Mormon Misdirection Seems like Cultish Propaganda.

Holly Welker: The corner of the internet concerned with Mormon issues has been aflutter recently over a new ad campaign created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, featuring profiles of church members, showcasing their achievements, their individuality, their likability. I just wish the church hadn't spent the last three decades encouraging, if not demanding, homogeneity and blandness -- or, to use the official LDS term for the virtue of uniformity, correlation [...] Originated in the early twentieth century but not emphasized until the 1970s, correlation was a program that consolidated central control and enforced consistency and sameness as much as possible throughout the church.

Green Man: There are many who say that Mormonism is a cult with charismatic (just look at Joseph Smith's larger than life persona and lifestyle) authoritarian leaders emphasizing absolute loyalty, conformity, and total control of members. The absolute loyalty shows itself in the "all or nothing" "contract" you are under with the leaders of this church. And nowhere is this more the case in Mormonism than in the office of prophet (leader of the church pyramid of hierarchy). Since he (and it's always a man--woman aren't allowed to hold church power) is considered a prophet that means he "gets messages from 'God.'" This fits with Professor Eileen Baker's cult checklist, "Leaders who claim divine authority for their deeds and for their orders to their followers." Therefore, if you don't agree and follow the exact words of the prophet you are seen as disagreeing with "God." If you can not show loyalty to this man then you are ostracized in your local church, often by family members, and will be prevented from entering the most sacred sites to Mormons; their temples.

In order to gain access to their temples you must go through an interview (these are the questions used while I was a member) to be deemed, "worthy" which is usually an uncomfortable and often humiliating affair of questioning that feels more like an interrogation than spiritual "guidance" as they like to refer to it as. In any event, the questioning goes something like the following: "Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?"

All priesthood keys means the power and authority of "God" on Earth. Then there is the question, "Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?" So, forget having political beliefs that run contrary to the goals of the Mormon church. The leadership will tell you publicly that you can vote for whomever you want but that isn't exactly the case, former Prophet Ezra Taft Benson said, "he could not see how a person could be both a liberal and a good Mormon, and he called the civil-rights movement "a communist program for revolution in America." And this was coming from a "prophet" who Mormons see as infallible, so which is it? In addition, almost ALL members are conservatives; the unspoken, (sometimes spoken) expectation of peer pressure is that a good Mormon can only be Republican/conservative.

That's the way it was during my entire 22 years as a Mormon; I never expected to be anything other than a conservative Republican because everyone else was too. Another demonstration of loyalty is demanded in another question asking if you will obey ALL leaders ordained by "God?" This of course includes the leaders all the down from the prophet including the local one you're talking to--that's some serious intimidation. And these local leaders are regular, fallible men, just as messed up as the rest of us who were supposedly "called by 'God'" to lead the rest in your local church. In other words, the local "leader" or "Bishop" is there to make sure the underlings obey the entire chain of command from the base of the pyramid to the top.

If you fail to live-up to these tests of loyalty you will also be prevented from taking the Holy Sacrament (similar to the communion) which is the most important part of Sunday worship. Everyone spies on everyone else in that church, or at least has been mine and others' experiences too. So, quite often people are always on the look-out for the "sinners" who don't take communion and you quickly are shamed, shunned and bumped to the top of the gossip headline news. It's humiliating and seems a bit designed to get the other "cult members" to do the dirty work of shaming you into thinking you're a terrible person. That's common; Mormons leaders love using guilt as a tool to manipulate. Additionally, low self-esteem combined with a deep vat of guilt are common amongst survivors of Mormonism. And, in many cases a lack of total loyalty to the prophet and his, "henchmen" (as I sometimes refer to them; they call themselves "apostles"-- no authoritarian power or "god complex" goes with that job title!! Catching the sarcasm there?) can in and of itself find you judged by a panel of "priesthood holder" men, which is often degrading and leads to expulsion/excommunication from the church.

