This is an archived copy of a post written by Conflict Of Justice (conflictofjustice.com). Used with permission: Conflict Of Justice may not agree with any alterations made.
Community is vital for spreading a movement, yet because we have very little online community to speak of Latter-day Saint ministry is almost non-existent.
Be Like Water– As I have wondered what we can do to establish a church presence, I have been impressed with the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong. China is famous for its brutal suppression of anti-Marxist movements, yet demonstrators have managed to attract millions of members and international attention in recent years. Human-rights figures are nothing new in Hong Kong, but why is it suddenly a tidal wave?
They credit their achievements to their philosophy “be like water,” which they got from Bruce Lee’s martial arts teachings. Instead of emulating the “occupy” protests (which went no-where), they now try to always be moving and seeking momentum. They flow effectively from area to area, quickly and unified. I find this social movement philosophy interesting because the scriptures compare missionary work to rain and water. Moses prophesied that missionary ministry would rain from the heavens and flood the earth with knowledge like the floods in Noah’s day. This is interesting imagery, as rain is subtle and hardly noticeable at first, yet so forceful as a whole. Perhaps by delving into this symbolism and how others have applied it to social movement we can finally unite the clans of church groups on the internet and stand as one church.
Direct Toward Jesus Christn – The individual raindrop counts for little, but when we collect into pools we find strength, and we become an unstoppable raging torrent. What matters is which direction we flow. As Lehi exhorted Laman and Lemuel, “O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!” We are empowered if we flow as a river to the source of all righteousness, which is Jesus Christ. We therefore need to direct our flow to Christ as a solid body of Christians, working as one to direct others likewise toward Christ. The key to establishing a good flowing river is to sculpt the topography. Set the circumstances where our words on social media emphasize Christ and his teachings. Divert the water so that it gravitationally proceeds in the right direction.
Free Of Pollution – Saints will gravitate to a holy, righteous missionary effort if we are free of pollution. How long can rolling water remain impure, asked God? The momentum naturally pushes away muck and filth. “As well might a man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course” as to hinder God’s missionary efforts (see D&C 121). And then God said we need to be chosen for this pure motion to work. We are chosen if we follow principles of righteousness and practice virtues of the priesthood:
“Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson— That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.” (D&C 121:35-37)
The problem with social media is that it is designed to illicit pride. Hearts set upon things of the world? Aspiring to honors of men? Covering our sins? Gratifying desires? Vain ambition? Control, dominion, and compulsion? Well, that describes 99% of Twitter! And so, why would we expect Latter-day Saints to be different? I think the biggest reason we cannot seem to pool together unified as one body is because many members on social media run along with the den of prideful attention-seekers and adopt this toxic culture. I know we aren’t supposed to say this because it is judgemental, but it’s true (and I’m guilty of this as well). This is the nature of these social media platforms because they were intentionally designed to be so. The reason many members are on social media is because this toxic prideful environment is what they are seeking. Each drop of rain must be purified of pride, and then we will see the dynamic of an unstoppable missionary power roar forth.
Common Vision – A river only forms if water is flowing the same direction. Water only flows the same direction if everyone is falling upon the same spot carved out so they can collect as a pool. Most members use social media for cat pictures–which is just fine, by the way. Social media is incredibly toxic unless you are using it for ministry or harmless delights, so cat pictures are great. But the problem is we are used to interacting with church members only once a week, and we hang out with few if any ward members during the rest of the week. We are family-centric, and we do not know how to make friends with people based on shared spirituality.
Many social media church members have tried to use other interests as a crutch, but this inevitably poisons the church online community into something worse than if there were no community at all, as such groups tend to attack and shun those with opposing political or sports affiliations. They adopt a worldly philosophy; then that philosophy gets grafted in to spirituality; and then that philosophy becomes an idol of worship. When we make anything but the gospel our common vision it seems to become our stumbling block. This is the case right now. From what I have seen, the loudest voices of these clans tear down sincere efforts to unite members in a community.
Often, these clans base their vision on efforts to change the church, and they consider those who aren’t on board with these alterations their enemies. It is easy to hit people over the head with a hammer with our ideas as missionaries, but the rain is more subtle. Rain does not seek out things to get wet. It simply falls, and if people shield themselves with umbrellas, that’s fine. Let them put up their umbrellas. If you are blocked by those who don’t like your politics or values, or if they lie and backbite, don’t sweat it. Unless they combine into calumny, mob action, violence, or libel, focus your energy instead on creating common vision among those who are ready. For all the noise they make and the amplification they get from big Antimormon media corporations, those who oppose rather than unite will not get much real attention, because they lack the virtue necessary to use priesthood power.
