A Letter to Big Brother
A Bishop decided to take a Saturday and go hunting. In the forest
he ran across a Mother Bear and babies. She came after him and he
started running. Realizing he will never outrun the bear, he fell on his
knees and prayed, “Dear God, bless this bear with the spirit of Christ and
save me!” Suddenly the bear stopped running.
“Hallelujah,” cried the Bishop.
Then the bear stood up on his hind legs, reached his paws to the ski,
and said, “Dear God, bless this food of which my cubs and I are about to
eat.”
Over the centuries many people have talked with God in the form of visions,
revelations, meditations, inspirations, and yes, even letters, way too many for me to
even mention by name here. I have been inspired in my efforts to communicate with the
forces behind creation in particular by three writers, the 4th century Catholic Bishop of
Hippo, Saint Augustine, the 19th century Russian writer,
Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the 20th century English novelist
George Orwell.
Saint Augustine was an early Christian
theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the
development of Western Christianity and Western
philosophy. Confessions is the name of
his autobiographical work, written in Latin between 397
and 400 AD. The work outlines his sinful youth and
conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first
Western autobiography ever written, and was an
influential model for Christian writers throughout the
following 1,000 years and has served as an inspiration to
me. The entire work is a prayer in which St. Augustine is
talking to God. Here is how it begins:
Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy
power, and Thy wisdom infinite. And Thee would man praise; man, but a
particle of Thy creation; man, that bears about him his mortality, the
witness of his sin, the witness that Thou resistest the proud: yet would
man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation.1
I read the 13 short books (chapters) in a single sitting back in the late 1960s and
said to myself, “I would like to write a letter to God, for I have a lot of questions that
need answers.”
1
Confessions, Book 1, page 1, by St. Augustine, http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/augconf/aug01.htm
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Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian novelist and
philosopher whose literary works explore human
psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual
atmosphere of 19th-century Russia. The Brothers
Karamazov is Dostoyevsky's largest work and is often
called his magnum opus. The most famous chapter is
"The Grand Inquisitor", a parable told by Ivan to his
brother about Christ's sudden appearance in his village, in
which Christ is imprisoned by a ninety-year-old
Catholic Grand Inquisitor. 2
The Grand Inquisitor says, “Thou wouldst go
into the world, and art going with empty hands, with
some promise of freedom which men in their
simplicity and their natural unruliness cannot even
understand, which they fear and dread – for
nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society
than freedom.”
When I read this I was immediately struck by how true it is. People don’t really
want freedom. They want someone in authority to tell them how to live their lives, to do
great miracles, and to promise them fantastic rewards. Is this not what Hitler and Stalin
did? And is this not what the Catholic Church and many others have always done?
The Grand Inquisitor says, “There is a “universal and everlasting
craving of humanity – to find someone to worship. So long as man
remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and painfully as to find
someone to worship. But man seeks to worship what is established
beyond dispute, so that all men would agree to worship it. For these pitiful
creatures are concerned not only to find what one or the other can
worship, but to find something that all would believe in and worship; what
is essential is that all may be together in it. This craving for community of
worship is the chief misery of every man individually and of all humanity
from the beginning of time.”
He says “man loves miracle, mystery and authority.” Oh, how true, I thought to
myself. It is not just the Catholics who do this; the LDS Church also does it in equal
measure. Are we not told to be as little children and obey the authorities? Is not the
only real decision of consequence the choice of believing or not believing? But who
defines what we believe? The authorities! Are we not told to not ask questions about
doctrine and stick to the lessons? Mystery! Are we not told God through the Church
does miracles all the time? We hear about them in Fast and Testimony Meeting every
week. Miracles! Does not the Church announce to all that it is NOT a democracy; its
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky
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leaders are not selected by the membership, but by God! Yes, God, but who says so,
why the leaders themselves. How self-serving!
