Problems of this World Today (Part 4)

How does the notion that the ‘Prophecies are Now’, help to solve the Problems of this World?

We’ll now discuss how it is that the promotion of the idea that the Prophecies are Now can be beneficial and have a positive effect upon the process of solving the problems of this World. Firstly I need to make clear that there are many different interpretations of the Prophecies contained in the World’s Religions and some of these can be quite harmful and actually contribute to the World’s problems. In an earlier chapter called ‘The Saviour is Within and Prophetic Outcome’, we described some different interpretations of the Prophecies from three of the World’s great faith traditions namely, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. We showed how there exist certain sects within these religions which adamantly believe that the Prophecies found within their respective faiths are taking about the present age and current circumstances. And furthermore we described how the particular doctrines and beliefs that have emerged in response these Prophecies have in them the potential for bringing about great harm, calamity and even a major World War. Each of these types of interpretation of the Prophecies, we described, only uses scriptural sources from a single Religion.

Instead what we are promoting in this book is an alternative unified perspective the Prophecies that incorporates ideas and scriptural sources from all the Worlds Religion taken together. We described this original and more encompassing interpretation of the Prophecies and their outcome in two earlier chapters entitled, ‘The Prophecies are Now’ and the other, also mentioned earlier, ‘The Savior is Within and Prophetic Outcome’. We now go on to describe how the promotion of this particular perspective on the Prophecies is able to help us to solve the problems of this World. There are three ways by which this is so and they are as follow.

The Prophecies are Now as a message of Hope:

Firstly this interpretation of the Prophecies, that I am promoting, is able to give reasonable people a positive message of hope in the future. For what we are proposing is a view of the Prophecies which is not supernatural but completely rational. And by the same token what we are also talking about here is a interpretation of the conclusion of the Prophecies, i.e. the Happy Ending, which is realistic and believable, not one which is supernatural and fantasy land. It is a picture of a future state for humanity of Peace, Harmony and Justice supported by the wise implementation of technology and a sustainable way of life. A society based on spiritual values where the goal of life is not money and status but rather love, knowledge and Enlightenment. In other words it’s what we get if we can fix the Problems of this World. So what we are saying is that what the Prophecies are saying is that these major human concerns and issues of the age will be fixed. This is so important to encourage people to believe that things will work out. And if you can do this by evoking the power of peoples belief in things such as prophecy then so much the better. A message of hope and a vision of a better world will be necessary when things seem hopeless and the World seems totally fallen. Also hope is so important because in order for people to act then people need hope. In order for people to hope for a better world and a solution to its problems then people need to be able to hope that the problems of the World will be solved and that things will be made better. Which takes us to the second reason our particular version of the belief that the ‘Prophecies are now’ will help to in solution to the problems of the World.

The Prophecies are Now as a Call to Action:

Secondly, if hope gives people the strength to act, then our interpretation of the Prophecies also may get people to act in the first place. As well as providing a positive outlook the viewpoint of the Prophecies we are presenting also promotes positive action as well. A participational view of the Prophecies and proactive response to the belief that the ‘Prophecies are Now’, naturally emerges from and goes hand in hand with the belief that ‘Everyone is God’. For in the same way that we stop looking for God outside of ourselves, so it is that we stop looking for some outside intervention or supernatural agency to intervene and solve the problems of this World on our behalf. Instead the belief of the God within is also the recognition that we are the agents who will bring about the happy ending to the World’s problems that the Prophecies go on to foretell. We realize that the resolution of the problems of the World is in our own hands. To fully accept that you are God is to understand that you create your own reality.

So the idea that the Prophecies are now coupled with idea that Everyone is God leads to the idea that the Messiah and World Savior, which is representative of the agency that will solve the Problems of the World, is to be found inside all of us. Therefore this interpretation of the Prophecies may serve to stimulate people to participate in the process of Solving the Worlds Problems and be a call to action.

