This text deals with Mormon conspiracism, the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon ... more This text deals with Mormon conspiracism, the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon religion. I examine how conspiracy theories are reflected in Mormon culture, history, and faith and how they were influenced by the emergence of Denver Snuffer's modern neo-fundamentalist movement. Using the example of the new age movement and Mormon preppers, I show the growing influence of conspiracy thinking and its connection to Donald Trump and the QAnon theory. Using the story of Nathan Wayne Entrekin, one of the participants in the January 6, 2021, insurrection who came dressed as a warrior from the Book of Mormon, I elaborate on the fundamentalist and conspiracy roots of early Mormonism in the times of Joseph Smith. That is combined with multiple testimonies from John Dehlin's Mormon Stories Podcast as it reflected the apocalyptic Mormon milieu from 2010-2020. In the final part, I analyze Mormon neo-fundamentalism through the social myth theory of Radek Chlup, who describes three categories of myth (political, fictional, and conspirator) and how they affect the popularity of these myths. Tento text pojednává okonspiracismu mormonů čili víře vkonspirace učlenů mormonského náboženství. Bude se však většinu času zabývat extrémistickými neo-fundamentalistickými jevy vtéto víře, což je při čtení nutné mít na paměti. Mormoni jsou křesťanská odnož z 19. století, která vznikla vUSA akromě Bible užívá také několik dalších spisů, mezi nimi zvláště Knihu Mormonovu, která popisuje fiktivní události ve staro-věké Americe. Dosavadní akademické práce se soustředí na historické spojitosti vzniku mormonismu aproti-zednářské hysterie, popřípadě pou-kazují na silně konspirační představy vKnize Mormonově či vystoupeních mormonských apoštolů aproroků. Vtéto práci se pokusím veškerá tato témata shrnout, ale také přidat svou interpretaci, proč vsoučasné éře do-chází kzviditelnění mormonské konspirační scény ajejí patologizaci vpodobě násilného povstání Trumpových příznivců uKapitolu Spojených států amerických. Za příčinu považuji oslabení konspiračního narativu vmormonské církvi po smrti proroka Ezra Taft Bensona vroce 1994. Zmíním několik významných bodů, kterými se konspirační neo-fundamentalistické hnutí projevilo vmormonismu 21. století adíky kterým došlo ke vzniku mormonského QAnonu.
This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the ... more This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the Mormon faith drew from Native American stories and how Joseph Smith transformed real historical figures (such as Joseph Brant, Handsome Lake, Samson Occom, Samuel Kirkland, George Washington, Tecumseh, and others) into characters in his Book of Mormon. I also detail the personal reasons that might lead a person to join a cult, as well as the fact that the Mormon Church left me with more than just negative effects. Everything is connected by retold stories from the Book of Mormon in a rationalist spirit and shocking experiences of secret temple rituals that I went through. The book ends with how I was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for heresy because of my promotion of the Ordain Women movement, and how I subsequently entered the Community of Christ.
This is just part 1 of the whole book. Part 2 is about Joseph Smith, part 3 about Mormon fundamentalism, Neofundamentalism and Community of Christ.
This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the ... more This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the Mormon faith drew from Native American stories and how Joseph Smith transformed real historical figures (such as Joseph Brant, Handsome Lake, George Washington, Tecumseh, and others) into characters in his Book of Mormon. I also detail the personal reasons that might lead a person to join a cult, as well as the fact that the Mormon Church left me with more than just negative effects. Everything is connected by retold stories from the Book of Mormon in a rationalist spirit and shocking experiences of secret temple rituals that I went through. The book ends with how I was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for heresy because of my promotion of the Ordain Women movement, and how I subsequently entered the Community of Christ.
DISCLAIMER: The text was translated via AI. There is a confusion in Czech and English about the term Native American. Thus the AI has translated all words about Native Americans as "Indians" which is not correct. A new translation version will be uploaded on Amazon and on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/97886285/My_Mormon_story_A_Native_American_faith_revisited_
This is just 1/3 of the whole book. If you are interested into publishing it, let me know. It's just available in print in Czech language now.
It's been five years since Utah's much-loved president and prophet of the Mormon Church, Thomas S... more It's been five years since Utah's much-loved president and prophet of the Mormon Church, Thomas S. Monson (1927-2018), died. As is customary in the largest Mormon (LDS) church, he was succeeded by the longest-serving apostle, who was physician and heart surgeon Russell M. Nelson (born 1924). We wrote about the anticipation of change in his appointment here). As much as the Mormon Church believes he is merely continuing the tradition of previous prophets, Nelson has brought a number of small and subtle changes that nonetheless open the Mormon Church to the world and liberal tendencies. Church sources speak of as many as 99 changes in church rules and procedures. This article is intended to summarize the most significant moves by this religious leader and their potential impact on Mormon members.
• Supporting refugees • Banning guns on church property • Confessions of a magical history • Clear support for the Covid-19 vaccine • Change on discrimination against LGBTQ people • Change in missionary rules • Change in the duration of the Sunday service • Change in the symbolism of the Church • Minor changes in women's rights in the Church • Speaking out against white supremacism • Ethnically diverse apostles • Many other changes
During 2022, reports began to surface in the Mormon milieu that a significant number of Mormons w... more During 2022, reports began to surface in the Mormon milieu that a significant number of Mormons were moving to the state of Missouri. The motive behind this move was believed to be the belief that the apocalypse would soon come and only those Mormons gathered in Jackson County, Missouri would survive. Where did this belief come from, and why did it appear at this time?
Gathering as an idea In creating his religion, Joseph Smith worked with ideas that were popular in 19th century America. One of these ideas was the idea that the saints must gather at one specific geographical location where the New Zion (New Jerusalem) would be established. In Joseph Smith's day, there were several such gathering places in the immediate area. Not far from his home in New York State was the town of Ararat, serving as a gathering place for Jews and Indians in the community of Mordechai Noah. Smith identified Jackson County, Missouri, as the chosen Zion, and his successors never revoked this prophecy. However, they were forced to invent an alternative. After Smith's death, his successor, Brigham Young, took a large number of Mormons to the west of the present-day USA, where they founded the state of Utah (we wrote about Brigham Young in the Religious Infoservice, for example, here). The latter became for a long time the new gathering place for Saints from all over the world. Young and his successors sent missionaries out into the world, returning with masses of converts ready to live with the Saints in Utah. Before his death, however, Young did not fail to remember that one day the time would come when the Saints would return to Jackson County, Missouri. In doing so, he created one of the basic dogmas of modern fundamentalism.
