spiritual dimensions. One, a keeper of cattle, the other a tiller of the field – one was just that much closer to his hunter gatherer roots and the other, following new trends of faithlessness.

The Cry of the Little Peoples goes up to God in vain,
For the world is given over to the cruel sons of Cain;

From Richard Le Gallienne’s poem: Cry Of The Little Peoples

King Noah and the Redemption of Zion

This is an elaboration of a comment I left on this blog on October 17^th, 2012.

Making sense of Noah

One of the most confusing aspects of the Book of Mormon is the account of king Noah and his people, all of whom went from a state of righteousness to exceedingly great wickedness seemingly overnight. This mystery, though, can be quite easily explained and cleared up if we just make two little assumptions: 1) that the land of first inheritance (the land of Nephi) given to Lehi’s descendants was the very land of Zion [see Footnote below], meaning the land upon which, and round about where, the city of New Jerusalem (Zion) would be built by the descendants of Lehi—in other words, the area known to us as Independence, Jackson County, Missouri—and 2) that the people of Nephi were aware of this fact.

This post takes that premise and runs with it, to explain the motivations behind the actions of Noah, his priests, his people and also Abinadi and Alma.

The land of Lehi-Nephi (the land Bountiful) = the land of Zion (Independence, Missouri)

Jesus told the Nephites:

but if they [the gentiles] will repent | and hearken unto my words | and harden not their hearts | i will establish my church among them | and they shall come in unto the covenant | and be numbered among this the remnant of jacob | unto whom i have given this land for their inheritance | and they [the gentiles] shall assist my people | the remnant of jacob | and also as many of the house of israel as shall come | that they may build a city | which shall be called the new jerusalem | (3 Ne. 21:22-23)

When Jesus made this statement, He was standing upon the land Bountiful, near the temple that was built there. This was the land given to the remnant of Jacob (that He was speaking to) for their inheritance. It is on that spot of land (their land of inheritance) that the remnant of Jacob will build the New Jerusalem.

Jesus also stated, while standing upon that same land:

verily | verily i say unto you | thus hath the father commanded me |

that i should give unto this people this land for their inheritance | and then the words of the prophet isaiah shall be fulfilled | which say |

thy watchmen shall lift up the voice | with the voice together shall they sing | for they shall see eye to eye | when the lord shall bring again zion |

break forth into joy | sing together | ye waste places of jerusalem | for the lord hath comforted his people | he hath redeemed jerusalem |

the lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations | and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of god | (3 Ne. 16:16-20)

This is the same scripture that the priests of Noah quoted to Abinadi. It speaks of “bringing again Zion” and deals specifically with the land of Zion and the prophecies concerning the building of the New Jerusalem or city of Zion. When the priests of Noah quoted it to Abinadi, though, they were standing upon the land of Nephi.

Prophecy: history in reverse

The Nephites desired to know what would happen to their seed upon the land of promise, so they exercised faith:

for because of faith and great anxiety | it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people | what things should happen unto them | (Jacob 1:5)

and, according to their desires, God told them their future history by giving new prophecies:

and now | behold | i would speak unto you | concerning things which are | and which are to come | (2 Ne. 6:4)

The prophecies about the land of Zion, its redemption, the redemption of the people who would inherit and inhabit it (the seed of Lehi), and the holy city of God that they would build there were promises (prophecies) given to Lehi’s seed that would be fulfilled literally, not just metaphorically. Jacob taught that

the promises | which we have obtained | are promises unto us according to the flesh (2 Ne. 10:2)

So, the Nephites were blessed with a very full canon of scriptures and prophecies, brought from the Old World, in the form of the plates of brass, a kind of Bible on steroids, which the Nephite prophets fully expounded from the time of Jacob onward and they also had more scripture, pronounced by these same prophets:

behold | ye know | that i have spoken unto you exceedingly many things | nevertheless | i speak unto you again | for i am desirous for the welfare of your souls | yea | mine anxiety is great for you | and ye yourselves know | that it ever has been | for i have exhorted you with all diligence | and i have taught you the words of my father | and i have spoken unto you concerning all things | which are written | from the creation of the world | (2 Ne. 6:2-3)

This means that the Nephites possessed a whole lot more information than we do about the prophecies.

Restored knowledge

The revelation, then, that God gave to Joseph Smith about the New Jerusalem and the land of Zion, was, like everything else in this dispensation, a restoration, or restored knowledge. It was had anciently among the Nephites. They knew where the land of Zion was and they knew where the city of Zion or the New Jerusalem would be built. The city of Zion would be built by them because it was going to be built on their land of inheritance.

Now, the promised land of inheritance given to the seed of Lehi has never changed, nor will it. This is why the scripture says:

zion shall not be moved out of her place | (D&C 101:17)

zion cannot fall | neither be moved out of her place | (D&C 97:19)

The New Jerusalem can and will be built only upon the land of Zion and only by the seed of Lehi (with assistance from others.) There is no other appointed spot because the Lord has made irrevocable promises to Lehi and his seed.

The land of their “first inheritance” was the land of Zion

Zeniff wrote:

i | zeniff | having been taught in all the language of the nephites | and having had a knowledge of the land of nephi | or of the land of our fathers’ first inheritance | (Mosiah 9:1)

The land of their first inheritance would also end up being the land of their last inheritance, according to the principle that the first shall be last and the last shall be first, in all things.

Now, this land of Nephi was the same land that Nephi escaped to after Laman and Lemuel sought to take away his life. Nephi wrote:

and it came to pass | that the lord did warn me | that i | nephi | should depart from them | and flee into the wilderness | and all those who would go with me |

wherefore | it came to pass | that i | nephi | did take my family | and also zoram | and his family | and sam | mine elder brother | and his family | and jacob | and joseph | my younger brethren | and also my sisters | and all those who would go with me | and all those | who would go with me | were those | who believed in the warnings and the revelations of god | wherefore | they did hearken unto my words |

and we did take our tents | and whatsoever things were possible for us | and did journey in the wilderness for the space of many days | and after we had journeyed for the space of many days | we did pitch our tents | and my people would | that we should call the name of the place nephi | wherefore | we did call it nephi | (2 Ne. 5:5-8)

The land of Nephi, then, was the area which is now known to us as Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. The people of Nephi lived in this land from the time of Nephi until the time of the first seer Mosiah. Amaleki wrote:

behold | i am amaleki | the son of abinadom |

behold | i will speak unto you somewhat concerning mosiah | who was made king over the land of zarahemla |

for behold | he | being warned of the lord | that he should flee out of the land of nephi | and as many | as would hearken unto the voice of the lord | should also depart out of the land with him into the wilderness |

and it came to pass | that he did | according as the Lord had commanded him | and they departed out of the land into the wilderness | as many as would hearken unto the voice of the lord | and they were led by many preachings and prophesyings | and they were admonished continually by the word of god | and they were led by the power of his arm through the wilderness | until they came down into the land | which is called the land of zarahemla | (Omni 1:12-13)

From Mosiah onward, the Nephites lived in or around the land of Zarahemla, while the Lamanites took possession of the promised land (the land of Zion, which was the land of Nephi, or the land of first inheritance.) Nevertheless, it was the desire of every Nephite to return someday to that land and to redeem it, in order that the promises and prophecies be fulfilled.

Polygamy (Zarahemla) and monogamy (Nephi)

I suppose I ought to mention, at this point, that the people of Zarahemla, who were brought to the New World by Mulek, son of Zedekiah, king of Judah, had been given no monogamy restrictions by the Lord. As descendants of Jews, polygamy would have been their way of life.

After Mosiah discovered them and the two kingdoms were united under one banner, with Mosiah becoming king of both groups, they remained as a distinct group living a different set of laws. In other words, the people of Zarahemla lived the law of Moses, which allowed and even under some circumstances, commanded polygamy, whereas the people of Nephi lived the law of Moses which was modified by Lehi, their founding seer, which law allowed only monogamy, or which commanded the seed of Lehi to have only one wife and no concubines. To be even clearer, the commandment of monogamy given to Lehi’s seed was only applicable to the seed of Lehi. It had no application, whatsoever, to any other lineage. So, there were polygamists and monogamists living together under one national banner.

Much later on the people of Zarahemla would become numbered with the people of Nephi, meaning that they called themselves Nephites, or the children of Nephi, and adopted the law given to Lehi, which was monogamy. But from the time of their first landing, to the time of Mosiah discovering them, and finally to the time when they became numbered with the Nephites, polygamy was allowed for them. This is why we find that at the time of the numbering, the people of Zarahemla were more than double the population of the people of Nephi.

Now, I mention this here because if Noah, son of Zeniff, was born in Zarahemla and spent some of his childhood there, he would have grown up in that environment and would have noticed that the people of Zarahemla lived the unmodified, or more ancient form, of the law of Moses, which allowed polygamy, whereas the people of Nephi lived the modified, or more recent innovation of the law. But even if Noah did not grow up in Zarahemla, he would have been aware of these historical facts about the people living in Zarahemla.

Zeniff’s two trips to reclaim the land

Two expeditions to reclaim the land were made, as recorded by Amaleki:

and now | i would speak somewhat concerning a certain number | who went up into the wilderness to return to the land of nephi | for there was a large number | who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance | wherefore | they went up into the wilderness | and their leader | being a strong and mighty man | and a stiffnecked man | wherefore | he caused a contention among them | and they were all slain | save fifty | in the wilderness | and they returned again to the land of zarahemla |

and it came to pass | that they also took others | to a considerable number | and took their journey again into the wilderness | and i | amaleki | had a brother | who also went with them | and i have not since known concerning them | and i am about to lie down in my grave | and these plates are full | and i make an end of my speaking | (Omni 1:27-30)

Zeniff was among both expeditions. He was the cause of the contention of the first expedition and he was the leader of the second expedition, which was successful in occupying the land.

Zeniff “redeemed” the land by bloodshed

The unnamed leader of the first expedition wanted to redeem the land of Zion by bloodshed, by attacking the Lamanites. Zeniff, though, wanted to enter into a treaty with the Lamanites and possess the land peacefully. During the second expedition, he did just that, but later the Lamanites reneged on their agreement and the Nephites who now possessed the land of their first inheritance ended up having to shed Lamanite blood anyway. It is, in this sense, that the land was “redeemed” by the shedding of blood.

Each Nephite king was (assumed to be) a prophet or seer or revelator

now | it was the custom among all the nephites to appoint for their chief captains | save it were in their times of wickedness | some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy | therefore | this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them | as also was the chief judge | (3 Ne. 3:19)

This custom likely also applied to the time when they had kings.

Now, the Nephite king Mosiah was a seer. The Nephite king Zeniff, who led his expedition back to the land of Nephi after Mosiah had brought everyone to Zarahemla, was also a man of God, for he led his people in the strength of the Lord against Lamanite aggression and the Lord heard his prayers.

The assumption may have been, then, that each Nephite king was a man of God, capable of receiving revelations, prophecies and the like. The people of Noah would have looked at him with this same perspective.

Noah’s new revelation: the restoration and redemption of Zion

The reign and ministry of king Noah, son of Zeniff, was one of departure from what his father did. The easiest way to understand this departure is that Noah received a new revelation.

Now, it may have been a pretended revelation, thought up all by himself, for these Nephites kings were expected to be men of God, capable of receiving the word of God and that is a lot of pressure to be under. Noah may have wanted to leave a legacy behind him, as one who obtained something new from God for the people, therefore, he may have simply conceived of this himself.

Another possibility is that he got a revelation from the devil, or at least inspiration from the devil.

Whichever was the case, the result was the same. This new doctrinal idea went forth from him, first to the priests—and when the priests of his father would not accept his revelation, he interviewed other men who did accept it, and then ordained them, releasing his father’s priests from their callings—and then to the people, and it was accepted wholeheartedly by his people.

Noah also put himself out as a restorer, restoring the people to a proper worship of God, using the pure law of Moses without any of the additions of the doctrine of Christ, which was preached by Nephi and others of the Nephite prophets, nor any of the modifications made by Lehi (of monogamy.) The end result was very old school theology mixed with new school theology, with the stuff in the middle tossed out.

The gospel of Noah

The good news that Noah was giving his people was this: that the land of Zion had been redeemed by his father, by the shedding of blood, and that now they were the children of Zion, the ones who would fulfill all the prophecies of the prophets concerning this very special promised land. The land had been sanctified by the shedding of blood, and as it was redeemed, so were they, who lived upon it, redeemed, and they could now rejoice, for the great Millennial day was upon them and they would prosper in the land forever more. The promised day in which all things would come together in one was upon them and they would build and inherit and multiply in the land and be blessed by the Lord.

