I remember approximately two years ago, I was doing some research online about temptation and why do we resist some types of temptation while at the same time give in to other types of temptation. As I was researching and pondering this thought, I came across a book being critically reviewed from the Christian, humanistic, and psychological perspectives that talked a little bit about this subject. I therefore went to my local Public Library and checked this book out to read and analyze. The book I read was entitled Totem And Taboo by Sigmund Freud. I found this book to be very unchristian in it's approach and this book tried to justify sin by calling it sin no more instead of dealing with sin. In fact, throughout this book, remorse and repentance is seen as a sign of the license to commit the taboo again which diametrically opposes the scriputres found in Romans chapters five through eight. In fact, Freud tried to convince his readers that the Christian observance of communion is nothing more than a tribute to the totem in work in our lives rather than the true meaning of recognizing, observing, participating, and accepting the blood shed on Calvary for our sins and our healings by the stripes on Jesus Christ's back to bring us into further repentance and relationship with Christ and away from the states of totem and taboo.
As I stated in my previous article Totem To Temple, Totem is, in a brief summary, "A once organic and mobile being possessing life that has now became death and stationary in tribute to a past lifestyle creating a state of idolotry based on the peculiar relationship to the previous lifestyles." What is taboo? Taboo as defined by Webster's Dictionary is "A sacred prohibition placed upon certain people or actions which makes them untouchable and in some cases unmentioinable." Psychologists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Mary Douglas see taboo as "A system of rules embedded in one's culture that is actually a prohibition from an action that when breached, brings forth supernatural punishment and/or the unleasing of supernatural dangers."
I personally see the concept of Totem and the concept of Taboo leading to the same outcome, sin and death. Even though totem and taboo are the same in reference to their final outcome of sin and death, the pathways that the concept of totem and the concept of taboo lead people to sin and death is slightly different. In totem, sin and death has already taken place but the grasp totem has on the life of an individual remains. In taboo, the choice between good and evil is present in the living person. However, depending on which path we take determines whether we head further towards the state of totem or to the state of temple. Basically speaking, the choice of participation in an act of taboo leads one towards the state of totem which in turn leads to death. While the person who chooses the pathway to the state of temple by refusing to participate in an act of taboo removes signs of death from their lives and replaces it with signs and actions of life. In taboo, the prohibitions placed on us through the Word of God provides the clear cut definition of right and wrong and the concept of good and evil. Taboo, like totem, consist of the wrongful actions committed by us that if we are not careful, further bind us even though we know the actions and consequences of the actions are wrong.
In the state of totem, one is already considered to be dead to the things of God to the point where in order to experience life, one has to be risen from the dead, repent of their sins, and accept Jesus as their personal Savior to experience life. People who never accepted Jesus as their personal Savior are in the state of totem because according to Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God." In taboo, life is in the process of dying due to our poor choices of participating in the state of taboo. Therefore, it is possible that a Christian who was operating in the state of temple backslide and begin to operate in the state of taboo where the vital signs are so faint to reveal a spiritually comatose or vegetative state of well being. What happens next depends of the choice of the individual. "Do I remain in this lifestyle of taboo and end up dead and in totem?" or "Do I turn away from the pathway of totem and the pathway of taboo to come back into the state of temple?"
Click here for part two of Taboo to Temple.
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