“Your just gotta have faith” is what the old George Michale song tells us. Faith has always been a positive value within society. Within religious communities persons whose faith is the strongest are venerated and looked to as an example. The community essentially has faith in the person’s faith, trusting all along that the venerated speak words of truth and wisdom and that their connections with God are authentic. But what happens when faith is perverted—when one’s belief becomes an unmovable force and the voice of “god” ostensibly whispers in their ear to commit atrocious, violent actions in "his" name.
John Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven is a mesmerizing and tantalizing read. By putting Mormon Fundamentalism under the microscope Krakauer launches a full-blown exploration into the dark fanatical underbelly of religion. Krakauer uses the violent murder of a mother and her child committed by Dan Lafferty as a launch pad for his exploration. Lafferty, a member of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, still believes to this day, some 20 years since the incident, that he was d0ing gods bidding when he slit the throats of his own brother's wife and her baby daughter.
This is disconcerting to say the least, especially for one who holds to a christian belief system; a system that allows for one to communicate directly with God. As a Christian it is not uncommon for me to hear a fellow believer say something to the extent of "I feel that God is telling me to do this or do that." I too have used this line myself, I hope with sincerity, to justify my actions--but so did the zealot/murderer Dan Lafferty who, incidentally, is not insane.
I believe most assuredly that the voice Lafferty was listening to was not God, however, Lafferty would vehemently disagree. Yes, he subscribes to a cookey brand of fundamentalism that places him narcissisticly as a central figure in Christ's second coming, but the question still must be asked, How do we know we are listening to the voice of God? I feel like all the indicators for what is and is not the voice of God are entirely subjective. The Holy Spirit? Theology? Both these things can be tweaked by listeners and hearers alike to line up with the voice. Problematic? Yes. Do I have any answers? NO.
All I can offer myself at this juncture is that I have to have faith in faith. I must believe in belief. One bad apple does not ruin the bunch right?
Anyway, the book is a quick read and is definitely worth a looksey
5 comments:
Scott, I think the reason you're commentless so far is that this is some deep stuff. I like where you're going and ithink your writing here is great. I like the way your thoughts are processing some of these tough questions. I think this a good thesis for a great conversation over a cup of coffee. Want to go?
Absolutely! Sorry I did not respond to your text, my phone dies when I try and send a text. I am exited to play scene it, though I think you and Aleah will school us. Right now I am on day four of the flu when I am better coffee must be scheduled!
Scott, this is a very interesting review/reflection. Can what someone says they "hear" God saying contradict what God has already spoken? Doesn't God set the boundaries of defining Himself and what someone can claim in His name? Would it not be our duty to know the
revealed personality and character of God so that we would be able to say "that's not God...not consistent with how He has chosen to reveal himself?"
Something has to be the standard for judging/discerning the reliability of something else. In the maple syrup business there were the colors of syrup in vials that were the standard that determined what you could call a certain batch of syrup. It was what it matched up with, period. Could it not be as simple as the man's statements don't match up so it cannot be God?
P.S. (if there is such a thing in blog worlds)
I want to go to coffee with you and David,too. One more thought, I think we can hear voices other than God so we are under the same obligation to test what we "hear"; putting our own thoughts and revelations to the test before we go blabbing them or believing them ourselves. So we have to test what we "hear" as well as discern what other people say they "hear", we can all be deceived or even deceive ourselves when we want to or if we are not careful. What do you think our responsibility is in saying what we hear is the voice of God or not?
Mom--Yes, there should be a standard. But because God is infinite that clear cut standard is unknowable. We know God's character from what we read in the bible and we gleam clues for how God's voice operates but that is the best we can do, the rest is belief in belief.
Yes, what someone says they "hear" God speaking can contradict what God has already spoken, but does it matter when the person is unaware of that fact, when they cary out the deed in whole hearted belief that they are acting correctly.
Also, the clues given us, say from the OT, are fanatical. All the Old Testament prophets do wild and seemingly irrational things in the name of God. I believe God was with them and they did correct and wondrous things but . . . I guess what I am saying is that God asked the men of old to do wild things, He had his reasons, but those actions set the bar for what God could potentially ask of his servant. This is problematic because God's request could be anything--in the mind of the fundamentalist their is nothing they will not do for God and their is nothing that God wouldn't have them do. It is a perfect storm for dangerous behavior.
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