Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous ingested LSD and while under the influence of the drug experienced the spiritual awakening that motivated him to quit drinking. It was what gave him the inspiration to start the program and step twelve is attributed to the psychedelic. He spoke of the effects from the drug as a miracle and gave it to his wife and fellows.
Bill W. Initially wanted to implement LSD into the program as a 13th step because it worked so well for him but early members disagreed having seen the negative effects that clumsy experimental LSD users were having and chose faith as a more suitable approach in the search for spiritual enlightenment.
Suggesting this in a meeting or asking a member to look it up is not something that goes over very well, it is blasphemous to discuss within the program.
I once made this mistake and suggested it as a topic for discussion assuming the members would find it interesting and was immediately shut down while another topic was picked by the Chair.
This made me think about the book of Genesis and the garden of Eden and the original sin, what the serpent told Eve about the fruit and the proceeding Roman's account of Jesus's sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
Unless you believe in talking serpents that have mouth parts, lungs, and a throat biologically incapable of producing any more than a hiss, the entire story from Genesis through Revelations falls apart. This dogmatic instance is typical within the three major religions and expected.
In the time that Genesis was being developed, the world was assumed to be flat and did not expand past what was known and spoken of by nomadic travelers. Most everyone was illiterate and the very few that could read and write were discouraged from teaching anyone outside of the of Hebrews tasked as scribes. Materials like inks quilts and paper we're primitive, literacy was known only by a chosen few who shared the new found Judaism upon the masses.
The intuitive approach used by those being questioned involves discrediting the question with rhetoric and dismissing or explaining away the serpent as a metaphorical example. This is typical of scholars as they have learned to answer all dogmatic questions in this manner. I have also been told that it does not matter, what is important is that you believe.
What is expected of you is to show constraint, discipline, and respect. Do not confront those expected to know answers to questions that may cause them discomfort. Sit and listen to those who have been around longer until they grant you the permission to speak.
The hive of humanity is balanced by certain engraved rules that cannot be modified nor questioned yet if they are, retribution or possibly ostracization will be the inevitable result.
In Sunday School as a child I asked the teacher about dinosaurs after she told a simple child's version of the Noah's ark story. She quickly explained that the devil put the bones in the ground to question mans belief in God. She responded with little hesitation and was ready with the phrase as if she had been prepared for the question. It was so long ago at the age of five and I can still recall the glare I received, it was the same the old timers gave me in that AA meeting.
Around the same age I was told that Santa Claus was not real by an older friend of my sister's. I was devastated to learn that my parents who I trusted so dearly misled me about something that I had invested so much personal faith in and I was embarrassed to have believed in something so obviously fictional. From that point on I have questioned everything with little concern of retribution and shared little trust in adults.
I once explained this to peers when I was in my thirties with young children and they quickly responded that telling our children that fictional characters exist is okay because our parents told us and it is just what people do, dismissing the context of my question and quickly moving on to a different conversation within the group. No discomfort was detected and I silently questioned if they were blind to the emotion I attempted to tie to my Santa story.
Augustine said - Let the unyielding then wrangle and quarrel about earthly and temporal things, the meek are blessed, for they shall inherit the earth, and not be rooted out of it; that earth of which it is said in the Psalms, Thy lot is in the land of the living, (Ps. 142:5)
The above scripture I believe relates to and explains Augustine words as a warning to those who may choose to ask questions that are uncomfortable and a message to his audience, beware.
Romans 2:9-19 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. 10 But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up.
This verse was written as an instruction and lesson on how to live, it means that those who stay in line and follow the rules will be safe from mans judgement. Submission and discipline, simply put micromanagement and control.
These scriptures and the lessons in both passages are subject to interpretation of course. I have my own and do not agree with nor will I ever abide by their content. If God has a problem with me questioning dogmatic anonymously written suggestions on how to behave then I will ask him when my time comes. Certainly he will know the answers.
Thank you for reading. I sincerely hope that you learned from this writing, if nothing at all, a critical thought in an era of few.
No comments:
Post a Comment