The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Under such conditions it is hardly to be wondered at that the boy was
troubled in mind. The wonder is that he, too, was not overcome by the
emotional excitement of the day. Perhaps no fact of psychology is
better established than this, that the mental and nervous organizations
of like-minded people "respond in like ways to the same stimuli." With
the religious folk of the Manchester revival this boy was undoubtedly
sympathetically like-minded. Yet, he did not yield to the emotional
impulses that seized upon his friends; and that, too, in spite of
the fact further asserted by psychologists and sociologists, that
sympathetically like-minded people "are not likely to have their
primitive and instinctive nervous tendencies and mental traits under
the governance of the higher inhibitory centers;" and that "the
nervously unstable, the suggestible, the _inexperienced_[H] [are]
affected by the highly emotional revival earlier than the dignified and
intelligent people of judgment and standing."[I] This boy of fourteen
years was inexperienced; his standing in the eyes of the world was nil;
yet, his primitive and instinctive tendencies and mental traits seemed
to be well under the governance of the higher inhibitory centers.
[Footnote H: Italics are present writer's.]
[Footnote I: Davenport, "Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals," pp.
2, 3.]
Professor Frederick Morgan Davenport, whom I have already quoted,
says further in his treatise of the primitive traits of religious
revivals, that, "we must bear in mind constantly that the effect of a
sympathetic religious movement is greatly increased by the massing of
men and women in a psychological 'crowd,' a camp meeting for instance.
* * The natural result of the assembling of men in crowds, especially
when skilful speakers engage their attention and play upon the chords
of imagination and emotion, seems to be the weakening of the power of
inhibition in each individual, and the giving of free reign to feeling
and imitation. * * * This will be most in evidence among primitive,
superstitious and unlettered people, of course, for civilization
shows itself in nothing more clearly than in the growing capacity for
individual self-control, but they will also appear in the relatively
high stages of culture and experience if the combination of conditions,
physical, mental and social, is strong enough to develop them. In fact
there is no population, there are comparatively few individuals in any
population who cannot be swept from the moorings of reason and balanced
judgment if brought under the mysterious and potent influence of the
psychological 'crowd.'" [J]
[Footnote J: Davenport, "Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals," pp.
9, 10.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account