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Cyd Ropp, Ph. D.
Copyright 2022; all rights reserved
For the past couple of episodes, I have laid out for you my and my brother’s theory of a new Gnostic Psychology. If you have not listened to those episodes, I recommend that you go the gnostic insights dot com home page and click on the tab you will find there labelled “A Simple Explanation of the Gnostic Gospel.” That tab will take you to links to all of the episodes of this current series. You may wish to begin at the first episode listed and work your way up to this episode, which is the 16th in the series. Or, if you are in a hurry to learn about Gnostic Psychology, you will find those prior two episodes called “Human Nature: Gnostic Psychology parts 1 and 2. As I mentioned before, this material is not necessarily easy; it’s probably at the level of an advanced university Psychology course, so don’t worry if some of it is hard to grasp. Today’s episode may be more relatable, as it applies in a less theoretical way to our lives and lived experiences.
I was treated to lunch the other day by a friend who considers herself non-religious and overtly anti-Christian. We usually avoid talking about both politics and religion, because we disagree on almost everything. So I was pleased and surprised when she said to me over a plate of sushi, “These books you write may be all well and good, but so what? What’s so special about your beliefs and why should I care?”
I knew this opening would be brief, and I felt that I needed to give her a quick and persuasive answer, so I talked a little about originating consciousness pre-existing outside of herself, and how that basic idea takes a person out of purely ego-centric thinking by acknowledging a greater power that came before. She nodded her agreement to that and said she had no problem with that. Seeing that the door was still open, I then offered her the idea that most people have hope that they will go to Heaven when they die because they long to see their loved ones again after they pass on. I said that having an assurance of Heaven is a powerful belief, because it takes away the fear of death. To this, my friend answered that she doesn’t fear death because she believes she will just blink out into blackness, and who cares after that, right? I nodded and said I agree with that reasoning, except that’s probably not what happens, so that would be a false belief. But I can see why she wouldn’t be worried. I shrugged and said we’d find out soon enough after we pass over from this material life. We then moved right on to other, less challenging, topics.
After pondering our conversation the next day, I realized that the “So what?” answers I offered her don’t really answer the bigger question of why any of this matters in the first place. Why should anyone care about The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated or the Gnostic Insights podcast? Here’s what I came up with to offer as an over-arching concept that comes before and frames the very questions we addressed, such as recognizing the Father and what happens after you die. What I had offered her was the content, or the memes, of gnostic belief. But even before sharing information, a person needs a scaffolding upon which they can hang their questions and find their answers. It’s a way of coming to gnosis. It’s your ideological framework.
Our worldview, or ideology, is the larger frame through which we view the world. We humans are built to make sense of the world around us. When things don’t make sense, we feel puzzled, lost, even frightened or depressed. We humans all need to believe in something—anything. I would say it’s in the nature of us Second Order Powers, because we were created as reasonable beings. A worldview is the scaffolding upon which we hang our observations and expectations. It is a very big framework because we need to be able to make some sense of the world in order to discern our reason for living.
A person’s worldview isn’t necessarily spiritual or religious. A non-religious person may believe in their political party and its policies. Different political parties have differing goals for society and different, often opposing, methods for achieving those goals. Those who are not political, may believe in sports. They may devote their spare time and mental energy into following teams and statistics and attending games. Their life is built around seasons and schedules and ESPN. Others may devote their lives to loving nature. Their causes are ecological, and they concentrate their energy in the direction of preserving habitats and protecting the planet’s flora and fauna. They may view weather patterns in terms of climate change, and they may even take an anti-human stance in favor of Earth First. Still others put their faith in technology. They believe mechanical innovation can save the world and humanity. They trust in trans-humanism and are eager to install technological enhancements to improve the human body.
These affiliations all represent people’s ideologies. Their belief system determines their observations and their actions. One person will look at a given set of facts and come to a conclusion based upon their ideological memes; while another person may look at the same facts and come to a completely different conclusion and course of action. This is no surprise, because everyone has a worldview that filters incoming and outgoing energy and memes. A fascinating thing about ideologies is that most people are not even aware that there is such a thing as competing ideologies. Their own ideology is what is called “naturalized,” which means that they hold it so deeply that they do not recognize it as an ideology and that there may be other valid points of view. They don’t realize that their own worldview shapes and filters what they see and the options open for their behavior. They think that those who disagree with them are wrong, crazy, or evil.
For example, in the field of health and disease, conventional versus alternative healthcare is a major ideological divide. One’s ideology determines whether or not you trust medicine or you trust nature. It was this ideological schism that my own doctoral dissertation focused on, particularly the field of medical-model hospital births versus traditional midwife-assisted homebirths. If you are interested in this topic and curious enough to read my dissertation, it is available at lulu dot com. Just search for my name, Cyd Ropp, at lulu, and you will find my books, including The Rhetoric of Childbirth: The Trial of a California Midwife in both paperback and ebook.