This Version of the Prophecies are Now as a Necessary and Better Alternative to Fundamentalist Fantasies:

Thirdly and lastly, related to a point made earlier, there exists in the World many interpretations which are actively harmful or may actually cause people to contribute to making the problems of this World even Worse. For instance Christian Dispensationalist doctrines where Jesus is expected to literally appear in the sky and lift the born again into a the protective bubble of the ‘Rapture’ at the time of maximal calamity. For part of this doctrine is the idea that Jesus will scorch the earth and remake it anew for the benefit of the faithful when they’re returned to the earth. These ideas, which are widely believed by Fundamentalist Christians, have caused some Fundamentalist Christians to belief that it is not necessary to try to protect the Environment and Ecological systems of the World because Jesus is going to destroy it all anyway. Also some Fundamentalist Christian even believe that Nuclear Weapons exist to allow Jesus to ‘Scorch the Earth’ and see their use , all out nuclear war, as a divine intervention that will be to their benefit. Similar harmful beliefs exist in Judaism where some Jewish Fundamentalists believe that active steps should be taken to rebuild the Temple of Salomon for the Messiah whose arrival is believed to be imminent. A process which would necessitate the destruction of the Dome on the Rock, one of the Holiest sites in Islam, thereby potentially triggering an immense amount of conflict, war and suffering. And in Islam there is the Messianic Hogtie Sect which is purported to believe that the coming of Muslim Messiah or the Mahdi, can be hastened by creating as much chaos on the planet as possible. These are examples of how prophecies can be interpreted in such a way as to be harmful and problem promoting.

There are also other interpretations of the prophecies, while not being actively harmful, can lead people into states of passiveness which, while though not contributing further to the Problems of the World, actually prevent people from taking a more active part in their solution. For instance there is the belief as mentioned earlier that the UFOs or Aliens will land either to save us or else to take us away to safety. Also there is a belief not uncommon in New Age and Psychedelic circles, which is not totally unlike the Christian Fundamentalist doctrine of the Rapture, where at the end of the Age, people expect to be shifted to another dimension or ‘Higher Vibrational Frequency’ and so escape from the problems of the world.

Though some of these interpretations of the Prophecies seem a little far fetched and irrational, at the same time the problem is that as things on this planet become more perilous and stressed, then it is inevitable that more and more people will want to find hope and escape in these sorts of fantastic interpretations of the Prophecies. So therefore it is necessary to give people a reasonable interpretation of the Prophecies and one that leads to people taking positive action, in order to solve the problems of this World and help to actively bring about the happy conclusion that the Prophecies talk about. So just by giving people an alternative interpretation of the Prophecies which leads people into becoming part of the Solution rather than them becoming part of problem whereby they contribute to the worsening the Worlds Problems; then in this way, a reasonable and positive interpretation of the idea that the Prophecies are Now can help to solve the problems of this World.

The Power of the Idea and the process of Mazeway Re-synthesis:

An interesting way to view the solution to the Worlds problems being proposed in this chapter is that of Mazeway Re-synthesis. Some explanation is needed here. Essentially the solution we are suggesting is that a tight nexus of closely related ideas centered around the idea that Everyone is God and also a recognition that the Prophecies are Now, can form a powerful unifying doctrine that brings together the major Religions of the World, together with the integration of Religion with Science and Philosophy. It is this unified and all encompassing World view which when expressed as a Political Ideology that is then able to oppose some of the dominant and harmful Ideologies of this World, i.e. Various Religious Fundamentalism, Scientific Nihilism and Selfish Genes interpretations of Evolutionary theory. This World view we are proposing is really a return of the ancient Perennial Wisdom but expressed in the concepts and language of the 21st Century. Through the adoption of a World view which is intrinsically Spiritual in its nature and orientated towards truer notions of God, then the impact on the Social, Economic and Political life, of this planet, will be dramatic. For it will help to create a One World Order that is Just, Equal, Fair and inherently opposed to the idea of Tyranny and Selfishness. In turn this will also lead to the conditions whereby the Environmental and Ecological problems of this World may effectively be tackled. This is as was discussed earlier in this Chapter. But what then is Mazeway Re-synthesis?

