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April 29, 2009

I recently spoke on the phone with my old college friend, Adrian. We were discussing the current economic debacle. Adrian begins to laugh as he jokes:

"You and I don't have anything to worry about. We'll never have to stand on a street corner banging a tin cup for loose change. We can always start our own cult religion. We know how to do that - we were taught by the best."

And now we're both laughing at this. It's funny, because, unfortunately, we do understand cults very well.

(1972) Adrian seems harmless enough here, ha, ha! - but do not be deceived! He is the smartest guy I know, quite dangerous, also with a comic wit, one packing more firepower even than Emory's (P.S.#19). I remember Adrian in the dorm, in England. I can see him now. He does this facial humor, these grimacing contortions, like Jim Carrey, and he's pretending to be some heavy-browed, out-of-touch British Foreign Secretary, speaking in grave tones, with a heavy accent, droning, "Send in a gunboat! Send in a gunboat!" as he marches around the study, inflaming everyone with his schtick! Our career paths have been similar in many respects; each of us has been to law school; studied philosophy and theology; worked as money managers - but, amazing to each of us, after 40 years of our individual searchings, we have arrived at the same tentative conclusions regarding the meaning and purpose of life.

Who Said Anything About Religion?

The title of this article is How To Know If You Belong To A Cult. Maybe you were you thinking of this in terms of religion... you know, Jim Jones stuff; well, Jim was right in there, of course, but, it's a little more complicated than that.

Several years ago I suddenly realized, and clearly saw, that

• the Spirit of Cultism is not to be found residing only within certain religious groups, but can be found in every facet of society!

It's everywhere. Its hard-core versions, to be sure, will be associated with the kool-aid; but the essence of cultism is a much bigger problem -more pervasive and pandemic than the dramatic Jim-Jones kind. It's everywhere. I mean everywhere.

What Does The Word Cult Mean?

The word cult derives from a family of Latin words with the basic meaning of "cut" or "knife."

The notion of "cut" leads us to the broader concepts of refinement; and, by extension, to the ideas of development, control, order, and system.

For example, we see the root idea of cult in the word cultivate, which, when applied to plants, offers the prospect of increased plant development and greater control over the food supply.

A cultured person is a refined and developed person - many of the imperfections have been cut away, allowing for a more ordered life.

A particular culture, for example, an ethnic culture, is one in which things are done in a certain way; life is systematized, has been made to work, by doing things according to a particular pattern.

When I was a boy, Dad would ask me to change the culters (or coulters) on a plow. Culters are the cutting edges, the knife-blades, of a plow.

(1970) my brother Terry changing the coulters on a plow

In fact, the very word agriculture, too, contains this root-idea of order and system as it relates to the food supply.

I began thinking about the meaning of cult in 1980. I had recently purchased Will Durant's The Story of Civilization and came across his discussion of the difference between culture and civilization:

Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation... It begins where chaos and insecurity end. For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life... A people may possess ordered institutions, a lofty moral code, and even a flair for the minor forms of art, like the American Indians; and yet if it remains in the hunting stage, if it depends for its existence upon the precarious fortunes of the chase, it will never quite pass from barbarism to civilization... The first form of culture is agriculture. It is when man settles down to till the soil and lay up provisions for the uncertain future that he finds time and reason to be civilized. Within that little circle of security - a reliable supply of water and food - he builds huts, his temples and his schools; he invents productive tools, and domesticates the dog... at last himself. He learns to work with regularity and order, maintains a longer tenure of life, and transmits more completely than before the mental and moral heritage of his race. Culture suggests agriculture, but civilization suggests the city ... civility [literally suggests] the refinement which townsmen ... thought possible only in the civitas or city.

I found all of this very interesting. The first form of culture was agriculture, which allowed for stability of life as the food supply became more predictable; all of which was a refinement of daily living. Civilization is further refinement found in the city.