Another sign that Mormonism may be a cult is that it fits the criteria for a religious group that separates itself from society, either geographically or socially. BINGO!! Mormons don't often associate with non-Mormons; their relationships are rather incestuous in that they all hang out with each other and nearly no one else. They even have something of a "uniform" that all "worthy" members wear under their clothing--a form of underwear that they believe protects them from evil. And as usual, those who are "worthy" for them are often shunned. The conformity is added in that these undergarments only come in white (unless you're in the military and need camo ones). The clothing conformity continues with men being required to wear a white shirt and tie; preferably with a black suit. Women are expected to wear long dresses to church (no pants) and haircuts are to be conservative. Same with jewelry. Men are "encouraged" not to wear beards or have hair longer than the ears and no jewelry besides wedding rings. Tattooes are a big no-no. Teen-agers are quite often kept from dating non-Mormon girls and the church (seemingly innocently) makes all adult members have a "duty" or "job" in the church. These include: Sunday school teacher, boy scout leader, priesthood leader/teacher, choir director, etc. The result for the leadership at the top is that you get members doing all the work (volunteer based of course) while collecting their money in the form of tithing!!

The added bonus is that according to the prophet and his apostles the bishops of the local churches are granted authority to receive "revelations" but only for their local church members. So, they craft the "jobs" as "callings" because they supposedly came from a revelation your bishop received from "God" saying he needs you to do job "x" or job "y." The other benefit for the hierarchy is that it keeps the members busy and away from non-Mormons. And, well, before you know it, the only friends you have are Mormons and if you do have some socializing time the church has crafted their "callings" to keep you actively doing church things with other members throughout the week--at the church building itself!!

O.k., next item on the cult check-list: Important decisions in lives of adherents are made by others; again, bingo. Each young person at a certain age goes to get their Patriarchal Blessing, which is seen as a kind of foretelling the future as to what you're life will, and should unfold as. The person giving you this "revelation/vision" is called the church "Patriarch" who is of course a man. There isn't a direct command to follow it and make it happen but it is worded in a way as to suggest that this guidance is coming directly through "The Patriarch" from "God"--just for you. So, that pretty much puts the screws on and guilts you into doing what "'God' told me to do." This dove-tails into the next one on the list, "Adherents who become increasingly dependent on the movement for their view on reality." Everything in most Mormons lives is determined and checked against what their church leaders say. There is pretty much no area of their life where they don't look to the church and other members on how to deal with whatever reality is throwing at them. It influences: their politics, who they associate with, jobs they'll do, colleges they'll attend, sexual problems in their lives, money issues, marriage issues, and on and on.

The other aspect of this one is brainwashing, which includes: social pressure (which we've discussed and will further), guilt, (again, already touched upon) and sensory deprivation. In Mormons this takes the form of long church sessions that last half the day, which tire members out and being tired increases supportability to control. This sensory deprivation also includes days of fasting that make one more susceptible to thought-insertion and control as well. Ironically, these days are the same days where "testamonials" are undertaken by the members led by the Bishop who is the first to give his testimony. It basically consists of people restating (in front of other members) how sure they are of the exclusive truth to Mormonism. The peer pressure is strong as people stew in their seats wondering if they should get up front to bear their soul to the other members and say how much they believe in the church. "Sharing your testimony" is what they call it but it's nothing more to me than making people hungry and thus vulnerable to thought suggestions to those who might be wavering in their beliefs.

Next criteria: "Making sharp distinctions between us and them, divine and Satanic, good and evil, etc. that are not open for discussion." Mormons are often arrogant, elitists who think only they hold the real, true and only religious truth on Earth. A lot of them see all other belief systems as inferior; if not "Satanic" and contrary to the goals of their truth!! This often leads to talk about members versus non-members and how evil, bad influences non-Mormons are to them and their youth. In the Mormon stronghold of Utah, non-Mormons neighbors are often shunned and looked down upon. To even ask questions about the verasity of Mormon beliefs and read "non-Mormon literature" is considered playing with "The Devil." Mormons are taught that not only are these other beliefs wrong; they are to be eradicated by converting the adherents to Mormonism. Thus, the reasoning behind their army of drone missionaries, and why they are so pushy and often rude when trying to get you to let them into your house to teach you about the "True gospel of Jesus Christ."