In June 2022, Rolling Stone magazine published an article about a new phenomenon among ex-Mormons... more In June 2022, Rolling Stone magazine published an article about a new phenomenon among ex-Mormons. A large number of them have become interested in psychedelics and magic mushrooms or other psychoactive substances. This may seem strange given the traditional view that Mormons do not smoke, drink, or use drugs, but data is emerging that suggests that psychedelics may have been an integral part of Mormonism from the beginning.
Among the major scholars who have explored this hypothesis, three scholars in particular are prominent - Robert Beckstead, who published The Re-Establishment and the Sacred Mushroom , then Bryce Blankenagel, who published The Entheogenic Theory of the Origins of Mormonism , and finally Codi Noconi, who wrote an extremely comprehensive book entitled The Psychedelic History of Mormonism . I will try to explain the main ideas of all three authors in this article.
Sith groups do not arise in isolation; on the contrary, they are intertwined with the history of ... more Sith groups do not arise in isolation; on the contrary, they are intertwined with the history of Jediism from the beginning. The first point of contact is 1998, when the Force Academy, a philosophical pop culture organization reporting impartially on all aspects of the Force, was founded. It functioned as an umbrella for the light, grey, and dark arts until 2020, when its board disbanded the entire faculty of the dark arts. I will describe the reasons for this historical turning point in more detail below.
In November of 2022, the largest Mormon church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ... more In November of 2022, the largest Mormon church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereafter LDS) made a surprising announcement based on debates between Utah lawmakers and leaders of the church. "We are grateful for the continued efforts of those working to ensure that the Respect for Marriage Act includes appropriate protections for religious liberty while respecting the laws and protecting the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. We believe this approach is the way forward."
The decision has renewed debates about the rights of LGBTQ people in the US state of Utah and their position in the LDS church. Moreover, this topic is a hot-button issue for Mormons. For most of its history, the church has held a conservative stance toward gays and other sexual minorities, but in November it publicly endorsed a bill to protect the rights of LGBTQ people. How did this move come about, and what might it mean for the future of this church?
The Nation of Islam is a modern religious organization that refers in its essence and terminology... more The Nation of Islam is a modern religious organization that refers in its essence and terminology to Islam, but combines it not only with Christian elements, but also with black nationalism and ufological tendencies.
Some of the most famous members of the Nation of Islam in their time included boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) and Malcolm X (1925-1965), a famous black rights activist who was murdered by Nation of Islam members for apostasy. However, the Nation of Islam has also attracted well-known artists and musicians such as Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Busta Rhymes and many others over a number of decades.
Shortly after the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA, feminist organizations convened the Women's March on Washington. Its aim was not only to express opposition to Donald Trump's chauvinist rhetoric, but also to support the Me Too movement and its other forms. The Women's March was an all-American event, but its fame was marred by controversy when several of the main organizers of the event were forced to resign after it was discovered that they were followers of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933).
A similar controversy was triggered in the US by the discovery that some of the local leaders of the Black Lives Matter protests were disciples of Farrakhan and attempted to bring hateful elements such as anti-Semitism or support for Hamas into the movement.
In February of this year, a controversy swept through the state of Utah, with one of the general ... more In February of this year, a controversy swept through the state of Utah, with one of the general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University (BYU) professor Brad Wilcox, at the center of it.In a debate with students, Wilcox allowed himself to be led into the topic of racism and the ban on the priesthood for blacks in the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until 1978. The video of the debate went viral and started a debate about how Mormons actually view race and their earlier teachings. At the same time, in April 2022, the General Assembly elected the first black woman, Tracy Yeulande Browning, to the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This progress is consistent with the policy of current Mormon prophet Russell M. Nelson, who has rapidly increased the number of African Americans and other ethnicities of black descent in the leadership of the church. The annual Mormon conference also announced the construction of new temples in the African Congo and Liberia, adding to more than 20 other African temples already announced or under construction. All of these events therefore raise questions about Mormonism's historical relationship with people of black descent.
Sinchonji is a modern Korean church that is often referred to as a sect by some media and theolog... more Sinchonji is a modern Korean church that is often referred to as a sect by some media and theologians. It organizes Bible seminars all over the world, and in the last ten years it has spread to the Czech Republic. In the Religious Infoservice we recently had a debate about the role of the immortality of the main leader of the movement, Lee Man Hee, and whether the targeted demonization of the church is not just a witch hunt. However, in debates about the characteristics of this fellowship there are often interesting aspects, such as some doctrinal differences, one of which I want to present today.
The members of Sinchonji share many of the basic features and views of the life of John the Baptist with the traditional Christian churches. They believe that he is a cousin of Jesus, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. According to legend, he was forced into hiding in the desert, where he later began to preach repentance. In this respect, according to Sinchonji, he really was (or was supposed to be) the return of the spirit of Elijah. According to the Sinchonji, John the Baptist symbolizes the lamp, which has its antecedent in the Old Testament menorah (seven-branched candlestick) that stood in the Tabernacle of Moses. Its characteristic was that it was not used during the day - it was only used during the night to illuminate the tabernacle, and was extinguished each morning by the Levites. In this respect, the Tabernacle of Moses was a foreshadowing of future heavenly things - literally, according to the teaching of the Sinchonji, a foreshadowing of God descending to the people on earth.
At the end of May 2022, Rastafarians from across the Caribbean gathered in the capital city of Tr... more At the end of May 2022, Rastafarians from across the Caribbean gathered in the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago to celebrate Liberation Day, also known as Africa Day.1 They called for an end to the long-standing discrimination against Rastas in many countries around the world, and published a call for violations of Rastafarians' religious rights to be addressed by the United Nations. Together they also recalled the importance of the struggle for human rights, and it is in the context of this event that I want to reflect on some moments in Rastafarian history and the undeniable sacrifices made by Rastafarians in the struggle for black rights, and human rights in general.