But it was at this point that I began to think about the use of the term cult in reference to religion. What did it mean in this context?

The Beast, The False Prophet... and other fun guys

We have a set of bookcases in our living room; nice white ones, 8 feet high, about 17 feet long, filled with the important books of my life.

Sometimes, I like to sit back and just look at it all. These books, in a sense, speak of the story of my life; each one, a teacher; a friend; a milestone of thought; a certain discovery and insight, at a particular stage of my life.

Here's one now that catches my eye... The Meaning Of The Millennium: Four Views, by Robert Clouse.

I remember getting this book about 15 years ago. Like Jim Croce's Sweet Cordelia Brown, it "turned my head around." Four views?! I didn't even know there were multiple views for the book of Revelation! such a tender babe-in-arms was I! "You're telling me that there's more than one way of looking at Revelation?" I was familiar with only one - the one that said, "The end is coming soon, the Beast will rise in Europe, the whole world will fry, except our church, of course, and then Jesus will return and force everyone to be good."

So, I had a look at these other views. And guess what? I found one of them to be superior to my previous understanding. Far superior, with much greater contextual and logical support. And I chastised myself for being so gullible in my youth; for having accepted another's position without having critically reviewed all of the evidence.

Here's what I came to see. There are five or six major interpretations of the book of Revelation. But, in the main, you will hear of only one! the existence of the other five will, generally, not even be acknowledged!

Why is that?

Certain religious groups, ones that seek autocratic power over their members, love the version I mentioned above, the one about "The Beast will rise in Europe" and all that, because this version allows them the greatest opportunity to scare you to death - a very handy little crowd-control tool; especially, when reason and logic are in short supply.

• Editor's note: For those of you who would like to undertake a study of Revelation, I would recommend Bill Hendriksen's commentary. I consider it to be an intellectually honest review of the text.

But allow me to offer a 15-second summary of Revelation, the details for which Hendriksen will provide.

• Revelation does not speak of a coming 1000-year reign of Jesus. The book does not primarily focus on a great end-time conflagration. The number 666 will not be tattooed on your arm. This book does explain that there has always been a clash between those who love God and those who do not; that spiritually-minded people have always been oppressed by dark forces in this world; and that such conflict represents the norm during this mortal life.

Revelation, with grand symbolism, like an epic movie action-thriller, introduces two nefarious characters, ones who stand as perpetual threats to everything good and decent. These two symbolic figures do not refer to any specific individuals but represent any and all who seek to oppress and control others.

Let's look at these two villains (Rev. 16: 13).

(1) "The Beast" - or, as a modern Bible translation might render the Greek, "The Wild Animal"! This menacing symbol represents all secular power which seeks to domineer - governmental, corporate, and individual despotism; all forms of making merchandise and taking advantage of people; all forms of oppressing others.

Editor's note: There is a scene in Nixon which speaks to this. A 19 year-old female war-protestor, in debate with the President, suddenly understands something. She now verbally accosts him: "If they don't want the war, and we don't want the war, and you don't want the war, why does it go on? [suddenly understanding] You're not able to stop it! It's the system, isn't it? It's like an uncontrolled Wild Animal!"

(2) "The False Prophet" - today we might say, "The Lying Teacher"! The False Prophet is a symbol of every lying influence and ideology, every deceptive religion and philosophy in the world that solemnly claims to represent God or Higher Meaning - but does so only to enslave the ignorant and fearful; to exercise power and control over the unenlightened masses.

The Wild Animal is a dangerous guy, to be sure; but, one good thing about him, at least he's a little more upfront about it. He's usually right out there, blatantly taking away your personal freedoms, threatening you with harm; or with military or economic sanctions; ever ready to use brute force when clever arguments fail; as, for him, they quickly do.

And then there's The Lying Teacher. He's a little more slippery. He'll pick your pocket, and then smile and try to convince you that he's both doing you a favor and God's will!

