For God or For Country

For God or For Country

            When Communist nations like China and the Soviet Union sought to achieve mass, unprecedented devotion to their state, they eradicated religion. They held up their leaders as gods, and their laws as the supreme law. This was done because the leaders of these nations knew just how powerful religion’s grip could be. They knew that their authority would never be fully supreme in the minds of the people if the people knew gods above them. Religion teaches us that we will one day face a final judgment; and on that day the only laws that matter are those of divine inspiration. If a person truly believes that he will be judged upon the laws of god after death, then when they conflict with the laws of the nation, the doctrine of his god will trump that of any mortal law. Because who would risk eternal damnation for what is – relatively – only a short time of persecution?

            That is the mindset inherent to Fundamentalist Mormonism, and many commonly accepted religions. But what makes Fundamentalism different is that it has become radicalized to a point where it can no longer see reason. This specific religion has seen a disturbing trend of violent acts in the name of god. But yet the people who commit these acts are disillusioned into believing that they have done nothing wrong. Because how could it be wrong, if their god told them to do it? Followers of this mindset will never see the truth of their actions because, in the eyes of their religion, they are simply warriors, battling for god.

Ingrained Persecution

            The Mormon faith, while it was still one united group, was born amidst the religious hysteria of the burnt-over district in New York. This was a time in American history, called the Second Great Awakening, of massive religious revivals, emotional meetings and tearful confessionals. In 1823, an angel visited Joseph Smith and reveled golden tablets, from which Joseph transcribed the Book of Mormon, Mormonism’s bible and central text (LeBaron). And from Mormonism’s very inception it was persecuted. As the group moved west they were chased out by band after band of gentiles, from New York, to Ohio, to Illinois, and to their final asylum, Salt Lake City (Krakauer 51). One incident, just one of many that was particularly emblematic of the persecution that the Mormon followers developed, is known as Haun’s Mill massacre. In 1830, the Mormon saints were settled in Missouri, but still could not find peace or acceptance from the gentiles surrounding them. After escalating tensions, among them a state order for all Mormons to evacuate Missouri, a group of 17 Mormons were shot and killed while hiding inside a barn. The people behind the guns were members of Missouri’s own state militia (Blair). This attack, one in a long line of attacks against Mormons as they fled west, would propagate the Mormon complex of persecution. Further federal raids would only strengthen this mentality of subjection. They would begin to believe that their government stood in direct opposition to them.

            Overtime, the many legitimate counts of persecution by outsiders manifested into paranoia among saints that would lead to violent actions. Much of the violence Mormons perpetrated was a direct result of the violence that had been propagated against them. In 1842, Joseph Smith himself released a series of revelations known as blood atonement (LeBaron). These revelations put forth a doctrine in which Mormons could seek “blood atonement” – death – for those who had harmed them.

            One of the darkest periods in Mormon history would stem from this creed.   According to Richard Turley, Director of Family and Church History for the Mormon Church, in the 1850’s the tensions between the Mormon Church and the United States government had reached critical mass. Many saints feared that the federal government would take away the autonomous control allowed to prophet Brigham Young. The rising tension would climax in the slaughter of 120 unarmed gentile immigrants who were migrating through Utah in route to California (Turley). The militia of Mormons and Indian allies who perpetrated this crime were acting upon orders from their leaders. “Those who had deplored vigilante violence against their own people in Missouri and Illinois were now about to follow virtually the same pattern of violence against others, but on a deadlier scale,” says Turley. This massacre is just one example of how the early persecution and devastation that the Mormon religion survived would inspire deadly actions.

           

Closed Doors and Indoctrination

            The complex of persecution intrinsic to Fundamentalism would create solidarity and bonds within the faith. In his book, Under the Banner of Heaven, John Krakauer notes, “Bearing persecution became the distinctive badge of membership in the church, it was the test of one’s faith” (Krakauer 7). This was the root source of the closed communities and strict information control that many Fundamentalist sects practice.

            The main Fundamentalist church, the FLDS, is known for its compounds: closed communities in which horrible acts can be committed without the world seeing in. The recent and infamous raid of prophet and leader Warren Jeffs’ compound in West Texas brought to light much of the sexual abuse, incest, polygamy and child abuse that these men had been able to commit from their positions of power (McKinley). In this case alone 437 children were removed from the property by child services (McKever). To this day Warren Jeffs, after being named one of the FBI’s top ten most wanted, serves a life sentence for child abuse and rape. Along with the abuse that has proliferated under the leadership of these men, also comes brainwashing. The children in these sects grow up from day one being indoctrinated with radical messages. They are taught that they cannot reach salvation – heaven – without practices such as polygamy, or as they call it, celestial marriage. How then does this breed violence within the sects? The chokehold that church leaders have on the community gives children a skewed sense of morality. Their conception of right and wrong exists on a completely different scale.