And what does the Church want, asks the Grand Inquisitor, if not to satisfy the
human desire to find “some means of uniting all in one unanimous and harmonious antheap.” Men accept the church and give up their freedom in return, “for it will save them
from the great anxiety and terrible agony they endure at present in making a free
decision for themselves.” He continues, “Peacefully they will die, peacefully they will
expire in Thy name, and beyond the grave they will find nothing but death. But we shall
keep the secret, and for their happiness we shall allure them with the reward of heaven
and eternity.”3
The Grand Inquisitor tells Christ to leave his town for He is not wanted. And why
not? Because man does not want the simple Gospel that he brought which has only one
rule, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” How does one love his neighbor? It is unclear! No,
man wants miracles, mystery and authority. Man wants wants popes, priesthoods,
churches, temples, sacraments, rituals, and to be told to believe, not to think, just obey.
That way he doesn’t have to take responsibility for choosing what is right and wrong
because such decisions are made by the authorities. Just pay your 10% to the Church,
of course, do the temple rituals, and you will inherit the glories of the Celestial Kingdom!
George Orwell4 was an English novelist, essayist,
journalist and critic whose real name was Eric Arthur
Blair. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness
of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and
commitment to democratic socialism.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is his dystopian novel
published in 1949. The novel is set in Airstrip
One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of
the super state Oceania in a world of perpetual
war, omnipresent government surveillance and
public manipulation, dictated by a political system
euphemistically named English Socialism (or Ingsoc
in the government's invented language, Newspeak)
under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite,
that persecutes individualism and independent
thinking as "thought crimes". The tyranny is
epitomized by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of
personality, but who may not even exist. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is
a member of the Outer Party, who works for the Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue), which is
responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to rewrite past newspaper articles, so that the historical record always supports the party line. Smith is a
3
4
The Brothers Karamozov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Oxford University Press, p. 283-291
This is a pen name. His real name is Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950).
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skillful and diligent employee, but he secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion
against Big Brother.5
Reviewers of this famous book generally say it is a metaphor for the totalitarianism of
the Nazi National Socialism and Communism that were spreading in the early 20 th
Century. But when I read it, I was immediately struck with the thought that what most
clearly resembles the Party described in the book is organized totalitarian religion, even
the Church (LDS, Catholic and many others) with Christ as Big Brother! Are we not told
we are in perpetual war with Lucifer? Is not God omnipresent and watching everything
we do and keeping records for the Judgment Day? Is not Heaven a totalitarian society
with an absolutist ruler? Is there not an Inner Party of unelected elite called the
Priesthood who pay apologists to rewrite history as they want to see it? Will we not be
reprimanded, even excommunicated for independent thinking or “thought crimes?” And
finally, is not Christ literally our elder brother, even Big Brother, who enjoys an intense
cult of personality, who has absolute authority over us, and who performs miracles, but
who may not even exist anymore, for no one has seen him in 2000 years! Is this not the
real metaphor in 1984! But no one dares to say it!
It is time for me to talk to Big Brother.
“Knock, Knock”
“Who’s there?” asked the
receptionist.
“A Brother. I would like to speak with
Big Brother.”
“Do you mean Brother Jesus?”
“Yes, is He here?” I asked.
“Sorry, He is very busy as Supreme
Leader fighting Satan, answering
prayers, and giving instructions
through revelations. But I may be
able to find another General Authority who can help you.”
“No thanks,” I replied, “I will write Big Brother a letter instead.”
Here is my letter:
5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
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Dear Big Brother Jesus:
I am now near the end of my life and for much of it, I have been a very
faithful member of the Church, even going on a mission for two years and paying
over $200,000 into Mormon coffers as tithing, thus helping to make the Church
the richest such organization per capita on the planet. Now before I move on
from this life, I have a few questions I would like answers to in order to ease the
transition.
1.
Who is my Mother?
No, I don’t mean my earthly mother, but rather my
heavenly mother! According to LDS doctrine, I have
a mother in Heaven who literally bore me and gave
me spiritual life. Why is Her name never
mentioned? Why must I pray to the Father in Your
name rather than in Her name. I would like her to
intercede in my behalf, for I have not lived a perfect
life. The fact that she is never mentioned, never
even named, comes across as very male
chauvinistic and sets a bad example for my three
daughters. Maybe if She had been more involved in
the management of Heaven, there never would
have been that terrible war between You and Your
brother Lucifer!
2.
