Gods and Dolls

I saw a play when I was in elementary school. I can't recall the title, but the premise was that the creations of a doll maker came to life and began experimenting with their own "upgrades". The first, and most rebellious of the dolls, found a heart crafted by her maker. She placed in on various parts of her body, determining that her forehead and elbow did not feel like the right place for the heart to reside. But, having placed it over her breast, she instantly became aware of its purpose and its power.

Some of the other dolls tentatively followed her lead, though one adamantly chastised the others for doing something they weren't supposed to. Their joy, however, at the discovery of this new knowledge, was intoxicating. But it still felt like they were doing something bad.

While the admonition to behave themselves was an explicit part of the script, I felt a noticeable connection with the most cautious character. Having been raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I had been constantly reminded that disobedience was wrong and lead to death. The only thing worse than disobeying an authority figure was what happened if that figure found out. So, as this one character warned the others about the certainty of their maker's wrath, I felt a very real sense of dread.

As the play went on, the story line shifted from their impending punishment to the enlightenment they enjoyed as a result of their discovery. In time, the nay-sayer was proved wrong, but remained steadfast in his determination. I believe the maker eventually made it clear that the fashioned hearts were intended for all of them, but that they had simply discovered them before he had given them to the dolls. He wasn't angry. He, in fact, was also overjoyed.

The most obedient of the dolls wasn't exactly chastised by the maker, but was educated. While it had become apparent that the shift in group morality had turned the obedient one into an outcast, if not outright pariah, it wasn't proof that the obedience was actually correct. Quite the opposite.

The obviousness of this application to the apostate community can't be overstated. We've all learned something that obedient Witnesses insisted we leave alone. But we embraced that information, it was life changing and, however frustratingly, impossible to convey to the people that tried to hold us back.

Conservative, conscientious action is hard to undermine because it is usually a result of fear or caution. Unfortunately, excessive caution is really hard to identify, except in retrospect. So we are left with an audience that is reluctant to act because of repeated indoctrination that straying from the narrow path is inherently detrimental. No step is safe, so no steps are taken.

The bible is rife with examples of people who perished because of their pursuit of knowledge. Adam and Eve ate from the tree, came to "know" sin and died for their discovery. Lot's wife turned her head to witness the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and became a pillar of salt. Anyone who looked upon the contents of the Ark of the Covenant died, struck down by God's angel. The scouts that returned and reported Canaan filled with giants, sons of Anak, contracted a mysterious plague and died.

Knowledge gets you killed in the bible. Well, that, and disagreeing with the people who speak for God. People who scrape together just a little incredulity were often put to the sword, burned alive, or had their assholes fall on the ground with disease.

One can imagine why even contemplating the slightest misstep could cause anxiety. God of the Old Testament frequently killed, or had killed, people who displeased him. The body count that God has amassed by way of executive decision far exceeds anything directly attributable to the Devil. Thusly, if you have faith in religious leaders and they tell you that you're invoking God's wrath, His well established killing streak is worth noting.

It's true that pursuing knowledge is sometimes a deadly endeavor. The best known explorers are often the ones who came back from their adventures with new understanding, while those who did not are sometimes just a footnote of history. But does that mean that knowledge is intrinsically harmful? It would be hard to make such a case.

Human evolution is guided by what we don't know. Not knowing how to avoid getting eaten by a saber-tooth tiger was a good way to die if you encountered one in the ice age. Not knowing what kinds of foods are inedible is a good way to die from poisoning. Not knowing how to effectively treat a given cancer is a good way to succumb to its growth. Survivors know something that the victims did not, and that is what "worked".

Knowledge is often accidental, and some of the most useful discoveries were made in this way. X-ray Imaging and Penicillin - both accidental discoveries, and two of the most useful medical advances in history. But because God didn't bother writing it down in the bible, it falls under the umbrella of things He didn't find important enough to tell us. But should we equate that with things-He-didn't-want-us-to-know? Psalm 147:5 claims that the knowledge of God is without limit, and as all of our modern existence is technologically extra-biblical, it is accurate to say that we've already discovered much more than He let on through scripture. So why does that not raise the dander of the Governing Body?

The obvious answer is that the only knowledge to which they object is that which exposes them for what they are - men who are guessing... Knowledge which leads you away from trust in their leadership leaves them without purpose. These are people who have no secular skills, or little marketable experience. They are advanced in age and beholden to the charity of their underlings to survive. They could not see to their daily needs without the support of the flock.

They believe. They have faith. But they don't know... Everything they purvey as fact is something they have interpreted, or has been passed down by an organizational forebear. The dolls at the beginning of this entry believed that the maker may be angry at their boldness, but they didn't know. It was not until they were told explicitly what his will had been that they knew their belief to be incorrect.

Likewise, there is a wealth of information that has already been discovered, as the heart was discovered by that one intrepid doll. No one, not even the maker, could fault the doll for her discovery or again hide what had once been unknown. It is an error to assume that just because a teacher did not impart knowledge that they meant for it to remain unknown. If anything, God (being the faithful and true sort) must have intended for us to discover and know the full wonder of creation. All that He has created must be for our discovery. If it is not, then it without purpose.

God is a God of purpose. We are but His dolls.