Did you know that the "wolf in sheep's clothing" is a biblical allusion? The Lying Teacher is the archetypal offender here, as Revelation (13: 11) describes him as coming to you dressed as a "lamb"! He looks like a "lamb"! a nice guy! but he has the heart of a "dragon"! a monster!

• The Lying Teacher often comes as a religious figure! and he looks so respectable, so saintly, so dignified! so much like a lamb! a symbol of peace! but only to those who don't know! He will smile a heavenly smile for you, and pat the heads of your kids, and make pleasant jokes, and use high-brow religious words to impress you; all the while his heart, the dragon's heart, the monster's heart, thinks only of how much he can take from you! Amazing!

Revelation tells us that many people, the majority, will be tricked by all of this five-star fakery! all of this biting-of-the-lower-lip, I-feel-your-pain, grandstanding! And behind all of this counterfeit spirituality lies the most vile and putrid corruption of dragon-heart imaginable!

The best actors are not in Hollywood. Because that's not where the real money and power is in this world!

And how shall we protect ourselves from this academy award-winning deception?

The Beast and False Prophet on a Romp

The world is a mixture of good and not-so-good people. That's what Jesus said in the parable of the "weeds amidst the wheat." I stated in P.S.# 19 that all people are intrinsically good, and will yet rise to meet their better destiny; but many right now are deeply in debt to dark forces, and are anything but spiritually-minded.

We meet these dark spirits everyday. Sometimes we can easily tell who they are. We sense the antipathy, the negative energy. They are not service-minded. We know that they do not have our best interests at heart. But sometimes these self-serving spirits are very good at packaging and selling themselves as "nice guys" - they try to remember to always wear white hats when you're around.

And some of these dark spirits manage our schools and universities, our government, our corporations, our churches; indeed, you will find them at every level, in every aspect, of society.

And, in each of these cases, these troubled spirits represent various aspects of The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher.

Dr. Michael Newton (P.S. #3) estimates that two-thirds of all people in this world are immature, self-serving, egotistical, dark spirits... and some of these are even much worse, and will stop at nothing to gain power and control over others... that means you.

You might want to review F.A Hayek's (P.S. #17) warning about "Why The Worst Get On Top"!

Because of the spiritual emptiness in their lives, these monster-hearts, with their misguided personal searches for love and happiness, will be attracted to positions of power. They love the prospects for glory and aggrandizement, which, they believe, will make them happy; and, some of them are so corrupted that, if they could get away with it, they would kill you to get their hands on the pomp and glory. 

That's why Revelation calls them "Wild Animals"! In their hearts, they are ferocious, greedy, vicious, grasping, malevolent, lying, seething with hatred for humanity! And they will hide, from you, this diseased heart of theirs, while biting that lower lip, while speaking of their compassion, while offering assurance that they feel your pain! They are the quintessential "wolves in sheep's clothing"! So says the apostle John!

All of this is the dark and cloaked psychology of The Beast and The False Prophet!

I stated in P.S. #19 that, to my astonishment, and sometimes dismay, in my long years of research, I came to see that most teachings of my youth were, in fact, not the truth.

How could that be?

Possibly you considered this to be an overstatement on my part. But maybe this will make more sense to you now. According to the nature of things, it must be as I say...

• Because, behind most important ideas of life, there stands an institution of society promoting or regulating that idea. As such, this opportunity to control the flow of information and ideas, and the good things of life resulting from those ideas, creates positions of power. And these positions of power, far too often, attract a certain mentality that is hungry for that power - like a Wild Animal that can think of nothing but food. And with this power over people, once secured, these monster-hearts will bend and shape what was once the truth into something else, something that will serve the private interests of a Wild Animal-elite... hey, that's what Lying Teachers do. It's their job!

This is the story of The Beast and The False Prophet in world history! Yes, these things are disturbing to think about. The implications make us uncomfortable. It means that - not all, just most - of the institutions, and the leading people in those institutions, represent various aspects of The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher.