And so, to get on with the multiplying, a multimale-multifemale mating system was set up, where men took wives and concubines and also visited with harlots, that every available female in the land would do her part to conceive and bear redeemed children to live upon the already redeemed land of promise. Whereas the former commandments limited the number of Nephites, so that they remained small compared to the Lamanites, this new day of redemption called for a much larger population of redeemed souls, for they wanted to bring as many children as they could into their new paradise on earth.

That may have been the surface reason, given to the people, for why this new gospel of procreation was going around. Secretly, Noah may have realized that there was strength in numbers, for they were surrounded by an innumerable host of Lamanites. Therefore, this new revelation made much more practical and strategic sense than the previous ones that demanded the Nephites stick to monogamy, and thus small numbers.

As this was the land of Zion, which had the promises concerning the building of the city of Zion, Noah set about to construct many elaborate and spacious buildings, for Zion must be beautified. Again, the land of Zion was redeemed, as were the people living upon it, therefore their task was to build it up, to build up a city that would be worthy of the fulfillment of the prophecies. So, although Noah exacted a heavy tax from the people, of one-fifth of all they possessed, there wasn’t so much as a peep of a complaint from any of his people. They all saw eye to eye on this project, for they were building Zion, and Noah was the man God raised up and inspired to accomplish this task.

Now, the former priests, consecrated by his father, were not in the habit of telling people how good they were, but instead they were in the habit of admonishing the people for their sins. The new priests consecrated by Noah, though, understood his new gospel and revelation, which was quite literally good news, namely, that they were all redeemed of the Lord. “No more need to repent, just enjoy the blessings of the Lord that he has bestowed and do your part to build up the land.” In other words, everyone was now to be proud of their heritage and birthright, as heirs of the promised land. Pride was no longer a sin, but was the very gospel preached, for they were redeemed.

These priests began to practice idolatry—for whenever a people develop prideful hearts and come under the control of the devil, he introduces them to idolatry—and the priests then taught the people to also be idolatrous. In the minds of Noah, his priests and his people, they were already living the Millennial day, which was, as Joseph Smith wrote, “a time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many gods, they shall be manifest” (D&C 121:28.) The priests of Noah had taken the liberty to divulge the “truths” that were to be revealed, namely that there be many gods, even idols, and they flattered the people into divulging in these sinful practices.

(There was, again, a hidden practicality to their practice of idolatry. Idolatry and excessive sexuality go hand in hand and the kingdom law was to procreate, so idolatry would only increase the number of pregnancies in the land.)

Regardless of the contrariness of Noah’s gospel to former commandments, none of that applied to these people, for they were now in a new dispensation, a time of redemption of both land and people, and the former constraints and commandments did not apply. New dispensations come with new commandments and revelations, and Noah’s reign was to be noted in history as the beginning of the children of redemption. They were the ones who did what others could not, because they were not, yet, redeemed.

Noah took for patterns what he found in the scriptures. For example, to get around the Lord’s prohibition on polygamy, he turned to Jacob’s words which actually presuppose that at some point the Lord would lift the ban on multiple wives and concubines for the seed of Lehi:

for if i will |

saith the lord of hosts |

raise up seed unto me | i will command my people | otherwise | they shall hearken unto these things |  (Jacob 2:30)

All he needed to say was that the time had finally and fully come, in which the Lord would lift the polygamy ban, using an Official Declaration, such as the following:

Aware of the promises made by the prophets and [kings] of the [Lord's people] who have preceded us that at some time, in God’s eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive [a plurality of wives], and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom [multiple wives have] been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple [built by our father Nephi] supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man [of the seed of Lehi living in this blessed land] may receive [additional wives, and concubines, too.]

The prophecies concerning the building of a great tower he thought to fulfill literally and built two of them, one near the temple (for the city of Lehi-Nephi) and one on a historically significant hill (for the city of Shilom.)

He read about vineyards and so he planted vineyards. He read that there would be a temple in Zion, but since Nephi had already built a temple there, he instead restored it and beautified it with all manner of fine workmanship to make it match more precisely the Solomon temple. Everything that seemed to indicate what would happen in the day of Zion’s redemption, he sought to do, that his reign would go down in history as the fulfillment of these prophecies.

It was all about the redemption of Zion

The basis for all this iniquity was that the prophecies concerning the redemption of Zion had already taken place, for their fathers had inherited the land, then had to leave it, then had come back (with Zeniff), fulfilling the prophecies of its redemption. Since the land had been redeemed, that meant that they themselves had also been redeemed. Their redemption was tied to the redemption of the land. As evidence of such redemption, all could see that they were prospering like crazy in the land. Also, because of their victory against the Lamanites, under the leadership of king Noah, the people believed that the strength of the Lord was still with them, which was more evidence of Noah’s inspired reign.

The truth of the matter, though, was that they had achieved that victory without the Lord’s strength, for He had retained it, and so when they began to boast that a small number of them could slay thousands of Lamanites, that was the final straw for the Lord and it was time to set them straight by sending another prophet to prophesy evil against them.

Abinadi’s teaching that redemption was tied to Christ

When Abinadi started preaching, he was seen as a disturber of the peace, for everyone was enjoying the high life, and he brought everyone low again with his “repent or be brought into bondage” sayings. Then, his sayings concerning the king really got on everyone’s nerves since everyone thought of king Noah as an inspired man of God, who had done marvels in his time as king, making the people happy and prosperous. Abinadi was like the cop that knocks on the door of a midnight party to tell the people in the house the noise is too loud and everyone needs to go home and stop partying. He was a total downer.

Noah had begun a gospel (good news) celebration based upon a perversion of the doctrine of redemption, and it had the unintended consequences of making them all weak, meaning that the Lord had removed His strength from them. They were literally on their own and were very soon to be brought into unbreakable bondage by the Lamanites. Abinadi was sent to get them to repent so that they could stave off the coming captivity.

The people’s reaction to Abinadi’s words, of anger and seeking to kill him, is understandable when one considers that they truly believed that what they were doing was the will of God, that their king and priests were men of God, that these (perverse) teachings had come down the proper and approved channels, that all that Noah and priests had taught had been confirmed by signs of peace, prosperity and (supposed) strength of the Lord, that there was no indication, whatsoever, that God was not blessing the people according to His promises, etc. Abinadi had no leg to stand on, in their view, but was slandering the entire population and making people feel bad about themselves, breaking the law himself (disturbing the peace) and speaking false prophecies. They, the people, were acting in righteousness in seeking to shut the mouth of this obvious false prophet, by killing him. Had not the ancients done the same?

Now, Abinadi was countering this redemption perversion by saying that they were not redeemed, at all, for all this evil he prophesied upon them could not come to pass on a redeemed population. Such evil could only befall sinners. The fulfillment of his prophecies, then, would be proof positive that Noah and priests were liars, and their doctrine was either of men or of the devil; and that the redemption of Zion had not yet come, nor would it until some other future day; also that redemption does not come from the land, but from Christ.

This was the question posed to Abinadi by one of the priests:

what meaneth the words | which are written | and which have been taught by our fathers | saying |

how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him | that bringeth good tidings | that publisheth peace | that bringeth good tidings of good | that publisheth salvation | that saith unto zion |

thy god reigneth |

thy watchmen shall lift up the voice | with the voice together shall they sing | for they shall see eye to eye | when the lord shall bring again zion |

break forth into joy | sing together | ye waste places of jerusalem | for the lord hath comforted his people | he hath redeemed jerusalem |

the lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations | and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our god | (Mosiah 12:20-24)

In the eyes of Noah, his priests and his people, Noah was the one whose feet were beautiful, for Noah (and his priests) were bringing good tidings of good and publishing peace and salvation. Noah was the one saying to Zion—for, remember, they were living in the very land of Zion—that their God reigns. Noah had watchmen upon the tower. Noah’s people sang with the voice together and everyone saw eye to eye. Zion had been brought again, or it had been redeemed. The waste places of this new Jerusalem were being built up again. It was a time of comfort and joy and redemption, all because of Noah (and his father.) This is why the priest asked Abinadi about this scripture, for they all believed that it was fulfilled by Noah and they held it up as proof of his divine calling as their king.

If you read through Abinadi’s sermon, you will see that he mentions “redemption” 18 times, all pointing to the fact that it is God that redeems:

“…for they understood not that there could not any man be saved except it were through the redemption of God.”

“For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people?”

“I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.”

“And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men…having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”

“…all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins…are the heirs of the kingdom of God.

“For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions.”

“For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people…”

“For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world…all mankind must have perished.”

“They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death. “

“And thus the Lord bringeth about the restoration of these; and they have a part in the first resurrection, or have eternal life, being redeemed by the Lord. “

“But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins…“

“Therefore ought ye not to tremble? For salvation cometh to none such; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord redeem such; for he cannot deny himself; for he cannot deny justice when it has its claim. “

“Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. “

“And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not. “

“Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.“

“But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. “

“Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come—teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen.”

Redemption through Christ is the topic of Abinadi’s sermon because these people believed they were already redeemed, through the redemption of the land of Zion, without the necessity of believing in Christ, etc.

The result: captivity

After they killed Abinadi—and sought to kill the sole convert among the priests, who was Alma—and the Lamanites came in, subjecting them to bondage, affliction and death, they were faced with the realization that they were not the redeemed children of Zion, and that they had misunderstood the prophecies, putting them in the wrong context and breaking a host of the Lord’s still-in-force commandments. Essentially, these people had their hopes completely dashed to pieces and had to start from an exceedingly humble place.

Now, this people fell into these grave errors because they put their trust in their leaders, even their king and priests, trusting that they interpreted the prophecies correctly, instead of searching the scriptures themselves and coming to their own, God-inspired conclusions. Had they done the legwork of searching the scriptures and obtaining the gift of the Holy Ghost for themselves, neither Noah nor his priests could have deceived them with false revelations. As we know, it turned out that Noah and his priests were wrong in their interpretations on the prophecies, so wrong in fact that it resulted in death, destruction of property, bondage, humiliation (the Lamanites treated them like dumb asses) and general misery. This shows that misinterpreting a prophecy can have disastrous results.

It also shows why Alma was so emphatic in the teaching that he gave to his people of trusting no one:

trust no man to be a king over you | and also trust no one to be your teacher | nor your minister | except he be a man of god | walking in his ways | and keeping his commandments | (Mosiah 23:13-14)

Don’t mess with the land of Zion

There appears to be a blessing and a curse upon that land. Those who live upon it, who have the laws of God, must live them, otherwise, captivity and destruction will be their lot. This may be one of the reasons why Mosiah left that land, and also why eventually Alma and Limhi left, to preserve their people from destruction. It requires a righteous people, otherwise, nobody can be established there as Zion.

The unconverted Lamanites, and now also the non-Mormon Gentiles, who currently live there, appear to be the temporary care-takers of the land, and it might be wise to leave it that way, until such time arrives that the Lord specifically and plainly commands and leads His people to return and redeem it.

This might be an important point to keep in mind, since what Noah and his priests did upon that land may be repeated in the future with another group of unauthorized persons, that attempts to “redeem Zion,” with the same (or even more) disastrous results.

Gentiles upon the land of Zion

Here are the Lord’s words regarding the establishment of Zion, given to the Nephites while He stood in the land Bountiful:

and verily i say unto you |

i give unto you a sign | that ye may know the time | when these things shall be about to take place | that i shall gather in | from their long dispersion | my people | o house of israel | and shall establish again among them my zion |

and behold | this is the thing | which i will give unto you for a sign | for verily I say unto you |

that when these things | which i declare unto you | and which i shall declare unto you hereafter of myself | and by the power of the holy ghost | which shall be given unto you of the father | shall be made known unto the gentiles | that they may know concerning this people | who are a remnant of the house of Jacob | and concerning this my people | who shall be scattered by them |

verily | verily i say unto you |

when these things shall be made known unto them of the father | and shall come forth of the father from them unto you |

for it is wisdom in the father | that they should be established in this land | and be set up as a free people by the power of the father | that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed | that the covenant of the father may be fulfilled | which he hath covenanted with his people | o house of israel |

therefore | when these works | and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter | shall come forth from the gentiles unto your seed | which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity |

for thus it behooveth the father | that it should come forth from the gentiles | that he may show forth his power unto the gentiles | for this cause |

that the gentiles | if they will not harden their hearts | that they may repent | and come unto me | and be baptized in my name | and know of the true points of my doctrine | that they may be numbered among my people | o house of israel |

and when these things come to pass | that thy seed shall begin to know these things | it shall be a sign unto them | that they may know | that the work of the father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant | which he hath made unto the people | who are of the house of israel | (3 Ne. 21:1-7)

Now, the meaning of these words it this: when the establishment of Zion commences in the land of Zion (Independence, Jackson County, Missouri area), there will be Gentiles established upon that very land and living in anarchy, gathered there by the miraculous power of the Father. They will then receive additional records, which they will share with the remnant of Jacob. When these events occur, that will be the sign to the remnant of Jacob that the fulfillment of the covenant the Lord made with their fathers has commenced.

