Approaching Zion: Go Ye Out of Babylon

Archetypes and Truth

"And the sign said, 'The words of prophets are written on the subway walls / And tenement halls / And whispered in the sound of silence."

   ― Simon & Garfunkel

In order to understand the nature of Zion, we need to understand her opposite, Babylon, a bit better.

Zion is an archetype; so is Babylon. The truths of God hang upon a latticework of eternal archetypes (universal patterns) that stand in relation to one another.

Now, I do not say truth is relative, but I say, truth is relational.  To single out one truth from the Whole would be like plucking out one's eye: it would still look like an eye in our palm, but it will no longer be filled with light.  A retina that is disconnected from the optic nerve is not much good.

And so it is with truth: all truth is part of a living ecosystem and must not be quarantined from its sisters.

Let's pretend that we do pluck out our eye, and afterwards, believing the eye to be the light of the body (for isn't that what Jesus taught?), we pass the eyeball around at Church and sing songs about the blind, dead eye.  We treat the eye as a sort of idol.  This is what we often do with truths.

You've heard before, I'm sure, truth be defined as "things as they really are" (Jacob 4:13), but beware: 'things-as-they-really-are' burn like an uncontrollable wildfire, a chaos that must be tamed ― and in Christ they are unified in their proper forms; all truth is circumscribed into one great "whole."

Otherwise, the firebrands of truth we hold, disconnected from the Great Whole, have a tendency to become idols in our hands.

Be careful when playing with fire.

The Lie

​"So my fantasy / becomes reality / So I'll continue to pretend / My life will never end / And flowers never bend / With the rainfall."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

Are you surprised I have compared truth to an idol?  What sort of idols were you expecting, golden calves?  My dear friends, whatever did you think truth was, but a golden calf, when turned aside from the living God?

It is our common lot here on earth to perceive truth but poorly, in bits and chunks.  Alas, a partial truth can be indistinguishable from a lie.

But God's truths adorn the Tree of life like ornaments hanging from the Tannenbaum of Heaven ― they reflect His light divine in their ordered spheres.

In this way, a truth is "true" only insofar as it is connected to the True Vine.  But if we take our hedge trimmer out of the garage and cut away truth from its Trunk, like a bough, and place the bough in our living rooms and chapels to be adored (as if it were still connected to Him), the thing will invariably prove a cursing.

Jesus Christ is the Tree upon which all truths must be hung with care.  Christ Himself serves as an archetype, representing the Spirit of truth ― for "Christ" is a title, not a surname; it means "Messiah."

This archetypical aspect of Christ was best described by John in his testimony:

   And I, John, bear record
   that I beheld his glory,
   as the glory of the Only
   Begotten of the Father,
   full of grace and truth,
   even the Spirit of truth,
   which came and dwelt
   in the flesh.

(D&C 93:11)

Now consider that there must needs be opposition in all things.  Just as the "Spirit of truth" came to earth in the flesh to dwell among us in the form of Jesus the Christ, what might be its opposite?

   (1) What is the opposite of the "Spirit of truth"?

   (2)  Has that Opposite-Thing been manifest in the flesh upon the earth?

"Well Tim," someone says, "Satan was denied a body.  So there's no fear of him becoming incarnated, is there?"

Well, just as the Father sent His Son to the earth to guide us out of darkness, so too has the archetype we call "Satan" (itself a title, meaning "Accuser") selected sons to serve him, whom we call the sons of Perdition.

And so we come to the first thing we need to understand about Babylon: "Perdition" is the foundation upon which Babylon stands.

The spirit of Perdition is that spirit which deceives and lies.  Babylon is built upon the spirit of falsehood, even upon the "vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men" (1 Nephi 12:18).

   The spirit of that wicked one
   who was a liar
   from the beginning.

(D&C 93:25)

Just as Zion describes a body of believers who possess the Spirit of truth, Babylon is any body of believers (yes, believers) who possess the spirit of delusion (they are "deluded" because they believe an illusory truth, an imitation of the Spirit, but one that is powerless to save).

What, did you think Babylon was a kingdom of atheists and wicked people, generally?  No, Babylon is composed of false priests who have perverted the way of the Lord, specifically, and have ensnared the righteous into becoming idolaters.