The final one is, "Leaders and movements who are unequivocally focused on achieving a certain goal." For Mormons that certain goal is preparing the world for the "End Times" and the supposed return of Jesus Christ. This preparation demands all Mormons seek to convert non-Mormons (for their own good of course). Thus, young boys are groomed from a young age to go on a two year mission at the prime of their young adulthood (19-21) when their peers are attending college. This often sets these young men back educationally for years. Women and non-missionary members are expected to strike up conversations about Mormonism with those outside the church at your workplace, with the neighbors and anyone else you might run into. As a means for forwarding their goal of converting the world. They almost always push and guilt people into doing this and even give them free copies of the Book of Mormon to hand out to their non-member victims.

So, are Mormons in a cult? You decide.

PHOTO: Mormon temple in the background with a figure in front that I think symbolizes the zombie-like, robotic behavior of members.

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Burn Charcoal to Help Reverse Climate Change?

Burning something organic is usually seen to be dirty--not, porn "dirty" but pollution dirty. However, science is finding that a form of charcoal might actually help reduce greenhouse gases:

As much as 12 percent of the world's human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials. That's more than what could be offset if the same plants and materials were burned to generate energy, concludes a study published August 10 in the journal Nature Communications. "Biochar offers one of the few ways we can create power while decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And it improves food production in the world's poorest regions by increasing soil fertility. It's an amazing tool."

Biochar is made by decomposing biomass like plants, wood and other organic materials at high temperature in a process called slow pyrolysis. Normally, biomass breaks down and releases its carbon into the atmosphere within a decade or two. But biochar is more stable and can hold onto its carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years, keeping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide out of the air longer. Other biochar benefits include: improving soils by increasing their ability to retain water and nutrients; decreasing nitrous oxide and methane emissions from the soil into which it is tilled; and, during the slow pyrolysis process, producing some bio-based gas and oil that can offset emissions from fossil fuels.

Green man: It's going to take a patchwork of ideas and revolutionary science to tackle the vast scale of the problem. There is no "magic elixir" to change this trend and threat to not just our environment but our very lives. It's simply a reality that not every place gets enough sun for solar energy, not enough wind for wind energy and hydrogen is still expensive and volatile. Another idea that I like is using algae to power our cars. The problem isn't the ability to solve this problem but rather the lack of political willpower to see the dire need for these technologies. No where is this more evident than in the United States where a large chunk of the problem stems from with emissions. We Americans unfortunately know a lot about war and coming up with a multi-tiered plan is essential and something of a strong suit for us. We need to convince other Americans that this climate issue is a major national security issue--it's a war and thus demands an immediate and diverse battle plan. And it needs to be set into motion, frankly, immediately.

The irony of using biochar is that the environmental benefits of it have long been known to ancient man but modern man's arrogance took over and the assumption was that nearly everything the ancients knew was to no longer beneficial. "Amazonian Indians mixed a combination of charcoal and organic matter into the soil to improve soil fertility, a fact that got the scientists interested in studying biochar's modern potential." The renaissance brought about many wonderful benefits to civilization; not the least of which being science itself!! The very science that is now rediscovering the benefits of charcoal. Rediscoveries like this always make me sober in one respect because of all the genocide modern man is committing by cutting down the rain forests. How many cures for various cancers could be destroyed? Or cures for HIV/AIDS?

~The Green Man has Spoken~

The Cheshire Cat Walks Beside Me.