            Not only do fundamentalist sects indoctrinate children with radicalized messages, but they can also create alienation and anger among many of the outcasts of these communities. Factions such as Colorado City are bastions of complete control. The church owns all community property, and excommunication from the church means a complete severance from all parts of Fundamentalist life. Those who have been excommunicated are abandoned by their families to face homelessness, poverty and unemployment.  Many of those kicked out of the church are teenage boys, known as Lost Boys. One such boy, Sam Steed, who wandered the streets on the brink of starvation, attempting suicide numerous times says,  "We're taught the only way into heaven is through this church, if you leave, that's worse than murder." According to the Associated Press, in just the past 4 years 800 teens have been excommunicated (Wagner). In the harsh world of fundamentalism, where only two options are presented: complete inclusion or complete exclusion, abuse and violence run rampant.

A Skewed Moral Compass

            The warped morality that is proselytized into FLDS members is a direct link in the path to extreme violence. To those who believe wholly in church teachings, common law simply does not apply. The hatred Fundamentalists hold for the government is so extreme that they openly use a technique known as “bleeding the beast.” This is a practice by which fundamentalist sects obtain large amounts of government assistance in an attempt to drain the government of funds. In one year alone, 4,000 residents of Colorado City received 8 million dollars of government health aid (McKeever).  To Fundamentalists, the fraud that they employ is one battle in a holy crusade against the United States Government. If given the choice between pleasing god and following the law, they choose the path of god. A religious connection intrinsically is not a catalyst for evil, except in the case of many of these Fundamentalist men who believe that god has called them to commit heinous acts.

            The doctrine of personal revelation is a key factor in this violence. From its very inception Mormonism taught a close and personal relationship with god. The head of the Fundamentalist Church is known as the prophet, and he is believed to communicate directly with god. Revelations from prophets and church members are seen as the word of god himself, and are taken with utmost sincerity (LeBaron). 

            Unfortunately for some, the line between revelations from god and the paranoid workings of a deranged mind becomes blurred. Not only do these men have violent fantasies, but fundamentalism has told them that these fantasies are not delusions, but the word of god. The social constructs in place that prevent members of mainstream society from mass murder simply do not exist in this arena. This reasoning lay in the minds of the brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who in July of 1984 murdered their sister-in-law Brenda and her baby Erica, out of a belief that Brenda threatened their very way of life. They were afraid of Brenda’s criticisms of the FLDS, and believed that god compelled them to kill her as part of a greater mission (Krakaeur 10). But this is not the only case of justified mass-murder in the FLDS. Ervil LeBaron, a Fundamentalist prophet, compelled his followers, known as the Lambs of God, to kill 17 people in an act of blood atonement (Krakauer 243).  His words echoed those of Joseph Smith himself. Ervil’s children committed these crimes based on the belief that god was speaking through Ervil. Although these men may have had these violent personalities no matter what home they were born into, fundamentalism handed them the keys. It told them that they alone knew the truth, that the rest of America was the deluded one, and that they acted as the very hand of god.

            Perhaps it is a church leader himself who best articulates the belief intrinsic to Fundamentalist Mormonism. John Taylor, who served as Brigham Young’s successor in the 1880’s stated:

            God is Greater than the United States, and when the government conflicts     with heaven we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the

            Government… polygamy is a divine institution. It has been handed down       direct from God. The United States cannot abolish it. No nation on earth can prevent it, nor all the nations of the earth combined… I defy the United         States; I will obey God. (Krakauer 252)

The Solution: Straight to the Source

            In the search for an answer, a way to cure these dangerous minds, a wall is constantly hit. To reach through to many of these men – to make them finally see what they have done – is to make them abandon their conception of who god is. Fundamentalism has been ingrained so deeply in these perpetrators that reason and fact simply have no effect. As John Hallawas and Robert Launius, authors of Cultures in Conflict put it, for Mormons “guilt and innocence become matters of belief, not evidence” (Hallawas and Launius 75). Perhaps, if these men who commit violence in the name of religion cannot be made to see the truth of their actions, then the only way to stop this from happening again is to go to the beginning. These men need to be stopped before they can brainwash any more children. The abuse and high walls of the FLDS are perpetuating dangerous mentalities. In fact, this work has already began, the raid on Warren Jeffs’ compound in 2008 brought to light many of the horrors within the church (McKinley). This work must continue if there is any hope for a reduction in radical violence within the Fundamentalist community.

            Mormon Fundamentalism knows a power that is almost incomprehensible. The psychological forces at work within the church perpetuate a culture of violence. It is no coincidence that many violent episodes have occurred within this religion. With its ingrained persecution-complex, an us versus them mentality becomes dangerous. And the total control with which church leaders operate allows for these myths to be indoctrinated into members. Finally, the personal revelations from god go unchecked, allowing for paranoid delusions to become religious agendas. 