This true gathering of Gentiles upon the land of Zion will be attended by the miraculous works of the Father and will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: “The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,” or Gentiles. However, prior to that true gathering, there may be false gatherings of Gentiles, which are not attended to by the power of the Father. Jacob prophesied:

but behold | this land |

said god |

shall be a land of thine inheritance |

and the gentiles shall be blessed upon the land |

and this land shall be a land of liberty unto the gentiles |

and there shall be no kings upon the land | who shall raise up unto the gentiles |

and i will fortify this land against all other nations |

and he that fighteth against zion shall perish |

saith god |

for he | that raiseth up a king against me | shall perish | for i | the lord | the king of heaven | will be their king | and i will be a light unto them forever | that hear my words | (2 Ne. 10:10-14)

These words are speaking of the same establishment-of-Zion event. The land in question is the land of Zion (Independence, Jackson County, Missouri area.) These prophecies have shadows, of course, but the literal and last fulfillment concerns a specific spot of land and a specific group of Gentiles. The other Gentiles, or other nations, as it is written—for the text could have also been worded this way: “and i will fortify this land against all other gentiles”—will raise up, or attempt to raise up, kings, contrary to the commandment of God, and these other groups of Gentiles will perish, for they misunderstand and misinterpret the prophecies, which brings disaster upon them.

So, there will be no kings raised up unto one group of Gentiles, while another group (or groups) will raise up king(s) and will perish. This latter group (or groups, for this prophecy may be fulfilled multiple times), will be those who gather upon the land of Zion and attempt to establish Zion and fulfill the prophecy without being authorized or directed by the Lord, just as king Noah and people did thousands of years earlier.

Mormon put the account of king Noah and his people in his book because it would be especially applicable to our times, for these same tactics inspired by Satan, of false gatherings upon the land of Zion and forcing the fulfillment of the prophecies about Zion, would be repeated.

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Footnote: If Independence, Jackson County, Missouri currently does not match the pre-destruction descriptions of the land of Nephi, it does not matter, because after the death of Christ, Mormon tells us:

and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward |

but behold | there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward |

for behold | the whole face of the land was changed | because of the tempest | and the whirlwinds | and the thunderings | and the lightnings | and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth | (3 Ne. 8:11-12)

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Talking to myself

This is me asking myself questions and then answering them. It is just an exercise, in which I take a text and interpret it, to see what I come up with. I’m posting it here because I found it interesting. You can read along and watch the process evolve, if you like, but please keep in mind that these are just thoughts. Don’t take any of this as gospel, except the quoted scriptures. My text is D&C 98:4-18.

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and now | verily | i say unto you |

concerning the laws of the land |

it is my will | that my people should observe to do all things | whatsoever i command them |

and that law of the land | which is constitutional | supporting that principle of freedom | in maintaining rights and privileges | belongs to all mankind | and is justifiable before me | therefore | i | the lord | justify you | and your brethren of my church | in befriending that law | which is the constitutional law of the land |

and as pertaining to law of man |

whatsoever is more or less than this | cometh of evil | (DAC 98:2)

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The laws of the land

Question: What is the will of the Lord concerning the laws of the land?

Answer: It is the will of the Lord that His people should observe to do all things whatsoever He commands them.

Q: Why does the Lord answer a question on His will concerning man-made laws with a direction to obey His heaven-sent (revealed) laws?

A: See the rest of this post.

The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Q: What is the will of the Lord concerning the U.S. Constitution?

A: It is the will of the Lord that only that part of the constitution which supports that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges is justifiable before him, and that His people are justified in befriending that portion of the Constitution.

Q: Which part of the constitution is He referring to?

A: The Bill of Rights. (See What the Lord has said about the Constitution.)

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. (Wikipedia entry for United States Bill of Rights.)

A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. (Wikipedia entry for Bill of Rights.)

Q: Why does the Lord say that this part of the U.S. Constitution (the Bill of Rights) “belongs to all mankind”?

A: Because the Americans of that time viewed these principles as only applying to white men and the Lord was correcting this perversion by showing that the Bill of Rights protected all people in their rights and privileges, whether black, white, male, female, bond, free, American or non-American. In other words, God does not view the principles embodied in the Bill of Rights as limited in their scope of protection to only a sub-set of the human population of this planet.

Originally, the Bill of Rights implicitly legally protected only white men, excluding American Indians, people considered to be “black” (now described as African Americans), and women. These exclusions were not explicit in the Bill of Right’s text, but were well understood and applied. (Wikipedia entry on United States Bill of Rights.)

When the Lord states in His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, “for verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men,” this includes all of His written words which are sent out among men under inspiration of the Holy Ghost, for all things written by the power (or under the inspiration) of the Holy Ghost and publicly published “belongs to all mankind,” therefore, this shows that the Bill of Rights, although penned by the hand of men, was inspired of the Holy Ghost. The Bill of Rights, then, cannot be applicable to only a subset of society, but must, of necessity, be applicable to all mankind, just as the revelations of God given to the Gentiles of this nation apply to the Gentiles of all nations*.

This also shows that the Federalists were not inspired of God, as is currently viewed by many LDS and Christians, for the Federalists were the ones who desired and created the U.S. Constitution and it was their intention to bring forth that document without a bill of rights.

And this shows also that the Anti-Federalists were inspired of God, for it was they who were against the U.S. Constitution and it was their insistence upon a bill of rights that allowed one to be created and attached to the constitution.

Q: Was the Bill of Rights the only inspired part of the U.S. Constitution?

A: Yes, the Bill of Rights was the only inspired part of the U.S. Constitution. This is why the Lord qualifies which part of the constitution is justifiable before Him. In other words, the only part of the U.S. Constitution that the Lord’s people are justified in befriending is the part that was inspired by Him.

Q: What about the other parts of the U.S. Constitution? Are we justified in befriending the other parts?

A: No, we are not, for the Lord categorically states, “Whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.”

Q: Does this mean that the U.S. Constitution is evil, excepting only the Bill of Rights, which was inspired of God?

A: Yes, that is exactly what it means. It means that the devil inspired men to write the U.S. Constitution, and all other man-made laws, excepting only bills of rights. Bills of rights, which protect all people in their rights and privileges, are inspired of the Spirit of freedom, which is the Holy Ghost, and are justifiable before the Lord. Everything else is evil in the sight of the Lord.

*Because the Lord has approved of, or justified, the Bill of Rights, latter-day saints are fully authorized to include it as part of their scriptural canon. This is not to say that it is scripture, for it was not written by the power of the Holy Ghost, nor does it contain the revealed words of God, nevertheless, as an inspired and approved writing, it may be used to defend or safeguard one’s rights in a church setting.

To give a brief example, as to what I mean, let’s look at the sixth amendment:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

All of these enumerated rights apply equally in any church prosecution, for this justified, inspired text is inalienable property of all mankind, including the saints of God who stand accused within the church of God, and they can use it to keep ecclesiastical abuse at bay. In like manner, every single one of the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights is applicable in a church setting, for the word of God does not supersede these protections.

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i | the lord god | make you free | therefore | ye are free indeed |

and the law also maketh you free | nevertheless | when the wicked rule | the people mourn | wherefore | honest men | and wise men | should be sought for diligently | and good men | and wise men | ye should observe to uphold | otherwise | whatsoever is less than these | cometh of evil |

and i give unto you a commandment |

that ye shall forsake all evil | and cleave unto all good |

that ye shall live by every word | which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of god | for he will give unto the faithful line upon line | precept upon precept |

and i will try you | and prove you herewith |

and whoso layeth down his life in my cause | for my name’s sake | shall find it again | even life eternal | therefore | be not afraid of your enemies |

for i have decreed in my heart |

saith the lord |

that i will prove you in all things | whether you will abide in my covenant | even unto death | that you may be found worthy |

for if ye will not abide in my covenant | ye are not worthy of me | therefore | renounce war | and proclaim peace | and seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers | and the hearts of the fathers to the children |

and again | the hearts of the jews unto the prophets | and the prophets unto the jews |

lest i come | and smite the whole earth with a curse | and all flesh be consumed before me |

let not your hearts be troubled | for in my father’s house are many mansions | and i have prepared a place for you | and where my father and i am | there ye shall be also | (DAC 98:3)

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The Lord makes us free

Q: What does the Lord mean when He says, “I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore, ye are free indeed.”

A: He is speaking of the atonement and resurrection that He Himself wrought, which through repentance and faith on the Lord has power to break every band and free every people, even from the devil’s spiritual bondage.

The law makes us free

Q: To what law is the Lord referring when He says, “And the law also maketh you free”?

A: He is referring to all those laws given by the Spirit of freedom (which is the Holy Ghost), which encompass all the revealed laws of God, which free us from the power of the evil one. The Bill of Rights may also be included, for they were penned by men writing under inspiration of the Holy Ghost and they help to maintain our God-given rights.

This “law that makes us free” has no qualifications for justification before the Lord, unlike the uninspired, man-made laws do, because this law is given under revelation or inspiration of heaven, and thus tends toward increasing one’s agency. Every other kind of law, whether commandments of men or doctrines of devils, tends toward bondage, and thus is inspired of the devil.

Wicked rulers

Q: What was the Lord referring to when He spoke of wicked rulers? Were these wicked political leaders?

A: The principle encompasses every area of life, whether political, social, religious, tribal or family, but specifically, He had view of the rulers of His church, meaning the priesthood leadership of His covenant people, for these are the only ones who have the law that makes one free indeed (meaning freed from the devil’s power of captivation), which are the revealed laws of God.

I refer back to the original question: What is the will of the Lord concerning the laws of man? To obey the law of God, that is His will concerning the laws of man. Over and over again in this and other revelations, the Lord stresses that all we are required to do is keep His commandments. Now, His commandments are found in the word of God, or the scriptures. And that word of God is His law. Therefore,

thou shalt take the things | which thou hast received | which have been given unto thee in my scriptures | for a law | to be my law to govern my church | and he | that doeth according to these things | shall be saved | and he | that doeth them not | shall be damned | if he so continue | (D&C 42:59-60)

i am the lord | thy god | and i give unto you this commandment |

that no man shall come unto the father | but by me | or by my word | which is my law |

saith the lord | (D&C 132:12)

And what does the Lord command concerning the laws of the land?

let no man break the laws of the land | for he | that keepeth the laws of god | hath no need to break the laws of the land | wherefore | be subject to the powers that be | until he reigns | whose right it is to reign | and subdues all enemies under his feet |

behold | the laws | which ye have received from my hand | are the laws of the church | and in this light ye shall hold them forth |

behold | here is wisdom | (D&C 58:21-23)

So we see that even here, where the Lord states, “let no man break the laws of the land**,” He still ties it into keeping the laws of God. This is because the only thing that is important to God is that His people keep His sayings. The Lord is not concerned with the laws of men. His only concern is His own law, which He has given to His people. In fact, it is His purpose to do away with all the laws of men and have only His revealed law lived by His people.

but | verily | i say unto you |

that | in time | ye shall have no king | nor ruler | for i will be your king | and watch over you | wherefore | hear my voice | and follow me | and you shall be a free people | and ye shall have no laws | but my laws | when i come | for i am your lawgiver | and what can stay my hand | (D&C 38:22)

So, again, what is the will of the Lord concerning the laws of the land? That we keep the law of God. His focus is always on the heaven-sent laws, for all man-made laws are corrupt, or come of evil, excepting only bills of rights.

For this reason, the wicked rulers that He is specifically referring to are those who cause the people to mourn despite them having the law that makes them free, which is His law. Thus, these wicked rulers are the leaders of His church.

**And what laws of the land is the Lord referring to here? Why, the only laws of the land that are justifiable before Him, namely, the Bill of Rights, for, think about it, if one keeps the laws of God then you cannot be infringing on the rights and privileges which are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. And this is the only meaning of the scripture. It does not mean that there will never be any corrupt, unjustified, man-made laws that will conflict with the laws of God. Of course, there will!  But as far as the Bill of Rights is concerned, there is no conflict between it and the revealed laws of God.

Seeking and upholding good men is, and is not, voting

Q: When the Lord states that we should seek and uphold good, wise, and honest men, is He not talking about the political process?