In 2020, the world was struck by the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It took almost a year for cou... more In 2020, the world was struck by the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It took almost a year for countries to develop a vaccine against the disease and to start building immunity against the disease in their populations. During 2021, however, reports have circulated around the world that many Rastafarian communities around the world are refusing to be vaccinated. This has raised questions about what is causing Rastafarian skepticism about vaccines and whether it is a cultural problem, a theological problem, or an attitude stemming from a conspiracy theory environment. Moreover, the whole thing has human rights implications, as Rastafarians invoke their religious rights to practice life according to their beliefs (we wrote about the relationship between human rights and Rastafarianism a week ago). This article will therefore attempt to approach and contrast each position with its own research, conducted in 2022 with twenty members of the Rastafarian faith in Moshi, Tanzania. While this research is not a representative sample of the Rastafarian population worldwide, it can help us understand Rastafarian attitudes in their diversity and context.
Marilyn Manson is a shock-rock and metal band which became famous in 1995 with the controversial ... more Marilyn Manson is a shock-rock and metal band which became famous in 1995 with the controversial album Antichrist Superstar. This piece of art foreshadowed the future evolution of the band and its singer, Hugh Brian Warner. In the following decades the band focused on different visions of modern antichrists (the mechanical antichrist destroying humankind with trans humanism, the military antichrist leading young people into bloody revolutions, the artistically antichrist as a moral depraved icon and many others). The focus of my study is about the transformation of the symbolic a metaphorical antichrist persona in the late 90's, and in the first two decades of the new millennium. The goal is to determine how the metal band Marilyn Manson reflected the change of postmodern western society in the global age and how this outcome was also influenced by the personal life of the leading singer. In its entirety it shows how metal music an influence its listeners and engage them in not only social and political issues, but also religious topics.
This article has been peer-reviewed. DINGIR 3/2022
The origins of religious ufology appear in t... more This article has been peer-reviewed. DINGIR 3/2022
The origins of religious ufology appear in theosoficial societies in the idea of a Venusian or other extraterrestrial whose society is extremely spiritually evolved. Later, features of the sacralization of technology and the idea of flying objects (UFOs) were added. In the 1950s, spiritual leaders who claimed to have encountered extraterrestrial beings and received special teachings from them joined in.
The Nation of Islam is an African- American movement united around a hierarchical organization with prophetic leaders. One of these leaders, Louis Farrakhan, incorporated ufological tendencies into the teachings and spoke of a kind of Mothership that plays a role in saving (or destroying) humanity The Nation of Islam thus combines ufological elements with its original Islamic and African American faith. This is how the concepts like "Allah traveling in a spaceship" or "the evil scientist Yakub" who created the Caucasians as a monstrous and evil race in a laboratory.
This article deals with the ecological and environmental tendencies in satanism as a religion. It... more This article deals with the ecological and environmental tendencies in satanism as a religion. It first recapitulates the connection between mainstream religions and ecology. It then describes the absence of Satanism in major scholarly publications and uncovers a strong link between Satanism and ecology/animal rights. The text illustrates this in the words of Anton LaVey, Peter H. Gilmore, and several Satanic organizations including the Church of Satan, Temple of Set, Dragon Rouge, The Satanic Temple, and others. The article concludes by looking for ecological tendencies in the teachings of the two largest Satanic groups in the Czech Republic-the local version of LaVey's Church of Satan and the Czech-influenced Community of Satan. Finally, the text briefly mentions the main research findings of these groups and concludes by showing them in relation to Bron Taylor's model of dark green religions.
This text discusses Mormon conspiracism, or the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormo... more This text discusses Mormon conspiracism, or the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon religion. However, it will spend most of its time dealing with the extremist neo-fundamentalist phenomena in this faith, which should be kept in mind when reading. Mormons are a 19th century Christian offshoot that originated in the U.S. and uses several other writings besides the Bible, most notably the Book of Mormon, which describes fictional events in ancient America. Existing academic work has focused on the historical connections between the emergence of Mormonism and anti-Masonic hysteria, or has pointed to the highly conspiratorial imagery in the Book of Mormon or the appearances of Mormon apostles and prophets. In this paper, I will attempt to summarize all of these themes, but also add my interpretation of why the Mormon conspiracy scene is becoming more visible in the current era and pathologized in the form of the violent uprising of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. I consider the cause to be the weakening of the conspiracy narrative in the Mormon Church following the death of the prophet Ezra Taft Benson in 1994. I will mention a few salient points that the conspiracy neo-fundamentalist movement has manifested in 21st century Mormonism and which led to the creation of the Mormon QAnon.
This text deals with Mormon conspiracism, the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon ... more This text deals with Mormon conspiracism, the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon religion. I examine how conspiracy theories are reflected in Mormon culture, history, and faith and how they were influenced by the emergence of Denver Snuffer's modern neo-fundamentalist movement. Using the example of the new age movement and Mormon preppers, I show the growing influence of conspiracy thinking and its connection to Donald Trump and the QAnon theory. Using the story of Nathan Wayne Entrekin, one of the participants in the January 6, 2021, insurrection who came dressed as a warrior from the Book of Mormon, I elaborate on the fundamentalist and conspiracy roots of early Mormonism in the times of Joseph Smith. That is combined with multiple testimonies from John Dehlin's Mormon Stories Podcast as it reflected the apocalyptic Mormon milieu from 2010-2020. In the final part, I analyze Mormon neo-fundamentalism through the social myth theory of Radek Chlup, who describes three categories of myth (political, fictional, and conspirator) and how they affect the popularity of these myths. Tento text pojednává okonspiracismu mormonů čili víře vkonspirace učlenů mormonského náboženství. Bude se však většinu času zabývat extrémistickými neo-fundamentalistickými jevy vtéto víře, což je při čtení nutné mít na paměti. Mormoni jsou křesťanská odnož z 19. století, která vznikla vUSA akromě Bible užívá také několik dalších spisů, mezi nimi zvláště Knihu Mormonovu, která popisuje fiktivní události ve staro-věké Americe. Dosavadní akademické práce se soustředí na historické spojitosti vzniku mormonismu aproti-zednářské hysterie, popřípadě pou-kazují na silně konspirační představy vKnize Mormonově či vystoupeních mormonských apoštolů aproroků. Vtéto práci se pokusím veškerá tato témata shrnout, ale také přidat svou interpretaci, proč vsoučasné éře do-chází kzviditelnění mormonské konspirační scény ajejí patologizaci vpodobě násilného povstání Trumpových příznivců uKapitolu Spojených států amerických. Za příčinu považuji oslabení konspiračního narativu vmormonské církvi po smrti proroka Ezra Taft Bensona vroce 1994. Zmíním několik významných bodů, kterými se konspirační neo-fundamentalistické hnutí projevilo vmormonismu 21. století adíky kterým došlo ke vzniku mormonského QAnonu.
