Posted by:
Way Out
(
)
Date: October 09, 2010 05:31PM
I read 1984 during Christmas time last year - sort of depressed me for a few days after finishing it.
There are many parallels between the world of 1984 and present-day politics and the mentality of the majority of society that believes or at a minimum, lets slide what leaders in government say. All of those parallels apply just as much and more to the great and abominable Morg.
I am a staunch libertarian and I was always bothered by the extreme efforts TSCC went to in order to control people. When I was a teenager, TSCC rallied all of its members to fight against the passing of the lottery in Idaho. While I didn't see any justification for the State to run lotteries, I also noticed how much emphasis TSCC put on legislating their interpretation of morality-- and that really bothered me. I realized that they want to FORCE people to be good and that was very difficult to rationalize away from the perspective of a TBM who believed, at the time, in the war in heaven and "free will" versus "forced compliance" as the two plans that were offered.
In 1984, you had TVs that could capture video and audio of you in your home, all for the purpose of the State to protect itself against anyone who would even begin to harbor doubts, questions, or the slightest sign of disagreement with the State. Even more, there were the party members who were always on the look-out for that sign of "apostasy".
In Mormonism, you have Personal Priesthood Interviews, visiting teaching visits, home teaching visits, priesthood quorum meetings, relief society meetings, Young Women meetings, temple interviews, correlation meetings and bishopric meetings, where from personal experience I can say that leaders seek to learn who "needs their help/love" and how best to give that help/love/support.
In 1984, you had Newspeak - a language engineered to eliminate the ability to even think about concepts that were subversive to the State.
In Mormonism, you have terms like "anti-mormon", "faith-promoting" (as opposed to non-"faith-promoting"), "faithful", "worthy", "testimony", "truth", "apostasy", "stupor of thought", "Holy Ghost", etc. The way they are employed within the culture of the-cult-that-is-TSCC leads to the same result: TBMs are indoctrinated to use the very belief-framework they sometimes doubt in order to resolve those doubts, a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house. TBMs expect themselves to squash any doubts they may have by staying within the TBM belief system rather than investigating it from the other side of the "veil" Mormonism erects around their minds.
I'm sure the list can go on and on.
I like Christopher Hitchen's point to the effect that there must be something seriously wrong with those who want to subject themselves to a dictatorial totalitarian "supreme being" for all of this life and all of eternity.
And as far as TSCC is concerned, how many have heard that once you enter the waters of baptism (and especially if you proceed on to make temple covenants), you "give up your free agency" and bind yourself to do what basically the Old Chronies stipulate is the will of God and JC?
The desire to control anyone (whether it be one person, a small group or organization, or a nation) - to seek to have power to compel people to obey your will - well, that's ONE of the biggest sources of evil ever.