Why didn’t You introduce the world to the
scientific method when You came 2,000 years
ago? Mankind had to wait another 1,700 years to discover it during the
Enlightenment. Instead, You performed a few miracles like throwing out demons,
healing the sick and feeding the starving, and then departed, never showing
anyone how to duplicate them. Think of the millions that have died of terrible
diseases because You failed to give us this information! Think of the people with
mental illness that could have been helped if only you had let us know there were
no demons in their heads! Think of the food that could have been produced if
only you had instructed us how to fertilize crops! Were You indifferent to this? If
only You had introduced the Scientific Method to the world, much suffering and
death could have been avoided even as it is today. Think of the lives that could
have been saved! How do you explain this?
3.
How do You explain the random evil in the world? Where were You
when the Black Death came in 1348 and wiped out one third of all Europeans?
When the tsunami recently hit Indonesia and killed hundreds of thousands?
When during World War II 50 million people were murdered because of one man:
Hitler? You could have triggered a heart attack and eliminated him. Think of the
suffering that could have been avoided with one simple act from You! I could go
on and on…The list is endless! How do You explain Your indifference to so
much innocent and often random human suffering?
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4.
All of my life I have been taught that You restored Your True Church to
Joseph Smith. Why did You wait 1,800 years? Even more important, why did
You wait 195,000 years after the first humans like me appeared in Africa to
introduce Your teachings to the world? Homo sapiens have been around for at
the least 200,000 years and yet during this time span, I am told Your true
teachings and plan of salvation have only been on earth for about 300 years at
the very most. Do You really have so little interest in the human race? Even
when You did bother with us, You picked an isolated tribe of nomads in the
Middle East and made them Your Chosen People. How strange! How do you
explain This?
5.
Why were Your teachings never introduced
to the millions in Asia until now, the so-called last
days? Do You not like Asians because their skin in
yellow? LDS paintings always show You with white
skin. Are dark skins a curse as it says in the
Book of Mormon?6 Is that why You never bothered
to tell Your prophets in these latter days that they
had it wrong for over 100 years when they excluded
blacks from the Priesthood, and only in 1978 did
You finally make an effort to correct them? What
other corrections to Your prophets are You keeping
in waiting for the right time? Women and the
Priesthood? Gay marriage in the Temple?
6.
In the next life I am told that there are three
Kingdoms: the Celestial, the Telestial and the Terrestrial. Only Mormons married
in the Temple go to the Celestial Kingdom. If that is true, it is going to be a very
empty Kingdom, for less than 1 person in a million who ever lived on earth is
going there. What I would like to know is this: Why can’t people repent in the
next life and move up from lower kingdoms to higher ones? And yet, I am
told that this is not possible. Why not? What prevents this from happening? Are
you worried that if the truth is told and we really can repent in the next life and
move up, then there will be less incentive to be
obedient like mindless children in this life?
7.
I am told the Book of Mormon is a true
historical record. If that is so, why can’t
archeologists and anthropologists find any
confirming evidence of that? I must have faith, I
am told. But shouldn’t faith be based on reason?
What is accomplished by hiding all historical
evidence? Does it not just scare well-educated
people away from the Church? And if such historical
evidence were provided, that would not prove the
Church is true, but only show that Joseph was telling
6
See 2 Nephi 5:21 and 3 Nephi 2:14-15.
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the truth when he said he found the plates and translated them. It would still take
faith to believe everything else he claims is true. So why don’t You make the
historical evidence available if that is possible? Maybe it isn’t possible!
8.
Last, but not least, why is Heaven a Kingdom with a King and not a
democracy with a President? Maybe if there had been some tolerance for
opposing views, there never would have been that war in Heaven. Why must we
all bow down when approaching You or the Father? Why do You sit on a golden
throne? It reminds me of ancient authoritarian Middle-Eastern and Asian
monarchies. I am not sure I want to live in a place like the Celestial Kingdom
where differences of opinion are not tolerated and where getting kicked out are
how know-it-all authorities deal with anyone who opposes the almighty, absolutist
ruler.
9.
Everything Forever? Will there be no evolution in the next life? Is there
really nothing that has evolved to higher levels than us with all our physical and
mental design imperfections? Come on now… You are hiding something!