Religious orientation is, of course, a basic ideological framework. For religious folks, their religion frames their worldview. Observant adherents frame their interpretations of the world and their reactions to the world through the lens of their religion, whatever that religion may be. To be faithfully “true” or “observant” means that a person does their best to live their life according to the precepts laid down by their religious leaders and the Holy Books they believe in. Here at Gnostic Insights, I am promoting Christian Gnosticism, and the Holy Book is the Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi codices in combination with the New Testament.
These various ideologies all have predictable outcomes if they’re halfway good ideologies or worldviews. The Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything, of course, is called “of everything” because it is a theory of everything that pretty much answers all questions you might pose. However, it is not religious at all. It is secular, which means non-religious. The Simple Explanation uses logic, deduction, math, and science as the framework, or ideology, to observe and make observations and predictions. You can also find the Simple Explanation book at the lulu dot com website or on Amazon.
Here is the bottom line about ideologies. Either you have an ideology that comforts you and that frames your worldview, or you don’t.
Aside from their particular and divergent beliefs, people who have a positive worldview are more or less passionate about doing something right for the world. Whether they be political activists or humanists who believe in the power of people, or observant religious people who believe in enacting God’s will on earth—whatever their passion is—they feel the emotional security of having something, anything, to believe in. Even hedonism is an ideology, albeit a Demiurgic, egoic ideology. A hedonist is someone who believes that pleasure and self-satisfaction is the highest calling. To that end, a hedonist may be passionate about indulging their desires for food, sex, power, drugs, or fame. Unfortunately for them, their pursuit of pleasure will never satisfy their cravings, because they are trying to plug a spiritual hole with worldly pleasure.
If someone doesn’t hold any worldview at all, then those people cannot help but feel confused and distressed because they have nothing that helps them make sense of their experiences. A person who doesn’t hold a worldview is not living their lives fully or passionately, because they are not dedicated to a cause greater than themselves. These people feel as though they just don’t understand what the heck is going on. They don’t get it at all. People who lack an ideology have no clue as to whether this or that is true. They have no basis of judgment, because they lack an ideological framework through which they can make sense of the world. They are just fumbling around in the dark, continually puzzled and either saddened or, just as likely, numb. This absolute lack of a worldview is utterly destructive to one’s confidence and self-esteem. It also leaves people vulnerable to the influence of cults.
A recent study called “Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving?” by M. Rousselet, et. al., identifies “a deep dissatisfaction with life and a need for personal development” as the reason people turn to cults. Cults provide a ready-made ideology that gives recruits an ideological structure to believe in. This ideology causes an instant sense of relief as their lack of structure is filled by the cult’s meme bundle. The cult also provides community to lonely people who lack a trustworthy social network, and a direction and purpose to the lost. The study calls these cults “wolfs in sheep’s clothing” because the initial relief and happiness found in the bosom of the cult quickly turns into “traps of pain and torture.”
We know from our Gnostic studies that “traps of pain and torture” do not come from the Father or the Fullness of God. Pain and torture is the specialty of the Demiurge. Cults are a spiritual dead-end, and they are very difficult to escape from. Cults rely upon the imposition of an overarching worldview that is only held by that cult. Cults also count upon charismatic leadership and obedience to that leader, which short-circuits the recruit’s ability to think for themselves. The cult leader replaces one’s connection with the Father by a connection to the Demiurge.
The Gnostic Gospel worldview is not a cult. The way you can tell this is by Gnosticism’s direct connection to the originating source of consciousness—the Father—and not to any human leader. This is precisely why the Gnostics were wiped out by Catholicism between 300 and 400 AD. Gnosis comes directly from the Father, and not through a Pope or any other charismatic religious or political leader. Gnosis encourages a personal relationship with the God Above All Gods. Gnosis does not rely upon rituals or secret practices of any kind to achieve spiritual goals. No human can give you gnosis. No earthly community can replace your heavenly community in the Fullness of God. Gnosis fills you with love and joy, not fear and commandments.
And that is why I share this gnosis with you. I promote a Gnostic worldview to people who are either dissatisfied with their current ideology or who are lost and searching for a healthy worldview to believe in. I believe the Gnostic Gospel will be helpful to people, because that’s one of the predictable outcomes of my gnostic philosophy—helping others in the manner of the Simple Golden Rule.
Our next episode will discuss in detail exactly how the Gnostic Gospel as presented here at Gnostic Insights can help you rise above the mire you are currently stuck in. We will look at the cravings that have taken you over and how to rid yourself of them, whether those cravings are for sex, drugs, or whatever. We will look at the meme shroud that is stuck to your Ego and how to rid yourself of negative memes. We will talk about the role of the Demiurge and its gang of archons that keep you enslaved to negative memes. And we will speak of a better, more human and positive, Gnostic ideology that can bring you peace, spiritual security, and true joy as you rediscover your own, inherent, Self.