5 NOVEMBER 2017 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS God vs. We the People These days there is a cultural narra- tive that clearly indicates a blur in the gap that separates reality and from fantasy. But, upon further inspection, it seems the blur has always been there- we’re just now noticing it? When you take a historical look, America has always been an ideological fan- tasy-land of sorts whether it was the European explorers who were seek- ing gold, silver and precious stones in Virginia (which they never found) or the religious-extremists (Puritans, Pilgrims, etc.) who were seeking to establish a Heaven on earth which first conflicts with the idea of Heaven for who? And, secondly the blur that depicts Heaven as a physical reality versus a metaphysical one. In the early 1600’s, King James, the then supreme governor of the Church of England chartered two companies to start a British empire in America that incorporated the above two objectives. The mission statement included the fol- lowing; “(the) propagating of Christian Religion to such People as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance.” Of course, King James was referring to the Native Americans whom he referred to as “Infidels and Savages.” And, a promise for a profitable return on their investment to finance the expedition. Both were snake-oil pitches under the terms and conditions first established but that’s my argument for an era of new consciousness. American culture is a promise of something that isn’t real and never was. The inception of the American estab- lishment represented a potential real- ity of things but not a discernable reality of anything. Two hundred years later some gold was found and mined in Virginia but not before tobacco and cotton became the wealth of the colonies. And, while no Evangelical Heaven befell the Natives or any other people of color for that matter, a prom- ise land did eventually find these European Protestants a home land. But, said home land was achieved through much savagery and darkness that they vowed to prosecute not pro- liferate. The eventual reality that the Explorers actually achieved became relative realities in respect to the ques- tion of “wealth” and “Heaven” for who? So, if your belief is that you live in an American wonderland and I assume that most Europeans do, does that belief make it True? So, herein lies the conflict for American Exceptionalism, where cul- tural Americans are the only ones who believe that they have the right to believe whatever they want… Kurt Andersen, in his book “Fantasyland, How America Went Haywire a 500 Year History” states it well; “… (Americans have) an anything goes relativism… If they think it’s true, no matter why or how they think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell them otherwise.” This cultural exceptional- ism is an odd worldview in the sense that we believe that we have the right to mentally live on Fantasy Island if we want to which unfortunately has become the creed of American individualism. People can believe what they want to and just because they do a poor job of substantiating their claims, doesn’t matter because other people can’t disprove it either. See, we live in a cul- ture where factual support for claims doesn’t matter anymore because it’s all about what one believes. So, even if you can disprove a conspiracy the- ory or fallacy, how can you disprove a belief??? It always boils-down to well, “…that’s just what I believe” Or, if you push people a little further then it becomes well, “that’s just how I feel.” Who can argue with that!? You can’t possibly tell a person their feelings are invalid! No American can be told that they can’t feel how they feel… As a psychotherapist, I’m embar- rassed to admit that the “all-feelings- are-valid” Commandment probably came from the Psychology department. People in the counseling business are always advocating people’s right to feel how they feel even though people’s feelings have caused a lot damage in the world. You can even highlight positive feel- ings and the scenario doesn’t change because I wish a lot of people didn’t feel so good about crack, marijuana, alcohol, porn, etc. Affirming feelings doesn’t cure anybody nor does it pro- vide a standard of Truth. In fact, if people can’t ultimately find peace or joy then the harm will continue. Feelings and beliefs are not a fac- tual basis for discernable truth claims. You remember, Rachel Dolezal, the White woman who said she was Black who became President of the Spokane NAACP. She said she believed that she was Black because she, “feels Black.” Really!? No real Black person would ever say that! Who wants to feel Black in America? Point is, feelings are just energy sensations and our subjective interpretation of what they are doesn’t make it true. Fact is, 51% of Americans felt right about their marriages and then promptly got divorced. 25% of Americans believe Trump won the popular vote. 25% believe that Obama was the antichrist. More than a third believe that global warming is a government hoax, 25% believe that US Officials were complicit in the 9/11 attacks. More than a third believe that all Major League Sports championships are fixed. This is just to name a few. But, I get it, we all have our theories and suspicions that we can’t prove. My problem is that the ridiculous has become the norm, and people expect to be respected for their ideas no matter how ridiculous. It’s like nobody can be a crackpot anymore. I spend countless hours debating with these Millennials who “believe” that smoking, eating or dabbing weed is natural, healthy and harmless. You ask why? Well, because the Internet said so! There are American companies who admit that they pub- lish false claims and make fake news because they claim that once provoked people will read the full text of the article and know the truth. Really? 70% of people won’t finish this article. The CIA has identified a Russian gov- ernment agency staffed by 5000 people whose only job is to get Americans to fight with each other and who they also credit for manipulating the elec- tion of Trump. When you are nurtured and condi- tioned in a cultural system that vali- dates your right to entertain any and TESTIMONY Randall Craven By Randall Craven, LPC, CAC III Continued on Page 14 Fact is, 51% of Americans felt right about their marriages and then promptly got divorced. 25% of Americans believe Trump won the popular vote. 25% believe that Obama was the antichrist.