This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the ... more This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the Mormon faith drew from Native American stories and how Joseph Smith transformed real historical figures (such as Joseph Brant, Handsome Lake, Samson Occom, Samuel Kirkland, George Washington, Tecumseh, and others) into characters in his Book of Mormon. I also detail the personal reasons that might lead a person to join a cult, as well as the fact that the Mormon Church left me with more than just negative effects. Everything is connected by retold stories from the Book of Mormon in a rationalist spirit and shocking experiences of secret temple rituals that I went through. The book ends with how I was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for heresy because of my promotion of the Ordain Women movement, and how I subsequently entered the Community of Christ.
This is just part 1 of the whole book. Part 2 is about Joseph Smith, part 3 about Mormon fundamentalism, Neofundamentalism and Community of Christ.
This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the ... more This is my own Mormon story that takes place from 2006-2015. In it, I focus primarily on how the Mormon faith drew from Native American stories and how Joseph Smith transformed real historical figures (such as Joseph Brant, Handsome Lake, George Washington, Tecumseh, and others) into characters in his Book of Mormon. I also detail the personal reasons that might lead a person to join a cult, as well as the fact that the Mormon Church left me with more than just negative effects. Everything is connected by retold stories from the Book of Mormon in a rationalist spirit and shocking experiences of secret temple rituals that I went through. The book ends with how I was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for heresy because of my promotion of the Ordain Women movement, and how I subsequently entered the Community of Christ.
DISCLAIMER: The text was translated via AI. There is a confusion in Czech and English about the term Native American. Thus the AI has translated all words about Native Americans as "Indians" which is not correct. A new translation version will be uploaded on Amazon and on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/97886285/My_Mormon_story_A_Native_American_faith_revisited_
This is just 1/3 of the whole book. If you are interested into publishing it, let me know. It's just available in print in Czech language now.
It's been five years since Utah's much-loved president and prophet of the Mormon Church, Thomas S... more It's been five years since Utah's much-loved president and prophet of the Mormon Church, Thomas S. Monson (1927-2018), died. As is customary in the largest Mormon (LDS) church, he was succeeded by the longest-serving apostle, who was physician and heart surgeon Russell M. Nelson (born 1924). We wrote about the anticipation of change in his appointment here). As much as the Mormon Church believes he is merely continuing the tradition of previous prophets, Nelson has brought a number of small and subtle changes that nonetheless open the Mormon Church to the world and liberal tendencies. Church sources speak of as many as 99 changes in church rules and procedures. This article is intended to summarize the most significant moves by this religious leader and their potential impact on Mormon members.
• Supporting refugees • Banning guns on church property • Confessions of a magical history • Clear support for the Covid-19 vaccine • Change on discrimination against LGBTQ people • Change in missionary rules • Change in the duration of the Sunday service • Change in the symbolism of the Church • Minor changes in women's rights in the Church • Speaking out against white supremacism • Ethnically diverse apostles • Many other changes
During 2022, reports began to surface in the Mormon milieu that a significant number of Mormons w... more During 2022, reports began to surface in the Mormon milieu that a significant number of Mormons were moving to the state of Missouri. The motive behind this move was believed to be the belief that the apocalypse would soon come and only those Mormons gathered in Jackson County, Missouri would survive. Where did this belief come from, and why did it appear at this time?
Gathering as an idea In creating his religion, Joseph Smith worked with ideas that were popular in 19th century America. One of these ideas was the idea that the saints must gather at one specific geographical location where the New Zion (New Jerusalem) would be established. In Joseph Smith's day, there were several such gathering places in the immediate area. Not far from his home in New York State was the town of Ararat, serving as a gathering place for Jews and Indians in the community of Mordechai Noah. Smith identified Jackson County, Missouri, as the chosen Zion, and his successors never revoked this prophecy. However, they were forced to invent an alternative. After Smith's death, his successor, Brigham Young, took a large number of Mormons to the west of the present-day USA, where they founded the state of Utah (we wrote about Brigham Young in the Religious Infoservice, for example, here). The latter became for a long time the new gathering place for Saints from all over the world. Young and his successors sent missionaries out into the world, returning with masses of converts ready to live with the Saints in Utah. Before his death, however, Young did not fail to remember that one day the time would come when the Saints would return to Jackson County, Missouri. In doing so, he created one of the basic dogmas of modern fundamentalism.
In June 2022, Rolling Stone magazine published an article about a new phenomenon among ex-Mormons... more In June 2022, Rolling Stone magazine published an article about a new phenomenon among ex-Mormons. A large number of them have become interested in psychedelics and magic mushrooms or other psychoactive substances. This may seem strange given the traditional view that Mormons do not smoke, drink, or use drugs, but data is emerging that suggests that psychedelics may have been an integral part of Mormonism from the beginning.
Among the major scholars who have explored this hypothesis, three scholars in particular are prominent - Robert Beckstead, who published The Re-Establishment and the Sacred Mushroom , then Bryce Blankenagel, who published The Entheogenic Theory of the Origins of Mormonism , and finally Codi Noconi, who wrote an extremely comprehensive book entitled The Psychedelic History of Mormonism . I will try to explain the main ideas of all three authors in this article.
Sith groups do not arise in isolation; on the contrary, they are intertwined with the history of ... more Sith groups do not arise in isolation; on the contrary, they are intertwined with the history of Jediism from the beginning. The first point of contact is 1998, when the Force Academy, a philosophical pop culture organization reporting impartially on all aspects of the Force, was founded. It functioned as an umbrella for the light, grey, and dark arts until 2020, when its board disbanded the entire faculty of the dark arts. I will describe the reasons for this historical turning point in more detail below.
In November of 2022, the largest Mormon church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ... more In November of 2022, the largest Mormon church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereafter LDS) made a surprising announcement based on debates between Utah lawmakers and leaders of the church. "We are grateful for the continued efforts of those working to ensure that the Respect for Marriage Act includes appropriate protections for religious liberty while respecting the laws and protecting the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. We believe this approach is the way forward."