The problem for us is that if we do not wake up to this universal condition and problem, we will never escape their clutches!

There is a curious picture offered of these Two near the end of Revelation. The apostle John, in psychic-vision, watched these guys being "thrown alive into the Lake of Fire."

What does this mean?

Allow me to mention once again - there is no eternal hell fire. What we read of here is a symbolic destruction of two symbols! But, even so, it has a meaning. And I think the meaning is this: The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher are active until the very end. They never give up. They will keep on lying and bullying... until they are stopped... until they have no more victims to lord-it-over... until all of us wake up to their devices, thereby removing their opportunity to deceive!

Destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet, Benjamin West (1804); a symbolic representation of the end of evil in our world. It would be nice if such cleansing were as simple as getting rid of two individuals. The last time I looked in the mirror, though, I realized that this lofty ideal will require a little more work.

Checks-and-Balances:

Why We All Can't Just Get Along

The American Founding Fathers understood, as many of us today do not, that concentrated power, in the hands of a few, inevitably leads to oppression. The system of "check and balances," originally built into the structure of American government, acknowledged that men are not angels; occasionally, some may be, but we must not assume that. And even if we were lucky enough to find a benevolent dictator who would not abuse power, the next person in office would surely take advantage of any lack of oversight.

The system of checks-and-balances today is becoming politically incorrect. Socialistic elites in government today want you to believe that what the Founders instituted was so unnecessary, so untidy and inefficient...  can't we all just get along? ... they want you to believe that they are the consummate Nice Guys. Notice how they smile so broadly, just lovable big kids, you know! the "friendly neighbor" who would never do anything to betray the public trust.

But, history teaches us otherwise.

• Our system of check-and-balances is the legal and procedural embodiment of The Nice Guy. Because once those safeguards are gone, in most cases, guess what! ... so will be The Nice Guy.

The surrendering of procedural safeguards today is racing ahead due to, they say, the purported exigencies of the current "crisis." A "crisis" created by those same ones now claiming to be our salvation from the "crisis." In their unguarded moments they, themselves, have candidly admitted that they see this "crisis" as an opportunity to amass power to themselves. And in this "crisis," the henhouse is being robbed by the foxes, as more and more unchecked power devolves to an elite at the top. This lack of accountability, this breakdown of procedural controls and oversight, will not serve us well. This is extremely dangerous, my friends.

• Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 BC - 43 BC: "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague."

• Abraham Lincoln: "At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die, by suicide."

What JFK and Ike Tried To Tell Us

The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher have been with us for a long time. They never sleep. They never give up.

I wonder how many of my readers have heard of JFK's "conspiracy speech"? JFK warned us about what he saw as the rising threat to America from within America's own great institutions. This is one speech of JFK that socialists hope you will never read.

See JFK's "conspiracy" speech here.

Consider this excerpt:

For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence. On infiltration instead of invasion; on subversion instead of elections; on intimidation instead of free choice; on guerillas by night, instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations. Its preparations are concealed not published; its mistakes are buried not headlined; its dissenters are silenced not praised; no expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.

How eloquent his words! But what was JFK talking about? "... we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy," that touches every major institution of the world, "military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations."

His words are shocking! My friends, we have entered the twilight zone of the The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher! As JFK said, these dark spirits work in the dark, employ "covert means," but use force, "subversion," and "intimidation" to grab for more and more power, an "expanding" of their "sphere of influence."

The evidence strongly suggests that JFK made enemies! was killed by those whom he threatened with loss of power! The Wild Animal  tore him apart!

Jim Garrison, American Hero

JIM GARRISON, District Attorney of New Orleans, October, 1967: "A number of the men who killed the President [Kennedy] were former employees of the CIA involved in its anti-Castro underground activities in the New Orleans area. The CIA knows their identity. So do I." read more

And, for those of you who might dismissively cast aside JFK's words as merely an outdated reference to the Russians, Ike thought otherwise:

President Eisenhower also delivered a dire warning.

