I am using an image by doidam10 on BigStockPhoto for this post.
So, I've been talking about paradoxes. This is an interesting paradox: Imagine a person who is troubled by the doctrines of popular Christian denominations.
Lets imagine that the free-thinker engages in an authentic theological investigations. The free-thinker is well spoken and gains a following.
The followers meet and support the free-thinker and form organizations to support the effort.
The end result of this process is that the free-thinker, who started by questioning doctrines and denominations, created a denomination with a doctrine.
The paradox is just one of the many manifestations of the reflexive paradox. This paradox is not unique to religion. It shows up in most systems of thought.
The paradox appears in #defi. The #defi movement started with a criticism of centralized banks and the inequities that they create. The leaders of the movement end up creating blockchains and that seem to concentrate wealth in the center of the movement while failing to provide the equitable distribution of wealth that supporters of #defi desired.
I would love to have a T-shirt that read: 'Justin Sun puts "CENTRALIZATION" in the deCENTRALIZATION movement.' Such a t-shirt would encapsulate the paradox.
But, lets get back the theological version of the paradox.
The brand "Churches of Christ" refers to a group of churches that rose from the Restoration Movement that took place after the US Revolution. The movement was strong between 1790 and the 1830s.
Members of the movement were hoping to use their newly gained freedoms of religion and freedom of speech to restore biblical Christianity (whatever that means).
The movement is often called The American Restoration Movement or the Stone-Campbell Movement. It created several branches of churches that use names like "Disciples of Christ," "Christian Church" or "Church of Christ" (aka churches of Christ).
I've read some of the writings of Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and Barton Stone. They appeared to be engaged in quality research. This public domain engraving by John Chester Buttre (1821-1893) is found in the Library of Congress
As far as I can tell, the churches in this movement tend to be loosely affiliated. I have not attended any of these churches; so I can't really vouch for the system.
I have heard complaints that some of the congregations have developed cult-like qualities.
For example, a preacher named Sidney Rigdon, who studied under Alexander Campbell, paired up with a treasure seeker named Smith. Smith and Rigdon created an entity called "The Church of Christ" in Kirtland, Oh.
The sales pitch for Rigdon's church starts with a strong denouncement of doctrines and denominations, but ends up creating a highly centralized church with extremely strict doctrines defined in a text called "The Book of Commandments."
The Book of Commandments is a must read for anyone interested in the religious and political history of the United States. It was actually quite influential.
The Restoration Movement that took place between 1790 and 1830s is very interesting and is something that people should study. It turns out that the movement is relevant today.
Merie Weiss and the Stanton Church of Christ
Recently I stumbled on several videos claiming that the branch of the Church of Christ started by Merie Weiss has cult-like qualities.
The formation of this denomination is very interesting. Kevin Harper provides biographical information on his site StantonBlog.com.
Merie Weiss was born in 1900 and given the name "Modest Merrie Lyons." She grew up as a typical California girl in San Diego.
She married Roy E King at age 17. Roy went to fight in the First World War and disappeared.
Her husband was presumed dead, but his fate was unknown.
Merie later married a man named Mandell Weiss. The StantonBlog claims that Merie and Mandell attended lectures in Communism at San Diego State. (so romantic)
Sol Price engaged Mandell Weiss as a chief distributor for FedMart and a chain of stores called Costco as detailed in my last post. Mandell Weiss became richer than snot.
I find it interesting that dedicated Marxists are often the most aggressive Capitalists.
This seems paradoxical until one reads "Das Kapital" and realizes that Marx was obsessed with money and power. Every good Marxist should be obssessed with money.
But lets get back to Merie Weiss. Merie started becoming active in the Church of Christ in 1939.
Merie was distraught because she did not know the fate of her first husband. Was she living the life of a bigamist and doomed to spend enternity in Hell for her transgression?
Apparently she became estranged from Mandell and she concentrated her efforts on church.
Merie became increasingly vocal in her church. Her criticisms became quite contentious. The dissention became so intense that she was withdrawn from the Church of Christ in San Diego.
Did I mention that Merie Weiss had a boat load of money?
Merie didn't just have money. She had money that came in bulk from Costco.
She ended up funding a new Church of Christ in El Cajon.
The new church became extremely influential and apparently the views of Mary Weiss influenced a number of congregations of the Church of Christ.
Some people describe her movement as a rightwing cult.
I know very little about this church beyond what I've read on the Internet.
This is a story deserving greater attention by people with access to source materials.
Conclusion
I think the American Restoration movement in the early 1800s deserves greater study. I also think that the life of Merie Weiss is a subject that should be told.
If the web pages I've encountered are true; then Mandell Weiss is a person who studied communism but became and aggressive capitalist. Weiss was Jewish but ended up funding the creation of a right wing Christian cult.
These are prime examples of how the reflexive paradox creates strange twists and turns in the lives of real people.
One of the Videos
In the following Youtube Video, ExMo Lex interviews and escapee from the Merie Weiss Church of Christ. ExMo Lex escaped from the church created by Rigdon and his pal Smith. They don't know that both cults shared the same heritage.
It is funny. Both cults broke off the Restoration Movement. The Restoration Movement started as a criticism of doctrines and denominations. Paradoxes make people spin around in circles.