The decision has renewed debates about the rights of LGBTQ people in the US state of Utah and their position in the LDS church. Moreover, this topic is a hot-button issue for Mormons. For most of its history, the church has held a conservative stance toward gays and other sexual minorities, but in November it publicly endorsed a bill to protect the rights of LGBTQ people. How did this move come about, and what might it mean for the future of this church?
The Nation of Islam is a modern religious organization that refers in its essence and terminology... more The Nation of Islam is a modern religious organization that refers in its essence and terminology to Islam, but combines it not only with Christian elements, but also with black nationalism and ufological tendencies.
Some of the most famous members of the Nation of Islam in their time included boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) and Malcolm X (1925-1965), a famous black rights activist who was murdered by Nation of Islam members for apostasy. However, the Nation of Islam has also attracted well-known artists and musicians such as Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Busta Rhymes and many others over a number of decades.
Shortly after the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA, feminist organizations convened the Women's March on Washington. Its aim was not only to express opposition to Donald Trump's chauvinist rhetoric, but also to support the Me Too movement and its other forms. The Women's March was an all-American event, but its fame was marred by controversy when several of the main organizers of the event were forced to resign after it was discovered that they were followers of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933).
A similar controversy was triggered in the US by the discovery that some of the local leaders of the Black Lives Matter protests were disciples of Farrakhan and attempted to bring hateful elements such as anti-Semitism or support for Hamas into the movement.
In February of this year, a controversy swept through the state of Utah, with one of the general ... more In February of this year, a controversy swept through the state of Utah, with one of the general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University (BYU) professor Brad Wilcox, at the center of it.In a debate with students, Wilcox allowed himself to be led into the topic of racism and the ban on the priesthood for blacks in the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until 1978. The video of the debate went viral and started a debate about how Mormons actually view race and their earlier teachings. At the same time, in April 2022, the General Assembly elected the first black woman, Tracy Yeulande Browning, to the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This progress is consistent with the policy of current Mormon prophet Russell M. Nelson, who has rapidly increased the number of African Americans and other ethnicities of black descent in the leadership of the church. The annual Mormon conference also announced the construction of new temples in the African Congo and Liberia, adding to more than 20 other African temples already announced or under construction. All of these events therefore raise questions about Mormonism's historical relationship with people of black descent.
Sinchonji is a modern Korean church that is often referred to as a sect by some media and theolog... more Sinchonji is a modern Korean church that is often referred to as a sect by some media and theologians. It organizes Bible seminars all over the world, and in the last ten years it has spread to the Czech Republic. In the Religious Infoservice we recently had a debate about the role of the immortality of the main leader of the movement, Lee Man Hee, and whether the targeted demonization of the church is not just a witch hunt. However, in debates about the characteristics of this fellowship there are often interesting aspects, such as some doctrinal differences, one of which I want to present today.
The members of Sinchonji share many of the basic features and views of the life of John the Baptist with the traditional Christian churches. They believe that he is a cousin of Jesus, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. According to legend, he was forced into hiding in the desert, where he later began to preach repentance. In this respect, according to Sinchonji, he really was (or was supposed to be) the return of the spirit of Elijah. According to the Sinchonji, John the Baptist symbolizes the lamp, which has its antecedent in the Old Testament menorah (seven-branched candlestick) that stood in the Tabernacle of Moses. Its characteristic was that it was not used during the day - it was only used during the night to illuminate the tabernacle, and was extinguished each morning by the Levites. In this respect, the Tabernacle of Moses was a foreshadowing of future heavenly things - literally, according to the teaching of the Sinchonji, a foreshadowing of God descending to the people on earth.
At the end of May 2022, Rastafarians from across the Caribbean gathered in the capital city of Tr... more At the end of May 2022, Rastafarians from across the Caribbean gathered in the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago to celebrate Liberation Day, also known as Africa Day.1 They called for an end to the long-standing discrimination against Rastas in many countries around the world, and published a call for violations of Rastafarians' religious rights to be addressed by the United Nations. Together they also recalled the importance of the struggle for human rights, and it is in the context of this event that I want to reflect on some moments in Rastafarian history and the undeniable sacrifices made by Rastafarians in the struggle for black rights, and human rights in general.
In 2020, the world was struck by the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It took almost a year for cou... more In 2020, the world was struck by the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It took almost a year for countries to develop a vaccine against the disease and to start building immunity against the disease in their populations. During 2021, however, reports have circulated around the world that many Rastafarian communities around the world are refusing to be vaccinated. This has raised questions about what is causing Rastafarian skepticism about vaccines and whether it is a cultural problem, a theological problem, or an attitude stemming from a conspiracy theory environment. Moreover, the whole thing has human rights implications, as Rastafarians invoke their religious rights to practice life according to their beliefs (we wrote about the relationship between human rights and Rastafarianism a week ago). This article will therefore attempt to approach and contrast each position with its own research, conducted in 2022 with twenty members of the Rastafarian faith in Moshi, Tanzania. While this research is not a representative sample of the Rastafarian population worldwide, it can help us understand Rastafarian attitudes in their diversity and context.
Marilyn Manson is a shock-rock and metal band which became famous in 1995 with the controversial ... more Marilyn Manson is a shock-rock and metal band which became famous in 1995 with the controversial album Antichrist Superstar. This piece of art foreshadowed the future evolution of the band and its singer, Hugh Brian Warner. In the following decades the band focused on different visions of modern antichrists (the mechanical antichrist destroying humankind with trans humanism, the military antichrist leading young people into bloody revolutions, the artistically antichrist as a moral depraved icon and many others). The focus of my study is about the transformation of the symbolic a metaphorical antichrist persona in the late 90's, and in the first two decades of the new millennium. The goal is to determine how the metal band Marilyn Manson reflected the change of postmodern western society in the global age and how this outcome was also influenced by the personal life of the leading singer. In its entirety it shows how metal music an influence its listeners and engage them in not only social and political issues, but also religious topics.
This article has been peer-reviewed. DINGIR 3/2022
The origins of religious ufology appear in t... more This article has been peer-reviewed. DINGIR 3/2022
The origins of religious ufology appear in theosoficial societies in the idea of a Venusian or other extraterrestrial whose society is extremely spiritually evolved. Later, features of the sacralization of technology and the idea of flying objects (UFOs) were added. In the 1950s, spiritual leaders who claimed to have encountered extraterrestrial beings and received special teachings from them joined in.
