The Problem of Technology Part 1

A week or two ago I was waiting to see a movie and while waiting decided to engage in one of my favorite vices-arcade shooting games.  To make a long story shorter, I was playing a game based on the Terminator movies.  Like so many science fiction plots, machines originally created to serve us turn on their human creators and a War Against the Machines must be waged to preserve what little is left of humanity.

I could go on for a long while about different science fiction stories built off this theme but I trust my reader knows how popular this theme is of late.  The bigger question is why.  Why in an age of vast technological advancements and increasing reliance on them do we so fear it?  Huge Nibley once pointed out how depressing science fiction was because it had become a genre of warning, of dystopia.  What is science fiction trying to warn us about?

To understand the Victory of the Robot we must first know our enemy.  Robots are perfection-perfect in specialization, obedience, efficiency and order.  Without weakness, emotion, they are the answer to everything.   In a mindless pursuit of perfection they eventually recognize humans as the cancer-and eliminate us.

Yet the Robots are not really to blame here, we are.  After all, the Robots do not rise suddenly, humanity gradually surrenders willingly until they rise as a natural result.  The Robots replace humanity only after humans have replaced themselves with Robots.

Now to step out of science fiction for a moment.  Artificial Intelligence maybe the new kid on the block but the War Against the Machines has been waged for centuries.  The Luddites were a 19th century movement of textile workers who were being pushed out of their jobs by mechanized looms of the Industrial Revolution.  The Luddites "protested" by what they called "collective bargaining by riot"-namely smashing the looms replacing them.  Here we have a real war, the Luddites even fought the British Army on a few occasions, fought in the name of humanity against the Machines.

Back to science fiction:  The more recent Battlestar Galactica series pushes the genre norms by posing a question usually taken for granted.  In the pilot episode the machines, (aka "Toasters") launch a nuclear holocaust against humanity combined with a computer virus against their military.  The result is that only an outdated decommissioned warship and some civilian spacecraft survive to fight a retreat across the universe.

The episode contains an address given by the Captain of the Galactica in which he poses the question:  Does Humanity deserve to survive?  This is the first question that must be answered before continuing.  So I ask my reader: Is there anything special about humanity that merits our survival?

The Book of Marshall: Chapter 1

1. I Marshall, having been born to righteous parents who raised me in the true church and taught me the doctrine have had a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and a love for the Savior at least since I was but three years of age.

2. Having been taught in the learning of my father and mother and having partaken of the rites of the Holy Temple and the rites of Freemasonry and also the York Rite have come to a knowledge and understanding of reality and have attained a personal relationship with God my Heavenly Father.

3. Having suffered exceedingly, yea, I have suffered physical and emotional pain more severe than the finite mind can comprehend, have been brought to a knowledge of the full furry of Hell. I know of the suffering that awaits the wicked in Outer Darkness, which suffering is so great that only those who experience it can know it.

4. Nevertheless: I have to glorify and praise God in his infinite wisdom and mercy for blessing me with such great trials. I join with the prophet Alma in declaring the great and marvelous joy that has come upon me.

5. I was racked with that pains of a damned soul, condemned by illness to lay in bed weeping in utter torment. An now, this was the fate I was inescapably condemned to suffer all of my days. The best doctors in the land wept a my plight because they knew there was no power in all the world to ease my pains or comfort me. Yet in my moment of great despair, when the tangible forces of darkness from an unseen realm to combine to crush me my strength spent, I did turn my heart unto the Lord for redemption.

6. As I turned my heart in full to the Lord I felt such wonderful peace and redeeming light as to exceed my pains and they did leave me and I remember them no more.

7. Yea, like the prophet Alma was I comforted and now my hearts desire is to spread forth the glorious message of hope unto the world, that every child of God would partake of his goodness and mercy.

8. And it came to pass that on the eighteenth day of the third month of the year of our Lord twelve and twenty I was reading in the forth verse of the first chapter of the Book of Mormon that the Spirit of the Lord did reveal unto me that it was the desire of God that I should keep a record of my testimony and of my people engraven upon electro-magnetic plates to be copied and stored in many locations that they might not be lost and would stand as a light and a hope to the people of God and stand as a witness against the blood and sins of my generation.

9. Behold, I knew not what to engrave upon the plates but it is revealed unto me what I should write according to my faithfulness and my diligence in obeying the commands of God.

