The Stoics

I have come to realize that my philosophy of God, will and fate, and the unity of the creation is identical to that of the Stoics. The fact that I came to identical conclusions independently is evidence of it's self-evidence. I found an article that outlines exactly the thoughts I have had about causal determinism and it's interplay with free will.

I have just read an article by the same author on the subject of Stoicism and passions. Many of their ideals are similar to mine. They are close enough that I'm thinking that maybe I'm a Stoic and didn't know it.

New Songs

I have new songs on my myspace including a shortened version of "Castor Without Pollux."

Revelations 22

Using Revelations 22 as grounds for denouncing the legitimacy of the Book of Mormon is piously ignorant. These three facts revert such efforts:

1. Deuteronomy 4:2. According to that passage and using the same sort of reasoning used with Revelations 22 to disprove Mormonism, the entire New Testament is an invalid addition to the Book.

2. When the Book of Revelations was first transcribed, the New Testament did not exist in a compound form. The first known selection of a canon was not until 70 years after the death of John and it is not the same canon that exists today.

3. 2 and 3 John were written after Revelations.

The Mormon and Christian God

I think Mormon's tend to assume that they worship the same God as do most Christians, but really the Father character in each tradition have such drastically different characteristics that they can hardly be considered the same entity.

The most common conception of God the Father in Christianity is a hybrid of the transcendent God of the philosophers and the covenant God of Abraham. He is the progenerator of the universe, omnipotent and omniscient while not interfering with the freedom of human will, benevolent and occasionally vengeful. He is something entirely inhuman, but with human sensibilities which are manifested to mankind in the form of Jesus in whom is contained all the attributes of the Deity.

The Mormon God, on the other hand, is a person of flesh and blood, perfect and incorruptable. He is, essentially, a man who has achieved through his efforts qualities which are ideal and the aspirations of all men. He even has a name, Eloheim. His power comes from his integrity and the hidden forces of the creation which yield to and are commanded by him. He did not make the elements, but they obey him and organize as he dictates. The Mormons believe the universe has always been and do not make any suggestions as to how it came to be or even that it needed to come to be. It just is. The actual capabilities of The Father are not perfectly outlined, but he is generally awarded similar attributes as the Christian God, such as omnipotence and omniscience, though these attributes must be confined to his own sphere of influence. Mormons do not discount the possibility of there being other deities similar to Eloheim who are lords of their own organized worlds elsewhere in the universe. This is why the Mormon religion is more accurately labelled as being monolatristic than monotheistic.

It is an equivocation for a Mormon to say to a Christian that he believes in God. Mormons believe in a Father who is not God. They don't believe God is needed. The reason he is called "God" is because that is how his name has been translated and because he plays essentially the same role in human affairs as God does.

Actually, that last paragraph is not entirely true, but only because the conception of God held by Mormons has changed some. It seems that the differences between the Christian and Mormon God has been deemphasized by the Mormon church. Many now seem to believe that the Mormon God is the same as the Christian God except that he has a physical body. I don't doubt that some in the church consider him to be the creator of the universe which is something that is irreconcilable with the teachings of Joseph Smith. Or it could be that they project that image of God outwardly to the world while inwardly they believe something different. Whether it is merely a deemphasis, an actual change in understanding, or just a change in outward image, the reason for it can only be the result of the evangelical mission of the church. History shows that the result of evangelism is often compromise. This is the primary reason why Catholics have saints and Christmas is celebrated in the winter. This is probably why the leaders of the LDS church have grown more quiet on this sort of doctrine. They want converts and are afraid that declaring what the church believed for the first century of it's existence will be too big of a turn off. So they don't really believe it any more. At least not as confidently.

It's a shame really. The Mormon doctrine on Deity is it's defining characteristic and also it's best. I think the church should emphasize the human attributes of the Father even more than they do. It's a doctrine that allows a person to deal with God rationally and potentially have true reverence for Him as a person. The God of Mormondom deserves our admiration because He earned it. Also, a doctrine of a God with a perfect character does not necessarily mean that God is infallible. If our spirit Father could be viewed as dynamically good but potentially fallible then we could each look at His actions and determine for ourselves what his successes and failures were the same way a boy will look at how his father raised him and choose what was good and what he will change when raising his own child. A Deity like that is one worth believing in even if he isn't actually God.