A: No, He is not talking about the political process, for what does the Lord have to do with the political process? The political process has jurisdiction over a corrupt set of laws, consisting of the commandments of men mingled with doctrines of devils. As the Lord sees the whole gamut of laws as coming of evil, excepting only the Bill of Rights, why would He desire His saints to become involved in such affairs? He has already said that He places the basest of men over the kingdoms of men:

this matter is by the decree of the watchers | and the demand by the word of the holy ones | to the intent that the living may know | that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men | and giveth it to whomsoever he will | and setteth up over it the basest of men | (Daniel 4:17)

That being true, it is a given that wicked rulers and man-made laws go hand in hand, therefore, it is not the place of the saints to attempt to make better (meaning less corrupt, but still, nevertheless, corrupt) man-made laws, or to select good rulers to administer in a better manner the corrupt, man-made laws, for the whole operation is doomed to failure.

No, the place of the saints is to obey the law of God, which is not corrupt, and to make sure that only good, wise and honest rulers are found in the kingdom of God, so that they can administer the good, wise and honest laws of God, that the top may match the root, because if this is not the case, despite the good laws of God, a wicked ecclesiastical ruler will make the lives of the saints a living hell.

Now, this is accomplished in the church of God by making sure that only honest men and wise men are called to the various church positions of authority and responsibility and by making sure that only good men and wise men are elected by vote. And this election is done by vote, by the raising up of the right hand, which is how such men are upheld, or sustained, it being a type of what was done to Moses’ hands.

So, yes, the Lord is referring to an election, even the calling and election of the leaders of his church, but He is not referring to any political election, nor to any political process.

Q: What does the saying, “whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil,” mean, as it concerns the wicked leaders?

A: It means that if the people of the Lord’s church allow wicked leaders to be over them, it with be through their own transgression. It means that the Lord’s people have the responsibility to elect only wise, honest people for the Lord’s church. They are bound to seek out and sustain only such people. If they knowingly sustain any other type of individual, they transgress the law of God.

It also means that the evil one’s strategy is to get wicked rulers into the Lord’s church, that the good laws of God may be ignored, misinterpreted, trampled upon, and perverted. The law of God presents a problem to the adversary, so he attacks the church individually, through individual transgression, or with church-wide effects, through the installment of a wicked ruler. The current environment of voting by rubber-stamp has already set up the conditions whereby wicked rulers may be installed in every level of the church. Nevertheless, the law of God is still there and in effect.

Forsake all evil, cleave to all good

Q: What is the context of the Lord’s commandment to forsake all evil and cleave to all good?

A: It is a commandment given to the saints of God, living within the jurisdiction of the gathered church of God, finding themselves in the midst of a congregation which is ruled over by a wicked ruler. What is a saint to do in such a situation? Well, they are to forsake all evil and cleave to all good. In other words, this is the test of the saints: to be put under covenant to obey the laws of God, to be placed within a congregation and to have wicked rulers placed over them. Now, obey the laws of God, despite the fact that that wicked ruler is going to oppose you. Obey the laws of God, anyway. That is your test.

Q: When the Lord then says to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, is this the same context?

A: Yes, the context is the same. The wicked ruler over the church of God, whether of a local or general jurisdiction, will speak words, orders, counsels, which will proceed out of his own mouth, to those who come under his jurisdiction. The Lord, then, says, “you are to live by every word that comes from God,” as opposed to the words coming out of that wicked man’s mouth. The words of God are found in the scriptures. The faithful, meaning those who exercise faith like unto the ancients, will also have more words given to them, precept by precept, by the Holy Ghost, visions, angels, etc. All these words of God, then, are what the saints are to live by. They are not to live by the words of the wicked church ruler.

After these instructions, the Lord then says, “and I will try you and prove you herewith.” So, again, this is the test. Will we keep our covenants and the commandments of the Lord, as written in the scriptures, and as delivered to us by God’s angels, the Holy Ghost, etc., as they come from the Lord’s mouth, or will we follow the wicked rulers placed over us? Will we do so even if it costs us our life? Hence the Lord talking of laying down our lives for His sake.

Who are the enemies?

Q: When the Lord, then, in these verses mentions enemies, when He says to not fear our enemies, who is He talking about?

A: This has broad application, for there are enemies both foreign (outside of the church) and domestic (inside of the church), but the specific context of these words is the enemy found within the church, namely, these wicked rulers. We are not to fear any of these enemies, but are to keep the Lord’s commandments, or as He puts it in this revelation, we are to “observe to do whatsoever He commands us,” and are to simply trust in Him. If we die, we will inherit eternal life. If we live, we still get eternal life. We win in either situation.

At some point in the future history of the church, the wicked church rulers will conspire to kill the saints within their congregations. They will be successful a certain number of times, fulfilling the prophecy about the blood of the saints crying from the ground against them. The Lord in this revelation is calming the fears of His saints, by telling them to stand for the right, no matter what the church environment is, or how bad it is going to get, to stay true to the covenants and commandments and to live by His words alone, and although blood will be spilled, it will still be well with them.

For all those others who will break their covenants and the commandments of God, by following a wicked church leader, they will be accounted as unworthy of the prize.

Renounce war and proclaim peace

Q: What of the renounce war and proclaim peace bit? Surely, that must be talking of the political process, right?

A: Again, these principles can be applied generally, but there is a specific context to the words, and that is within the context of the church. In other words, at some point the wicked leaders are going to create dissension and conflict, even war among the body of the saints, or a great division. We will see a repeat of the Book of Mormon times, where church members will engage in heated arguments with each other and exchange blows. Amalickiah comes to mind, who himself was a dissident member of the church of God. So, the Lord is beforehand telling them, or giving them the principles whereby they may be guided in wisdom’s paths, namely, that they are not to engage in such behavior. They are to stand for the right, but not to wage war, or encourage war, upon anyone. They are to always hold up the standard of peace, unless commanded by God to hold up the banner of war.

The hearts of the children and fathers

Q: What is the Lord referring to when He talks about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children?

A: It refers to the dissension and division which will be among the church, father being divided against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, etc. The saints who live by every word of God will be seeking to mend this division among the church, by getting everyone back together, in a spirit of love, compassion and understanding. Those who break their covenants will be seeking to widen the divide.

Q: So, this passage does not refer to genealogical work and the temple?

A: No, it has reference to this prophesied division and the repair work that the saints of God will be engaged in.

The hearts of the Jews and the prophets

Q: What is the meaning of the saying about turning the hearts of the Jews and prophets to each other?

A: It has reference to the wicked church leaders, and the work of the saints in their midst of turning them back to the Lord, through the words of the prophets, both found in the scriptures and among the population, who will be prophesying, so that the Jews, or leadership, would repent of their sins and become clean again before the Lord. The saints, who will judge all things pertaining to Zion, will seek at that time, to recover the leadership, through preaching and prophesying, or will turn their hearts to the Jews (the leadership.) The Jews (the leadership), will likewise have their hearts turned to the prophets, those prophets who reside in their congregation and those of the scriptures, and will be recovered, at least, those who repent will be recovered, and the rifts mended.

All of these things, which will happen among the Gentile church, is a type or a shadow that will happen among the tribes of Israel, as well, for the Jews (the non-Gentile people of the Lord) will also have their hearts turned to the prophets, and their children and fathers turned to each other.

Let not your hearts be troubled

Q: This saying of “let not your hearts be troubled” appears to be a general theme of this revelation. Why is that?

A: It is because the revelation is a prophetic time-line. It starts out by saying that their prayers will be answered and that they need not fear. (See DAC 98:1.) Then it talks about the laws of man (the State) and a saint’s relationship to those laws, giving permission to befriend only the Bill of Rights. (See DAC 98:2.) Then it goes into what a saint must do when wicked church rulers are found within it. (See DAC 98:3.) Then it holds up the church at Kirkland as a contemporary example of wickedness and gives a warning of chastisement if they do not repent and obey the Lord’s commandments. (See DAC 98:4.) Next, it gives a promise that if the church obeys the Lord’s commandments, essentially every adversary will be turned away from them, including the very Adversary himself. (See DAC 98:5.) And this particular prophecy will be, in part, fulfilled by the wicked turning on each other. The next bunch of sayings (DAC 98:6,7,8,9) deal with anarchic laws of conflict, showing that by that time the Lord will have made an end of nations and people will have once again gone back into the tribes of the earth.

Regardless of where an enemy is found or of which phase of society a saint lives in, whether it is the civic government phase, the wicked church phase, the phase of the division in the church, or the tribal anarchy phase, the saints are told the same message: observe to do all that the Lord commands you, seeking reconciliation and peace, repentance and forgiveness, trusting in the Lord and His promises, doubting nothing and fearing no one (not even your enemies), and if you do this, it will be well with you.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

A person, being evil, cannot do that which is good

Genuine spiritual practices come out of  salvation [already being "alive in Christ"] — they are not the tools you use to attach spiritual life on to your normal everyday life.  It is being in God’s love here-and-now and being filled-up with His overwhelming desire to share all that you have with everyone else that blossoms into joyous spiritual community — not your life-long effort to be active in the church in order to “earn” or “get” charity.

To put in plainer terms:  Unless your heart and mind are given over to the passionate love and transcendent experience of God – then any outward behavior, expression of belief, or moral code of conduct doesn’t count one iota to making you either righteous or unrighteous.

Righteous actions describe things that people with justified, purified, and sanctified right-brain-hearts do – they aren’t the instructions you must follow to “possess” a changed heart.

• Prayer, fasting, donating money or time, attending church meetings, meditation, charkha cleansing, pilgrimages, temple participation, yoga, tantra, reciting the rosary, reading tarot cards, service projects, herbal correspondences, etc.

These may all contain truth and may be interesting and useful disciplines in their own right.  But alone, they have nothing to do with an authentic response to the fundamental reality of the created universe:  God’s unconditional, self-sacrificing, and utterly non-stingy love for you [personally and uniquely You].

The way to judge is plain:

Any spiritual devotion or technique can be genuine – but each can just as easily be someone’s vain attempt to gain some personal security by relating to God as some Sovereign in the Sky who returns stability in this life for certain services rendered [see, Making an Image out of God].

I remember the word of god
which says

by their works
ye shall know them

for if their works be good
then they are good also

for behold
god has said

a person
being evil
cannot do that which is good

for if she offer a gift
or pray unto god
except she shall do it with real intent
it profiteth her nothing
for behold
it is not counted unto her for righteousness

for behold
if a man
being evil
gives a gift
he does it grudgingly
wherefore
it is counted unto him
the same as if he had retained the gift
wherefore
he is counted evil before god

and likewise
also
it is counted evil unto a person
if they shall pray
and not with real intent of heart
yea
and it profits them nothing
for god receives none such

wherefore
a person
being evil
cannot do that which is good
neither will they give a good gift

for behold
a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water
neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water
wherefore
a man
being a servant of the devil
cannot follow Christ
and if she follow Christ
she cannot be a servant of the devil

Moroni’s words do not indicate that you can use a person’s actions to judge whether they are righteous or not.  Meaning, it’s not:

If you see what looks like good fruit, then it must be good tree

Rather, it’s that:

If this is a good tree, then its fruit will be good

Notice he said that if a person is evil — then nothing they do, no gift they offer, can be accounted “good” before God.  Even if it would be a thing we might describe as a “good work” if we were asked.  Also, he says that a good fountain cannot bring forth bitter water — no matter what you might think about the quality of the water by looking at it.

It is often the case, with the sin of hypocrisy, that the outward appearances do not match the inner-state of the heart.  The inner-vessel is playing the part of a righteous one – but it cannot manifest the miraculous works of the Father [which are the real “good works”] because all it has are the works of men [which, outwardly, can appear quite charitable and good].

It’s not about being “good enough”:

Whether or not a person is morally virtuous, charitable, pleasant, or nice has nothing to do with salvation or righteousness before God.  Morality and niceness are not really the domain of the gospel.  Though there may be ethical implications of a person accepting, by covenant, the earth-shattering love of God – non-theistic humanists can be equally moral and congenial human beings.

I don’t mean to suggest that being a “good and moral” person isn’t important.  I’m saying that the gospel is concerned with the source of [or motivation for] our behavior — the spirit that is giving form to our actions.  Someone who has covenanted with the Maker of the Universe may very well do some of the same things that a non-theistic person would — but the informing principle behind why each is acting that way will be different.

The gospel is concerned with whether or not people learn to act by Power-Faith [using persuasion, patience, gentleness, meekness, etc. only] before they die — and whether a person’s mind and heart are being led by the spirit of the devil or by the spirit of the Lord [see Alma 34:34-35].

