More Thoughts On Christian Shamanism

The first concept that came to me is that Ron's characterization of a shaman as a man trying to get a god to do what he doesn't want to do is wrong. Rain is a norm on this planet, so whatever the particulars of the shaman's belief, in general one must assume that when a shaman dances the rain dance, he perceives the drought as not normal and is using the dance to encourage a return to normalcy.

So, technically, the shaman has a better claim on trying to help a god, nature, or whatever do what he, she, or it wants to do. He doesn't need a book to explain that God wants it to rain- it does rain often enough for one to simply assume God wants it to rain.

So, again, we can't just point to our feelings and say to ourselves we can't possibly be shamanistic, and this idea that the shaman is trying to trick a god into making it rain is simply a version of this sort of thinking. We should be able to see clearly that the shaman who thinks he needs to do the rain dance in order to get it to rain and the Christian who thinks he must try to heal people in public in order for healing to take place are both operating with similar thinking patterns.

The second concept is that one's good intentions when doing certain activities does not keep the harm of those behaviors at bay. The 70s were rife with such things. Let us consider being healthy- perhaps not as awesome as healing people in the name of Jesus, but generally considered to be a good idea. But in the 70s they came up with the idea that eating high carb, low fat was healthy. They also told everybody that running was healthy.

If you remember, I suggested that these Charismatic practices don't have good fruits, but they do tend to be somewhat addictive. Similarly, for a certain segment of the population, the carbohydrates and the running provided a huge double shot of addictive reinforcement. Endorphins from running and then plenty of carbs providing their own addictive rewards. As the evidence piled up that these practices were not so good, many people simply continued to do it. And with excessive running, they could stay slim despite excessive carbs... until the knee gets blown out, or they have a heart attack, or whatever.

So, the practice starts out because the person wants to be healthy. It turns out that it isn't healthy, but it also turns out some people like it so much they keep doing it long after they start seeing health adverse effects.

And I think this is why a Christian Shamanist would still be trying to effect this 70s style stuff. Yes, sure, you start out seeking God. But at some point you are trying to do these things in public because that's your practice- you've felt better on the other side of it, it's lit you up, made you feel good to accept a challenge and do it.

But did any of it work? I'm pretty sure, when the Charismatics of the seventies die, barring unforeseen events, there will be fewer Christians on Earth than there were in the seventies. Fewer conversions, fewer children; less family formation and thus fewer Christian children from those who were born.

I can't think of a metric that is particularly good, though I would not just blame the Charismatics since most of Western Christianity deserves some blame. Hell, now we've got a Pope inviting Islam right into Europe. Deeply pathetic, and like many of these people- childish.

The third concept is that this must stem from bureaucratic, rather than noble rule. The noble would be most concerned about a particular case; the bureaucrat is most likely to draw globalist conclusions, and try to apply the same processes or rules to everything. The noble would remember God is God and has His own agency, whereas a bureaucrat is likely to write an if/then statement based on a story of healing in Acts, and then expect God to actually abide by that if/then statement despite four decades of evidence to the contrary.