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.
Not Magic
A problem with kid’s movies like Harry Potter is people often incorporate ideas of “magic” in their understanding of spiritual reality. Impressionable children can easily mistakenly apply themes from the movie to spiritual matters, as they are presented in a similar manner. Indeed, many ex-Mormons cling to Harry Potter as a ‘better version’ of the gospel. But spiritual reality is not a place where miracles happen with the wave of a wand. We all understand that Harry Potter is just mythology, but mythology and its effects on our moral mindset are very poorly understood, and I believe youth’s religious understanding are warped.
In Harry Potter, a “sorting hat” is placed on the head of new students to decide which “house” they should belong to. Each house in Harry Potter is similar to a tribe, and students are assigned based on their capabilities and personalities. Reading Wikipedia’s horrible article on patriarchal blessings in our church, they make patriarchal blessings sound a lot like Harry Potter’s sorting hat. Wikipedia incorrectly claims that a person receiving the blessing is “then ‘adopted’ in” to a tribe of Israel if they don’t already belong to it. Actually, any adoption into Israel happens at baptism, not from a patriarchal blessing. Wikipedia then claims, “opinions differ as to whether the lineage is instead to mean literal ancestry, or whether the lineage if metaphorical.” No. It is clearly literal ancestry and those who are not literally descended from Israel are adopted into a tribe at baptism. “The great majority of those who become members of the Church are literal descendants of Abraham through Ephraim, son of Joseph. Those who are not literal descendants of Abraham and Israel must become such, and when they are baptized and confirmed they are grafted into the tree and are entitled to all the rights and privileges as heirs.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 3:246)
Tribe Ancestry Is Literal – Patriarchal blessings are not like Harry Potter‘s sorting hat. Wikipedia incorrectly tells us 19th century church members were more likely to believe in literal ancestry than do church members today, and their source for this claim is the website ByCommonConsent. The ByCommonConsent blog starts with a big picture of the Harry Potter sorting hat, and it fallaciously claims, “While the idea of literal ancestry was strongly held in the 19th and early 20th century, my sense is that that view is receding, because it just plain doesn’t make sense.” Oh it doesn’t? Well, what does make sense? A magical Harry Potter hat that divines a person’s qualities and assigns them a club to join accordingly? That makes sense? Because you saw it in a kid’s movie? Well, that is not at all how it is, and it is troubling that fringe “Mormon” sites are applying the magical, mythological world of Harry Potter to explain spiritual or church specific issues. Magic is intellectual and spiritual laziness, and though secular Humanists in popular culture don’t formally cite “magic” as their basis for a lot of moral conclusions they make, that’s pretty much what it usually is. They come moral conclusions because that’s what feels good and that’s just how it should be.
This doesn’t make Harry Potter and the sorting hat evil. I’m not saying you should throw out your DVDs. It is simply fallacious to draw any correlation with magic in Harry Potter and anything in the gospel. It’s like comparing the prophet to Big Bird. It’s ridiculous. In Harry Potter, the villains of the story try to group people together by their ancestry. They seek to make the house of “Slytherin” full of people with “pure blood.” Doesn’t that sound actually closer to how patriarchal blessings in the church really are? So, if we went by Harry Potter we may think the church’s way is evil. From what I read about it, tribes of Israel are grouped by blood, not by capabilities or personalities. The gathering of Israel in the latter days is not a costume pageant where we pretend to be this tribe or that; it is quite literal. We do not hold one tribe of Israel above any other tribe, and adoption is still part of it–as opposed to the hostility villains in Harry Potter held for ‘Muggles’ who belonged to no house. The tribes come together and unite in these latter days to usher in the kingdom of God.
Embracing Patriarchy
This colossal misunderstanding of modern-day Israel and patriarchal blessings stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what patriarchal blessings are all about. That may because popular western society repudiates “patriarchs.” Today, the word “patriarch” has become a swear word. A certain poisonous ideology which pits men and women against each other–something Satan has been trying to do since Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden–has twisted the word “patriarch” to mean a domineering, controlling man who prevents progress from happening. Our dictionary still defines “patriarch” as the male head of a family or tribal line, but our educational indoctrination has made that synonymous with the worst qualities a man could possess. Marxists are desperate to discredit patriarchs because once the wise elder patriarch of a tribe is discredited, the tribe scatters and Socialists can swoop in as the new leaders. Every class is “equal” in the sense they resemble each other in almost every way, and Socialists stand on top as the benevolent rulers.