I feel like writing

I'm in the mood to write, but I don't really know what I want to write. So, I guess I'll start writing and find out what's on my mind.

I was denied veteran's status by the Utah State University financial aid department. I had assumed that I qualified because West Valley College believed I did. Unfortunately, I think West Valley College is wrong and not Utah State. In order for a reservist to be awarded veteran status he/she must have served on active duty for a reason other than training, which I haven't done yet. Because Utah State does not recognize me as a veteran for financial aid evaluation, and because I am not married or 23 years old, my financial need is based off of my parent's income and not my own. Unfortunately, my father makes way too much money, but only because my family lives in a financially inflated part of the country. His inflated wage is counteracted by an equally inflated cost of living and the net product is not wealth. So, while the government expects my parents to pay for at least $10,000 of my education annually, they really can't pay for hardly any of it.

The point I'm trying to make is that I can't afford to go to school where I had planned on going next semester.

I have been forced to reevaluate what I am going to do this coming year. I have two primary options: I can continue living in Utah until I have established residency next summer and then go to a university here; or I can move back to California, go to a community college for one last semester, and then tranfer to a university in-state somewhere. I guess the question is really "do I have any reason to stay in Utah and is it worth the cost?"

My reasons at present for remaining in the infamous "Happy Valley" are these: So I can become a resident and go to school here; because I finally have something that resembles a band again; I know people here; I like the mountains; and I'm not living in my parent's house. The first reason, the one about school, I don't even know why is a reason. Why do I want to go to school here? I'm not particularily fond of Utah culture. I feel dismembered. That feeling is probably largely caused by my own psyche and not a reality, but the feeling exists none the less and it's a lonely feeling. As far as I can see there are two groups of people in Provo: Mormons and scum. I'm neither. As for the second reason, I doubt the project is going to become anything, but I hate to abandon it anyway. I guess this is the real stickler. Without this there would be no question at all about going home. I'd be gone.

I'm not in a good situation financially at present. I have a decent job that pays well enough, but being in the Marine Corps Reserve has become far too expensive and time consuming because of the travelling I have to do to get back there. The costs outweigh the compensation. I can't last doing things that way. If I went home I'd be able to go to school full time with very few expenses because I could live with my parents, though only for the short term. I'm probably deploying to Iraq sometime in the spring (presumably after the semester ends) which would be a good enough financial kicker that I'd be able to go to school pretty comfortably for a year. Plus, I would be a real veteran and couldn't be denied a grant. I could attain a A.A. degree by the end of the spring semester at West Valley, though in English and not in my intended major of Anthropology. I wouldn't mind though.

It makes so much sense to move back home for a little while. So, I guess that's what I'll do.


On another note, I've been writing music and I've been making slow and not so steady progress on a children's book that I'm writing. It's tentative title is "The Legend of Jeremy Crocket: A Christmas Adventure Story." I have a bare bones outline for it, and an idea for a (necessary) sequel, and only about 2,000 words of the actual text completed. It's about a young scholar and his effort to discover the truth about Santa Claus in order to confront the unbelief that has taken over so many hearts. The concept has drastically transformed from what it was originally meant to be. I've changed it into a fantasy of sorts, while it was originally supposed to be devoid of any magic other than what is contained in the human spirit. I think it's a good change. I've decided to make it meaningful in different ways. The story was originally conceived when I was fairly hopeless and unwilling to believe much at all. I don't want to write a hopeless book. I want it to be full of hope.

I'm a bit surprised at the sources I've drawn influence from for the story. It wasn't where it was meant to come from at all. I know that's a bit cryptic, but that's how it will have to stay. If I say too much it could draw comments and that would be detrimental. I don't want anyone to know anything about the actual story until I have a draft done.


EXEUNT

Rough Takes

You can listen to (very) rough demos of a couple of my songs at myspace.com/thecommonastromer

Maybe this will become something later.

I hold my joy in a trench carved out by sorrow.

Maybe a rhyme.