This is an entirely different domain than the collective pool of human ethics and social morality.

The state of the right-brain-heart is the sole determining factor between “good/sweet-ness” and “evil/bitter-ness”.  As the Lord looks – hard hearts desire evil things [by definition], whether the “thing” they desire appears to us to be good or evil matters not.  Conversely, broken/soft hearts will desire good things – things that may appear “evil” to someone observing them from a different historical/cultural viewpoint.

There’s nothing wrong with subjective ethics:

There’s this Western ethic of viewing reality as this binary, yes-or-no, true-or-false, etc. category for things — one that also holds that anything “true” must be universally scalable to be “right”.  You see it come-up anytime you propose or suggest an idea — and some genius pops-up with some outlandish, fringe scenario where that idea might not work. Like if they can invent just a single case where an idea might not be good — then that just invalidates the whole thing for everyone, everywhere, all the time.

There isn’t “One-True Answer” for how all people ought to live — and the search for such an All-True, Correlatable, Scalable, and Marketable Answer is a fruitless endeavor and leads away from getting towards any answer worth having.

God is about love: real love — chesed, agape — that open-faced, fully-naked, no-stinginess at all, complete sharing of all things kinda love.  God is love — which is why God is uncontrollable [or all-powerful], even anti-control.  But there’s a fear of relative truth or subjective ethics because they’re uncomfortable — they aren’t well-defined edges and lines that we can check-off and box-in.  But love requires the situational, the voluntary, and the accepting.

I find it funny that among the religious one will encounter the most hostility towards the subjective/situational — given the situational ethics of the scriptures: e.g., it’s wrong to kill [unless it’s not], it’s acceptable to take plural wives and concubines [unless it’s not], it’s required to circumcise the flesh [unless it’s not].

The reason all of the law and the prophets hang on the single concept of love is that without the context of love — being “true” or “right” is meaningless.  The gospel is meant to apply to every human who’s ever lived – ever.  Each generation, each culture has to bring the word to Life in their language, their world-view, and the conditions found among them, at that time and in that place.  One gospel, expressed through diverse forms according to the doctrine of expediency.

“Religion” must be pragmatic and provisional — a culturally-appropriate symbol of Reality and the Powers [elohim, or Gods] of Life that you’ve personally dealt with and experienced.  Because of this, the only standard for determining that a person is a “true” believer [a good tree, a good fountain, etc.] is the presence of the miraculous works of God, or the signs that follow them that believe:  flowing-out, into the world, through them.

Judging someone’s religion by any other metric is not a righteous judgment – but is an unrighteous judgment based on the outward appearance and the works of men [see, John 7:24 and 1 Samuel 16:7].

Telling me you read the scriptures, participate in the rituals, are active in the church, etc. – tells me nothing about the experiences you’ve had with God.  Those things are just the retelling or reenactment of someone else’s story.  It is all pointless and vain unless it is pursuant to you having the same experience — seeing eye-to-eye with the seers who have laid down those stories before you.

Someone else’s story will not save you [no matter how “true” it actually was for them].  Reenacting events from their stories as a ritual will not generate Joy in you.  Such things are meant to motivate you to get on the same pathway, to receive a similar connection with God yourself, and to see eye-to-eye with them.

I don’t want to hear anything about what system of stories a person believes in their brain are “true”.  Whether those stories “happened” or not is completely irrelevant to me – because what matters is what “happens”, right now – in You.  I don’t care if you believe the stories about Adam or Abraham or Moses or Lehi or Joseph Smith having real experiences with the Father – I care if you’ve had them.

There’s not much value in the religious-fundamentalist idea that This-One religion is “right” and the rest of Those-One religions are “wrong”.  The human concept of “God” means something slightly different to each group that’s used it throughout history and across cultures.  The idea of God formed in one generation could be completely meaningless to another.  Saying “I believe in God,” has no objective meaning, outside the context of who said it.

That’s why our spiritual dynamic cannot be hand-me-down — but must be wholly personal.  But “personal” does not mean “alone”.  Humans are not one-man islands – for all our stories are intertwined and interconnected.  So a community of like-minded believers may share the same story with you — and you may gather together and call yourselves a “church” or a “religion” or whatever —but each person must live out their own story and have their own miraculous experiences.

And it comes to pass…

I’ve read before that Art and Spirituality are [on a basic level] really the same activity.  Both are an outward-expression of your inner-will, intended to produce definite and concrete results.

If used properly:

• a painting can be the formula that brings to pass what was painted
• a song can be the spell that brings about what was sung

And human religious activity is this same dynamic — it’s meant to be functional, meant to make something happen.

So, to me, all that matters is if a person experiences the miraculous works of God in their life or not.  Their religion is “right” or “true” if it works – if it’s living and breathing, everyday in them.  Conversely, their religion is “false” or “corrupt” if it produces no fruit through them, if it’s a dead recitation of by-gone stories inherited from others.

Being of this-or-that religion, practicing this-or-that model of worship, conforming to this-or-that belief system – none of that gives any indication about whether a person’s religion works or not.  And therefore doesn’t matter.  Whether it’s “true” or not should be judged by what it’s doing.

If it’s producing the result — if it’s manifesting the miraculous works — if it’s bringing to pass the vision — then it’s real and then it’s true.

If the painting is just sitting on the wall, being revered as “true” – but the vision that was painting is not coming to pass and it’s just collecting dust — then it’s empty, vain, and false.

Next Article by Justin:  Unity of God

Previous Article by Justin:  Plasma Theology

The Revolution of the Mommies:  A Writer Interview with Joana Smith

The Strength of the Lord

The strength of the Lord was a miracle bestowed upon all the Nephites and Lamanites who had repented of their sins and come to Christ. Basically, it gave a person supernatural strength. It was first bestowed upon Lehi and party during their eight year walk to Bountiful, because they needed it for the long and arduous journey. When they arrived at the promised land, the strength of the Lord was again needed to protect the Nephites from the Lamanites, who always greatly outnumbered them.

The diet of the two nations

For the trip to Bountiful, the party was commanded to eat nothing but raw meat which they hunted in the wilderness. The Lord made the meat sweet to them, which was yet another miracle. At the promised land, though, they were commanded to plant seed and raise crops and animals, which they did. The party, though, soon split, with those who would come to be known as Nephites continuing to farm the land, and the Lamanites continuing to eat after the fashion of their eight-year journey in the wilderness, hunting their food and often eating it raw.

The two forms of diet had a different effect on their bodies. The farmers’ diet, which resembled our modern Word of Wisdom, made the Nephites physically weaker and less sexually charged. As a result, they had less sex, and thus produced less children than did the Lamanites. The protein rich hunter’s diet of the Lamanites, in which they drank the blood of beasts, etc., made them sexually charged and physically stronger than the Nephites. The Lamanites had lots of sex and produced children like rabbits.

The war practices of the two nations

The Nephites had no standing army. They merely went about their lives raising crops and animals, constructing buildings, mining out precious metals and other occupations of industry. They had prepared weapons of war in case they ever needed to defend themselves, but they did not train for war, nor were they supposed to. Nevertheless, they were commanded of God to defend themselves from the Lamanites even unto bloodshed.

The Lamanites, on the other hand, did not raise crops nor construct buildings. They lived in tents, like their fathers did on the eight-year trip, and they spent their time hunting and training for war. Their skill was “in the bow and in the cimeter and the ax.” In other words, the Lamanites had standing armies that were always trained for war and raiding. Additionally, the Lamanites were a blood-thirsty and ferocious people, delighting in wars and bloodshed.

The Lamanites were plunderers who had an everlasting hatred towards the Nephites, therefore, they were always the ones who attacked first. From all appearances, the Nephites were easy pickings. They were small in number, compared to the Lamanites. They were farmers who did not train for war, therefore, the Lamanites were more skilled in war than were the Nephites. And their diet made them physically weaker than the Lamanites.

Based on all of these variables, the Lamanites should have easily wiped the Nephites out.

Weaker, out-numbered and out-skilled…by design

The Lord commanded the Nephites to do these things so that He could show forth His strength in them. Despite the farmer’s diet making their bodies physically weaker, the strength of the Lord made them vastly stronger than the Lamanites. Despite not training for war, it also made them more skilled in warfare than the Lamanites. And despite being outnumbered, it caused one Nephite to be able to defeat scores of Lamanites, so much so that larger groups of Lamanites would routinely be scattered by small numbers of Nephites. In short, the Nephites became faster, stronger, more enduring, more skilled and had more energy than the Lamanites, despite the Lamanites constantly training for war.

for every man of teancum did exceed the lamanites in their strength and in their skill of war | insomuch that they did gain advantage over the lamanites

A sign to all nations

Now, this miracle was to be a sign, both to the Nephites and to the Lamanites, as well as to the Gentiles, that God was with those who repented of their sins and exercised faith in the Lord. It served to cull the iniquitous from the ranks of the Nephites, for those who went to battle who were impenitent, would not have the strength of the Lord, and would get mowed down by the Lamanites. It also served to fortify the faith of the faithful, for when they obeyed the commandments of the Lord and trusted in Him, having faith that He would give them of His strength, and then they left their farms to go to battle, they would witness firsthand that they had the strength of a God in them, that allowed them to impossibly defeat a superior force. This sign would be witnessed by the faithful Nephites many times throughout their lives, for the Lamanites would attack from time to time, and they could testify to this miracle to their children, encouraging them to put their trust entirely in the Lord and to keep His commandments.

For the Lamanites, it also served as a sign, for they also would witness, time after time, an impossible miracle, in their defeat at the hands of the weaker, less numerous Nephites. It should have caused them to stop and wonder and repent of their sins and acknowledge that the Nephites were supported by the hand of a God, but they were very set in their violent ways.

For those latter-day Gentiles (and Lamanites) who would end up reading the Book of Mormon, it would serve as a sign or a witness to which those who endeavored to establish Zion would seek. The casualty numbers for both sides of each war indicate to the reader just how impossibly powerful the strength of the Lord was. It truly fit the description of “matchless and marvelous.” For example, Zeniff’s numbers show an 11:1 ratio, meaning that for every eleven Lamanites that were killed, only one Nephite died.

The Nephites’ pride

Although the Lord intended the bestowal of His strength to develop faith and trust in Him, often many of the Nephites, after witnessing this miracle, became prideful, thinking that they could sin and God would still give them of His strength. This despite the fact that the Lord had plainly stated to them:

i will not show unto the wicked of my strength | to one more than the other | save it be unto those | who repent of their sins | and hearken unto my words |

At the end of their civilization, this pride caused their entire destruction, for they were great sinners by that time and did not have the strength of the Lord with them, nevertheless, they believed they were still invincible because the Lord still protected them somewhat from the Lamanites, that is, until they broke the final commandment of the Lord and attacked the Lamanites.

Then the Lord fully removed this miracle and they were left to themselves, a physically weaker, vastly outnumbered nation whose skills were no match for the war-trained Lamanites, who then wiped them completely off the face of the earth.

The times of the Gentiles

During our time, it has been prophesied that this ancient gift will return to all those who repent of their sins, exercise faith in the Lord and ask for it.

and it shall be said among the wicked |

let us not go up to battle against zion | for the inhabitants of zion are terrible | wherefore | we cannot stand |

They will be terrible, in part, because they will have the strength of the Lord. Unlike the ancient Lamanites who couldn’t get it into their heads that they “could not stand” against the strength of the Lord that was within the Nephites, and so kept attacking them anyway—thinking that this time they had enough numbers to wipe them out, or that this time the Nephites were spread too thin, etc.—the Gentiles, when they witness the strength of the Lord will be entirely freaked out and will desire to “sit this one out” and not attack the inhabitants of Zion.

The Gentile way

The way of the Gentiles is this: some eat a grain-based diet like the ancient Nephites, becoming physically weak like unto them, while others eat a high protein diet, like the Lamanites. Still others eat a mix between the two. In fact, you can find just about every possible type of diet among the Gentiles, for every Gentile seeks to obtain physical health, strength and beauty by his or her diet, and so many dietary theories exist based on this or that scientific finding.

The Gentiles also have standing armies, like the Lamanites did, and rely upon their armies and police forces, etc., who train for war and combat, to protect them from their enemies, using the most advanced weapons technologies that they can find, invent and afford.

Many Gentiles live a sedentary lifestyle with high caloric intake, resulting in physical obesity and lots of diseases, becoming even weaker, physically, than the Nephites. On the other hand, many engage in various physical education courses, classes and training programs to keep their bodies in as physically fit a shape as they possibly can, like the Lamanites, which also helps in conflicts. A good number of civilian Gentiles also arm themselves with additional weapons and take self-defense courses, such as martial arts, etc., again like the Lamanites, so that they can defeat an attacker.