The Nation of Islam is an African- American movement united around a hierarchical organization with prophetic leaders. One of these leaders, Louis Farrakhan, incorporated ufological tendencies into the teachings and spoke of a kind of Mothership that plays a role in saving (or destroying) humanity The Nation of Islam thus combines ufological elements with its original Islamic and African American faith. This is how the concepts like "Allah traveling in a spaceship" or "the evil scientist Yakub" who created the Caucasians as a monstrous and evil race in a laboratory.
This article deals with the ecological and environmental tendencies in satanism as a religion. It... more This article deals with the ecological and environmental tendencies in satanism as a religion. It first recapitulates the connection between mainstream religions and ecology. It then describes the absence of Satanism in major scholarly publications and uncovers a strong link between Satanism and ecology/animal rights. The text illustrates this in the words of Anton LaVey, Peter H. Gilmore, and several Satanic organizations including the Church of Satan, Temple of Set, Dragon Rouge, The Satanic Temple, and others. The article concludes by looking for ecological tendencies in the teachings of the two largest Satanic groups in the Czech Republic-the local version of LaVey's Church of Satan and the Czech-influenced Community of Satan. Finally, the text briefly mentions the main research findings of these groups and concludes by showing them in relation to Bron Taylor's model of dark green religions.
This text discusses Mormon conspiracism, or the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormo... more This text discusses Mormon conspiracism, or the belief in conspiracies among members of the Mormon religion. However, it will spend most of its time dealing with the extremist neo-fundamentalist phenomena in this faith, which should be kept in mind when reading. Mormons are a 19th century Christian offshoot that originated in the U.S. and uses several other writings besides the Bible, most notably the Book of Mormon, which describes fictional events in ancient America. Existing academic work has focused on the historical connections between the emergence of Mormonism and anti-Masonic hysteria, or has pointed to the highly conspiratorial imagery in the Book of Mormon or the appearances of Mormon apostles and prophets. In this paper, I will attempt to summarize all of these themes, but also add my interpretation of why the Mormon conspiracy scene is becoming more visible in the current era and pathologized in the form of the violent uprising of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. I consider the cause to be the weakening of the conspiracy narrative in the Mormon Church following the death of the prophet Ezra Taft Benson in 1994. I will mention a few salient points that the conspiracy neo-fundamentalist movement has manifested in 21st century Mormonism and which led to the creation of the Mormon QAnon.
This text examines the hyper-real pop-culture religious currents that have emerged from the trans... more This text examines the hyper-real pop-culture religious currents that have emerged from the transmedia Star Wars universe. I first mention the main academic scholars who have explored Jedi spirituality and describe Davidsen's typology of Jedi movements. Based on this, I will then describe groups that, although based on the Star Wars franchise, focus on the dark aspect of the Force. I will then describe and typologize these so-called Sith groups in detail according to a media reference model, with a detailed analysis of what aspects of media exchange are present in Sith online communities. Finally, I will attempt to draw out further directions that I believe Star Wars spirituality research should take.
The history of Czech Jediism is documented in the articles of Dingir and Urban People. In both ca... more The history of Czech Jediism is documented in the articles of Dingir and Urban People. In both cases, however, the research was conducted between 2010 and 2017, the period of the main boom in Jedi philosophy. However, I have not found any research or scholarly article that examines the Jediist milieu between 2018 and 2022, yet there have been significant events that have impacted this pop culture sphere. On the one hand, real world events (the outbreak of a global pandemic and the associated social isolation of lockdowns and the turn to digital), and on the other hand, pop culture events in the Star Wars transmedia universe. After the end of the sequel trilogy (received rather dismissively by the fandom community) there was a big boom under the Disney brand with themed series. The Mandalorian with Grog (first and second series), Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and countless other series have flooded the internet with digital content that the fandom community can react to (or rather interact with, as the fandom community is not just a passive receiver of information). In addition, the Czech census is the only country in the world where there has been an increase in people claiming Jediism. Attached below is a table from the census by region. The Czech Statistical Office (correctly) also published information on people who identified themselves as Sith (which is sort of like the dark faction of the Jedi). However, I will not be primarily examining this subgroup in my research, although we will see that it occurs many times in Jedi groups.
Tento rok je tomu 100 let od doby, kdy Sigmund Freud publikoval svou slavnou esej "Ego a Id". Při... more Tento rok je tomu 100 let od doby, kdy Sigmund Freud publikoval svou slavnou esej "Ego a Id". Při této příležitosti není pro religionisty na škodu se pokusit s odstupem jednoho století zhodnotit, jakým způsobem je dnes Freudovo dílo ještě relevantní. Je zřejmé, že některé tituly z Freudova díla (jako například Mojžíš a Monoteismus) se nesou v ryze amatérském a intuitivním zkoumání náboženských témat (spíš ve stylu pozdějšího Dänikena), jiná k němu hovoří primárně okem antropologie (Totem a Tabu) a další zase úplně jiným způsobem. Nebudeme-li však vybírat jednotlivé fenomény, jež Freud zkoumat, ale pokusím se shrnout jeho celkový názor na náboženství jako takové, musíme bezesporu sáhnout po jeho krátké, ale velice vlivné eseji Budoucnost jedné iluze (dále jen BJI). V ní, jak už provokativní názor napovídá, se Freud pokouší predikovat budoucnost náboženství, jež pojímá jako lidskou iluzi a fikci. Dle tradičního náhledu na toto dílo v něm Freud predikuje, že náboženství v budoucnu zanikne, až budou lidé dostatečně rozumní. "...Odvrat od náboženství musí proběhnout s osudovou neúprosností růstového procesu a právě teď se nalézáme uprostřed této vývojové fáze." V této eseji se právě proto chci zabývat kritickým rozborem tohoto díla.
Friedrich Nietzsche je filosof, který je známý svým dílem Tak pravil Zarathustra nebo dílem Antik... more Friedrich Nietzsche je filosof, který je známý svým dílem Tak pravil Zarathustra nebo dílem Antikrist. Právě v tom druhém se rozsáhle rozepisuje o křesťanství o postavě Ježíše Krista. Budu používat obě díla, jelikož Nietzsche v předmluvě k Antikristovi píše, že kniha je věnována “těm, kteří rozumějí mému Zarathustrovi”, a tématika obou knih se značně propojuje. V tomto textu chci krátce shrnout, co Nietzsche o Ježíšovi píše, a následně poukázat, v čem jeho kritika není konzistentní, proč je právě Ježíš naplněním Nietzscheho představy Nadčlověka.