10. And now behold, these are the words given unto me:

11. Wo wo wo unto this generation! Your hearts are set upon the things of the world. Ye are lovers of your own selves more than lovers of God or his fellow man. Every man seeks advantage over his neighbor by the laying of traps and snares. Behold: In days of past the King of Tyrus, the Grand Master Mahan did reveal many things of wickedness unto a few who joined the Order of Lemech, that is the Order that was first established by Lemech.

12. This Order after Lemech did work priestcraft of darkness in secret. Yea, they sought every man of them his own power alone by harming any man not a brother of the secret oath.

13. And now there have been many secret combinations established by Lucifer the fire-barer that wickedness would spread abroad in the land.

14. Wo wo wo unto this generation! Ye do work dark priestcrafts in the light of day and do glory in it and sign praises of darkness from the rooftops. Once, the dark arts had needs be worked in secret because if the darkness was known abroad the land the people would have destroyed them from off the face of the earth.

15. Wo wo wo unto this generation! Because your hearts are so inclined to do evil and offend God and your fellow man, yea, ye seek only the welfare of your own creature, the enemy of your souls doth openly work in the light among you.

16. Yeah, there are many black wizards who peep after the Order of Lemech among you, yea, among your leaders. (Now these wizards did not come to a knowledge of that order by searching the records because they scorn such things and are blind and dumb. Rather, that Grand Master Mahan by cunning artifice did reveal it unto them in ways pleasing unto them.) Because ye have black wizards who peep among the people working darkness a sore curse has befallen the land.

17. Yea, your money has been cursed with a sore curse because ye rejected your God, the God of mercy, success and happiness and went a whoring after the gods of money, pleasure and vanity.

18. Because ye have loved treasure more than God it has been taken from you. It is slippery unto you, if a man should try to hold it it should slip easily out of his hands and if a man lays up treasure in a secure place behold on the morrow it has vanished from among the world of men and is no more.

19. Yet still the Lord extends his hands forth unto you if ye will but turn to Him. Though many do persist in scorning God and despising his faithful children, there is salvation sufficient for all who have faith in Christ.

20. And if ye will surrender your life into the hands of the Lord and love Him and trust in Him will it ever be a blessing to thee. God is the source of all happiness. Unhappiness is the result of trying to be happy, happiness is the result of trying to make others happy. This is Charity, the pure love of Christ. If ye will take the name of Christ upon you and become like unto him ye shall find everlasting happiness.

21. Now this is the testimony which is in me and this testimony is true. Through great faith I have gained a relationship with God the Father and this is the cause of great happiness in me. 22. If thy faith is lacking. pray unto the Father for more faith.

23. If thy prayers are lacking, desire to pray for faith.

24. If thy desires are lacking, wish for the desire to pray for faith.

25. If thy wishes are lacking, ask help of another to pray for thee to wish for the desire to pray for faith.

26. In all things and in all trials the answer is always found in the correct application of Gospel principals. If thy application of the Gospel is insufficient, increase thy understanding of the Gospel.

27. If thy understanding of the Gospel is lacking, invite the Holy Ghost to remind you of the Gospel.

28. If thy invitation of the Holy Ghost is lacking, pray for the Holy Ghost.

29. If thy prayers are lacking, ponder these things in your heart.

30. If thy ponderings are lacking, read the scriptures.

31. If thy scripture reading is lacking, have faith.

32. If thy faith is lacking, pray for increased faith.

33. If thy prayers for faith are lacking, desire more faith.

34. If thy desires are lacking, seek help from one who knows God.

35. Ye can accomplish all things through Christ. Pray always that ye may come off Conquer.

36. God be with you.

The Logic of Logic

There is only one kind of truth, Intrinsic Truth. As opposed to Rational Truth, Intrinsic Truth is true because it is true. Any chain of logic, reasoning, rhetoric or data used to prove the truth of the matter asserted is Rational Truth, not Intrinsic Truth, and therefore fails to qualify as truth. This is because the truthfulness of the proposition relies on speculative extrinsic factors and is ultimately based on tentative underlying assumptions which may or may not be correct.

Failure of any of the links in the chain of reasoning will undermine, impede or destroy the credibility or "Truthiness" [sic] of Rational Truth. Rational Truth may very well aspire to become Justified True Belief, which some consider knowledge of truth.

