Should Be Known

The field of psychology today is, in some ways, frankly, groping in darkness. While there are many practical principles I believe that have been found and are being employed successfully in therapy and such, any real guidance as to the theory of things is just kind of absent. It that too harsh to say? In this episode we talk about where psychology is today and what it needs to really succeed.

It’s high time we discussed some examples of self-deception (besides what we discussed in episodes 2 and 3). And why not just jump to a couple of the most important and universal – depression and anxiety?

I would like to propose that one great source of light we violate when we self-deceive is the Light of Christ. Also known in scripture as the Spirit of Christ, this light proceeds from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space, gives us our knowledge of right from wrong, is the very light and life of men, and is the very law by which all things are governed. To me this means that we can’t escape it. When we go against this light, whether consciously or not, we must self-deceive, in order to justify ourselves. That’s the theory–that we absolutely can’t violate it without deceiving ourselves. This lays the groundwork for everything we’ll discuss later. See what you think. Oh, and we just solved the whole philosophical problem of how we know what is moral or not.

C. Terry Warner, a philosophy professor at Brigham Young University until his retirement, has made unprecedented strides in the area of self-deception, especially as it relates to social interactions. I have seen no one else treat his subject better. Studying self-deception without talking about Terry Warner would be a little like studying physics without talking about Einstein. I am greatly indebted to him for my knowledge in this area and will forever be grateful I was ever able to study under him.

If there is a God and if His kingdom is on the earth, then it follows that if we act against His word or His anointed, we must of necessity justify our behavior, according to my theory (that we justify ourselves through self-deception whenever we go against the truth). The word becomes less valid and the anointed of God become less authoritative to us. In my growing up life I observed what seemed to me to be clear self-justification/self-deception of this type. I think it helped me be extra cautious of it in myself, and served as further evidence of the truth. For why would we act as if we were justifying ourselves, unless there was something true we were acting against?

This is going to be quite the podcast. As I write this I have 9 episodes recorded. They contain the clearest and most correct treatment of self-deception that I know of, and to me self-deception is a great missing key to psychology. I credit my Creator with all of the knowledge contained herein. I’m excited to share it with you and trust we will receive more as we continue on this journey. I pray it will be a great blessing to your life. This first episode is just a short introduction to me as the creator of the podcast.