I'm thankful for the loneliness I will still feel tomorrow.
Because I (we) (will?) hold my (our) joys in trenches (canyons?) carved out(?) by sorrows.

maybe

I'll be thankful for the loneliness I'll feel beyond tomorrow
because I'll hold my joy in canyons carved away by present sorrows.

A Quick Edit

Look up on the hill where the child dies,
his body spread across a wooden stake.
Pull that rope now angel and watch him rise.


It saves the meter and I think it's better anyways. I might abandon this verse.

An Unexpected Visitor

I was very fortunate today. I had a very unexpected visitor show up on my doorstep. I enjoyed a conversation with her. She is probably the only person who actually reads this post. She recently read my lyric titled "As The Sun Settles" and has asked for an explication.

As the sun settles down
in the evening time,

This signifies the end of a day or period of time. It is tied to my other poems.

The sky is colored in
salmon and steel
like a mind and heart
melting into one
over their world.

This is also tied to my other poems. The collective title of many of my writings will be "Enter The Earth." It is a (loose) conceit in which I write about myself in the form of a world. ("I watch the world...as I write my spirit into it.") A theme of the collection is the conflict between the mind and heart and a failure of the two to reconcile. The blending of the colors in the sunset signify that reconciliation finally occurring. It's a metaphor I took from a piece of older writing and then modified.

It's been so long that I've lived my life
like a man looking for a wife
while still sleeping with a whore.
But not anymore.

NOTE: These lines are slightly edited from their previous version. They were edited to clarify the meaning and to be better adapted to the music they go with.

This is not an original metaphor. It's from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense." He wrote it to demonstrate that a good form of government can not be established while the law-makers are still in the mindset of a bad government. The three lines are about ideology. I wrote them when I was heavily focused on politics, and so they are partially political. But, they are also theological. The collection of poems I've written are largely about religion. The whore is a way of believing, not an institution. It is what has kept me from finding a belief that will make me at one with myself.

The rest of the lyric is musical fluff.

Lyrics

I have made a new journal to house my collection of lyrics.

The URL is thecommonastronomer.blogspot.com

As The Sun Settles

I wrote this today, which is pretty significant because I haven't written anything in months.

As the sun settles down
in the evening time,
the sky is colored in salmon
and steel
like a mind and heart melting into one
over their world.

It's been so long that I've lived my life
like a man looking for a wife
while still sleeping with a whore.

But not anymore.
Yeah, it's over now. It's over now.


The sun settles down.

Moving Along

I had to sacrifice the meter, but here's the next stanza of that poem as it stands now. It will certainly go through substantial revision before it's complete.

Blow that trumpet Angel and watch me rise.
I'm sleeping in my grave; It's time to wake.
The only skies I need are in your eyes.

Up on the grassy hill where the child dies,
pulled apart across a wooden stake,
tug that rope now Honey and watch him rise.

The Root Cause of Apostasy and Liberal Religion

I consider this to be a Divine principle:

When a person has an experience of the Creation which is not in harmony with a religious Doctrine, that person must make a choice. Either they choose that their experience of the Creation is somehow false or they choose that the religious Doctrine is somehow false. One is liberty, the other bondage.

God's Greatest Gifts

The greatest gift God has given us is ignorance because it gives us our will. Without our will we would have no life.

The second is sadness because without it there would be no happiness. Sorrow is the cup that holds our joy (the metaphor belongs to Kahlil Gibran).

Joseph Smith and "The Age of Reason"

I have just started to read Richard Lyman Bushman's cultural biography of Joseph Smith titled Rough Stone Rolling. I didn't have to read into it very far until a connection that I sensed a long time ago was confirmed.

A comparison of the religious concept put forth by Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Deistic philosophy written about by Thomas Paine reveals some similar qualities. In fact, Mormonism appears to be a reworking of classical Christianity's mythology within the context of a Natural worldview. It is obvious to me that Joseph Smith was acquainted with Natural Philosophy. He either came to know of it by an outside source or by his own meditation. If by an outside source, then it is likely that it came from Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" since it is the most outstanding and widespread book written on the subject. It is even more likely because this book was in Joseph Smith, Sr.'s library.