Our shared interest needs to be sharing the gospel. It feels quite uncomfortable putting yourself out there, just as it is uncomfortable the first few weeks doing doors as a missionary. But we must try to seek out this community, because right now we are all a bunch of lone wolves and we are achieving very little this way. It is vital a find the community focused on missionary vision above all else and contribute to establishing it.
Lift Where You Stand – Individually, we achieve very little, but if we collect as water we can lift the heaviest ship. We can carry millions of people on a voyage to knowledge and salvation. As the pendulum swings and America’s religious awakening blossoms, the internet and social media is shaping up to be a key factor in each main mission of the church. Facebook and Twitter are the major battlegrounds in today’s war for souls. It is truly a marvel to speak to millions with the push of a button, as social media spreads the gospel far and wide, strengthening and gathering saints. It is vital in the parched desert of the modern world where millions are mired in drudgery and degeneracy, searching for spiritual life. But our drops of rain reach few, and few consider the Church of Jesus Christ because the narrative is dominated by big wealthy Antimormon corporations, and there are so few members ministering right now. We seem to just seep into the cracked clay and disappear. Those who do try to minister find social media awkward and unwieldy like a big grand piano. How do we adopt missionary principles for the rough and tumble habitat of online communication? Especially without a community we feel like Alma walking alone into the unknown lands of the Zoramites. We need to unite with any fellow-farers we can find and lift where we stand.
Being like water does not mean we all act the same. We don’t repeat the same phrases and mimic the same narratives. The chemical bond that attaches us as liquid is a fervent desire to spread the gospel. If we value anything else as a bonding force, such as politics or philosophy, we become like oil and separate out the water. We need to value people for the diversity of what they contribute and their unique style of ministry. There are many roles to fill, and not everybody needs to be on the front lines talking to people. In the mission field, some work in the office. In the military, many brave soldiers provide logistics and cook the meals. Don’t feel like your role has to be to talk to strangers. Simply fulfill whatever role in the community feels natural. Use whatever talents and interests you have.
One reason the Hong Kong protests are so successful is their level of organization. Many of the protesters are in the background making posters and helping in other creative ways. Their communication and planned tactics are impeccable. They can quickly form a human chain to deliver supplies to the front line a kilometer long. They move quickly to let an ambulance through a packed crowd. There are all kinds of creative ways to contribute to the Latter-day Saint online community: create memes, distribute material, encourage, give advice, create art, shield from trolls, make info sites, etc. The key is coordinating so we can move quickly and efficiently as one body. Remember also to go to the community for any kind of support. It is so great to know I have online friends I can go to for advice and help, and I love providing that support for them.
No Bad Feelings For Fellow Members – As I reflect on those members with whom I strongly disagree, I wonder if I could really bury the hatchet for the sake of unity. I think anyone who focuses on the gospel first with virtue and humility can say “yes.” This does not mean ignoring apostasy or false doctrine, but requires you to value the good of the group. Our Western society is turning ultra-individualistic, and we tend to care about what the church can do for us rather than what we can do for the church. Social media becomes a self-serving platform for demanding rights, expressing grievances, complaining, and assigning blame. Lifting where you stand means not demanding the community conform to you or your unique identity, but being confident in who you are and humbly doing your part. If your personality clashes with someone–and it usually will–or if you don’t like a member’s politics or ministering style, solve it in a civil way, because the Spirit does not dwell where there are bad feelings between members. The only time a fellow member should be opposed is if there is:
- Apostasy. This means direct and willful opposition to doctrine and official policy. It does not mean being mean. If you believe someone is apostate you better have irrefutable evidence.
- Untrue doctrine or information about the church. This is about established facts, not opinions or feelings.
- Totally un-Christlike behavior. This means seriously unreasonable displays of hatred and other poor behavior that grows worse over time. It is not necessarily the case when someone is feeling offended. It is not the case when someone said something racist 30 years ago that they now regret.
- Domineering church membership for their own non-gospel agenda. This is when they put down individuals or classes of members in order to prop themselves up, or they posture themselves as leaders and seek to control others.
There is a difficult balance we must find between allowing for unique individuality and keeping the water pure. Despite the strong accusations being lobbed back and forth in Latter-day Saint circles about apostasy and false doctrine, many Latter-day Saint forums and chat sites are overwhelmed with Antimormonism. It is necessary to avoid apostasy in the community because the stream becomes polluted and then the ground is poisoned rather than fertilized. How do we keep the community healthy yet foster individuality and open discussion? This has been the greatest challenge. In the Hong Kong protests, observers have noted Marxist China police going undercover and snagging protesters unaware for arrest. There are ravenous wolves in Latter-day Saint circles picking out those with vulnerable testimonies and targeting them with Antimormon propaganda. In Hong Kong, there are Chinese government infiltrators instigating violence and trying to give the group a bad image. I have seen such bad faith actors in Latter-day Saint groups too. And then there are infiltrators in Hong Kong trying to subvert the protesters’ vision with anti-democracy rhetoric. Latter-day Saint circles are overwhelmed by this.