Our corporate and government rulers have already replaced the ancient patriarchal system, and they have moved on to tear down any connection of authority between children and their elders, in order to replace that authority with their own. Consider how many times our modern book of scripture Doctrine and Covenants quote that final verse of the Old Testament: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6)
Satan is furious about this verse. He screams every time someone reads it out loud, because it indicates a restructuring of society in these latter days to the patriarchal order. That seems like a crazy thought, doesn’t it? We struggle to maintain the most basic traditional family structure of father, mother, child, in the face of Satan’s attacks. Just keeping that going in society seems like a lost cause. But do we consider how traditional family structure relates to broader community structure? The way modern society is structured, every family lives in their own separate house or apartment unit, and a collection of unrelated families makes up a city–like cardboard boxes in a shipping warehouse. That’s what is useful for our corporate-driven society. Well, modern society’s ways are not the Lord’s ways. In ancient Israel, society was grouped by the twelve tribes, and the tribes were organized with wise elders presiding over multiple families, like one big extended family. These elders provided blessings using priesthood power, which brought the young descendants of the tribe into the community with cohesive purpose and family bonds. The great thing about our modern day is we don’t have to dwell in the same spot to be a community, because modern communication technology brings people from around the world together. A tribe can be scattered around the world yet united and gathered as a tribe that is in constant contact.
You can see hints of this if you know where to look. Recently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operatesfiled an important paper with the FCC regarding the migration of C-band communication frequencies to 5G cellular phone services. The church actually operates “one of the largest networks of 3.7-4.2 GHz band receive-only earth stations in the U.S.”–which is traditional satellite television. The church uses this for General Conference broadcasts and other church meeting broadcasts. The church seeks to “make sure that current C-Band users have the flexibility to adopt technical solutions that work for them. It also wants to make sure that all direct and indirect costs of the C-Band transition are covered for registered earth station operators like itself.” (Fiercewireless.com) Did you know one of the largest wireless communication networks was created for General Conference? That’s how important General Conference is. A lot has been invested into that communication infrastructure, and it’s not like people couldn’t just watch it streaming on Youtube or read it on the website, right? But it’s not just about that. That independent communication infrastructure is important as a means of uniting the tribes of Israel, and perhaps in coming years we will recognize that more clearly. (In fact, the audience seating arrangement for the Conference Center is based on the Greek Theater, which is based on the 12-pointed star–matching the 12 tribes of Israel, but this is subject for a future article.)
We do not have wise old patriarchs in charge of each tribe like in the ancient days, unfortunately–but the Lord has established a system of appointed local church patriarchs who act in the role of these leaders to give blessings, and the Lord has given men the priesthood to be patriarchs for their individual families. It is a unique way to adapt to the flawed organization of modern society, a society hostile toward true patriarchal. But it works. The world’s flawed solution is to divide people by obvious visual markers such as race, sex, or national origin and to push each of those divisions into the same unified Socialistic system. The Lord’s way is to assign people into their tribe of Israel and mix them up throughout the world, pursuing their individual mission united by purpose within their respective tribe, with all of Israel united by the gospel.
The Mission Of The Tribes
When an appointed patriarch speaks, I see it as if the ancient patriarchs of the Old Testament came alive and were speaking. This sounds more like Mulan than Harry Potter. They pass on the duties and mission of the tribe to the younger generation and make a few personal notes that incorporate the individual’s particular traits into the group. The missions and purposes of each tribe are unique, but for Israel as a whole it all goes back to God’s covenant with Abraham. The patriarchal blessing grafts our behavior into the Abrahamic covenant so that each individual can understand his or her role and responsibilities as one of the covenant people. Wikipedia fallaciously claims, “Additionally, it is believed that each tribe differs slightly and a person may come to understand the unique circumstances of his or her life better by knowing to which tribe they belong.” I would not consider the differences between tribes “slight.” They are actually pretty significant. And “unique circumstances” of life are not what a tribe determines. This makes it sound like the tribes of Israel are some kind of zodiac sign, and that patriarchal blessings are like astrological readings of the stars. That’s not the case–though it could be an easy mistake to make considering there are 12 zodiac signs. But they are very different. It is about knowing your specific spiritual responsibility, mission, and spiritual blessings within the tribe.
As an apparatus for helping us fulfill the Abrahamic covenant, each part of the blessing is dependent on responsibilities and actions that a person must perform to receive their promised blessings. In other words, it is not a free hand-out of blessings. It is not like going to Dumbledore the wizard and asking for magic spells to help you study for your math quiz. Blessings always come by covenant and are a natural part of a person’s arsenal to accomplish their duties. Blessings are also based on merit–they are never gratuitous–so a person who does nothing to accomplish their covenant will get nothing.
What are our responsibilities and duties? They will be specified in the patriarchal blessing, and if not, then Jacob’s blessing to that respective son of Israel clarifies the specific mission. It can be found in the scriptures. The responsibilities and duties include basic life accomplishments that contribute to the good of the whole tribe community–things like marriage, having children, having an occupation, etc. Contrary to popular modern belief, each individual has a civic responsibility to the community in regard to marriage and so forth, and this is especially true for our tribe of Israel to which we belong. When the patriarch talks about these things, when the blessing speaks of spiritual gifts to help accomplish them, and when it predicts future events in regards to them, some members unfortunately assume that this is all for their persona benefit. Our narcissistic generation unfortunately only things about itself, as that is how our popular culture and corporate-ruled society has taught us to behave. No, it is not all about you. It is about your duty to the tribe and fellow members of the tribe, and how you contribute to help the tribe affect the world at large. The wise old patriarch of a tribe certainly is brimming with love and grandfatherly pride for his descendants, and he wants them to personally succeed. The accomplishment of these duties brings personal success as well. But it is all about accomplishing the covenant; that’s what it is for. In this respect, the patriarchal blessing is less like Mulan and more like The Lion King–where Mufasa explains to his son Simba his place in the world and his relationship to his fathers.
