Powerful Hallucinations

| Mon 6 Aug 2012 | 5 Comments | 872 Views

Author Homer Carroll

Writer, game developer, unschooling mentor & founder/board member of Shine Your Light Event : A non-profit aimed at helping individuals in medical crisis | @homercarroll

Let me tell you the story of my childhood friend, Aaron. Growing up, Aaron had a difficult life.  His father abandoned him and his mother, and she often resorted to prostitution to supplement their income.  His mother dated some inmates that abused him, and Aaron was given trouble being biracial.  Still, He was always a nice guy and ever the entrepreneur.

Around the age of 25, Aaron began to develop mental disturbances, hallucinations, and paranoia.  One day he went missing. I found out that he had been picked up by the police, and ended up in a mental facility.  I learned later what problems had surfaced and that genetic diseases affecting mental health often arise in the 20 and 30′s.  Aaron returned home, and for a time after that he was medicated and would go on and off his meds. After the second time he tried to drug me so I could “see things his way,” I ended our friendship.

Several years later, Aaron showed up at my doorstep to sell some items he ‘found.’  I offered him some food and money and we chatted.  He told me about scientists who had done experiments on his brain, yet his head was shaved and he had no scars.  He told me about how they followed him and shot him with hallucinogenic darts, but that if he twisted his shirt just right, they couldn’t hurt him.  He also informed me that they had a special gas that made him dizzy and pass out, and that they sprayed it everywhere.  It couldn’t affect me though, only him.  He knew how to dodge that bullet too.  All he had to do was wear his ear muffs, even though it was summer, over his mouth with the perfect amount of pressure and he could use it as a gas mask and they couldn’t gas him.  This was my childhood friend, and really nice guy, and he had completely lost it.  We parted that day, and I have not seen him since.

Something I read online today reminded me of him though….

Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine.  A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.  One character at a time would appear, and under it  was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear.

Sounds a lot like the special techniques Aaron used to thwart his would be attackers doesn’t it?  These are the actions of a mentally ill individual attempting to deal with their illness. Based on such hallucinations, Smith wrote a book called The Book of Mormon.  There were enough people who thought,  “This could be real!” for his ramblings to become a religion of it’s own that now has millions of followers.

Now here is the frightening part: ONE OF THEM IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, and he’s an entrepreneur, just like Aaron, too!

“The main difference between a prophet and a psychopath, is whether or not they can get followers.” – Ralph Hood (teaches psychology of religion at the University of Tennessee)

 

 

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  • http://godsdeconstructed.wordpress.com/ Roger Hart

    Sounds like schizophrenia. Some forms of epilepsy have a similar effect but are usually associated with ‘typical absences’ when the sufferer stares into the distance, unable to communicate. The suggestion that Aaron stops taking his medication is more typical of schizophrenics who believe themselves cured as soon as the medication kicks in and the hallucinations subside. Both conditions are debilitating, as much by the attitudes of the public as the condition. I can well understand public reluctance, however, as schizophrenics are especially difficult to help.

    It is thought Mohammed probably suffered from epilepsy.

    Those who try to induce hallucinations in themselves should be ashamed. I’m not sure religious leaders should be given the courtesy of blaming the power they have over followers on psychopathy. They are confidence tricksters who hide their shame with the wealth and power they are accruing rather than being incapable of feeling it.

  • David

    Interesting proposition, although I believe that there were eight other men of good reputation in the community who signed a statement saying that they had seen and held the golden plates that Smith said that he had.

    There were also another three that signed a statement saying that in addition to seeing and holding the plates, they had also seen an angel. As I understand it, all of these men stood by their statements until their deaths even though many of them eventually left the Mormon church.

    • http://godsdeconstructed.wordpress.com/ Roger Hart

      There are a number of psychological studies which show how members of a group can be caught up by a suggestion and agree with the originator, especially if the originator appears to possess authority over the group or is particularly persuasive. Those who agree often retract their agreement when shown the evidence gathered during the study. Studies have also shown that one person who questions the validity of the claims can destroy the cohesion, especially when that cohesion was based on a suggestion which, outside of the fervour being generated within the group, is obviously false.

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Category: Atheism & Religion, Politics