Addressing Toxic Beliefs

“Who cares to admit complete defeat?  Practically no one of course.  Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness.  It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession … that only an act of Providence can remove it from us.”
      –From “Step One” of The Twelve Steps and Telve Traditions of Alcohoics Anonymous.

I put the ellipsis in there over “obsession [from drinking]” because the obsessions we have go beyond just substances.  John Michael Greer at The Archdruid’s Report does an excellent job of outlining the facts about our current predicament, as well as placing them in a historical context–and one that does not become hysterical.  I’d be curious to see his reaction to the personal impressions of other people’s problems that “if it’s hysterical, it’s historical.”  At least that is true in the non-rational sense of the word “historical.” 

His post of yesterday entitled “The Power of the nonrational” sparks me to write a bit at length about the idea that beliefs are entities in their own right, and frequently they are “minions of Deimos and Phobos,” those sons of Ares (reactive war) aka Terror and Fear.  Similarly to substance addictions, toxic beliefs operate at the level of obsession and they take on a physical manifestation that becomes apparent to everyone else we meet.  A good case in point would be a certain talk show host who has recently said that he himself is proof that God exists.  In light of what I have come to understand from Gnostic texts about JehovahSatan, that is an inadvertent truth.  He seems possessed by the insane demiurge who would have us believe that yes, we are all meant to be his slaves.  The we all are belong to him–stoopid’Merkanwhiteman, Og!  This fellow, along with all the others of his ilk, are possessed by an angry and rather impotent though belligerent and intimidation-addicted entity, imho.

I didn’t cause it.

I can’t cure it.

I can’t control it.

These are Al-Anon truisms when dealing with others’ mental illness. The words help us to keep the focus on our own actions and words rather than trying to control, nag, wheedle, coax, bully, intimidate, or in other ways attempt to force a situation with a deluded person who suffers under the control of a substance or compulsive activity (or a toxic belief or a fear-entity).  It’s all about impeccability, really.  And recognizing powerlessness over others’ toxic beliefs is paramount to our own mental health, for in the words of the Al-Anon preamble, “we can become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it.”  Watch these right wing shock jocks in action–the fear entities that hold them by the short-hairs point their mouthpieces perceptions toward what they perceive as weaknesses of others, and press at those sore points until they get a reaction.  There is nothing more frustrating to an individual like this than to stay reasoned and not to engage them in their self-hatred that spews out toward the other person(s) in the situation.

Guaranteed for a person to never appear again on these shows:  Never answer their barbs beyond “hmm…”; “oh”; “uh-huh”; “really”; “that’s interesting”; and when they make an opinion statement that would be hurtful, “I’m sorry you feel that way” or “maybe I should get back to you on that.” 

(Of course there are the obvious responses one can say that refer back to the would-be perpetrators’ own foibles (such as falafel or oxycontin to take two examples that spring to mind with 2 different hosts).  One can go that way as well, as it will have the same effect.)

 The same goes with people who desperately want you to give yourself up to Jayzzzus or some other fear-thought form.  The thing is to communicate that you aren’t going to engage them on the level of their toxic beliefs.  It’s already tough as it is to address one’s own as they come up.  And they will, for we live in a JehovicSatanic, misogynist, earth-hating, homophobic, race-bating, classist vEmpire, with all sorts of zombified stoopid’Merkans and other fear-possessed persons who seem to revel in their lack of consciousness and hate-hate-HATE it if anyone gets to be awake. 

Always, always take a pause.  Take a breath when encountering another’s toxic beliefs.  Pray if you have to, remember “easy does it,” and listen to your own impulses and choose differently.  Don’t engage, because, if you’ve had the experience of dealing with any sort of addict, it’s a lost cause.  Better to recognize it early and detach yourself and move on. 

Don’t become a target.