The idea of Mazeway resynthesis derives from the work of the Anthropologist Anthony Wallace who studied the process of Cultural Revitalization and the phenomenon of Revitalization Movements. These are social movements which emerge during times of crisis when a society is in a period of turbulence and transition, i.e. when things in a society are going terribly wrong and there is a need for change and readjustment. It is during these times that Mazeway Re-synthesis occurs. So what is the Mazeway?

The Mazeway, as defined by Wallace, is the total set of beliefs that a person has about herself or himself, all the social norms that the persons adheres to and also her or his views on Society, Culture, Politics and Religion. It is the person’s overall world view through which that person interprets the myriad details of life and also upon which that person bases her or his actions. In Wallace’s own words, ‘The Mazeway is nature, society, culture, personality, and body image, as seen by one person’. Therefore a Mazeway Re-synthesis is what happens when a new set of ideas sweeps through a society during a time of crisis because it seems to offer answers and a solution to the problems facing that society. If the old Mazeway was seen as the source of failure, stagnation and discontent then the new or re-synthesized Mazeway is seen as something that offers hope for the future.

Examples of Mazeway Resynthesis would be the emergence of new Religions i.e. the Resynthesized Mazeways of Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus for instance which during their time all opposed the status quo. Also various political ideologies such as Deregulated Free Market Capitalism, Communism and German National Socialism can also be viewed as Resynthesized Mazeways. Another example would be the political philosophy that emerged during the Enlightenment that sought to replace Monarchy with Equality, Fraternity and Liberty, and which seeded the French and American revolutions. On a smaller scale the process of Mazeway Resynthesis also occurs within sub groupings of society and on a tribal level as well. Here the Resynthesized Mazeway will likewise seek to address the more local problems facing these social groupings. On a larger level than all of these would be a Global Mazeway Resynthesis that covered all the essential domains of knowledge and belief throughout the entire World and one which in corresponding manner is applicable the World over. This is what is being suggested in this Chapter.

So Mazeway Resynthesis is really the process whereby a society, or for our purposes the World Society, comes to accept a new World view when the old World view isn’t working anymore. When the old ideas on which we base our lives, and which inform our behaviour and the choices we make, are seen to be outdated, incorrect and a handicap on our ability or that of society, to be effective and viable; then this is when human societies may undergo a Mazeway resynthesis. It will be during times of chaos and calamity that this need becomes identified. These are the moments when newly Resynthesized Mazeways emerge to give people a better way of looking at things and inspire new ways of living and organizing.

The Absolute Necessity of Fighting and Winning the Battle in the Realm of Pure Ideas and Ideology, thereby Resynthesizing the Mazeway.

The notion of a Battle in the Realm of Ideas may seem rather abstract and academic. It may seemed far removed and of no immediate consequence in relation to the overall aim of trying to solve the problems of this World. However in this chapter we’re tried to show how it is the case that ideas are indeed very powerful and can have and have had in the past, had a very significant influence on History and the course of human affairs. Mainly in this chapter I’ve tried to explain the positive effects that the twin notions that Everyone is God and the Prophecies are Now, may have on helping to solve the problems of this World. We’ll now turn to consider what would be the case if we totally neglected to address the problems of this World in the realm of pure ideas and ideology. We do this in order to further emphasis the importance of winning the Battle in the Realm of Ideas. Or put another way, the importance of Resynthesizing the Mazeway.

In order to make my point I propose a thought experiment which goes like this. Suppose that some agency of extraordinary power was able to completely fix the Environmental and Ecological problems of this World overnight. Through supernatural power or super advanced technology, this outside agency was able to repair all the Ecological and Environmental damage that had been inflicted on the planet since the dawn of human civilization, even replenishing all the Earth’s non renewable resources such as Oil, Gas and Coal etc. Furthermore this outside agency might also set up an optimal system of Social, Economic and Political Organization for our benefit. However nothing is done to address the Ideological problems of this World, nor the problems in the realm of Pure ideas relating to Science, Theology and Philosophy. So with this remade planet Earth and a fresh start we still have all the various Religious Fundamentalist Doctrines, all the notions of Selfish Genes, Survival of the Fittest and a purposeless Universe devoid of any ultimate meaning. It’s not difficult to see that within a few generations we would be back to square one and facing exactly those problems we are facing today, once again.