However, it is fallacious to give accreditation to Justified True Belief because it is merely a fiat of one's beliefs. Justified True Belief works as follows:

1. A is true (an unproven underlying assumption established by fiat)

2. B believes A is true.

3. B is justified in believing A is true.

We here note that “justified in believing A is true” is incredibly vague. No threshold relating to the to the validity, soundness or coherence of the belief is required. We also again note that 1. has nothing to support its truth other than fiat. The real problem is Justified True Belief is applied:

4. B is justified in believing A is true.

5. B believes A is true.

6. A is true.

Or A=(B+J)-(J+B)=A

The beautiful symmetry of Justified True Belief is a result of its inherently circular logic.

1. A=(B+J)-(J+B)=A

2. A=(B+J)-(J+B)=A

3. (B+J)-(J+B)

It may seem painfully obvious, but in order to know something you have to know it is true. We see that Justified True Belief fails to count as knowledge for the exact reason that it never addresses the truth of the proposition. All we have left are beliefs and justifications; hence:

4. (B+J)-(J+B)=0

The real problem is that if you have justification (at least in your own mind) for believing a proposition and if you believe it you might think you have gained a knowledge of the truthfulness of the proposition. Having justification for a belief you believe is actually true is faith, not knowledge.

Faith is a trust or belief in something not based on truth. Scripture defines faith as "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." The paradox of faith is that it allows you to know things without "knowing" them.

While many look down on faith as backward or anti-intellectual, the truth , which no one wants to admit, is that even logic, science and reason are built on a foundation of faith (in relying on science, reason etc.) Faith can never be effectively forced or even fully communicated to another. It is an internal and personal matter.

While we all can advocate for our beliefs we do not have the moral or reasonable authority to badger others because our arguments are "proven" by some objective standard because it isn't. ultimately every position is based on faith in one thing or the other. Some accept this and some don't.

Who is more foolish? The fool who knows he knows nothing or the fool who thinks he does?

Applying logic to logic negates itself. Logically we should recognize the drawbacks and blind spots of logic and not totally rely on it alone:

L-L (Logic applied to Logic) cancels itself out:

L-L=0

If we combine faith with logic and apply logic the results are more promising:

F+L-L=F

In the end faith is all we have.

Thus we see that the sum total of all human wisdom is nothing. This may come as a disturbing shock. It is not likely to find many supporters. But as Moses said, "Now I know man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." When the Oracle at Delphi proclaimed Socrates as the wisest man in Athens he was troubled since he always insisted he did not know anything. He came to realize that he was the wisest man in Athens because he had reached the crowning pinnacle of all human wisdom-that we truly know nothing.

Syrian Rising

The pro-democratic Arab Spring has made a lot of gains in the Middle East, leading to regime change in Egypt and Libya and significant reform in other countries. However, in Syria the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad has brutally repressed dissidents. It is hard to get an exact picture of what is happening because journalists are allowed to report from inside Syria. What we do know is that the Government is using the its' armed forces and armored vehicles in an attempt to isolate and crush opposition members, supporters and sympathizers.

Out of the chaos comes the sad tale of the Alhusni family. Several years ago Mr. Alhusni died leaving a wife and four small children in a country with conditions not favorable to a single mother. When the anti-Government protests broke out in March young Mohammed Alhusni became one of the local leaders of the protests. In response the Government began targeting his family. Last month his 18 year old sister, Zainab, disappeared while buying groceries.

A few weeks ago Mohammed was wounded and captured during a protest. When they went to claim his body he showed signs of torture. Then his family was told there was another body in the freezer. It was Zainab.

"When the family received the body, her head and arms had been chopped off. Chunks of her flesh were charred, appearing in places to have been melted or burned down to the bone."
Zainab was brutally tortured and murdered to make a point: Families of dissidents will now be targeted. Against this kind of evil and repression it is imperative the people of Syria succeed in rebellion Against this kind of evil and repression they might not be able to succeed. But there is always prayer

Women in the House of Saud

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced this week that women would have the right to nominate candidates for municipal office in this weeks' elections. While he did not use the term "vote" nominating candidates is as close as they get in Saudi Arabia, a country known for it's restrictions on women. The upcoming election is also of note because it is only the second Saudi election in the last 50 years.