Judge Carefully – How do we protect against this? The worldly way to keep a group’s vision united is to compare the individual’s public image to the current main narrative and find contradictions. This is how Antimormons attack us. They portray contradictions within our organization and between us and their ideology. The worldly way is to dig up something offensive someone said 30 years ago and hang it over their head to discredit them. But that is not the Lord’s way. The Lord’s way is to judge where a person is directed–if they are a river flowing toward the source of all righteousness or flowing toward the great and spacious building. It’s not about how far they are from perfect but if they are improving. Someone may cuss a lot or have inappropriate profile pictures, but we should not condemn or exclude them if they are growing. Conversely, someone may be well-versed in the gospel and have a clean image, yet start pushing racism or some poisonous ideology, and that is to be condemned.
Infiltrators and bad faith actors stoke division by calling a class of faithful members apostate or guilty of sin. They call their subversive rhetoric pure doctrine and our faithful messages subversive. Others blend in and say they are one of us, and then they something horrible to give us a bad name. We must be very careful about how we judge members of the group, because the pointing of fingers currently is tearing the community apart.
Careful About Tone Policing – Allow for different personalities. Maybe allow for those who get a kick out of trolling and might be slightly irreverent. Maybe allow for those who are a bit stricter of laxer than you are–as long as they don’t persuade people against commandments. A while ago, I was defending the church from someone’s attacks, when the person’s friend who was a member of the church told me to be quiet because my “aggressive” tone was undoing their efforts to befriend him. I replied, “Be a good friend and tell them not to spread hatred for the Lord’s church.” A little laxness in keeping commandments is one thing, but accepting anyone’s attacks on the church is not doing them any favors, and further opposing a brother in the church makes it worse. Well, I wondered, what if a member were to scold a friend of mine in a way I thought would turn my friend further against the church? It is not always clear which approach is helping the missionary effort or which is hindering it, but part of the “domineering” behavior that prevents priesthood virtue is when you try to control other members and have no keys or authority to do so. The rule of thumb is: do not police the tone of fellow ministers. The only time to reprove is, as I said, making false statements about the church, apostasy, or clearly un-Christlike behavior.
A big problem in our clans is those who anoint themselves spiritual leaders and direct the community as they see fit. This is what Satan did with Adam and Eve. He stalked them around, directing their teaching, trying to lead them, and declaring himself master of this world. A lot of us do this as well, declaring ourselves fit to tell everybody what to do. Religion journalists do this a lot, propagating whatever is in the interest of the billionaires and big corporations that sign their paychecks. Self-proclaimed authorities often have some signal of authority in their names or bios, and they teach messages that are popular worldly and sound good but are on the cusp of apostasy. It is frankly priestcraft to posture as authoritative spiritually by proclaiming their priesthood office or any other such indicator. Nobody has priesthood leadership over the internet except the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Those employed by corporations, those inappropriately tone-policing, and those posturing as authorities for their non-gospel agenda are all likely to be apostates, wolves in sheep’s clothing. We need to look to the apostles and prophets as leaders when it comes to the internet, and the Holy Ghost.
We need to be leaderless (except for the Brethren). Priesthood empowers us to be missionaries, but as an organized structure on the internet we are communal. We do not have bishops and stake councils on the internet. Such a communal structure is always very difficult to keep together, and we need to practice the spirit of consecration to make it work. Our time, effort, content, kindness, and patience are being consecrated as well minister, and it is something we need to keep in mind–we are all volunteering for this effort. We are just doing the best we can. In internet terms, we are “open source” ministers. This means we do not have what formal missionaries have with the mission leaders and priesthood keys. We can’t condemn people to hell or dust off our feet. We simply fall as rain.
No Splinter Groups – Since before the church’s announcement of its name policy, I recognized the problem with the label “Mormon” in this new age of the internet media. Nicknames are a much bigger problem today than they were 10 years ago because any label other than the name of Christ divides us and stokes pride, and the internet greatly amplifies this division. Social media is designed to amplify fringe voices that have the support of big corporations and popular culture but not the majority of the people. We are to have no “-ites” in the church. Now, that is not to say we can’t use hashtags. Many were resistant to give up the label “Mormon–and now I am happy to see the name policy is catching on–but I never urged people to stop using hashtags such as #mormon. Hashtags are effective for propagating spiritual messages. But our identity must always be followers of Jesus Christ, and we need to make sure this is how we identify to others. Apostates and tone-policers usually have an “-ites” label in their bio. Whatever it may be, we need to simply be members of the church and keep hashtags categorizations of a particular message, not an identity. We can have other descriptors in our bios, naturally–philosophy, zoology, politics, art, etc.–but it is inherently divisive when those things describe our church membership or church identity.