Like a ghost shepherding a lost soul the feline has oft appeared and walked within my shadow throughout my tumultuous and bizarre life. Often from afar they peer deep into the recesses of my well traveled mind and communicate with the cat woven into my essense. The left-over energy from a past life lived as a mysterious yet intelligent feline. It's the delicate way in which I walk and tread lightly around squeaky spots in the floor, or the heightened-sensitivity to noise; still yet, perhaps it's how at night I come alive. Of course my intuition is also quite cat-like; a gift that I will always admire my mother for passing onto me. Anyway, the list of traits I share with the cat are uncanny and reassuring. Regardless, who wouldn't want to be watched over by one of the most mysterious, ancient and intelligent creatures ever to walk the skin of Earth?

Ironically I have had a rather aloof experience with the feline community over the years. That said, if you know anything about cats then you are aware that cats are often independent, solitary creatures, so it isn't uncommon for cats to avoid one another. In my case, I would frame my relationship with other feline energies to one of mutual respect and tolerance. You might be saying, "Green man, aren't cat lovers supposed to smother their cats?" Actually, from my experience cats prefer limited interaction and that is why having a feline friend would be good for me. Both the cat and I like our space and independence yet like to have a friend around for rainy days. But I digress a bit from the original thesis of this essay. I was speaking about cats walking along side my path like old, trusted allies letting me know that I'm still in the secret society from my past life living amongst their silent kind.

Every place we've moved (my wife and I), cats have always found us. Around the marking of the millennium, my wife and I were newly weds living in Boulder, Colorado. I was following my high-school theatre dream of getting my university degree in acting but as the schizoaffective disorder mercilessly took over my mind I was failing a lot of other class like math and science. I was on a bad streak of downward slips into the deep bowels of depression when one day I came home from classes and saw a beautiful tiger stripe house cat sitting on the deck fence. I stood still and remained quiet because like me, cats have a tendency to spook. I also didn't look at her directly in the eyes but she didn't leave.

So I softly walked over to the stairs just to her right and below and sat on one of the steps; squishing my body against the hand railing to give her plenty of room to feel comfortable. Then, we just sat there in perfect, rejuvenating silence. Her soft presence and quiet, limited movements were like guidance from a Zen master on how to slow down and concentrate upon the immediate moment. Together we enjoyed that moment, which included a nice warm gentle breeze blowing through the pines trees just in front of the deck. One of the best smells to help me relax is the fresh scent of pine in the air. It's a fresh scent that does have this seemingly inexplicable power of giving you a feeling of being cleansed of heavy, stagnant energy.

My feline friend watched over me for about 15 minutes before taking one last look at me and slipping off into the bushes. My heart was in bliss from that intimate, one-on-one bonding with that cat as she helped me stop and just enjoy the moment. It was a wonderful gift and that is how most of my cat encounters go--intimate but respectful of the others space. Cats and I seem to have this unspoken understanding and ability to communicate with the mind. It must be the shared intuition because I don't feel that with any other animal. Then there are the stray cats that always seem to know to come to our house for some food, shelter and help. We've lived in our current place for about 10 years and in those 10 years we've had at least 4 strays end up at our house. It's like they can sense the familiar energy and know this is a safe place for them to come. Besides me, my wife is also a big animal person so between us we send out the right signal I guess.

We're vegetarian in part because we love animals so much but the funny thing is that we keep some cans of tuna fish around for our feline family to eat when they show up on our doorstep tired, scared and hungry. I share with you one last story about my connection to cats because I see I'm going on long with this post. My wife use to work with this woman who had tons of dogs but only one cat, so he was often overlooked. One late afternoon my wife and I were visiting their house. The people who live there were being their usual clueless, unaware selves and after a short while I began to feel that someone was watching me, and it was increasing with intensity the longer I didn't look. It felt like the side of my face was slowly but surely warming up. So I turn my gaze over and notice their cool, laid-back cat staring right at me. I felt immediately that he wanted something, so I asked in my head, "What do you need friend?" And I know this sounds kooky but after I said that in my mind the cat looked up at this empty food dish on the counter and then back at me again!! Immediately I asked the woman who lived there that I thought the cat was hungry. So she went to grabbed the kitty food and this cat was already on the counter waiting for his meal.