This iconic superhero of D-Day waited until his last speech! just as he was leaving office! before deciding to warn the American public about the dangerous cabal of concentrated power in America's most powerful institutions!

See complete text of President Eisenhower's final address.

Consider this excerpt:

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea... This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence - economic, political, even spiritual - is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together... The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

Consider carefully these warnings by two great Presidents. Clearly, it is easy to see, I think, that these men could not speak as frankly as they might have liked. And they were in a position to know!

Yet, today, in too many cases, instead of Eisenhower's "alert and knowledgeable citizenry," the cult-like chanting masses, those who desire a saviour, lead us to evermore concentrated power in the Federal government! These days - today! - are the heady and halcyon days of The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher! so easy for them to do business right now! because there are so many who are willing to be seduced and raped.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cult Leader

This article is entitled "How To Know If You Belong To A Cult."

I have led you, by circuitous route, to a most important point that I'd like to emphasize - which is this:

• The spirit of cultism is everywhere! in your neighborhood, at your place of work, in your church, in your government; maybe, even in your family; and you, right now, are probably heavily involved in this process!

As I said earlier, most of us think of cults in terms of the Jim Jones tragedy. You know, religious wierdos. We have jokes about "drinking the kool-aid." And when we laugh at those jokes, we mean to say that cultism is for the deranged minority... certainly not for sophisticated ones such as ourselves; no, of course not.

What do I mean when I say that the spirit of cultism is everywhere? The Jim-Jones type was merely on the extreme end of the spectrum. And when we trivialize the issue by saying that cultism relates only to that sensational version, we blind ourselves to the essence of the cultic dynamic - we fail to see that so many of us, at minimum, are drinking kool-aid-lite! in some form or another!

Editor's note: Just as Mark Twain in Huck Finn broached, through Southern good-ol'boy humor, the powder-keg subject of slavery, Archie and Edith, by way of comic bigotry, brought to America a new openness and awareness of previously taboo subjects. All In The Family truly broke new ground. Occasionally, I think about one of Archie's famous pigheaded comments, and it always makes me laugh. Edith has just read an article in Good Housekeeping, the content of which sends Archie into orbit. He demands of Edith:"Don't ever read another magazine!" And she looks at him in that way of hers. All of this is very funny; but, of course, lots of cult organizations will try to pull this one on you. They will have their "approved" literature; their list of "recommended," and not-so-recommended, books; Orwellian-like, they will also even ban certain words, or recast them in new molds, with strange definitions; and all of this new-speak is part of a concerted design to reshape the truth and control the minds of the party faithful. It's funny from Twain or Archie... not so funny when it's from you friendly neighborhood cult leader... especially not so funny when many around us think that this kind of nannyism is quite normal and to be encouraged. One of the great things about All In The Family was the evolution and personal growth of Edith. At the end, she made it clear to her favorite cult leader just where he could stick his narrow bigoted views. We should all become so enlightened as Edith Bunker.

Let's look at this essence of cultism. What is it?

Consider again that definition of cult, discussed above. The root idea of the word suggests a certain order and system; a certain way of doing things.

This often can be a good thing, as we see reflected in such words as  culture and agriculture.

But then, there is that other dark form.

• It all goes wrong when somebody starts to believe his own propaganda. The Lying Teacher comes to believe his own lies! A cult leader has strong opinions about the right way of doing things - his way, the only way. He comes to see that life and the world would be good, and orderly, and well systematized, if only everyone else would come to believe his view. To this end, as savior of the world, he feels justified in attempting to control others - for their own good, of course; a program of control, which, if he has the power, easily devolves into practices of intimidation; or worse, if he thinks he can get away with it; all justified by his modest self-estimation of having most special knowledge, either from God directly, or as a result of simply being the smartest person in the room.