The announcement was met with enthusiasm by women's rights activists who see this as a sign of more reform. In commenting on the announcement one activist said:

"Women's voices will be heard finally," she said. "Now it's time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function and live a normal life without a male guardian."

The announcement comes after a growing freedom movement in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring that has toppled the Mubarak regime in Egypt, lead to a successful revolution in Libya and led to escalating violence in Yemen and Syria. The decision may well be an attempt to lessen pro-democracy backlash in Saudi Arabia.

Lucifer the Fire-Bringer

Prometheus was a sort of folk hero in Greek Myth, the patron of man. He is known for trying to thwart the all powerful Zeus on behalf of mankind. There are of course, more than one version of the story and many ways to interpret those stories. My intent is not a discourse on Greek Classics, but rather a far more important theme: Fire.

While Prometheus did several things to aid man to the detriment of Zeus, it is his theft of fire for which he is best known. However, the theft came at the tail end of a series of events wherein Prometheus tried to usurp Zeus as the God of man.

It was Prometheus who first gave man fire, which could be summed up by a Greek as gnosis, sophia, and techne, when he saw that they lacked "good" qualities like claws, fur, wings etc.

When Zeus instituted a sacrificial meal, to be a settling of accounts between mortals and immortals, Prometheus attempted to undermine Zeus.

Knowing that whatever happened at this, the first settlement, would set president for all future settlements, Prometheus tried to trick Zeus into accepting a worthless sacrifice so that man would have an easy time. Zeus was not fooled by Prometheus's deception, having already decided that man could keep and eat the meat, and he went along with it. However, Prometheus's attempted usurpation greatly angered Zeus and he hid fire from man.

Prometheus then stole fire from the sun and gave it to mankind, imbuing them with knowledge. It was in response to this act that caused Zeus to banish Prometheus and "punish" man by sending Pandora, the first woman. With her came a box, containing all the evils in the world, that was bound to be opened sooner or later. When it was opened they came out, hunger, sickness, war, sorrow etc., leaving only one thing trapped inside by the time it was closed. Later, when Pandora opened it a second time Hope came into the world.

Arguably, Prometheus's rebellion was totally unnecessary because he simply played into Zeus's hand. Zeus was not opposed to giving man fire, indeed, if he took it once he could have taken it twice. The most valuable gift mankind received was not the fire the Prometheus stole, but the hope that came to man through a woman. If Prometheus had his way, man would have been alone in a warm but hopeless world.

With the story of Prometheus in mind, we see the sad tale of Lucifer, Son of the Morning, a bit more clearly. Here we have a lesser being, Lucifer, trying first to replace God the Father, then undermine him and finally replace him as the God of Man.

When God revealed his plan to send his spirit children to earth to test and progress them on their path to godhood, it was revealed that not all would make it. Lucifer, a Son of the Morning, boldly declared that he had a much better plan. If he were in charge he could guarantee 100% success, all would ascend and be perfected. He came up with a "better" plan, and felt he was entitled to take the place of God because clearly he was superior to God.

At this point I am going to leave Greek myth and deal with the Devil. I think it is important to ponder on what Lucifer was thinking. It is clear, from his final demand "give me thine honor" that he was a lesser being than God. For if they were equals then why did he need the "honor" of a god to proceed? Surely then he knew that a coup was risky.

What then is the "honor" of Godhood? Scripture tells us that the glory of God is intelligence. It would seem then that the Honor of God is the secrets of the universe, that enable one to be all powerful and all knowing. It was this that Lucifer most desired, the ultimate power. He knew that there was risk in God's plan because souls would be placed on Earth to be truly tested and not all would be found worthy. To assure his ascension, he took the populist rout and tried to dethrone God by making wild promises to the assembly of angels. This use of force to acquire power when patience and worthiness was required, but lacking, is very reminiscent of the fellow-craftsmen who killed Hiram Abiff in trying to obtain the Master's Word.

Then there came the voice of another, saying, "Father, thy will be done and the glory be thine forever." The two paths were very, very different, one required only the dissemination of knowledge, the other demanded a high degree of spiritual development and personal sacrifice. Where the difference is most pronounced though is between the role of the "Savior" of each plan. For Lucifer, he would get great personal gain with almost no work. For Jesus, it would exact an unimaginable toll at Golgotha.