This tug-of-war between the Spirit of truth and Perdition ― between Zion and Babylon ― always divides along the line of those who build their spiritual foundation upon the Rock versus those who trust in the Lie.

   But what is the great Lie?

Ba'al Bondsmen

​"Smiling faces try to understand / I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

Babylon is synonymous with idolatry, and idolatry is the act of twisting the Logos into a lie.

Now, before we proceed any further I want to say, I am an idolater.  Nothing I say in this post is meant to blame or shame anyone.  "Hi, my name is Tim, and I am a recovering idol addict."

So let's not be defensive; I have confessed to the sin of idolatry, and that's the first step towards repenting of it.  Join me.

Now that we've cleared the air, we should ask ourselves, "Why are idols bad?"

This is an excellent question.  I am a "why" kind of person.  I like to understand the reason for things.  Instead of disassembling toasters and computers to see how their components work together, I like to disassemble gospel principles to see how they relate to God and the world around us.

Why are idols bad?  Well, it is precisely because they're so good.  That is, idols are such an effective means of false worship, to the point we can hardly tell them apart from the true worship of the God of Israel.

Isaiah said it best when he described idols as "slippery stones."

   Among the slippery stones
   of the ravines
   shall be your fate;
   they indeed are your lot.

(Isaiah 57:6, Gileadi translation)

This is such a powerful image that Isaiah paints for us: an unsuspecting person is walking along the streambed, on their happy way, and they accidentally trip on a "slippery stone," falling to the earth and hitting their head.

Lights-out.  Such "shall be [our] fate" if we do not cast away the idols from the temples of our mind, and from the holy of holies of our hearts.

I think "slippery stones" is a beautiful metaphor for idols; first, idols seem so harmless, like small pebbles, and yet they lead to our downfall and spiritual death.  Second, the stone is "slippery" because it is so easily mistaken for the Rock.

In many ways Ba'al worship resembled the worship of Jehovah.  Ba'al was known to the Phoenicians as "the Lord of Heaven."  He was the Lord of Thunder (the God of Storms) and is depicted holding a thunder bolt (later, the Greeks would associate him with Zeus).

But the most important aspect of Ba'al was that he had power over life (fertility) and death (drought).

The ancients built temples to Ba'al.  Look at this prayer to Ba'al found among the Ras Shamra tablets discovered in the ruins of Ugarit, and see how it sounds eerily similar to our own temple-theology:

   Baal sets the season,
   And gives forth His voice from the clouds.
   He flashes lightning to the earth.
   As a house of cedars let Him complete it,
   Or a house of bricks let Him erect it!
   Let it be told to Aliyan Baal:
   'The mountains will bring Thee much silver.
   The hills, the choicest of gold;
   The mines will bring Thee precious stones,
   And build a house of silver and gold.'

It's striking, isn't it, how this might have been said of Solomon's temple.

So how do we tell apart the bride Zion from the false bride of Babylon?

Gideon's Grand Folly

​"An angry mob trailed along / They shot my brother dead / Because he hated what was wrong."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

You've heard the Old Testament story of Gideon, how he led men down to the water and watched who lapped it up like a dog, and took those 300 men to defeat the Midians (Judges 7).  Very good.  This is not that story.

​No one ever tells the rest of Gideon's story, so I shall.  The people were so impressed with Gideon's leadership that they wanted to make him their king.

Gideon refused (thankfully), but he asked them to donate the spoils of war they had plundered, the gold earrings of their enemies.

   And Gideon said unto them,
   I would desire a request
   of you, that ye would give me
   every man the earrings
   of his prey.

   And they answered, We will
   willingly give them.
   And they spread a garment,
   and did cast therein
   every man the earrings.

(Judges 8:24-25)

Umm, okay; where is Gideon going with this?  The last time someone asked the people for their gold earrings, it was Aaron, to build his golden calf (I have a bad feeling about this).

   And the weight
   of the golden earrings
   was a thousand and seven
   hundred shekels of gold.
  
   And Gideon made an ephod
   thereof, and put it in his city.