Some Gentiles only defend themselves, like the Nephites, while other Gentiles will preemptively attack, or even pillage, like the Lamanites. Still others sometimes defend and sometimes attack, whenever it suits their purpose. Always, though, the Gentiles depend upon their numbers and war skill and weapons technology, like the Lamanites, to see them through conflict.

In other words, the Gentiles rely upon the arm of flesh.

o lord | i have trusted in thee | and i will trust in thee forever | i will not put my trust in the arm of flesh | for i know | that cursed is he | that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh | yea | cursed is he that putteth his trust in man | or maketh flesh his arm |

And thus the Gentiles are cursed.

The Zion way

The Gentiles of this day and age, who will repent and come unto Christ, will be justified, purified and sanctified, receiving a remission of their sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost, having angels minister to them, and hearing the voice of the Lord speak to them from the heavens. Such people, following the commandments of the Lord, will eat according to the dietary guidelines found in the Word of Wisdom, which will make them physically weak. This is by the design of the Lord, so that He can show His power and miracles in His people.

In this physically weakened, but spiritually strong, condition—for they have obeyed the voice of the Lord and fulfilled His dietary sayings and other commandments, becoming spiritually strong—they may now ask and receive what they will. And ask they will, even for all of the miracles that the Lord bestows upon His faithful. As the Lord has said:

and all saints | who remember to keep and do these sayings | walking in obedience to the commandments | shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones | and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge | even hidden treasures | and shall run and not be weary | and shall walk and not faint | and i | the lord | give unto them a promise | that the destroying angel shall pass by them | as the children of israel | and not slay them | amen |

It is not the diet that will give the saints the strength of the Lord, “running without being weary and walking without fainting,” for the diet makes the saints physically weak, or physically weaker than many other types of diets. It is not the diet that gives “health in their navel and marrow to their bones,” for anyone who eats after the manner of the Word of Wisdom still may, and often still does, become sick. It is the keeping and doing of these sayings, along with keeping all the other commandments, that allows a person to ask the Lord for what they will, and receive it.

Again, the Lord’s law of strength and health has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the kind of diet you eat or the kind of exercise or strength training you do. The principle is simply this: if you exercise faith unto repentance unto the remission of your sins, and continue to hearken unto the voice of the Lord, which includes these dietary guidelines, you may ask for the strength of the Lord and He will give it to you. You may ask for health and He will give it to you. You may ask for wisdom and knowledge and He will give it to you. And so on and so forth.

All of these things are intended to be miracles, which operate on faith, not the natural outgrowth of a superior diet and exercise regime. The strength you will get will be supernatural strength, the health, supernatural health, the wisdom, supernatural wisdom, and the knowledge, supernatural knowledge. It is meant to be a miracle.

The LDS are weak-bodied, weak-minded, fools

The LDS have misunderstood the Word of Wisdom. They have thought that the Lord has given them a superior diet which would produce superior physical specimens. He hasn’t and it doesn’t. They have thought that by merely obeying certain parts of the diet, the “thou shalt nots,” that the Lord would give them health and strength. Others have thought that if they obeyed both the “thou shalt nots” as well as the “thou shalts” of the sayings, that they would get the promised blessings of strength, health, wisdom and knowledge, yet still the promises have remain unfulfilled. Still others try to twist the revelation into a scriptural support for their current dietary lifestyle. If they are vegetarians, they stress the “sparingly” clause of the meat. If they are meat-eaters, they claim the comma is misplaced in that clause.

Still others look at the Word of Wisdom with the wisdom of the world in their minds and realize that such guidelines will not produce the best results. And they wonder, “How on earth could this be inspired of God?” So, they come to the conclusion that the Word of Wisdom is a lower law, and thus that the health guidelines they have learned from the nutritionists are higher laws. And on and on go the rationalizations, the end result being the production of weak-bodied and weak-willed fools.

Weak-bodied, because scripturally, all physical bodies of men that do not have the strength of the Lord are considered weak.

and they saw | that they had become weak like unto their brethren | the lamanites |
…
for behold | they saw that the strength of the lamanites was as great as their strength | even man for man | thus had they fallen into this great transgression | yea | thus had they become weak | because of their transgression | in the space of not many years |

Weak-willed, because strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness is required to obtain the strength of the Lord, through repentance of all one’s sins, and the LDS do not “look unto the Lord, as they ought” (1 Ne. 15:3.) They look to the Word of Wisdom diet, not to the Lord, to obtain the blessing.

Fools, because they have misunderstood the Word of Wisdom, thinking it comes under natural, and not supernatural, law. In other words, they have assigned a natural result to it. They expect the strength, health, wisdom and knowledge of men to be the result of complying with this law. They do not expect anything superhuman or supernatural to come from keeping its sayings. (If you don’t believe me, look at any General Conference talk on the Word of Wisdom. All blessings that are thought to come of it are based upon natural consequences of obeying its divinely revealed, “natural laws of health.”)

Now, I do not exclude myself from that company of fools. Until I just now typed out these words, in this very essay, I myself understood it as a natural law begetting natural results. But now I know otherwise and clearly see that I was wrong. It is a supernatural law given to produce, or show forth, supernatural results, by the faith of the people trusting in their Lord and asking Him for these miracles.

How to obtain the strength of the Lord

The first step is walking through the gate, namely, exercising faith unto repentance and receiving a remission of sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. At this point, you can speak with the tongue of angels, shout praises to the Holy One of Israel by the power of the Holy Ghost, and worship the Father in the name of the Son with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (See 2 Ne. 25:16 and Alma 5:19.)

The second step is to keep the commandments of God, including the Word of Wisdom sayings, continuing in constant prayer and fasting to retain a remission of sins from day to day.

The third and final step is merely to ask God for His strength, for once you are “purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done” (D&C 50:29.)

But what of my [fill in the blank] regime?

Like the Nephites of old, who didn’t need a special type of superior diet, or special training, or special weaponry (the common weapons of the day sufficed), or special anything, to defeat the Lamanites, so the modern Gentile does not need to change the Lord’s instructions, neither adding to nor subtracting from them, to obtain His strength. No strength or military or defense training is required. Nor are dietary supplements needed. There is no need to alter the Word of Wisdom, at all. It is a very simple process: ask and ye shall receive, after ye have become purified by exercising faith in Christ, repenting and receiving a remission of all your sins.

Even after writing this, I am certain there will be those who will object based upon soil nutrient depletion (requiring supplementation) or who will claim that relying upon their particular diet or self defense/strength training does not disqualify them from receiving the strength of the Lord, so, let me be very clear on this point: you must rely wholly upon the merits of Christ to receive of His strength. If you attempt to rely partially on God and partially on your own strength, through dietary modifications and/or defense/strength training, the Lord will leave you to yourself, to defend yourself by your own arm of flesh.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Group worship in the church of Christ

Group worship prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

The pattern for communal/group worship of God before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was outlined in the law of Moses.  It was the system of offering sacrifices and burnt offering [Mosiah 2:3], called the “observances of the law”.

It was expedient that these outward observances were performed:

and inasmuch as it shall be expedient
you must keep the performances and ordinances of God
until the law shall be fulfilled
which was given unto Moses

[2 Nephi 25:30]

And the people of God were strict in observing them because they were the very word of the Lord to his people:

they were strict in observing the ordinances of God
according to the law of Moses

[Alma 30:3]

until they reached the point where the law would be done away, when adhering to its observances was no longer expedient.

This pattern for worship was done away in Christ:

behold
I say unto you
that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses
behold
I am he that gave the law
and I am he who covenanted with my people
Israel
therefore
the law in me is fulfilled
for I have come to fulfill the law
therefore it hath an end

[3 Nephi 15:4-5]

The time came when it was no longer expedient to keep the law of Moses, as had been prophesied:

I say unto you
that it is expedient that you should keep the law of Moses
as yet
but I say unto you
that the time shall come
when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses

[Mosiah 13:27]

and

yea
and they did keep the law of Moses
for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses
as yet
for it was not all fulfilled
but notwithstanding the law of Moses
they did look forward to the coming of Christ
considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming
and believing that they must keep those outward performances
until the time that he should be revealed unto them

[Alma 25:15]

The commandments of the Father for the church of Christ:

It became expedient instead to keep the “commandments of the Father”, instead of the “law”:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law
or the prophets
I am not come to destroy
but to fulfill
for amen I say unto you
neither one iota nor one serif has passed away from the law
but in me it has all been fulfilled
and behold
I have given you the law
and the commandments of my Father
that ye shall believe in me
and that ye shall repent of your sins
and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit
behold
you have the commandments before you
and the law is fulfilled
therefore
come unto me
and be ye saved
for amen I say unto you
that except you shall keep my commandments
which I have commanded you at this time
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven

[3 Nephi 12:17-20]

Jesus gave two things:

• The law
• The commandments of his Father

In him [that is in his birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection], the law is fulfilled – therefore all that remains “before you” are the commandments of the Father, which are:

• Believe in Christ
• Repent of your sins
• Come unto Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit

Therefore, choose the commandments of the Father over the law — and be saved.  To choose otherwise goes against the doctrine of expediency — and leaves a person damned.

Group worship after the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

When Jesus visited Lehi’s descendents and ministered the gospel among them, they were taught the new, expedient pattern for how to gather for communal worship now that the law had been fulfilled in him:

And it came to pass
that Jesus commanded his disciples that they should bring forth some bread and wine unto him
and while they were gone for bread and wine
he commanded the multitude that they should sit themselves down upon the earth
and when the disciples had come with bread and wine
he took of the bread and brake and blessed it
and he gave unto the disciples
and commanded that they should eat
and when they had eaten and were filled
he commanded that they should give unto the multitude
and when the multitude had eaten and were filled
he said unto the disciples
behold
there shall one be ordained among you
and to him will I give power that he shall break bread
and bless it
and give it unto the people of my church
unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name
and this shall you always observe to do
even as I have done
even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it unto you
and this shall you do in remembrance of my body
which I have shown unto you
and it shall be a testimony unto the father that you do always remember me
and if you do always remember me
you shall have my Spirit to be with you
and it came to pass
that when he said these words
he commanded his disciples that they should take of the wine of the cup and drink of it
and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it
and it came to pass
that they did so
and did drink of it and were filled
and they gave unto the multitude
and they did drink
and they were filled
and when the disciples had done this
Jesus said unto them
blessed are you for this thing which you have done
for this is fulfilling my commandments
and this doth witness unto the Father that you are willing to do that which I have commanded you
and this shall you always do
to those who repent and are baptized in my name
and you shall do it in remembrance of my blood
which I have shed for you
that you may witness unto the Father that you do always remember me
and if you do always remember me
you shall have my Spirit to be with you
and I give unto you a commandment
that you shall do these things
and if you shall always do these things
blessed are you
for you are built upon my rock.

[3 Nephi 18:1-12]

In this pattern of group worship, described by Jesus, and commanded of the church of Christ — we are to:

• Bring forth bread and wine
• Sit down upon the earth
• Have one man set-apart among the group to break the bread, bless it, and give it to the group in remembrance of the body of Jesus
• Eat the bread until filled
• Have the one ordained man take the cup, bless it, and give it to the group in remembrance of the blood of Jesus
• Drink from the cup until filled

This should be done “always” to witness to God that we always remember Christ – and if we do always remember Him, then we will always have his Spirit to be with us.