For unless we tackle the root cause of the problems of this World which is the ideas in the form of Ideologies which create the Sociology-Economic and Political problems and which in turn give rise to the Environmental and Ecological ones; then we’ll only ever be treating the symptom and not the disease. We may be able to mitigate the symptoms and minimize their effects, but they will keep coming back and also perhaps with increasing severity. 

So addressing the problems of this World in the Realm of Pure Ideas and Ideology is not a luxury and something that should be seen as a secondary process, but rather as something that goes hand in hand with practical action and the formulation and also implementation of specific solutions.

The Need for New Ideas and the Receptiveness to them during times of Chaos and Upheaval:

The notion of Mazeway Resynthesis which happens during periods of Cultural, Political and Social Revitalization, and which is precipitated by a situation where a Society is under a time of extreme stress and hopelessness, underlines the fact that it is only during these times that large numbers of people within a society will actually be even the slightest bit receptive to radical and revolutionary new ideas. When everything is going smoothly, i.e. during times of prosperity, full employment and security then generally populations become content, self indulgent, perhaps even decadent. However it is when things get calamitous and uncertain that there is a stronger motivation for understanding what is going on and also a search for solutions and new ideas.

Over the next 20 to 40 years the World will become more and more stressed. Many of the Problems of the World today outlined at the beginning of this Chapter will become more pronounced and cumulative. If there is already a feeling of unease and a sense of foreboding then this is surely to become more exaggerated as the years go by. If the idea that Everyone is God seems a little too rarefied and radical for a lot of people to accept today, then this will be less so in the future. Of course abstract metaphysical notions are not normally considered by most folks. But it is not most folks that the Mazeway Resynthesis necessarily happens to. And the battle in the Realm of Ideas for Peoples hearts and minds doesn’t necessarily have to be fought out in the hearts and minds of all the people or even most of the people. It is a certain proportion of the people in a population, who are most dynamic, persuasive and intelligent that need to accept an idea for that idea to become dominant in a society. Leaders in other words and especially young future leaders, movers and shakers.

Some Social Psychologists entertain the idea of a certain 5 percent quantity or 1 in 20 ratio which roughly specifies for them the proportion of people who are natural leaders. This idea originally derived from research which tried to understand why the escape rate of American POWs during the Korean Conflict was so low, in fact practically zero. It was discovered that the reason for this was that what the captors had done was to separate out the 5 percent whom they’d somehow identified as the natural leaders and hold them under especially tight security. Without the instigation of the 5% the other 95% generally made no attempts to escape whatsoever. Anyway from this detail of 20th century history, the idea that there is a roughly 5 percent of people who are leaders was derived. Using this viewpoint, then it is this 5 percent, in whom the process of Mazeway Resynthesis needs to occur and in the hearts and minds of whom the Battle in the Realm of ideas need to be fought and won in order for the plan set out in this chapter to succeed. The even more troubled times towards which collective humanity is heading, provides the perfect context for this process to unfold, a process which will in turn get us out of these further troubled times and provide a lasting solution to the Problems of this World.

What we are about to face, the inevitable suffering and pain ahead will be the most major challenge collective humanity has ever faced in recorded history. This prognosis may seem to some as overly pessimistic. Some may object to this line of discourse as ‘scare mongering’ or being unnecessarily ‘doom and gloom’. However I believe this is a perfectly realistic and rational stance to take. It is through the full recognition of what is ahead of us that puts us in the best position to make the best choices, to best chose always the lesser evil, maximise the common good, and minimise the collective hardship. In truth the predicted pain and suffering, the projected chaos and calamity, has already started though currently it mainly afflicts people in the Third World. Also affecting the very young, very old, poor and under privileged in the richer countries. As was witnessed during the freak 2003 heat wave that affected North Western Europe and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans USA in 2005. Anyway, this time of increasing crisis will be the context in which the ideas introduced in this book will become more and more relevant. The trials and tribulations ahead may be the most appropriate setting for the idea that Everyone is God to become established. Indeed in crisis there is also opportunity.