Magic and Mantras

by jgnat 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jgnat

  Sitting in the service of my old church, I am reminded of the power of corporate worship, the repetition of key phrases. One reaches a peculiar estatic state, intentional I am sure. I find myself wishing the congregation would join in a huge line dance to seal the experience. That's what the Asinewuche band would do in celebration, their traditional drummers singing in the traditional style, the same phrase repeated over and over.

  But a particular sort if bible believer would find such a comparison sacrilegious. Magic and mantras are suspect, part of mysterious forces separate from God. Thus says the Bible. Yet the same believer repeats pat phrases as if they have a superior divine power, such as "Call on His name and you will be saved." What if both corporate experiences with repeated phrases sung with abandon, are tapping in to the same power?

  To deny this I think is to lose something important.
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  BackseatDevil

  When it comes to the Wal*Mart stockholder's meetings or the District Conventions, the Holy Eucharist or a monthy sales meeting, there are group sociological "tricks" that are used to garner a massive movement, thinking, and psychology. Repeating scripture to repeating affirmations, yearly texts on the wall or Successories posters... it's ALL THE SAME.

  You might find this interesting: Gustav Le Bon's "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind.

  It is the most extensive research regarding the group mentality of the crowd and it's effect on individual psychology. Suddenly chants and prayers seem less like motivation and more like maniplulation.
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  Jeannette

  Thank you guys for the posts. I think you're both right.
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  jgnat

  I would argue that some of these gatherings are voluntary, such as football games. Manipulative, sure. The Chief of the Aseniwuche people is motivated to have a united community hopefully with him at the helm.

  Is not romance a special kind of manipulative dance, with a couple of willing participants?
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  millie210

  The idea of collective energy.

  The law of intention.

  Healing touch.

  Placebo medications that work

  There are many things that we see have some kind of effect. We just dont understand the principles at work some of the time.

  That doesnt make them any less real or useful or powerful.

  A saying I like:

  The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. - Bertrand Russell
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  BackseatDevil

  @jgnat You are correct. The application I was suggesting is that whatever brings one to the group (forced, followed, fear, or free-will) is certainly a set up for a coping mentality. However, once IN the situation, the MASS MOVEMENT inevitably takes over... regardless of what got you in the door, we are all effected in similar ways once we are in. People like Wal*Mart and the Witnesses study such and regardless of what gets a person in the door, the submersion still takes place (i.e. when everyone stands, you stand, when everyone looks at their bible, you look, etc.).

  If you think of it like prison. Whether you are innocent of a crime, guilty and sorry, or guilty and unrepentant doesn't really matter when it comes to being submersed in the prison environment. One still must react to the same pressures, situations, abuses, and expectations as everyone else. However you got there (because you deserved it or were wrongly accused and awaiting trial) doesn't mean as much as actually being IN and following the written and unwritten (social) rules.

  Whether a sporting event, concert, convention, or whatever, the same cogs of mass maniplulation applies. It is that phychology that people like Hitler and Stalin used for their rallies. Le Bon didn't study Hitler and deduce this information... Hitler studied Le Bon and modeled his conventions after it. The subtext is more sustainable than the text itself. So the ideas in this still apply whether you are cheering at a concert for a song you don't much care for or you find yourself bowing your head at a meeting in prayer to a god you no longer believe in. Mass manipulation is a very very powerful machine.