This is the dark essence of cultism. We see it everywhere. In every aspect of life and society. Those who lead this parade, we must come to see, are "cult leaders"; those who follow the parade are "cult members."

In fact, we see this untoward process so much and so often, it's hard to find even one sane person who is not swept along in this torrent.

We see this process and spirit in:

(1) The controlling church pastor, and the fearful church member;

(2) The power-posturing boss, and the obsequient employee;

(3) The intellectually domineering professor, and the gullible student;

(4) The head-of-the-roost husband, and the barefoot-and-pregnant wife; the most tragic example, the 16 year-old girl, featured in PS# 19;

"If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture." Abdul Qayum, Chief Prosecutor, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. Editor's note : see my P.S. #19 regarding this poor girl.

(4) The government leader, posturing as savior, and the mindlessly chanting, hero-worshipping, party faithful.

(5) The psychologically-controlling parent, attempting to "hold court," and manipulate, even, grown children; and the grown children, acting as if they have no life or brains of their own, still emotionally tied to mama or dada;

(6) The list goes on.

• Thomas Jefferson: "I have sworn, upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Editor's note: The classic cult leader will try to convince you that you are no good! This is such a handy-dandy little device in his toolbox to keep the troops in line. If he can persuade you that you are incompetent, and therefore, dependent - on him - well, then, his job is so much easier, isn't it? The cult leader as pastor will do things like quote I Cor. 1:26, "God has called the weak of the world" ... ahhh, that would be you tithe-payers sitting out there, you know. The cult leader as employer will talk a lot about team effort and team projects and team spirit - with an undercurrent tone implying that you, individually, are expendable, not even on the radar screen; you can be replaced. The cult leader as university professor will not tolerate open discussion of contrary opinions. He inculcates, does not educate, and looks for servile drone-followers. The cult leader as brutish and bullying husband loves to talk about how he is "head of the wife as Christ is head of the church" ... yeah, just like Jesus did it. The cult leader as government office-holder will, at press conferences, talk about how "capitalism has failed" ... ahhh, that would be capitalism as in the individual efforts of hundreds of millions of Americans - that means you have failed! that kind of capitalism; and he will speak of how "complex" the economy is, and use this word 20 times in his teleprompted speech, with the implication, of course, that all of you out there couldn't possibly keep up with him; and, but for him, the American economy would not even exist.

It's all the spirit of cultism!

My friends, it is all the same thing. And I remember, some years ago, when I first saw this - how shocking to me! And I hope you see it now, too. Cultism is everywhere. The sad part, though, is that the vast majority of us are heavily involved and invested in this malevolent and soul-shriveling process!

Editor's note: Allow me to clarify this point. I am not saying - to focus, for the moment, on religious cultism - that every member of the clergy has, what the apostle John referred to as, the "dragon's" heart - of course not. Life is not that formulaic. There are many good people caught in bad systems. Remember, The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher are symbols and do not refer to any particular person or any single organization. These Two refer to a Dark System! And regarding those good people just spoken of, I have a long list of friends and colleagues, former members of the clergy, representing many churches - a list including my own name, a list beginning with my friend Grover Diemert (P.S. #11) - all, eventually, run-out-of-town by The Lying Teacher for not serving mammon first, instead of the people. The Church, originally, as organized by the apostle Paul, met in small groups, in people's homes. There were no salaried full-time priests or ministers. Now, those representing The Lying Teacher  will respond to this historical information dismissively;  but the Church inevitably becomes corrupted when economic concerns are introduced. The moment we buy some real estate to build a meeting place, the question arises: "Who will be the one to control this real estate?" And when we hire full-time pastors, now, suddenly, we are worrying about things like pensions, and cash-flow, and health-care benefits, and how many tithe-payers do we have, and what can we do to bring in more tithe-payers... all for the work of God, of course... This church-as-corporate-business has not worked out too well for us. We should have stayed with the apostle Paul's program. There is a most instructive picture offered to us at the end of Orwell's Animal Farm, an allegory of cultism. The pigs, who had started out just as ordinary farm animals - just regular guys - have morphed into, now look just like, the Party Bosses who own the farm! Orwell is telling us that the Dark System of The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher will, without due care, change good people into whole-hearted representatives of Revelation's Dastardly Duo! And maybe you're wondering how your own priest or minister fits into this; you know, the Nice Guy who pats the head of your kids. Give him a little test. Tell him about some of the things you've learned. See how he reacts. See if welcomes new information with open arms. His or her reaction will tell you everything you need to know.