(Judges 8:26-27)

Oh, an ephod?  That's not as bad as a golden calf.  After all, the ephod was an emblem of the priesthood; in Exodus 28 we learn how beautiful the ephod was, adorned with precious stones.

So what was the problem?  Can't we honor God with this ephod; wasn't if for God's glory?

Gideon placed the ephod in a place of prominence in his city so the people could gather from near and far and see it.  The moral of the story:

   And all Israel went thither
   a whoring after it:
   which thing became a snare
   unto Gideon, and to his
   house.

(Judges 8:27)

Whoops.  The ephod became an idol, and led the people astray ― despite Gideon's good intentions.

I share this story to show that the very worst idols are the ones we put into the employ of our religion, thinking therewith to honor God, but in fact, end up making a mockery of Him.

Idols of Mahan

​"I do declare / There were times when I was so lonesome / I took some comfort there."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

You would think the righteous would not be so easily duped.  Do they not realize they are being seduced into committing idolatry?

Do we?  No, we don't, simply because we don't view it as idolatry; we see it as a genuine expression of our faith.  That's the falsehood, the old switcheroo: to trust in idols while believing it is a sign of our faith in God.

We see this principle in the story of Cain.  Did Satan tell Cain to stop serving God?  Oh no, quite the opposite.

The devil whispered to his son, Cain:

   Make an offering
   to the Lord.

(Moses 5:18)

Here we find the name-of-the-game.  Satan's trick has always been to get us to give the wrong offering; to place our trust in the fruit of the ground (Moses 5:19) rather than in the archetypical blood of the Lamb.

What "fruits of the ground" do we place our trust in today?

We must ask: why would Cain do it?  He wasn't stupid (neither are we).  To hedge his bets, perhaps, Cain did offer up blood in the end: the blood of his brother, Abel.

Anticipating this human sacrifice, the voice of the Lord came to Cain, saying:

   For from this time forth
   thou shalt be the father
   of his [the devil's] lies;
   thou shalt be called
   Perdition.

(Moses 5:24)

What was Cain's motive?  Why did he fall on this slippery stone?  The explanation we're given in scripture is very simple, and it is the same reason we have polluted our churches today.

   And Cain said:
   Truly I am Mahan,
   the master
   of this great secret,
   that I may murder
   and get gain.

(Moses 5:

Thus we see the creed of Babylon: to get gain.  Ever since, her sons have profited from religion by using God's name in vain, as Moroni warned us (Mormon 8:37-40)

This "war" (the War in Heaven, another mythological archetype) transcends our particular religious beliefs and practices.  For Zion and Babylon do not describe denominational differences, but the manner in which we employ our faith.

Is our faith put into the employ of Mammon, or does she serve her Master by caring for the poor and needy?

   Ye cannot serve God
   and Mammon.

(Matthew 6:24)

American Idol

​"And all the people said, 'What a shame that he's dead / But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel
​
The Lord instructed His saints to "go ye out of Babylon" in 1831 (D&C 133:5).  The Lord wants us to cease our spiritual idolatry.  But how?

   Go ye out . . . 
   even from Babylon,
   from the midst of wickedness,
   which is spiritual Babylon.

(D&C 133:14)

Usually we think of "fleeing Babylon" as physically leaving a wicked city (like Sodom in 1900 B.C., or Zarahemla around 34 A.D., or Jerusalem circa 70 A.D.) ― the idea always being to get-out-of-Dodge before the places are laid waste and utterly destroyed.

But I don't think there's anywhere on earth we could go in order to escape wickedness.  It covers the whole earth in bondage (D&C 84:49-50).  It is everywhere, whether we live in Pocatello or Paris, Modesto or Mecca or Salt Lake.

And remember, Babylon is no longer a physical place.  The Babylonian empire ended in 539 B.C.  So this is figurative.  The way we flee Babylon is to abandon our idolatrous ways.

When I was younger I never understood what the big deal was about "idols."  Besides reading about them in the Old Testament, I didn't see what all the fuss was about.

After all, no one in my neighborhood was worshipping carved statues of Zeus; I didn't know of anyone who had shrines dedicated to the sun god in their basement.  Nary an incense stick in sight.

