Words like violence
Break the silence[1]Almost since the start of its 2021 relaunch, this site has leaned rather hard onto the theme of silence–how conversion to the gospel comes not through “multiplying words,” but … Continue reading
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me[2]In this, I dare say we are entirely orthodox, by the way: from our solemn sacrament services (where we drape the emblems in a burial shroud as though at a funeral), to our Primary songs on … Continue reading
Pierce[3]“And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice, as if it came out of Heaven; and they cast there eyes round about, for they understood not the voice … Continue reading right through me
Can’t you understand?[4]Which as we’ve also noted repeatedly before, to prioritize silence is profoundly ironic in our religion, since ours is deeply imbricated in multiple texts–The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and … Continue reading
Oh, my little girl
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm[5]Yet as we’ve also discussed before, it’s not just that words cannot hope to convert anyone to the Gospel, but they actively impede persuasion. As our own D&C 50:17-20 reads, … Continue reading
Vows are spoken
To be broken[6]All vows are inherently broken, if they are based in words–which, as we’ve already established, are inherently slippery, traitorous, and not of God–no, your vows and covenants have … Continue reading
Feelings are intense[7]“The Gospel is a feeling,” said Alvin R. Dyer–and so is everything else.
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless[8]It frankly causes me an existential crisis in my chosen profession; I’m an English instructor you see, and am required by the department to teach at least one genre of argumentative writing … Continue reading
And forgettable
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms[9]Given that, per D&C 131:2, Celestial marriage is absolutely essential to achieve exaltation, the singer is more right than he realizes when he informs his lover that “All I ever needed/Is here … Continue reading
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm[10]From Depeche Mode’s most popular album, 1990’s Violator–which the band claimed they named as a sort of joke, going for the most Heavy Metal sounding title possible while being a … Continue reading
References
| ↑1 | Almost since the start of its 2021 relaunch, this site has leaned rather hard onto the theme of silence–how conversion to the gospel comes not through “multiplying words,” but through the the groanings beyond utterance, the peace of God which surpasseth understanding, the Holy Spirit that whispereth through all things and at times maketh my bones to quake–first with the LDS Indie-band Low (repeatedly, excessively, exhaustingly), but also with Andy Warhol, the Beatles and Velvet Underground, Cocteau Twins, The Strokes, Ben Marcus, David Markson, Miles Davis, Aram Saroyan, Luce Irigaray, Jacques Derrida, Pink Floyd, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and a host of others I’m sure I’ve spaced on at the moment. At this point, annotating Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” is almost too on the nose. |
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| ↑2 | In this, I dare say we are entirely orthodox, by the way: from our solemn sacrament services (where we drape the emblems in a burial shroud as though at a funeral), to our Primary songs on “Reverence Is More Than Just Quietly Sitting” (though implicitly it is still at least partly that), to the quietness that reigns throughout our Temple Celestial Rooms (the one place where we are told it is kosher to speak on the ordinances is the one place where we are discouraged from speaking on anything at all), silence permeates all of our most sacred worship services. |
| ↑3 | “And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice, as if it came out of Heaven; and they cast there eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice, it did pierce them that did hear, to the center, insomuch that there were no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.” -3 Nephi 11:3. |
| ↑4 | Which as we’ve also noted repeatedly before, to prioritize silence is profoundly ironic in our religion, since ours is deeply imbricated in multiple texts–The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly”–texts that we are endlessly reminded and counseled to study daily, memorize, recite, and testify boldly about— this, despite the fact that at the end of the day, our conversion is rooted in a Spiritual experience utterly independent from the text itself. Unlike many evangelical and Protestant sects, our faith is rooted not in a tautological the-Bible-is-the-word-of-God-because-the-word-of-God-is-in-the-Bible, but in something beyond the Bible itself.
But then, that is all the same irony as Depeche Mode singing about how “words [are] like violence,” that “They can only do harm”–all while only being able to use words to express it. |
| ↑5 | Yet as we’ve also discussed before, it’s not just that words cannot hope to convert anyone to the Gospel, but they actively impede persuasion. As our own D&C 50:17-20 reads, “Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God.”
As every young missionary swiftly learns in the field, if you can argue someone into the Church, they can be argued out of it, too. That is why argumentation is not of God, and cannot be relied upon; that is why they can only do harm. |
| ↑6 | All vows are inherently broken, if they are based in words–which, as we’ve already established, are inherently slippery, traitorous, and not of God–no, your vows and covenants have to be based in something else beyond words if they are to have any Eternity about them, that can only be found in the infinity of silence. |
| ↑7 | “The Gospel is a feeling,” said Alvin R. Dyer–and so is everything else. |
| ↑8 | It frankly causes me an existential crisis in my chosen profession; I’m an English instructor you see, and am required by the department to teach at least one genre of argumentative writing each semester–this, despite the mountains of research indicating that most people, when presented with new information that contradicts their most deeply held beliefs, do not then change their mind, but only dig in their heels deeper, and dismiss the new information as “fake news,” or “biased,” or simply ignore it entirely. How can I possibly train composition students to persuade effectively, when words are so manifestly ineffective?
It is at times like these that I recall my missionary service oh so many years ago, and remember that I’ve known all along that words never persuade at all, but only that ineffable something else that the words point towards. “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words” said St. Thomas Aquinas (and cited by the late Jefferey R. Holland)–but always use as few words as possible to accomplish it. I can still distinctly recall how much my first discussions improved once I pared them down to a minimum 10 minutes (I learned this at the behest of the late Richard G. Scott)–how many more second discussions I got–and how much more painful were the discussions of missionaries who tried to talk everyone’s ear off. Words are indeed very, unnecessary; they can only do harm. |
| ↑9 | Given that, per D&C 131:2, Celestial marriage is absolutely essential to achieve exaltation, the singer is more right than he realizes when he informs his lover that “All I ever needed/Is here in my arms.” Though we have discussed how painful that bit of doctrine can be once or twice before… |
| ↑10 | From Depeche Mode’s most popular album, 1990’s Violator–which the band claimed they named as a sort of joke, going for the most Heavy Metal sounding title possible while being a bunch of scrawny synth-Pop English dudes. But then, Violator might be the exact right name for an album with such a title: words really can only do harm… |