Teach Me Now or Teach Me Later

Adrian and I sometimes talk about that time in our youths when we belonged to a strict religious group, one with a spirit just discussed.

And we have asked each other:

• "Why did we allow ourselves to go through that? Why did we let them tell us that we were no good? Why did we put up with all of the disrespect? Why didn't we just walk away?"

But the answer is clear to both of us now.

We allowed ourselves to be psychologically bullied because of our then-present state of mind; our diminished level of awareness and consciousness at the time. We had not sufficiently grown in self-respect and self-love; as such, it seemed reasonable to seek for some form of seemingly-impressive external authority who promised to save us!

What the world needs now is love; but it begins with self-love and self-respect, without which we shall ever fall victim to those two grand imposters, The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher!

And who are these two Biblical characters? We know lots of them. We work with them. We are taught by them, in schools and churches. We see them in government. Some of us are married to them. And, sometimes, sadly, we might even catch a glimpse of them when we peer into a mirror.

Francis' followers burnt at the stake by The Wild Animal!

Editor's note: The gentle St. Francis of Assisi, this friend of animals and nature, one of my heroes of history, is a most tragic figure, a bloodied victim of the vicious and political designs of The Wild Animal and The Lying Teacher. British historian, Kenneth Clark, in his Civilisation, tells us: "... a rich young dandy named Francesco Bernadone suffered a change of heart... The next three years he spent in abject poverty, looking after lepers... and rebuilding with his own hands abandoned churches... He threw away his staff and his sandals and went out bare-footed onto the hills. In all his actions he took the words of the Gospels literally and he translated them into the language of chivalric poetry and of those jongleur songs that were always on his lips... From the first everyone recognised that St Francis was a religious genius - the greatest, I believe, that Europe has ever produced ... with his first twelve disciples, he managed to gain access to Innocent III, the toughest politician in Europe... St Francis died in 1226 at the age of forty-three worn out by his austerities. On his deathbed he asked forgiveness of 'poor brother donkey, my body' for the hardships he had made it suffer. He had seen his group of humble companions grow into a great institution, and in 1220 he had, with perfect simplicity, relinquished control of the order. He recognised that he was no administrator. Two years after his death he was canonised and almost immediately his followers began to build a great basilica in his memory... A strange memorial to the little poor man, whose favourite saying was, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests: but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head'. But of course, St Francis' cult of poverty could not survive him - it did not even last his lifetime. It was officially rejected by the Church; for the Church had already become part of the international banking system... Those of Francis' disciples, called Fraticelli, who clung to his doctrine of poverty, were denounced as heretics and burnt at the stake."

The most famous story of St. Francis may be that of his interaction with a wolf which had been terrorizing a village. I don't know if this story is literally true. It doesn't matter. What I do know, at minimum, is that St. Francis represents naked and vulnerable sacrificial love in the world; and, despite apparent obstacles to the contrary, one day, every arrogant and opposing force will bend the knee to it; and it will happen, not by destroying the bodies of these antagonists, but by bringing them over to the side of St. Francis, and all that he stood for.

Teach me now or teach me later. The lesson of self-respect - what I have often termed, "The Wonder of You" - is a lesson that we will all learn.

The Universe requires you to learn this lesson! Your own soul requires you to learn it! And you will not be allowed to leave class until you do!

