The View from a Drawbridge

This was supposed to be an entirely different blog post. I was researching Cargo Cults, and still intend to write about them at some point. But in the midst of my research for that, I stumbled upon a word that I had never seen before: Millenarianism. And after learning its definition, I decided that writing about this is perhaps more time sensitive than the original topic.

I do love learning new words. According to Wikipedia, Millenarianism is “the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which all things will be changed.”

Millenarianism, in its purest form, has three stages.

• In the first, the followers believe, rightly or wrongly, that the current system is corrupt and oppresses them. They see nothing good in their world. This could be because they are accepting some outlandish conspiracy theory, or they are following someone who is using scare tactics to get them to believe that things are worse than they actually are. Or, perhaps, they are completely accurate in their assessment. But if so, it shouldn’t lead to stage two. There are other options.
• In stage two, some form of cataclysm occurs. Either the oppressed followers rise up in resistance, or there’s some sort of a disaster, or a battle takes place. This violence can be directed inward (such as the Jonestown Massacre) or outward, toward others who they have demonized because these others do not think or behave the way that they do. Whatever this dramatic event turns out to be, it’s supposed to lead to the next level.
• In stage three, the followers are freed from their oppression, and in some cases they are the only ones who survive due to their devotion to the cause. The world is somehow purified, and they will live in some form of a utopia.

Man, I get why Millenarianism has so much appeal. It would be lovely to live in a perfect world where all our problems would disappear, and where there is no suffering, no conflict or contradiction, and no one to rock the boat.

Utopian communities have come and gone all over the world. Most don’t last long once their members discover that stage three isn’t happening. In my opinion, that’s because humans have flaws, and utopias leave no room for those flaws. We cannot get past our greed, our competitiveness, our possessiveness, our selfishness, our laziness, our utter lack of humility, and our longing for individuality.

Beware of anyone who uses scare tactics to lead you to believe that the world is a horrible place, and that only they can fix that for you. There is no single person who can heal society’s ills. Such fearmongers are only using you to obtain the power that they crave.

There’s no shame in longing for a better world. But life is always going to be difficult to some degree. That difficulty gives us purpose. It provides us with the opportunity to be part of the solution.

There is no shining city on a hill. Sorry. If there were, I think it would become boring awfully quickly.

So, if you’ve been told that millions of murderers and rapists are pouring across the border every day, and you believe that despite the fact that you haven’t seen it with your own eyes, stop and give that some serious thought. And if you think that the only way to take away that fear is to violently take over the Capitol building, or engage in some sort of race warfare, or cause a blood bath if elections don’t go your way, then I’m here to tell you that that type of behavior isn’t going to produce the utopia that you crave. Please ask yourself how great America would be if violence and a complete disregard for the rule of law became an acceptable way to accomplish our goals.

Millenarianism is alive and well. I refuse to get sucked in to it. I can’t imagine living in such a constant state of fear. That sounds like the polar opposite of a utopia to me.

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