Asael Smith, Joseph Sr.'s father, was a Universalist. The Christian brand of Universalism teaches that all mortal beings will be saved through Jesus Christ and that they all will inherit God's Kingdom. When Joseph Sr. considered joining a Christian congregation, his father gave him a copy of The Age of Reason in hopes of convincing him otherwise. It worked. When Joseph Sr. considered joining a different congregation later on, he was again told by his father to read the book and again he was convinced not to join the church.

It is likely that Joseph Jr. had "The Age of Reason" available to him.

Reminiscence of his grandfather's Universalism can be found in Joseph Jr.'s doctrine of baptism for the dead and the three degrees of glory. It is Mormon doctrine that essentially every person will eventually accept baptism and bow a knee to Jesus Christ. True, eternal, lasting damnation is reserved for only the most select of the wicked.

A recollection of natural philosophy is most apparent in the Mormon doctrine of matter being eternal. This includes the doctrine of a material spirit. Compare the revelation given to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 131:7-8 with page 177 of "The Age of Reason."

"There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter. "

And

"Who can say by what exceedingly fine action of fine matter it is that a thought is produced in what we call the mind? And yet that thought when produced... is capable of becoming immortal, and is the only production of man that has that capacity."

Joseph Smith is speaking of spirit while Thomas Paine (though it may not be obvious in the quote) is speaking of consciousness. What unifies these two concepts is that they are each speaking of what they consider the immortal part of the soul. The content may not be sufficiently equivalent, but the description of each as "fine matter" suggests the possibility that Thomas Paine's words influenced Joseph's description of his related concept.

Another vital influence that Paine may have had upon Joseph is his proof that revelation is only revelation to the individual it was revealed to. This entails that no person can be liable to revelation given to any other person. It is this concept that makes the Mormon doctrine of the Holy Ghost so essential. In Mormonism, every individual is capable of having truth revealed to them in a spiritual manifestation. This is the only way in which revelation can be valid. It is the primary doctrine that sets the church apart from others. It's primary fault is that the manifestation known as the Holy Ghost can not be undoubtedly confirmed as actual revelation. Faith is required on behalf of the believer to see it as such.

To suggest that Thomas Paine or some other Natural Philosopher influenced the doctrines of Joseph Smith is not to suggest that his station as prophet is in question. I think Joseph would admit that God only rarely taught him in a flash-bang sort of way, but instead usually taught him through the world around him. Joseph was often left to discover God's truth by way of his own mind and heart. The concepts of Thomas Paine and similar ideologists are not unattainable without them being presented. They can be found through the workings of an individual's reason. And certainly, God knows them. It is not impossible that Joseph Smith never read a word of Thomas Paine, but instead found an inkling of naturalistic thinking within his own self that came out in his doctrine.

Newest Project

Here is the beginning (the very beginning) of my most recent project. I intend to make it a villanelle(sp?). I also want to make it a song. I've never heard of anyone putting a villanelle to music. I was thinking I could structure it somewhat like Peggy Lee's "Fever" except much shorter. I realize that I'm probably talking to the wind, but if you have any comments on it, that'd be cool. The main reason I've delayed finishing this (I wrote these lines months ago) is that I don't know where I want it go with it. Or that might be an excuse for laziness. Really I should just embark with what I've already got and see what I find in the open sea.

I have a particular fondness of the villanelle (though this will be the first I've written) because the first poem I ever liked was one.

Blow that trumpet angel and watch me rise.
I'm sleeping in my grave; It's time to wake.
The only skies I need are in your eyes.


PEACE!

I started a new blog

This is a new blog.

I have a xanga, but I rarely write in it and the fancy smancy upgrades they've made to web site confuses me.. So, I made this. If you're curious, go to www.xanga.com/mwwduck to check out my old blog.

It feels good to start fresh.

I'm deliberating over how much I should censor myself. It really depends on who I'm going to share this page with. I'm not particularily afraid of making offensive statements about people I know. I am instead afraid of showing parts of my soul that others shouldn't see. That may sound strange, but it's a real fear and a real threat to my happiness and other's happiness. There's one person in particular who might be in danger.

I should be able to find a balance.

I should delete this post.