            This formula for disorder is dangerous not only because of the violence which its members directly cause, but because of the mentality with which it operates. To these church members, societal law simply does not matter. They can justify to themselves any action, no matter what consequence, because they truly believe that god has called them to do it. The laws of reason and morality are inapplicable because they have a skewed set of morals that stand at odds to the rest of the nation.

            This phenomenon is not unique to Mormon Fundamentalists. It is a force working all over the world. America is fighting a war against the very same doctrine of Fundamentalism, one that we have never figured out how to win, because it might just be unwinnable. In the minds of religious Fundamentalists they alone know the way of the righteous, and they cannot be convinced that what they espouse is wrong.  The ultimate conviction with which they operate may truly be an unstoppable force, because in the collision between reason and belief, neither side is willing to stop.

           

 Works Cited

Blair, Alma R. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Brigham Young University, 1992.        Web. 16 December 2013.

Hallawas, John and Roger D. Launius. Cultures In Conflict: A Documentary History of   the Mormon War in Illinois. Salt Lake City: Utah State University Press, 1999.        Print.

Krakauer, John. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. New York:           Random House, 2003. Print.

LeBaron Jr., Garn. Mormon Fundamentalism and Violence: A Historical Analysis.             Recovery from Mormonism, 1995. Web. 03 December 2013.

McKeever, Billy. Mormonism Research Ministry. Mormonism Research Ministry:          2008. Web. 17 December 2013.

McKinley, Carole. Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc. 05 March 2011. Web. 16 December            2013.

Turley Jr., Richard E. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church of     Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, September 2007. Web. 16 December 2013.

Wagner, Angie. Maze Ministry. Associated Press, September 5, 2004. Web. 16             December 2013.

An All-American Addiction

            Television is a drug and America is an addict. This medium is so enslaving because it presents to us a chance of escapism: to do things we could never do in real life, with the freedom to make mistakes so caustic that they would cause immediate destruction were we really to go through with it. But yet, from inside a television no mistake can be made that cannot be undone. As an American public, we are addicted to television because of the inherent perfection with which it presents life. We can become lost in the plot line and forget about the stressors and fears in our own lives. For this very reason, we do not see people on TV watching TV. To see that image, would be to wake up from our dream; it would make us all to aware that what we are seeing is only an illusion, that these characters are not really a part of our lives. Einrich is quite accurate in her denunciation of American culture, the “television” has prayed upon our minds to create the perfect formula for a nation of couch potatoes.

            The idea that television has transformed Americans, along with society, into couch potatoes, is one that is all too apparent. In American today, the average person spends four hours per day watching television. Not only has the screen time increased, but so to have the secondary impacts of television: obesity, poor eating behaviors, and anti-social behaviors. But these critiques of entertainment are not anything particularly new; when books and novels were first circulated centuries ago, they too were often denounced as corrupting hard work and morals. But television has taken that formula of escapism to a whole new level. Unlike books and movies, TV has constant access to us in our homes and gives such a vivid and easy to understand story that we are capable of watching it for hours on end.

          The realization presented by Einrich that people on television are never seen doing anything that resembles the hours spent in front of the TV is one that is truly startling. The characters instead seem to be doing activities that would be considered the most exciting part of any person’s week, except they are lined up in hit after hit of excitement. They present life in hyper-speed. The everyday life an average person simply cannot compete with the thrilling lives of their favorite characters. Therefore, it is often easier for us to become spectators, to watch the hours of entertainment, rather than seek to find real-life connections; which because they are real-life are often not as fun and exciting as what we see on TV.

            The assertions that Barbara Einrich has presented are an ominous thought: that television has transformed the once active and vigorous American lifestyle into little more than a catatonic state of mindless entertainment consumption. But nonetheless, the thesis is quite truthful. Television has made a product so successful that it has become an addiction. It does this by showing an approximation of reality that is impossible for a real person to achieve. It tricks people into forgetting that television is not really a part of who they are, but is simply the made up stories of in a fictional character’s life. This disillusionment is so malignant that it causes us to forgo living our own lives to watch another’s.

The View from the Passenger's Seat

            In the tunnel, the tile surrounds you. Headlights bounce of the grimy walls, creating a sickly yellow color akin to that of an underground parking lot. The farther you get in, the more apart from the real world you become. You are removed, in the futuristic dream of a mid-century city planner. Then gradually, light appears, so far away that it might just be a mirage. The tunnel is suffocating, dank and gross, but then suddenly you have arrived. The city opens up in front of you. Against the inky black and navy of the sky, lights shine. The river and the sky and the concrete are one blackness; the backdrop to thousands of pinpricks of shining yellow.