If you don't learn it now, you will have to learn it later; if you don't learn it in one context, you have to learn it in another.

• And this test will keep coming at you, and keep coming at you, until you say "enough," and stand up, and begin to act according to your own sacred dignity, that of having been made in the image of God. But, until then, expect to see this coursework and homework once more! It's as JFK said: "man will be what he was born to be: free and independent" - eventually. But it's up to each of us to decide when this will occur.

That great professor in my life, Art Mokarow, once said that most of us will not change our ways until the pain of what we are doing now becomes greater than the pain of personal growth!

So, the question becomes, how much abuse do you intend to take before you rise up against all forms of cultism in your life?

Because until we are ready to set aside cultism, in all of its infinite variations; until we are ready to wake up, and to become who we really are; until we begin to assert ourselves as "free and independent" beings, we will continue to be abused by the next generalissimo-savior who promises us hope-and-change salvation.

President Eisenhower asserted that "only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry" can save us! President Kennedy agreed: "I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people for I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed." President Lincoln, in the same spirit, too (quoted above), warned us that our national destruction could come only from within.

When will we grow up?

When will we take personal responsibility for our own lives and stop looking to someone else, to cult leaders, to some external authority, for salvation?

When will we purpose to become who we really are?

When we will we decide to learn what it means to be made in the image of God? When will we refuse to listen to those who tell us that we are no good?

When will we wake up?

Editor's note:

I just received this note from Adrian:

"[The Beast and The False Prophet attack, and attempt to cloak,] our true potential, which cannot be withheld. [These Two, as Revelation puts it, know they have] 'but a short time'; [symbolically, this means that they] have no real power over us, so theymust depend on deceit. Once we wake up, the game is up."

Adrian is exactly right. It's like the movie, Matrix. No real power over us.

All we have to do is wake up, and it's over... for them.

defiant unto death! but without nobility!

Editor's update, August 21, 2011: I understood something today, just a little more clearly. Since we are friends, I will share it with you. Though I am not a fundamentalist, and do not ascribe infallibility to the Bible, nevertheless, some of the ancient writers, I sense, were granted insight into certain mysteries of life. For example, from time to time, the metaphor (not to be read literally) of Revelation's Beast and False Prophet "thrown alive" into the fiery pit crosses my mind. I believe this image cloaks a profound truth.     A few days ago, I watched an old movie, Rocky IV. Apollo Creed said something that resonated with me; words to the effect: "You and me, Rock, we gotta fight, we have no choice. That's who we are! Your wife didn't marry a man - she married a fighter!" While we all admire the courage of Rocky and Apollo, their state of mind, in a certain respect, is not a healthy one. They have identified their very Beings with boxing! They see themselves as essentially valueless unless they can stand in that ring and hear the applause of the fickle crowd! This is the small Ego talking, not the illimited Soul! Minutes ago, I saw a news headline: "Battle for Tripoli! Zero hour for Gaddafi! Defiant!" How remarkable! This tin-star dictator will go out defiantly! But this display of spirit earns no veneration from us. His is a resolve turned inwardly, serving private neurotic need. This is old news. But today I saw something new. Dear Leader has so identified himself (see P.S. #19) with evil that he cannot surrender! He will not because he cannot! He must do evil as Apollo must fight.  He will be "thrown alive" into the abyss, defiant to the end, constitutionally unable to change his ways because he cannot envision himself as a living entity apart from doing evil! To give up evil, for him, would be a form of self-destruction, so closely has he identified himself with the darkness! Who would he be then? He is very convinced of this view! To him it's all very real! He lives on this basement-level of consciousness!     The Beast and False Prophet are symbols, not just of despotic world leaders, but each one of us - every time, to feed neurotic cravings, we despise our sacred heritage as ever-undefined, open-ended souls made in the image of God, with no discoverable upper limit of potential; every time we trade this glory for some pathetic and limited version of who we are!

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