So I was genuinely confused about where all these troublesome idols were.  Could it be the ancient Israelites were just not as righteous as us, since they were always falling into idolatrous ways?

No, I'm afraid we're every bit their equal.  I came to realize that the worst kinds of idols are not the representations of the sun and moon and stars; it was never about the wooden relics.  For, the Lord was not concerned so much with the people's trinkets as He was with their testimonies: in what (or in whom) did they repose their faith?

As I grew older, I came to know that the greatest centers of spiritual wickedness were not geographical places, but religious spaces in which faith was neutered by dogma and creeds, by religions that invoked priestcraft and made idolatry a religious practice, marketing it in God's name.

You see, the best way to spread idolatry is to call it something else, something God-ordained.

Now I understand that "spiritual Babylon" refers to our defiled churches and religions that "have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant" (D&C 1:15).

What archetypical golden calves have we doctrinally-sanctioned?

What idols adorn the Covenant Path?

The False Gods We Worship

​"For a pocketful of mumbles / Such are promises / All lies and jest / Still a man hears what he wants to hear / And disregards the rest."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

Since 1831, the prognosis has only worsened.

   They seek not the Lord
   to establish his righteousness

Now, to be fair, establishing the Lord's righteousness is exactly what our churches and religions claim to do.  But this is where the Great Lie comes in.

Instead of teaching the pure principles of Christ's gospel, Babylon overlays the Rock with a veneer of manmade commandments.

Idolatry is nothing more or less than a people trusting in the lifeless "forms of godliness" that are powerless to save (2 Tim. 3:5).

It matters very little what our religious leaders say, but it matters a great deal what they do.  What do they do with their influence and wealth?  "I will shew thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18).

Follow the treasure, and if we do, we shall discover where the heart of the Church is (Matt. 6:21).

   but every man [every church]
   walketh in his own way,
   after the image of his own god

There are a lot of religions who claim to follow Jesus.  It's easy to claim anything; better to look at the fruits.  What fruits of faith do we find; what fruits meet for repentance?

Jacob, quoting Zenos in the allegory of the Olive Tree, prophesied of some pretty "wild fruit" in these times:

   And the wild fruit of the last
   had overcome that part
   of the tree which brought forth
   good fruit, even that the branch
   had withered away and died.

(Jacob 5:40)

I would refer you to 68 "wild fruits" that Clark Burt lists from scripture in one of the most jaw-dropping commentaries of the "awful state" (Ether 4:15) we find ourselves in, drawn directly from the word of God. (See, "Repentance: All Manner of Fruit and None of it Good," December 24, 2023, Given by the Finger of God.)

   whose image is in the likeness
   of the world

The things "of the world" shall perish; they cannot withstand the fire of God's wrath at the last day.  The caricature we have made of Christ shall be no more.  When we shall see Him, the Lie we have trusted shall be seen for what it is: worthless dross.

At that Day we shall see the Man who cleansed the temple with a whip; Jesus who prophesied that not one stone of that temple should remain; the Master who appeared to Stephen, and seeing Him in the clouds, declared God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

Then we shall rue the Lie we harbored against such a Day, gazing upon the face of Him who rent the veil of the temple in twain, a temple befouled with the people's pride, and we shall know, as we peer into the eyes of Him whose body IS the temple, that our robes and garments cannot cover our shame.

   and whose substance
   is that of an idol

Ah, here we find the heart-of-the-matter.  What is the "substance" of an idol?  Well, it is lifelessness; it is death.  Idols are "dumb" (mute) and cannot speak the words of life.  This is all in contrast to the Living God, whose voice calls the Stars by name and makes them to sing, whose word summons planets into existence and heals the wounded soul.

I do not worry myself over "correct" doctrines, merely "living" ones.  Are they drawing strength from the Lord, or from themselves?  The only good doctrine is one that allows us to smell Christ's cinnamon breath upon our cheek.

I’ve encountered many doctrines that men preach with righteous zeal, but which are as dead as doornails.  And I have seen doctrines that men decry as heresy, but which illuminate Christ's face like no other.

   which waxeth old
   and shall perish in Babylon,
   even Babylon the great,
   which shall fall.