The revelations given to Joseph Smith describe this same pattern:

it is expedient
that the church meet together often
to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the lord Jesus
and the elder or priest shall administer it
and after this manner shall he administer it
he shall kneel with the church
and call upon the Father in solemn prayer
saying

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

the manner of administering the wine
he shall take the cup also
and say

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

[D&C 20:75-79]

The Nephite church’s example in practicing this pattern of group worship:

In the first couple generations after Christ visited the descendents of Lehi, they observed these commandments, even as he had shown them, and therefore lived as a Zion-like community of believers:

behold
the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about
and as many as did come unto them
and did truly repent of their sins
were baptized in the name of Jesus
and they did also receive the Holy Ghost
and it came to pass
that the people were all converted unto the Lord
and there were no contentions and disputations among them
and every man did deal justly
one with another
and they had all things common among them
therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free
but they were all made free
and partakers of the heavenly gift
and it came to pass
that there still continued to be peace in the land
and there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus
insomuch that they did heal the sick
and raise the dead
and cause the lame to walk
and the blind to receive their sight
and the deaf to hear
and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men
and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus
and they were married
and given in marriage
and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them
and they did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses
but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord
and their God
continuing in fasting and prayer
and in meeting together oft
both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord
and it came to pass
that there was no contention among all the people
in all the land
but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus

[4 Nephi 1:1-13]

This religious community was alive with the miraculous works of the Father and the signs following them that believe.  And even when the people fell into general wickedness a couple centuries later, a segment of the people still remained gathered as the church of Christ and kept the commandments Jesus had given their ancestors earlier:

and after they had been received unto baptism
and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost
they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ
and their names were taken
that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God
to keep them in the right way
to keep them continually watchful unto prayer
relying alone upon the merits of Christ
who was the author and the finisher of their faith
and the church did meet together oft
to fast and to pray
and to speak one with another
concerning the welfare of their souls
and they did meet together oft
to partake of bread and wine
in remembrance of the lord Jesus
and their meetings were conducted
by the church
after the manner of the workings of the Spirit
and by the power of the Holy Ghost
for as the power of the Holy Ghost led them
whether to preach
or to exhort
or to pray
or to supplicate
or to sing
even so it was done

[Moroni 6]

The church of Christ “meets together often” to:

• Fast
• Pray
• Hear the word of God
• Speak about the welfare of each other’s souls
• Partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus
• Preach
• Exhort
• Pray
• Supplicate
• Sing

“Often” does not mean every Sunday – it doesn’t even mean once a week.  To determine ahead of time how “often” or on what days the church will meet prevents it from being conducted by the workings of the Spirit.

These “meetings” happened as often as they were desired to happen or as often as they were needed to happen among the various congregations of believers in Christ.

Also, no one did anything unless the power of the Holy Ghost led them – or in other words, they followed the principle of:

if ye receive not the Spirit
ye shall not teach

[D&C 42:14]

– meaning nobody spoke a word unless the Spirit of prophecy and revelation came upon them and led them to speak that word.

Doing this makes the discernment of a dead congregation [a group without the Spirit] easy because, in practical terms, what that means is that unless members are cleansed from all sin and therefore can be moved upon by the Holy Spirit – the meeting will be dead silent.

Approaching group worship backwards:

There is a problem when we approach this pattern backwards — when we work at keeping people coming to church — as a way to make them feel the Spirit.  It’s backwards.

People aren’t stupid — and it doesn’t take long for an interested investigator to realize that the Joy they feel in spontaneous meetings with missionaries lacks in our church meetings.  The Spirit that manifests while studying the gospel in a more intimate setting with missionaries is not repeated in the meetinghouse.

This “deadness” happens when the religious experience is approached as something that can be brokered by some all-male merchant-class who deal in religion and religious paraphernalia.  It’s all image and no Life — because the Life’s been suffocated by the Box we’ve put Her in.

Our current practice of assigning everything before church meetings [for example] — the songs, sermons, etc. — is based on the doctrines and commandments of men and not the commandments of the Father that Christ gave to his church — which is why there is no one prophesying or healing or speaking in tongues, etc. during our meetings. The commandments of men are not accompanied by any manifestations of power [just good advice, nice music, etc.]

To get back to a reliance on the Spirit, in which it is the Spirit that directs and guides the conducting of our meetings [and not any man or group of men], we would need room for that spontaneity because that’s how She works.

The church of Christ, when it meets [not when it "has meetings"], should select no one beforehand to say prayers, or prepare talks, or prepare musical numbers, or be given sermon topics, or be given material from which to base a sermon on, etc.

The scriptures say that if the Spirit is not given to a person, then they should not speak.  And the scriptures say that everything must be done at the very moment, which means spontaneously, as the Spirit directs.

Without the pervading presence of the Holy Spirit, a congregation has no “spiritual gravity” drawing the converts together — keeping them gathered in a body of the church of God.  Hence, we see a scattered group of strangers we just happen to meet at the same place at the same time every week.  We get dismal “activity”-rates because “activity” flows out of a person [and thus out of a body of gathered persons] spontaneously or naturally — it can’t be something “stuffed” onto a dead body.

Next Article by Justin:  Spicing up your church experience: Women’s edition

Previous Article by Justin: … and I’m a Mormon

…and I’m a Mormon

Maggie asked me:

“I believe in a similar fashion and lately I have been unable to call myself a Mormon because of it.  Is one a “true” Mormon if they do not take everything in the rigid literal?  I started to feel I couldn’t be much like I can’t call myself a vegetarian if I eat meat.  But now I’m not so sure.  Isn’t this what Mormonism is at its core, its base?”

I’ve also read similar sentiments – e.g.

“I [have x-y-z different opinion on this-or-that facet of Mormonism, yet still identify in some degree as “Mormon”].  As a result, when I speak to others [and] I say, “I am a Mormon.”  Am I being deceptive if I don’t reveal what that phrase means to me upfront?”

This represents my ~4500 word response to that.

The religious experience of the gospel of Jesus Christ — at its core, its base — is the subjective and transcendent experience of God:

I was once told in conversation that:

“Mormons just don’t drink alcohol – that is the least that is expected of them.”

And I thought – really, that’s the least that’s being LDS means – abstaining from alcoholic drinks?  I’m sure if we are talking about LDS youth, then that person would probably say that the “least” is something related to body modesty or not having sex.  But again – that’s our least?

For a religion proclaiming Jesus Christ – the “least” ought to be pretty straightforward.  Jesus called people to consider themselves the servants of all – and act accordingly.  Having the same mind in you that was in Him:  who did empty himself and take the form of a servant [Philippians 2:5-8].  That’s it.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is fluid.  It’s meant to be lived by every human who’s ever lived on the whole earth.  As such, it is flexible, adaptable to the variety of conditions that exist among people.  What makes nature so beautiful and awe-inspiring is its diversity.  Even though nature follows certain patterns, it is ever-new and always creating – never boring or monotonous.  [see, Going from Concrete to Flowers]

However, a “hardened” religious tradition cannot tolerate subjectivity and diversity.  So, when one’s mind is informed by such a belief system, God ceases to be the experience of the Supreme Being – and becomes instead This-Thing who sits Up-There in the sky ruling over nature and who must be related to according to in That-Way [see, Making an Image out of God].

The fundamental aspect of the gospel is people having a transcendent experience of God – one that experiences God as a continuous happening that we are all a part of.  It’s that experience of Joy that all our myths, stories, and rituals are telling about and pointing to – so that we may come to that same place where we too relate to God with an I-Thou relationship framed in terms of family and covenant [see, Taking our Myths Literally].

That relative experience is expressed outwardly in a material sense in various ways:

Now – the gospel does manifest itself outwardly as a physical space-and-time institution according to the doctrine of expediency.  Suiting itself to the conditions found among the people at that time and place [see, There are no “higher” or “lower” laws; there are only expedient laws and D&C 46:15].

But the base-layer, the common experience is always about coming to relate to the Power of the created universe in terms that break-down the left-brain sense of separateness and open-up the right-brain sense of complete continuousness and connectivity.

There may be behavioral or moral implications of a covenant with God – but it is not the jurisdiction of the gospel to lay down specific “hither thou shalt come and no further” fence-posts for human behavior that have a universal application across space-and-time.

So, within Mormonism, there is a wide range of possibility for diversity in belief and practice that can be characterized by having different people fill in the following blanks:

• A Mormon is known for at least always ___________.
• A Mormon is known for at least never ____________.

We should not be ashamed to display a bit of a bell-curve variability with respect to what a Mormon looks like, especially considering the subjective morality and the generally ambiguous nature of the standard works [see, Methods of Scriptural Interpretation].

But institutions patterned after the doctrines and commandments of men [such as corporations] generally dislike such variation — seeking instead to streamline and control naturally variable situations.  So, in Mormonism we see things like correlation, the CHI, etc.  But that’s a different matter entirely.

Specific manifestations of a common subjective experience express natural diversity:

The point is – [to go back to Maggie’s vegetarian who eats meat example] is there nuance within vegetarianism?  Certainly.

Is it animal meat only?  What about organs, or fish, or mollusks, or crustaceans, or dairy, or eggs – or is it all animal products altogether?  Is it only about the eating, or is it also about using them too?  Or is it really about a protest against the industrialized rearing conditions of the modern food system?  Or is it about choosing to only eat plants?  I’ve known vegetarians who could go a whole day and not eat a single vegetable – what with soy burgers, breaded tofu nuggets, and pizza.

There’s variation among a community that is informed by a common impulse – i.e. something is wrong with our current way of relating to the Life that we eat.

Fundamentally, all that matters is if you experience the miraculous works of the Father or not:

Being of this-or-that religion, practicing this-or-that model of worship, conforming to this-or-that belief system – none of that gives any indication about whether a person has experienced Jesus or not.  And therefore doesn’t matter.  The only standard for determining that a person is a true believer in Christ is the presence of the miraculous works of the Father, or signs that follow them that believe [D&C 84:64-72], in their life.  Anything else is not a righteous judgment [John 7:24] – but is a judgment based on the outward appearance or the works of men.

Telling me you read the scriptures, participate in the rituals, are active in the church, etc. – tells me nothing about the experiences you’ve had with Jesus.  Those things are just the retelling or reenactment of someone else’s story.  It is all pointless and vain unless it is pursuant to you having the same experience — seeing eye-to-eye with the seers who have laid down those stories before you.  Their stories will not save you.  Reenacting events from their stories as a ritual will not generate Joy in you.  Such things are meant to motivate you to get on the same pathway, to receive a similar connection with God, and to see eye-to-eye with them [see, The role of angels in Nephite preaching and How to receive what you ask for].

I don’t want to hear anything about what system of stories a person believes in their brain to be “true”.  Whether those stories “happened” or not is completely irrelevant to me – because what matters is what “happens”, right now – in you.  I don’t care if you believe in the stories about Adam or Abraham or Moses or Lehi or Joseph Smith having real experiences with the Father – I care if you’ve had them.

The only thing that discerns a good thing from a bad thing is its relationship to the thing that Alma termed the ever-good seed [Alma 32:28]:

the Son of God
that he will come to redeem his people
and that he shall suffer
and die to atone for their sins
and that he shall rise again from the dead
which shall bring to pass the resurrection
that all men shall stand before him
to be judged at the last and judgment day
according to their works.

Anything that persuades you to believe in and plant this ever-good seed into your right-brain-heart is itself a good seed.  While anything that persuades you not to believe and plant this ever-good seed is not a good seed.

Nothing in the gospel is based on the merits and works of men.  Righteous judgment has nothing to do with having mainstream LDS beliefs.  All things are judged to be good or evil with respect to how they measure up to the ever-good seed and whether they point people towards, or away from, it [Moroni 7:13-19].

Everything in the gospel is based on the merits of Christ and whether we harden or soften our hearts in response to the experience of His love.

The presence of miraculous works should be our only concern:

What should characterize LDS and be our over-riding passion is the experience and the celebration of the stories of people who’ve experienced faith as a principle of power, instead of action [see, The seeds of the powers of godliness] – which are the examples of the miraculous works of the Father being manifested.

The scriptures are our collective stories of such events.  But we should be celebrating the experience [nothing more, nothing less] – and with an emphasis on the newest miraculous experiences.  Because a proper celebration of the spiritual works of God invites others to receive the same experiences for themselves – so there would be no need to hold on to the stories of a by-gone generation.  Every country, culture, and local group needs to have their own body of miraculous works of the Father among themselves to celebrate.

It is dangerous to celebrate non-miraculous works [the works of men] and call that “faith.” All it does is encourage drudgery, or the non-miraculous works of men.  There are plenty of people of all religions who sacrifice for their beliefs and religions, but who have no works of the Father in their lives.

I’ve met people who receive multiple visions or prophecies, who’ve spoken in unknown tongues on demand, and who’ve been ministered to by angels.  On the other hand, I’ve also met people who’ve never received a revelation in their entire life.  In either case, every one of those people professed to believe in Jesus and came from different churches and belief systems.  The only substantial difference between the two groups is that the former manifested the works of the Father – while the latter manifested the works of men.

Someone who has denied their Self, experienced the transcendent joy of the Supreme Being, and received Christ will be totally obsessed with Jesus.  And only the truly obsessed have faith – and only those with faith demonstrate the manifestations of the fruits of the Spirit in their life.

Being a “good Mormon” or Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan – or any “faithful” [add-Religion-here] only tells me whether a person adheres to the creeds of their respective belief system.  That says nothing about whether they have faith in Christ or not.

We should only be concerned with having faith in Christ and experiencing the miraculous works of the Father.  Unless one has communed with God, been ministered to by angels, seen visions, received prophecies and revelations, etc. – all incessant talk that professes belief in Christ is just mental masturbation, feeling good but not producing any fruit.

