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| In the grip of the wicked?* |
1. The divine creation
» ... for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them. (Old Testament | 1 Samuel 2:8)2. The wicked
» God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (New Testament | Acts 17:24)
» And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; (Old Testament | Isaiah 13:11)Unfortunately, we seem not to appreciate the systemic nature of use # 2 as it relates to democracies. We individualize the wicked: the murderer, the rapist, the abuser, the thief, the liar and so forth, and leave most of our collective structures / institutions un-discerned — these corporate, military, and other subsystems that sustain and perpetuate a System of domination and oppression managed by force and oft-times violence.*
» These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (New Testament | John 16:33)
Perhaps in this year 2020, to help open our eyes fully to the control- and elite-obsessed world we live in (the world prophesied for the end times — the world the old prophets and God Himself lamented and tried to warn about), we could begin to discern and use the descriptor “Domination System” for every “world” we encounter from example 2 above. This substitution was suggested years ago,1 but has been taken up only be a few writers.
Knowing and using the name of something can expose it for what it truly is, and we are at a point in history where the System seeking to control the world must be named and exposed, not as a propagandized, peaceful, World-Order system, but as the conspiratorial WO System it is — as a Domination System where the few oppress and control the many for the benefit of those few.
So let us in our personal and family readings (perhaps even public ones) begin to call out the world system for what it is — the Domination System. Here is a small beginning:
And [Jesus] said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this [Domination System]; I am not of this [Domination System]. ... I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the [System] those things which I have heard of him. (New Testament | John 8:23, 26)When we come to understand the myriad tentacles of the Domination System, will we be more open to asking: “Are my daily labors aiding and abetting the Domination System?” Can we, like Nephi1, commit that “the things which are pleasing unto the [Domination System] I do not write [or do or think or promote], but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the [Domination System]? (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 6:5)
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this [Domination System] shall keep it unto life eternal. ... Now is the judgment of this [Domination System]: now shall the prince of this [System] be cast out. (New Testament | John 12:25, 31)
If the [Domination System] hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the [Domination System], the [System] would love his own: but because ye are not of the [System], but I have chosen you out of the [System], therefore the [Domination System] hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (New Testament | John 15:18 - 20)
... know ye not that the friendship of the [Domination System] is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the [Domination System] is the enemy of God. (New Testament | James 4:4)
Love not the [Domination System], neither the things that are in the [Domination System]. If any man love the [System], the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the [Domination System], the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the [System]. (New Testament | 1 John 2:15-16)2
Every cell in the body of Christ that moves from a disease condition into health makes a difference to the whole. Let us abandon in droves the Domination System and do everything in our power to help redeem those aspects, people, and institutions that have been taken into captivity.
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* “The Domination System will attempt to crush every vestige of authentic living. ... Ignatius of Antioch, martyred for his faith about 107 C.E., perceptively observed that "the greatness of Christianity lies in its being hated by the world [read `Domination System'], not in its being convincing to it" (Rom. 3:3).” Walter Wink. Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. (Kindle Locations 889, 891-892; the `Domination System' insert in the quote was placed by Walter Wink.)
1. See entire book: Walter Wink. Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Kindle Edition.
2. Additional examples:
New Testament | John 18:36-37 ~ Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the [Domination System], that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
New Testament | Romans 12:2 ~ And be not conformed to this [Domination System]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
New Testament | 1 Corinthians 2:12 ~ Now we have received, not the spirit of the [Domination System], but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
New Testament | 1 Corinthians 5:10 ~ Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this [Domination System], or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the [System].
New Testament | Ephesians 2:2 ~ Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this [Domination System], according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
New Testament | Ephesians 6:12 ~ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this [Domination System], against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 22:23 ~ For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the [Domination System], and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the [System], and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 1:16 ~ They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the [Domination System], and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 58:39 ~ And let him repent of his sins, for he seeketh the praise of the [Domination System].
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 84:49 ~ And the whole [Domination System] lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.
Recommended for practice: New Testament | John 17; New Testament | 1 John 4