(D&C 1:16).

Notice that Babylon is "great"; she is impressive!  She looks like the complete package, and is arrayed beautifully in the ritual white of a bride.

But if we dare lift her veil, we shall behold her smile revealing a row of teeth like idols, and a breath that carries the stench of death.

What Are Modern Idols?

​"Asking only workman's wages / I come looking for a job / But I get no offers."

​   ― Simon & Garfunkel

​In college I first read President Spencer W. Kimball's talk, "The False Gods We Worship."

I liked the talk, but I had trouble relating to it because I didn't think I worshipped "gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know" (Daniel 5:23).

The examples President Kimball cited didn't seem to apply to me.  Hypothetically, I could see how wealth could become an idol.  But as a poor college student living off the land of others' mercy, I didn't seem to be in danger.  I had enough to pay for lunch at Taco Bell, and was content.

   ― "Stocks, bonds, investment portfolios" (none here)
   ― "Automobiles" (my dad's old Buick clunker I drove?)
   ― "Property" (living in an apartment off-campus with a roommate?)
   ― "Gods of stone and steel ― ships, planes, missiles, fortifications" (I was not a member of the ROTC)

Going through President Kimball's list, the closest thing that pricked my spirit was when he warned against "placing hope in the arm of flesh" ― which was something I struggled with.

Years went by and I found occasion to re-read the talk, and saw it in a new light.  But this time, I noticed that the positive examples President Kimball gave for what we should be doing with our time and money unwittingly created an idol for us to worship (this is true): the Church.

It was a lightbulb moment.  As you read the talk, you'll notice President Kimball extolling the sacrifices of people on behalf of serving the Church.  Finally it "clicked."  I understood.

You see, the ancients did not worship gold and silver and wood as if those trinkets were divine; for they knew those things weren't actually gods.

So why did they possess those lifeless objects at all?  Well, it was because their idols (they believed) helped them access the divine; through their idols they felt closer to their unseen gods; they believed their talismans earned them greater attention from their deities.

And that, my friends, is what we believe, too.  We trust in things like our temples and leaders to give us special access to God and His blessings.  In the ultimate irony, we have structured the Church around idols, such as priesthood keys, and taught the members to trust therein.

"But Tim," someone says, "I do not view the temple or my leaders that way.  I have sculptures of the temple in my home, and pictures of the Prophet on the wall, sure, but these things only remind me of the Lord and help me to 'think Celestial.'"

Thank you for proving my point.

Now, please don't misunderstand; humans have a tendency to turn things into idols, especially good things.  There's a subjectivity involved.  So maybe I shouldn't say the Church is an idol, but rather we treat the Church as an idol.

The classic example of this principle is the Bible.  No one argues that the Bible isn't a good thing; but it becomes an idol when we treat it as one.  "A Bible!  A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible" (2 Nephi 29:3).

As Gideon showed us, anything can be turned into an idol: an ephod, a temple, a Bible, and even a Church.  

But remember, Joseph Smith saw God in the Sacred Grove without any priesthood keys, without any Church, and certainly before there were any temples.

The only thing we need in order to come unto Christ is faith and repentance.

New Jerusalem
a poem

Walking down the aisle
we dreamed.
Wedding guests,
names now in a book:
   sentinels holding
   their peace.
 
     Look, the bride.
     Who designed that gown?
     See her dazzling smile?
     What impeccable style.
     O, her hips swaying side to side:
     Watch her

     stride
        down
           the endless mile―
     Meanwhile
what happened
to our dream,
that poor little thing?
     Someone
     find a groom.

     He mustn't miss
     this new regime
throwing rice across the floor,
scrabbling our bodice,
drawing against the garter 
in the ineluctable place.

We are multi-petaled anemones 
made from plaster of paris
arranged in a Pompeiian vase.
The rituals, our vows―lips
meeting in a seasoned
turnstile kiss―
​
     Weddings
     are for letting go.
Dreams 
disappear 
across the thresholds
we cannot cross.

     Come, ring bearer,
cast these beams 
from our glass eye;
reconcile the fullness
of these times,
the Gentile lie.

     Ah, the altar's
     live-stream
     has gone
     blank.