Analýza Humeova díla Dialogy o přirozeném náboženství s přihlédnutím k mormonismu, satanismu, env... more Analýza Humeova díla Dialogy o přirozeném náboženství s přihlédnutím k mormonismu, satanismu, environmentalismu, raelismu - danikenismu, singularismu a simlacionismu.
Dle studie PPRI téměř pětina mormonů věří v teorii Qanon, extrémní konspirační meta-narativ, podl... more Dle studie PPRI téměř pětina mormonů věří v teorii Qanon, extrémní konspirační meta-narativ, podle kterého je svět řízený satanistickými globalisty. V podání Qanon šíří pravdu o tomto spiknutí jakýsi Q, jehož vyvoleným hrdinou je exprezident Donald Trump. Studie PPRI ale také ukázala, že čtvrtina mormonů věří v to, že američtí patrioti mohou v zájmu svých hodnot užívat násilí. V jiném výzkumu vyšlo dokonce, že skoro polovina mormonů věří v tzv. Velkou lež, tedy to, že skutečným vítězem amerických prezidentských voleb 2020 byl Donald Trump. Je tedy potřebné položit si otázku: existují v mormonismu určité rysy nebo nauky, které způsobují větší inklinaci ke konspiračním teoriím?
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This is just part 1 of the whole book. Part 2 is about Joseph Smith, part 3 about Mormon fundamentalism, Neofundamentalism and Community of Christ.
DISCLAIMER: The text was translated via AI. There is a confusion in Czech and English about the term Native American. Thus the AI has translated all words about Native Americans as "Indians" which is not correct. A new translation version will be uploaded on Amazon and on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/97886285/My_Mormon_story_A_Native_American_faith_revisited_
This is just 1/3 of the whole book. If you are interested into publishing it, let me know. It's just available in print in Czech language now.
• Supporting refugees
• Banning guns on church property
• Confessions of a magical history
• Clear support for the Covid-19 vaccine
• Change on discrimination against LGBTQ people
• Change in missionary rules
• Change in the duration of the Sunday service
• Change in the symbolism of the Church
• Minor changes in women's rights in the Church
• Speaking out against white supremacism
• Ethnically diverse apostles
• Many other changes
Gathering as an idea
In creating his religion, Joseph Smith worked with ideas that were popular in 19th century America. One of these ideas was the idea that the saints must gather at one specific geographical location where the New Zion (New Jerusalem) would be established. In Joseph Smith's day, there were several such gathering places in the immediate area. Not far from his home in New York State was the town of Ararat, serving as a gathering place for Jews and Indians in the community of Mordechai Noah. Smith identified Jackson County, Missouri, as the chosen Zion, and his successors never revoked this prophecy. However, they were forced to invent an alternative.
After Smith's death, his successor, Brigham Young, took a large number of Mormons to the west of the present-day USA, where they founded the state of Utah (we wrote about Brigham Young in the Religious Infoservice, for example, here). The latter became for a long time the new gathering place for Saints from all over the world. Young and his successors sent missionaries out into the world, returning with masses of converts ready to live with the Saints in Utah. Before his death, however, Young did not fail to remember that one day the time would come when the Saints would return to Jackson County, Missouri. In doing so, he created one of the basic dogmas of modern fundamentalism.
Among the major scholars who have explored this hypothesis, three scholars in particular are prominent - Robert Beckstead, who published The Re-Establishment and the Sacred Mushroom , then Bryce Blankenagel, who published The Entheogenic Theory of the Origins of Mormonism , and finally Codi Noconi, who wrote an extremely comprehensive book entitled The Psychedelic History of Mormonism . I will try to explain the main ideas of all three authors in this article.
The decision has renewed debates about the rights of LGBTQ people in the US state of Utah and their position in the LDS church. Moreover, this topic is a hot-button issue for Mormons. For most of its history, the church has held a conservative stance toward gays and other sexual minorities, but in November it publicly endorsed a bill to protect the rights of LGBTQ people. How did this move come about, and what might it mean for the future of this church?
Some of the most famous members of the Nation of Islam in their time included boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) and Malcolm X (1925-1965), a famous black rights activist who was murdered by Nation of Islam members for apostasy.
However, the Nation of Islam has also attracted well-known artists and musicians such as Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Busta Rhymes and many others over a number of decades.
Shortly after the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA, feminist organizations convened the Women's March on Washington. Its aim was not only to express opposition to Donald Trump's chauvinist rhetoric, but also to support the Me Too movement and its other forms. The Women's March was an all-American event, but its fame was marred by controversy when several of the main organizers of the event were forced to resign after it was discovered that they were followers of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933).
A similar controversy was triggered in the US by the discovery that some of the local leaders of the Black Lives Matter protests were disciples of Farrakhan and attempted to bring hateful elements such as anti-Semitism or support for Hamas into the movement.
At the same time, in April 2022, the General Assembly elected the first black woman, Tracy Yeulande Browning, to the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This progress is consistent with the policy of current Mormon prophet Russell M. Nelson, who has rapidly increased the number of African Americans and other ethnicities of black descent in the leadership of the church. The annual Mormon conference also announced the construction of new temples in the African Congo and Liberia, adding to more than 20 other African temples already announced or under construction. All of these events therefore raise questions about Mormonism's historical relationship with people of black descent.
The members of Sinchonji share many of the basic features and views of the life of John the Baptist with the traditional Christian churches. They believe that he is a cousin of Jesus, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. According to legend, he was forced into hiding in the desert, where he later began to preach repentance. In this respect, according to Sinchonji, he really was (or was supposed to be) the return of the spirit of Elijah. According to the Sinchonji, John the Baptist symbolizes the lamp, which has its antecedent in the Old Testament menorah (seven-branched candlestick) that stood in the Tabernacle of Moses. Its characteristic was that it was not used during the day - it was only used during the night to illuminate the tabernacle, and was extinguished each morning by the Levites. In this respect, the Tabernacle of Moses was a foreshadowing of future heavenly things - literally, according to the teaching of the Sinchonji, a foreshadowing of God descending to the people on earth.
https://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/metalandreligion/programme
The origins of religious ufology appear in theosoficial societies in the idea of a Venusian or other extraterrestrial whose society is extremely spiritually evolved. Later, features of the sacralization of technology and the idea of flying objects (UFOs) were added. In the 1950s, spiritual leaders who claimed to have encountered extraterrestrial beings and received special teachings from them joined in.