It baffles me when people say they wish they could get a second blessing. What for? Sometimes something gets misspoken; the patriarch might say the wrong tribe or omit an important detail–this could happen to people whose bloodlines descend from multiple tribes, I think. But otherwise, the basic responsibilities and means for accomplishing the duties get laid out the first time, and it’s not like a second blessing will change the tribe’s mission. A Melchizedek priesthood-holding father who has been blessed by a patriarch himself may always provide additional blessings to help his family in specific times and with specific issues, but the patriarchal blessing is there to clarify a person’s role as a member of the covenant. It is not to be a vending machine for superpowers.
A person’s role in Israel is complex, and the patriarch could go on describing it for hours, talking about every little spiritual gift, every life challenge, and every duty. The blessing is a basic outline, and these additional details are delineated to a person through future communion with the Holy Ghost and future priesthood blessings. Once you start looking, these delineations become a lot easier to recognize.
Contrary to what Wikipedia claims (do you see a pattern yet?), patriarchal blessings did not start with Jacob. They started with Adam who blessed his children in Adam-ondi-Aman. The people of God were all in one group at that time. Since Adam, patriarchal blessings have been a constant and important connection between the community of Zion and the individual. When Jacob found himself journeying along the same road as his grandfather Abraham, he pondered on Abraham’s covenant, and his desire to be part of the mission led him to lay upon Abraham’s altar the same way Abraham was laid as human sacrifice upon an Egyptian altar all those years before. This was the moment Jacob received the same kind of vision Abraham had received in which heaven’s ladder appeared. He then understood his role as progenitor and patriarch to future generations. He received Abraham’s blessings and pursued the righteous mission of God’s covenant people. We each likewise need to offer our souls as sacrifice in order to understand and pursue the covenants of our fathers. We need to lead the same tenacious counter-cultural pursuit of higher truth, and to fiercely stand by this pursuit faithfully even in the face of annihilation. We need to boldly expect God’s blessings as we uphold our end of the bargain, no matter how long it takes for the blessings to materialize. Our blessing ultimately is to become great patriarchs and matriarchs ourselves, leaders of proud families within the tribe and copious future scions. We will look on from above and pass the covenant mission and blessings down to the next generations, whispering from the dust, standing nobly in Zion.
The gathering of Israel is an immensely important part of the gospel little talked about. We know that the turning of our hearts to our fathers is about temple work for the dead, right? But do we talk about what else it is about? It is a difficult concept because we do not live physically together as tribes arranged neatly around the tabernacle like in the days of Moses. A lot is done by proxy due to technology capabilities of today. But the ends are still the same. The basic conferral of a tribal elder’s blessing to a younger generation is the same. We are gathering the tents and raising stakes around the world because we are able to unify as Zion despite living so far apart.
Just hop onto the “Mormon Twitter” to see how Satan fights against this. I find that the devil’s rhetoric and tactics diametrically oppose our greatest strengths a lot of times, and it is not coincidence that Antimormon rhetoric opposes patriarchal blessings in so many ways:
- Tears down patriarchy.
- Makes it taboo for generations of different age groups to relate or interact.
- Divides people within the tribe so that they pursue disparate missions.
- Gets church members to identify by other personal characteristics than those of the tribes and thus swear loyalty to popular culture.
- Divides men and women, convincing them not to pursue achievements beneficial to the tribe, such as having children.
- Gets church members to focus on personal benefits and “individual rights” rather than the good of the tribe community and its mission.
- Gets church members to abandon vision of posterity, legacy, and spiritual dynasty.
- Pressure members to feel shame and apologize for the sins of their forefathers instead of turning their hearts toward them.
- “Block” faithful members who do pursue the Lord’s covenant from having any influence.
- Gives fealty in spiritual and moral matters to government and political groups instead of being empowered by the tribe.
- Launches crusades to change and replace the classic patriarchal structure of the tribe and church rather than understand its classic wisdom.
- Avoids repentance and the sweet atonement of Christ that enables us to be stronger leaders in the tribe daily.
- Treats spirituality like a magic Harry Potter universe rather than one based on merit and righteous principles of divine justice.
When we read of Abraham and the patriarchs of old, are we reading about interesting guys who lived a long time ago and had cool experiences, or are we reading about our personal forefathers who influence our life missions? Do we emulate them and look to them for wisdom as we would a revered grandparent? Something remarkable about Joseph Smith and other modern prophets is that they constantly apply these ancient masters to themselves in a very personal and immediate way. Another remarkable thing is how they always build community rather than just seek personal enlargement, because we can do so much more as a group than as individuals. The patriarchal blessing is a very important means of integrating into the community, as we take it seriously, frequently ponder on the words of wisdom therein, and seek strategies for accomplishing it. The patriarchal blessing foils the vices of Satan and guides us through the awful modern dystopia we find ourselves is to realize our highest potential.