Jiminy Cricket, Another Mass Shooting!

Beware the Diagnoses of Honest Johns

In an era when Nazi-reminiscent groups and violence are on the rise, it is good to return to this gracious and anti-authoritarian morality tale. Centering genuine, personal attentiveness to conscience is precisely what we need to help our children and society escape the clutches of destructive ideologies today.

We also need to beware of political and religious leaders who seek to separate us from our consciences, and offer their own diagnoses and prescriptions as “experts.” They may not intend to make us susceptible to evil spirits, but our dependency on their advice is ultimately in service of their gain. The directions they give us accumulate fame and fortune, power and prestige for themselves. They play on our insecurities and desires and seem to beneficently meet our needs—until the trap is sprung.

A favorite diagnosis of “Honest Clergymen” is the influence of “secular society,” defined as anything that does not conform to the moral structures taught by those same clergymen. Thus blame for a “twisted heart” gets laid on such non-cultish activities as playing video games recreationally, using artificial means to plan family size, committed relationships between people of the same sex, and replacing clergy-centered worship assemblies with more egalitarian and active pursuits of common values. Followers of the Honest Clergymen are encouraged to withdraw from their neighbors and band together under the direction of these religious leaders to “fight the world,” which is depicted as a mortal threat.

The diagnosis of the Honest Clergymen is quite useful for garnering donations from followers who think they are paying for protection from persecution and hellfire. It also attracts willing transactional partners from “secular society” who want to exploit the followers’ labor, which is much easier to do with people who credulously shift blame wherever the clergymen point them, and tell themselves their pains on this earth will ultimately earn eternal reward. But as soon as these followers come upon another trickster credibly offering them a happier situation, they will gladly follow this new leader, without any internal conscience to hold them back. A sincere clergyman would then worry about the “loss of souls” and reevaluate his approach; the Honest Clergyman will simply shame those “reprobates” and instill more fear of leaving among his remaining followers.

The “Honest Politician” prefers to diagnose murder as the consequence of “infestations” of sub-human beings within the “proper” (fully human) polis. “Mentally ill” people are the safest bet, even for progressive politicians, as are “drug dealers.” These labels allow the public to think that the danger can be contained by identifying sub-human individuals by their personal actions, without prejudice based on group identity. The dehumanizing of people who do something “disordered” seems more justified than segregating them for innate attributes, even though these actions are seldom truly voluntary. But bolder demagogues will go so far as to point the finger at ethnic or religious minorities: “Mexicans,” “Muslims,” “shithole countries,” “Jews.” Politicians who appeal to lopsidedly-partisan audiences also dehumanize people who hold contrary beliefs or values: “socialists,” “creationists,” “feminists,” “hicks.”

Whatever classifications of persons are dehumanized, the Honest Politician exploits the scapegoat to fulfill the mimetic desires of the majority of voters. Directing attention toward punishing or expelling the scapegoat is also useful for distracting people from noticing corrupt activity of the politicians. This helps the Honest Politician get elected and reelected, consolidating power and wealth in the process. Such a politician cares little if the spirit of some supporters turns toward violence, and in fact encourages it if the violence is usefully directed toward rivals. But if voters themselves feel threatened by the violence, the Honest Politician can easily disclaim involvement in it, and even propose the direct perpetrators as new scapegoats to divert attention.

To avoid exploitation of the many and fermenting violent, evil spirits among the few, there simply is no substitute for practicing interiority and learning to listen to and dialogue with one’s conscience. Religious leaders who tell people to doubt their interior voice and rely on external authorities instead are directing them toward a cult, not the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Test every spirit, and do not listen to those that deny that God’s own Spirit is incarnate in all of humanity. Trust the warning chirp of your conscience about those who divide to conquer. Recognize the inevitable falseness and tyranny of memetic desire, and work on identifying and detaching from it. 

The roads your conscience leads you down may seem lonely for that reason, so by all means, speak with it as your friend! And have no fear of the world, for a genuine conscience will lead you to a resurrection of perfected humanity. Jiminy Cricket, that’s finally some Good News!