I have a strong feeling that I was a priest in a past life too in ancient Egypt where I had a lot of connection with cats because of vivid dreams and visions I've had, which is also partly why I have been attracted to Crowley for some time, but from afar. Anyway, this was before I had an amazing vision while on LSD of this black cat wandering through a dimly lit pyramid or underground temple. A lot of native peoples in Latin and South America use hallucinogenic drugs to uncover their power animal or totem animal. I took my visit from this black cat in ancient Egypt to have been one of those mystical moments of bonding because he appeared into my vision throughout that LSD trip whenever I felt anxious or edgy. His face would just appear in front of me and fracture into a honeycomb of many reflections of his face, which was accompanied by waves of peace emanating from his eyes. I know, a lot of this sounds kooky and that's fine if you feel that way but while I don't believe that all of this kind of stuff is real and meaningful; there is a part of these experiences, which seen the right way can be great guides as you navigate through life. So, the next time you see a stray cat--it might just be me. ;)

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Californians for Common Sense: 51% Support Marijuana Legalization.

A Sacramento Bee/Field Poll survey released over the weekend found support for legalizing marijuana in California at 51%. Between those who want to legalize it and those who want to decriminalize it, the poll suggests nearly two-thirds of California voters favor relaxing the state's marijuana laws. Only about one-third support the status quo or hardening the state's approach to marijuana.

Green Man: If you live in California and believe in personal freedoms then I hope you would support this initiative. Marijuana is not like the hard drugs that are illegal. In a lot of ways it is less of a problem for society than alcohol. It was only made illegal because of ignorance and a vicious propaganda campaign to demonize African-Americans and migrate workers from Mexico at the turn of the century. It remained illegal under Nixon as a way to whip up political support from those who were fearful of the baby boomers' counter culture. Then of course came Reagan who swept up the relatively benign drug into his "Just Say No" campaign that was instigated by the crack epidemic in the 80's. It didn't matter that marijuana wasn't addictive, deadly or harmful like crack cocaine; a drug was a drug to the fearful, ignorant, moralists of the Reagan era. Yet all the while these drug hypocrites swigged down gallon upon gallon of whiskey, beer and wine.

Another way that you can support the campaign to free marijuana from propaganda and irrational prohibitionists is through donating money. Two reputable and secure places to donate to the fight are "Yes on 19" which is run by the founder of Oaksterdam University in Oakland. It is a medical marijuana organization that teaches people how to grow their own medicine. This group is also sponsered by the long-time marijuana advocate organization "NORML." The other organiztion that I trust on this matter is Firedog Lake's campaign, "Just Say Now." Firedog Lake is a well-established, reputable political advocacy group. Even $10 helps. The time is now to legalize marijuana, which could help us find tax dollars to improve our schools, health care or job market. Besides, America has always been the place where personal freedoms are sacred as long as an action doesn't harm others. Of course supporters of legalization are against driving while intoxicated.

---End of Transmission---

Last Decade Was Warmest on Record

Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, noted that the 1980s was the warmest decade up to that point, but each year in the 1990s was warmer than the '80s average. That makes the '90s the warmest decade, he said. But each year in the 2000s has been warmer than the '90s average, so the first 10 years of the 2000s is now the warmest decade on record.

Green Man: The trend is clear and the problem obvious but as usual in America we don't fix problems until the it's too late. The problem is that with nature you can't just ignore it for decades and then be able to turn it around to a healthy balance in one day or one election cycle. I don't even know why protecting the environment is a political issue at all -- It's a human issue that all political sides should be able to support.

Who can be against protecting the air we breath?!! Because without it, ironically, there would be no humans to deny the importance of protecting the air we breath!! Being against protecting the very environment that keeps you alive is like being against the medical field that keeps us alive. It scares me that this is a subject that's even being debated!! Our Earth is in a crisis and humans have come to naively believe that they've mastered nature to the point where they think we don't have to worry about its balance. Oh, foolish, little, man!!

~The Green Man has Spoken~