The Nation of Islam is an African- American movement united around a hierarchical organization with prophetic leaders. One of these leaders, Louis Farrakhan, incorporated ufological tendencies into the teachings and spoke of a kind of Mothership that plays a role in saving (or destroying) humanity The Nation of Islam thus combines ufological elements with its original Islamic and African American faith. This is how the concepts
like "Allah traveling in a spaceship" or "the evil scientist Yakub" who created the Caucasians as a monstrous and evil race in a laboratory.
This is just part 1 of the whole book. Part 2 is about Joseph Smith, part 3 about Mormon fundamentalism, Neofundamentalism and Community of Christ.
DISCLAIMER: The text was translated via AI. There is a confusion in Czech and English about the term Native American. Thus the AI has translated all words about Native Americans as "Indians" which is not correct. A new translation version will be uploaded on Amazon and on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/97886285/My_Mormon_story_A_Native_American_faith_revisited_
This is just 1/3 of the whole book. If you are interested into publishing it, let me know. It's just available in print in Czech language now.
• Supporting refugees
• Banning guns on church property
• Confessions of a magical history
• Clear support for the Covid-19 vaccine
• Change on discrimination against LGBTQ people
• Change in missionary rules
• Change in the duration of the Sunday service
• Change in the symbolism of the Church
• Minor changes in women's rights in the Church
• Speaking out against white supremacism
• Ethnically diverse apostles
• Many other changes
Gathering as an idea
In creating his religion, Joseph Smith worked with ideas that were popular in 19th century America. One of these ideas was the idea that the saints must gather at one specific geographical location where the New Zion (New Jerusalem) would be established. In Joseph Smith's day, there were several such gathering places in the immediate area. Not far from his home in New York State was the town of Ararat, serving as a gathering place for Jews and Indians in the community of Mordechai Noah. Smith identified Jackson County, Missouri, as the chosen Zion, and his successors never revoked this prophecy. However, they were forced to invent an alternative.
After Smith's death, his successor, Brigham Young, took a large number of Mormons to the west of the present-day USA, where they founded the state of Utah (we wrote about Brigham Young in the Religious Infoservice, for example, here). The latter became for a long time the new gathering place for Saints from all over the world. Young and his successors sent missionaries out into the world, returning with masses of converts ready to live with the Saints in Utah. Before his death, however, Young did not fail to remember that one day the time would come when the Saints would return to Jackson County, Missouri. In doing so, he created one of the basic dogmas of modern fundamentalism.
Among the major scholars who have explored this hypothesis, three scholars in particular are prominent - Robert Beckstead, who published The Re-Establishment and the Sacred Mushroom , then Bryce Blankenagel, who published The Entheogenic Theory of the Origins of Mormonism , and finally Codi Noconi, who wrote an extremely comprehensive book entitled The Psychedelic History of Mormonism . I will try to explain the main ideas of all three authors in this article.
The decision has renewed debates about the rights of LGBTQ people in the US state of Utah and their position in the LDS church. Moreover, this topic is a hot-button issue for Mormons. For most of its history, the church has held a conservative stance toward gays and other sexual minorities, but in November it publicly endorsed a bill to protect the rights of LGBTQ people. How did this move come about, and what might it mean for the future of this church?
Some of the most famous members of the Nation of Islam in their time included boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) and Malcolm X (1925-1965), a famous black rights activist who was murdered by Nation of Islam members for apostasy.
However, the Nation of Islam has also attracted well-known artists and musicians such as Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Busta Rhymes and many others over a number of decades.
Shortly after the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA, feminist organizations convened the Women's March on Washington. Its aim was not only to express opposition to Donald Trump's chauvinist rhetoric, but also to support the Me Too movement and its other forms. The Women's March was an all-American event, but its fame was marred by controversy when several of the main organizers of the event were forced to resign after it was discovered that they were followers of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933).
A similar controversy was triggered in the US by the discovery that some of the local leaders of the Black Lives Matter protests were disciples of Farrakhan and attempted to bring hateful elements such as anti-Semitism or support for Hamas into the movement.
At the same time, in April 2022, the General Assembly elected the first black woman, Tracy Yeulande Browning, to the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This progress is consistent with the policy of current Mormon prophet Russell M. Nelson, who has rapidly increased the number of African Americans and other ethnicities of black descent in the leadership of the church. The annual Mormon conference also announced the construction of new temples in the African Congo and Liberia, adding to more than 20 other African temples already announced or under construction. All of these events therefore raise questions about Mormonism's historical relationship with people of black descent.
The members of Sinchonji share many of the basic features and views of the life of John the Baptist with the traditional Christian churches. They believe that he is a cousin of Jesus, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. According to legend, he was forced into hiding in the desert, where he later began to preach repentance. In this respect, according to Sinchonji, he really was (or was supposed to be) the return of the spirit of Elijah. According to the Sinchonji, John the Baptist symbolizes the lamp, which has its antecedent in the Old Testament menorah (seven-branched candlestick) that stood in the Tabernacle of Moses. Its characteristic was that it was not used during the day - it was only used during the night to illuminate the tabernacle, and was extinguished each morning by the Levites. In this respect, the Tabernacle of Moses was a foreshadowing of future heavenly things - literally, according to the teaching of the Sinchonji, a foreshadowing of God descending to the people on earth.
https://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/metalandreligion/programme
The origins of religious ufology appear in theosoficial societies in the idea of a Venusian or other extraterrestrial whose society is extremely spiritually evolved. Later, features of the sacralization of technology and the idea of flying objects (UFOs) were added. In the 1950s, spiritual leaders who claimed to have encountered extraterrestrial beings and received special teachings from them joined in.
The Nation of Islam is an African- American movement united around a hierarchical organization with prophetic leaders. One of these leaders, Louis Farrakhan, incorporated ufological tendencies into the teachings and spoke of a kind of Mothership that plays a role in saving (or destroying) humanity The Nation of Islam thus combines ufological elements with its original Islamic and African American faith. This is how the concepts
like "Allah traveling in a spaceship" or "the evil scientist Yakub" who created the Caucasians as a monstrous and evil race in a laboratory.
https://www.startovac.cz/projekty/vydani-knihy-afrika-kontinent-kde-umiraji-sny