Big Brother Jesus, I could go on and on with these questions. For there are many
and when I have dared to ask the authorities here on the earth, I am told to have faith,
all will be revealed in time, follow the leaders, be like a child, and shut up.
But I am not a child; I have a reasoning mind and expect to get answers. Human
history is replete with Kings, Popes, Prophets and Presidents who say something
similar as a way to silence followers and keep them in submission. It will not work with
me!
I await Your reply….
{Long wait… No reply…}
I have been waiting and waiting…. a very long time!
{Long wait… No reply…}
Big Brother, are You still there?
{Long wait… No reply…}
Were You ever there? Or are You just a creation of our collective
imagination and the result of our collective insecurities?
{Long wait… No reply…}
I give up, your little Brother
PS: I now understand why Your brother Lucifer rebelled! He wanted freedom to
express his views, something seldom given without a fight.
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Responses to the Big Brother Jesus Letter
EMAIL FROM AN LDS FRIEND
I absolutely love it! How scandalous, how brilliant, how liberating to declare the
equivalence JC=BB !!
Hopefully you are not on the LDS church's witchhunt/excommunication watch list. Publishing this letter
would very likely put you there. Be it far from me to
publicize it!
I was serious about publishing pseudonymously, or
even anonymously. People, humanity really need to
hear this kind of reasoning. Way too many, way too
large blinders are on so many people because they live
in the past. Vast stores of knowledge are now available
to most people on this planet, yet most still live in
almost complete darkness.
What I most came away with was a hunger for
more: more provocative questions, more of your
straight-forward, in-your-face, not-to-be-misunderstood
deep questions. So many similar questions have for
years, and continue to flutter around in my mind, unorganized, unexpressed,
unshared. This is an inspiration for me to compile and express those in this same
context.
Abdicating responsibility for our beliefs is tantamount to abdicating responsibility for our
actions and inactions, for our beliefs form the framework from which we make
decisions. If we chose to not ask, to not think, to not question, to not act from reason
but instead act from belief - then we weaken and debase ourselves, we undermine the
entire species! For each healthy member of Homo sapiens has the ability, or at least
the potential, to be a thinking, rational creature; to live for THIS life, to do good on THIS
planet, to leave THIS world a better place when he/she passes away, permanently.
How dare you ask about your heavenly mother! How irreverent, how un-childlike of
you! Between fits of almost rolling on the floor with laughter, I was anxiously - almost
drooling with anticipation - awaiting a climax that didn't come: A foray into WHICH of
God's wives is your mother. Is she same wife who is my mother? Your personality is
so different from mine that we must have different heavenly mothers, right?? How
many spirit children have been born by your heavenly mother, vs. mine vs. the
others? Gestation period must be 1,000 years, or maybe 1,000,000 for such a
remarkable and unique spirit as yours. So God must have needed thousands of wives
to produce all those billions that have come and the billions more that are yet to
come. And what about all those other planets? Since this the Supreme Being, the God
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of Earth and Heaven, He must have millions, no billions, no wait, quadrillions of
wives. Oh, now I know why this puny planet is such a mess. He is a very, VERY busy
man-god, keeping all those wives both happy and pregnant -- and free from cuckoldry!
Whoa, did I just say that? Slap me, excommunicate me again!
Anyhow, GREAT stuff, keep it up, make it into a full-sized book, see if Desert
Book might be interested in publishing it !!
After all, BIG BROTHER, and His minions, are watching!
Keep at it.
EMAIL FROM ANOTHER LDS FRIEND
Hello Brother:
I, Little Brother, have been commissioned to respond to
your letter of impertinence.
Did you not get the memo?
Have you not been in the military and learn that yours is
not to wonder why, yours is but to do or die?
Do you not know why we don't send donkeys to
school? Remember this - no one likes a smartass.
Do you not know that the fountain of knowledge is not
there to drink from - only gargle?
Do you not care that for eternity, you are trading your
non-smoking section for the smoking section?
I implore you to see the error of your ways. Do not ask questions, simply believe. You
may finally earn entrance to the Telestial Kingdom where there are magnificent golf
courses - just no balls, there are no libraries because there is no need, there are no
questions, but billions of answers. You still have a chance.
-Little Brother
PS. Off the record, don't tell Big Brother, but your letter was pretty damn good.
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