The all-important, saving faith in Jesus Christ that we should be obsessed with is centered in Jesus only: 

With sufficient faith, a believer can come to know the truth of all things [Moroni 10:5].  But faith in this-or-that true doctrine does not blossom into experiencing the miraculous works of the Father.  If faith is ever transferred from Christ to true things about Christ – then even though what’s spoken may be true, there is no faith there.

Mormons have much truth – but they have essentially transferred all faith to the truths, and thus none of it is on Jesus.

The vast majority of our conversations at church are centered on prophets and apostles, obedience to leaders and commandments, blessings of paying tithing, attending church and the temple, and every other conceivable topic that has nothing, whatsoever, to do with Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and judgment upon all mankind.

In fact – a good test is to ask how much of our religious conversations are devoted to the relative, periphery matters and how much is devoted to the experience of God’s love.  How comfortable are we in talking about this-or-that issue of the day in light of Mormonism – and how comfortable are we talking about our spiritual contacts with Jesus Christ.  With the latter, I’ve found we stumble, are vague, express doubt, and likely just say nothing at all because most people have nothing to say.

Any church not based on the miraculous work of the Father may potentially be a true church, but will be a dead and blind church:

We may have true stories and properly authorized rituals – but they are not enlivened with the Spirit of God because none of them are experienced eye-to-eye as shared experiences.  Our standard for judgment is informed by outward appearances instead of by the light of righteous judgments informed by the fruits of the Spirit. [see, What does the phrase “only true and living church” mean?]

This has made the LDS successful in being exactly like the rest of Christianity.  There may be true doctrines, disciplines, and rituals – but such things have been made into absolutes and pedestalized as ends unto themselves – instead of being the means to an end – which is obtaining the experience of the miraculous works of the Father.

To convert a bona-fide revelatory experience with God into a prescribed system of creeds and approved practices dodges the real issue.  It’s easier to tell ourselves that the important thing is keeping certain rules and believing certain doctrines – instead of turning ourselves over to the transcendent idea that the fundamental nature of Reality [God] reaches into human history to covenant with humans and gather them into a family.

The basic purpose of what we call “the church” is to take unrelated believers in Christ and knit them together by covenant into a single body or family:

When people see a problem with their group worship dynamic – the temptation is always to get together with some like-minded and “do church” more scripturally.  However, this often will just create a slightly smaller, less-controlled replication of the same dynamic they were trying to get away from.

The problem lies in the fundamental way we feel towards God, towards the earth, and towards ourselves.  It is a model based on the underlying concept of separateness [see, Split-Brain Model of the Gospel: The Fall of Man]:

• God as the male-figure seated on a throne exerting control over nature,
• relating only to a certain in-group by virtue of their religious behavior towards Him,
• living as separate islands of skin-encapsulated centers of will that are plopped onto a earth of otherwise disorganized, inherently-flawed stuff.

The very ideas that are informing our relationship with the world and with other people has to change – the pattern or model of a hierarchy of religious rulers and approved ways of thinking is [itself] broken.

Putting different people in power can’t change a problem that exists because there are people in power.  Power must instead be pulled down [Alma 60:36].

You can’t have meetings with an instituted body of the like-minded become “more scriptural” – when the gospel is tribal in nature and meant to be experienced by a group of kin who naturally meets.

One can use religion to serve their Self or to serve God.  If you believe that only your collection of stories is the One, True Way of experiencing God – then you are using it to serve your Self.  This is the hardened or atrophied religare that creates feelings of superiority and maintains a sense of separation and conflict with others.

On the other hand, when in the service of God, a fluid religare is just the stories left behind by men and women who have had miraculous experiences with the governing Power of the universe that direct the community to receiving that experience for their selves, eye-to-eye.

Effectively, what we call the “Great Apostasy” represented a hedge that had been built up around an individual person and the experience of God.  The whole essence of a religious life was reduced to a commodity that needed to be brokered by a male-dominated priestly class.  And the “Restoration” was about taking scattered and disconnected people and gathering them – not by virtue of what they believe in the mind or confess with the mouth – but by covenant into a family.

But instead of having a passion for this tribal notion of a separate people-group bound by covenants, gathered out from their scattered state among the tribes of the earth – leadership patterned after the works of men care more about uniformity of thought than about making actual tribal connections between individuals.

Focusing on these outward appearances [which include prescribing behavioral standards and acceptable doctrines] is a manifestation of the current state of the church being guided by the doctrines and commandments of men.  While the gospel could be said to prescribe a certain approach to human problems and decisions – any ethical component is but a consequence of a person’s genuine relationship with God – not the basis for receiving one.

The mission of the church of God is to be the ministerial support for individual members becoming Kings and Priests, Queens and Priestesses in their own right – to teach them the word of God, explain and offer the covenants of the gospel, and then allow them to organize themselves accordingly as their local circumstances dictate – helping them as they go from an unrelated body of like-minded and knit them together into a bona-fide family.

As long as a part remains in the body – it is the body:

Most LDS speak about and relate to “the church” as this entity that exists outside of them or separate from their selves.  But there is no such thing as a group without the context of the individual people.  You cannot have a body without all the components that make it up all together.  A group is the sum-total of the individual units that make up that group.  The whole is the parts as they are arranged.

Thus, each person is the church.  You are the church – and so long as you remain in the church, your views are representative of what the church believes.  You are Mormonism — as it is lived out or as it is taken literally by you.  The only time that ceases to be true is when you cease to identify as a member of the church.

That’s why I would never advocate someone leaving the church.  The group is [hands-down] always better served if everyone who’s ever left over this-or-that doctrinal/history/etc. issue didn’t leave – but rather stayed and lived out their own story in the community.

By most estimates, there are at least as many, if not more, of them than there are of the toe-the-line, mainstream Mormons.  So, at this point, if they’d all stayed — they could potentially outnumber the rest, and we’d have an entirely different dynamic in the church.

You represent you – and that is representative of what it means to be Mormon – if it happens to be that you are Mormon.

Now, the Church [as it is organized currently as a corporate entity] is something altogether different.  None of us are their representative for what that group is or believes.  For that purpose, the Church has official Church spokesmen.  You can identify them by the corporate logo they wear on their name-tags.  If we all were official representatives of that corporate entity and what it says, then there would be no need to have a group of specially-called official representatives, now would there?

But when people tell me that they no longer find any value in the Mormon experience and want to leave – I get it.  I see in many respects how the church is laden with the doctrines and commandments of men, leader-worship, female repression, etc.  I truly empathize with people who feel disaffected with church because they’ve increasingly found the three-hour Sunday block [and all that comes with active participation] to be more of an obstacle, instead of a vehicle, for them experiencing the Lord.

I get why they don’t speak up to church leaders in an attempt to change things too.  There is no real platform for open and honest discussion among members without getting the:  “Well this is the way that the brethren have approved — so like it or leave it”-rhetoric.  I wouldn’t expect open and honest disclosure from people who feel put-out [even though I admit it would be better if they all did speak-up].

The environment provided by leaders at church leaves them with no voice and no room to have non-mainstream opinions [at least in some open and honest capacity] – so many don’t see how speaking-up matters.  They’ll just be told:

“Look here, if you do not want to subscribe to our form of worship of the Savior, then there are many other Churches to try out until one finds the one that provides that appropriate outlet or none may suffice.”

So they throw-up their hands and leave.  I get that.

Imagine a marriage relationship in which every time the wife brings up a certain issue she has with her husband, he gets defensive, he belittles her and yells, etc. — and nothing ever changes.

Now, the husband is doing that particular behavior one day and the wife has that look that women get when you know something’s wrong — she’s obviously bothered.  So he asks, “Honey, what’s wrong?”  And if you’re married, then you know her answer is, “Nothing.”

Now — it’s not nothing, it’s most definitely something.  Why does she say “nothing”?

• Because she’s a liar who doesn’t care about getting the marital issue resolved.
• Because of her experience with her husband, she knows that bringing the issue up will only result in a fight and nothing will be resolved.

Are their marital problems her fault because she won’t be forthcoming about what’s wrong when asked?  Or are they his fault because he has failed to provide an environment where his wife feels comfortable talking about her issues in emotional-safety?

The key for me is that the church doesn’t belong to such people.  It belongs to Jesus – and He says you have a place in it:

To make that distinction further – each member was baptized into the church of God, not the Church.  None of us are listed on the corporate charter of that agency, and are therefore not their agent.  The scriptures only describe us as agents “unto ourselves”.  As believers in Christ – we ought to also consider ourselves to be agents “unto Him” – and act accordingly.

But our fundamental allegiance is to Christ and to the word of God – thus there is very little concern for whether this-or-that aspect is considered contrary to “general Church-approved practices”, the “long-standing traditions”, etc.

The assumed state of things in the church is to trust no one until you know them well enough to open-up and share your story with them:

Now, I’ve acknowledged that the leaders do not provide a platform for open and honest discussion among members – and there’s no outlet for the disaffected to express their nuance of opinion or their concerns about certain issues.  As such, church leaders cannot reasonably expect open and honest disclosure from people who are feeling on the outs.

In fact, in my experience, leaders are often witch-hunters [taking the "judge in Israel" thing to the extreme], always looking for someone to judge as unfaithful, apostate, etc.  The only valid reason, in their minds, for “contrary” points-of-view or “unapproved” behavior is worthiness issues.  And so although the scriptural law is innocent until proven guilty – according to my experience, when leaders see dissension, they take a guilty until proven innocent stance.

Which is why I’ve taken Alma’s admonition to “trust no one…” [Mosiah 23:14] to be my marching orders and usually keep my mouth shut.  I’ve seen that those who implicitly trust the leadership [not living Alma’s admonition to “trust no one” unless you know beyond a reasonable doubt that they are men of God], will often say more than is expedient to say and quickly get into trouble.

I’ve been protected by a revelation I received some years ago that the word of the day for me is, “Shhh” — or that it is always best to be silent, to say nothing, to openly answer no questions to church leadership — sticking with “Yea” for yea and “Nay” for nay if I am ever asked.

But whether you choose to remain in the church and identify yourself as “Mormon” has nothing to do with what the approved practices and long-standing policies of the corporation that runs the church:

“Mormon” is a lot like the term “Christian” — it is more about what the person professes to believe.  It is not a term that can be brokered by a particular class of rulers “in charge” of the word.

For example, LDS insist that we are Christian just like everybody else, based on our professed belief in Christ.  Others would claim that our more nuanced understanding of Christ, the Godhead, etc. are beyond the leeway allowed for by orthodoxy.  But since we profess to believe in Christ – we generally call ourselves “Christian”.

Likewise, the Church has a hard time with professed Mormons who practice polygamy – thinking the term “Mormon” belongs to the corporation.  However, polygamist Mormons are Mormons.  The Community of Christ are Mormons.  Everyone has a professed belief in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  We may have more nuanced approaches to certain things [polygamy being the key example], but [like "Christian"] the term is general and correctly identifies all of us [in a general sense].

A person that hears me identify as “Mormon” starts viewing my actions and words as representative of the church.  This is why the Church – as a corporate entity – is big on the members considering themselves walking “advertisements” for the Corporation, carefully monitoring the public image that the members “sell”, etc.

But I am not their spokesperson.  I am not a broker for their religious product.  I am Me.

People do not exist as Platonic Ideas — pure representations of terms or concepts.  Being Me means that I represent the unique symphony that is the arrangement of my Life.  I can’t pour the entirety of Me into your brain all at once.  Each human being is a storytale that has to be shared in order to be known.

We come to know people as we interact with each other.  The “whole truth” doesn’t come by “telling” – but by coming to know the real You through experiencing.  It cannot be shown all at once – but people do come to see it.

So I’d say, “I’m Mormon” is generally not a bad start for me.  Granted, my family does understand certain things differently and holds a bit more of a nuanced opinion on things like what church authority means, what the role of the church with respect to our family is, the priesthood keys and common consent, marriage and family relations, etc.  But those views aren’t applicable to every relationship we have with every other church member — just like my entire set of views on things like politics, diet, marijuana, vaccination, homeschooling, etc. don’t need to be put all out on the table every time I meet someone new.

Should the particulars come up, I don’t hide or obscure them — but I don’t hand them out like business cards either.

We should treat our religious identification like we would any other interpersonal interaction – we start basic and progress towards the more specific/personal as [or if] the relationship goes that way.  To attempt to disclose the whole picture of the entirety of the specific nuances and peculiarities all at once at a first meeting or in casual interactions is both impractical and unhelpful.

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