            The road winds and twists around the city, following the river. Up close, the lights separate into a million different sources. They are the fluorescence of office buildings, the faint white of stars, the blinding flashes of stadiums, and the red-orange of the steel mills. Few still run, but where they do the light is striking. It is a constant presence. They relentlessly run, never stopping, but it is at night when they come alive. The sparks fly, and the glowing molten steel flows.

            Up, away from the river, the road winds. The lights fade and the buildings become dark. They rot from abuse, vacancy and abandonment. The windows are boarded up, and metal bars keep life out. But somehow, that this was once a vibrant town, is still evident. On the corner is a majestic bank, whose marble walls and grand doors once held the center of this community. But now the doors are closed and the lights are off. On street corners and in doorways people smoke and talk and wait. What they are waiting for I will never know. The only building still open is a lonely bar, with windows so caked in years of decay that light barely reaches the outside. Green and red neon struggle past the windows and onto the sidewalk. The sign no longer hangs straight, and the letters are so dark they are illegible.

             Finally, we round the corner and travel up, winding around trees and guardrails until we have left the urban decay. The car stops and turns into a neighborhood like any other, with small brick homes and identical white trim, but yet it is different than any other neighborhood. It is a place I have come to a million times, and it has never changed. As we pull into my grandmother’s driveway light shines from the familiar silhouette of the front window. But this light glows at a different frequency from the rest. It does not illuminate the sadness of a city in disrepair or the monotony of the winding road; this light brings warmth. It is a constant, shining with the light of memories, and family, and home.

FEAR

The woman puts her hand on the doorknob. She does not know what lies ahead, but you do. Around her the music’s swells envelop her; violins, harps and the crash of symbols all cry out “stop!” But she does not hear. The woman exists altogether in another dimension, yet somehow you are tied to her. She does not know what is coming for her, but she is dragging you, you who knows all to well where you are going. Your pulse quickens, your eyes widen, and your hands become cold and clammy. This is real; this is fear.

            Many movie producers must believe that the audience’s panic is in reaction to the revelation of the horror villain waiting in the closet.  They hold on to the conviction that if one knife wound was scary, then one hundred must be bloodcurdling. But fear does not work this way. Fear does not follow the laws of science; it cannot simply be multiplied. On the contrary, gore and blood seem to lose their effect the more abundant they become. Seeing one victim, one person, gives you an intimate connection. If that one victim is lost in a sea of hundreds, the viewer is no longer horrified. They simply become callous.

            Garish black and red poster dripping in blood after horror movie poster will tell you that theirs is the next best thing; that it is scarier and more terrifying than anything you have ever seen before. But this is simply not true. Used as a marketing tool, fear loses its power. Logic does not apply to it. Imagine you are given a choice. You can walk into your home and find a robbery in progress. You can look into the eyes of the man who will steal your money and your security. Or, you can hide. You can dive under your bed watching through the thin slat of light coming in, waiting for the pair of black boots that are coming for you. That will walk past you, never knowing you are there. That will never know you are there until suddenly they do. Until they reach down and stare into your eyes with all that is evil in the world. Or maybe they won’t see you. Maybe the black leather boots will walk past where you cower under the bed and leave behind destruction, and mayhem, and you. If you were an empiricist, you would logically choose to hide, because you have a better chance of evading your captors. But yet the fear intrinsic to the second option would be paralyzing.  It would consume you; almost to the point at which you would give up, give in, and let yourself be found, just so that you could regain the smallest amount of control.

            For one to fully grasp fear, holding on to what it is, manipulating and controlling it, is a near impossible feat. An emotion this strong, so irrational, yet so gripping, is one that is worth a lot of money. Movie producers, politicians and radio hosts would sell their souls to be handed the key to fear. But what is it? What is fear? The fear that is represented so often in the media is a false representation. It is distorted in an attempt to maximize the potential to fright. Pieces that are scary to each individual viewer are piled on top of each other into a gargantuan pyramid that no longer resembles fear. Take the classic “opening the door sequence” in a scary movie. The slow opening of the anticipatory creaking wood alone is enough to set viewers on the edge of their seats. But yet, once the door is opened, once the murderer is revealed, the scene no longer generates terror. The blood and the guts create disgust, not fear.  This is because fear, at its heart, lies in the unknown. Terror is the blackness, it is not the monster.

            For all of human history our race has seemed to have one goal: to create control over our lives. We seek the truth by attempting to describe and quantify everything around us. But the unknown lies as the antithesis to knowledge. From this chasm springs fear. It is not something that you can touch or study, because it simply cannot be controlled.  It is exists in the wait, in the anticipation of what is coming for you, in the darkness behind a door. It is uncomfortable because it is indefinable.