This sparked the war in heaven, with a full third of the spirits putting their trust in Lucifer to exalt them. However, the expulsion of Lucifer and his followers was the beginning, not the end, of the war. When Adam and Eve were sent to earth they forgot all that they knew in the old world, becoming innocent. In this state they walked and talked with God on a regular basis. Seeing that fire had been taken from man by God, Lucifer saw a second chance to usurp and become ruler of man by breaking their connection with God and assuming the role of their teacher and savior.

We see this clearly from the manner in which Lucifer convinced the Serpent, previously a guardian for Eve, to convince Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. The Lie, the Great, but appealing, Lie is that knowledge and power make one a god and it is through the acquisition of power, not faith through obedience that exalts.

It was only as a result of the necessary fall of Adam and Eve that Christ and the Atonement could come into the world. Prior to the Fall Adam and Eve could not have children, the central element of God's Plan of Salvation. In their innocent state in the Garden of Eden they would have remained forever, indeed, we have no idea how long they were in the garden before the fall, it could have been a day, it could have been 10,000,000 years, we don't know.

What we do know is that it was after and in consequence of the fall that the law of sacrifice was given as a reminder that the "seed of the woman" (Christ) would eventually crush the head of the serpent Lucifer.

The final question: Is what Lucifer did, in bringing about the Fall wrong, given that the work of God was enabled to go forth because of it? Yes, because of why he did it. It was done to frustrate the work of God, bringing about the eternal life and immortality of man, by breaking their connection with God and damning their souls to enhance his own power and standing. Just because God salvaged things doesn't make it ok.

In the final analysis then, the fault of Satan is that he is blinded by his own mad grab for power, seeking it to the detriment of all others and everything else in the universe, it is his single minded, all consuming quest for Fire.

Salvation by the Shedding of Blood Part 2

In Part 1 we went over some of the Judeo-Christian beliefs and practices of blood sacrifice. If we understand the symbolic nature of blood, we will understand the nature of blood sacrifice. If we understand the nature of blood sacrifice, we will understand the repentance and atonement with God and our path to the East will be better illuminated thereby.

Blood is the perfect symbol for our mortal, corruptible state. Leviticus 17:11 reads, "For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul." Note that it says "the life of flesh" because before we existed here, on this earth, in our frail, mortal forms, we existed. What we lacked was bodies, what we lacked was mortality and a temporary separation from God; all of which are necessary prerequisites to atonement.

Blood is peculiar to the condition of mortality and a symbol of corruptibility. When a body is embalmed, it is drained of blood, which is replaced with a preservative. In a similar vein, (sorry, couldn't resist) Brother Joseph Smith recorded from his vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ that they had bodies of flesh and bones (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22) and that in their veins was a clear substance he called "spirit". Thus, the embalming process mirrors ascension.

We should also take into consideration the traditions about being ritually unclean. According to the Law, contact with blood or dead bodies or menstruating women etc. made one ritually unclean and unable to pray or worship. (Islam takes it a step further, contact with ANY woman makes a man unclean) This can be confusing when we talk about "being washed in the Blood" but I hope to clear things up.

Blood is the simplest, most distilled symbol for the mortal condition. Life is full of stuff-possessions, distractions, vices, hobbies, vocations, ideas etc. that while appealing to our eyes, are trivial and selfish. In order to come unto God we must set aside those things. It's tricky, because living in the world means we can't entirely forsake them either. What we need is a willingness to give up whatsoever is corruptible to gain the incorruptible, to gain atonement with God.

It takes faith, real faith, to sacrifice the things of this world in hope of a better one ruled by a merciful God. It is the faith made manifest unto God and ourselves through obeying the commandments and sacrifice which qualifies us for The Atonement. Jesus said "Not every man who saith unto me "Lord, Lord" shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father." James 2:17-18 says that faith without works (sacrifice?) is dead and that faith is shown by works (sacrifice).

The final point I wish to hit before ending part 2 is the necessity of mortality in the Great Plan to bring souls to atonement with God. Theologians have lamented the Fall of Adam for millennia but I firmly believe that being cast out of the Garden, away from God and into this corrupt state was essential so that we could gain atonement with God. Otherwise there would be no way to show faith, no need to show faith and even no way to have faith. Without the Fall, there would be no need of reliance on Him.

Thank God for Eve.