One problem that causes splintering which I see a lot is when a domineering self-appointed leader attacks individuals or a subset of church membership. They do this to lift themselves up. I was disappointed to see a bunch of high-profile church members propagating a recent example of this on social media. Domineering for a non-gospel agenda is reprehensible. We should discourage friendly fire on fellow saints and any effort to sow division. As we seek to establish a river flowing to righteousness, keep in mind Satan knows the best way to keep a river from forming, and he has set up his anti-flood measures. This includes dams of division separating us from each other. Unless there is legitimate untruth, apostasy, or un-Christlike behavior being revealed, and unless there is a Christ-centered solution being proposed to solve it, this kind of divisive bitterness is to be strongly opposed.
Don’t React – Such negative voices will stick out like oil on water. Remember what God said earlier in that D&C 121 section: “How long can rolling water remain impure?” The fierce and forceful motion of the river will natural filter out pollutants as the waters crash among the rocks and crags. The crashing on rocks works to our favor. It is through the relentless momentum and strong opposition we receive that the will be sifted away–they will leave on their own if we push the momentum hard and apologetically. The sediment reacts as it hits against the rocks, but the water simply flows around it. As water, we don’t react emotionally when someone calls us names, we don’t conform to the social media culture, and we don’t seek to overpower the rock. We simply flow over it.
One important symbol to be found in the Old Testament is the crocodile, which the Egyptian pharaoh related himself to. You can see in Facsimile 1 of the Book of Abraham how the crocodile was a symbol for the pharaoh, and this was because the crocodile was a fearsome, strong, conquering beast. The prophet Ezekiel acknowledged this imagery but turned it around on him as a shameful thing, and used Egypt’s failed effort to dam the Nile river to do it. The Sadd el-Kafara was the first large-scale dam project in human history. In 2700 BC, Egypt recognized the value of regulating the flooding cycles and protecting the defensive nature of the river and tried to block it with a huge stone wall. But the wall broke and the project was abandoned. The ancient Jewish Midrash speaks of their folly trying to hold back a torrent of water: “Come and see: anyone who wants to make himself into a god builds a palace for himself in the water. Pharah built himself a palace in the water and he blocked the waters of the Nile and prevented them from flowing down toward the ocean. But the waters were stronger and they took the palace and lifted it up, as it says, Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, [the great crocodile that lies in the midst of his streams, which has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your streams to stick to your scales, and I will bring you up from the midst of your streams, and all the fish of your streams shall stick to your scales.] Ezekiel 29:3-4” (Tanhuma , Bereshit 7, in Discussing Cultural Influences: Text, Context, and Non-text in Rabbinic Judaism, Rivka Ulmer )
He doesn’t mince words there does he? Act like a crocodile and you will be caught in a hook like a fish. Try to hold back a river and it will burst in your face. I believe this is what the Lord was referencing in His revelation to Joseph Smith: “As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.” (Though Joseph Smith didn’t know about the ancient dam.) Furthermore, the method of purifying water by rolling it through a fast flow which we also see in D&C 121 is something referenced in many ancient religious rituals. For example, an Egyptian priest swirled his finger in water taken by a river in order to purify it: “I give you essential water, a tide in your time. I bring the flood waters to purify your sanctuary. I bring you the flood waters to purify your Temple and your statue in its place, the primordial water that purified as in the First Time! Place your index finger into the water and move it in a circular direction four times as you say: Hat-Hor, Daughter of Ra, does purify this water; Hat-Hor, Beloved of Heru, does cleanse this water; Hat-Hor, Lady of Jubilation, does santify this water; Hat-Hor herself does endow this water with power and with life.” (Everlasting Egypt: Kemetic Rituals for the Gods, Richard J. Reidy)
The four swirls of water and four repetitions of this spell are in reference to the four corners of the earth, and the four streams which flowed from Eden. As ministers and missionaries, we flow like four streams covering the whole earth, and social media is a great tool to help us do this.
Therefore, instead of acting tough like a crocodile or constructing mammoth structures to hold back natural forces, let us be a natural force that is unstoppable, and let’s flow with a nature that comes naturally. Personal virtue is the first key, and we must avoid the prideful culture which social media is meant to provoke. We will often ask ourselves what we are doing here. We will feel out of place. That’s good! I think if you don’t feel out of place on social media you have a real problem. If you feel comfortable being like everyone else on Twitter you really need to re-evalute it. We need to stand out like a river in a barren desert.