Posted by:
icedtea
(
)
Date: February 15, 2015 01:41PM
My two cents on essential oils: lavender puts me to sleep and eucalyptus is great for clearing out a stuffy nose. Anything else... I'm not going to go there.
What is more disturbing than the actual medical/scientific benefits of essential oils (which we can debate all day) is the idea that Mormons are vulnerable to scams of every kind because of their intellectual naivete and lack of critical thinking skills, combined with a belief system that emphasizes "magic bullets" like garment-wearing, tithe-paying, scripture-reading, and faith as cure-alls for whatever ails you. Even worse, they are taught to not think deeply about or research anything, but to use their feelings and emotions as a basis for making decisions about matters large and small.
They are used to believing sketchily-supported claims by authority figures, especially when those claims are surrounded by snippets of happy-sounding evidence (which has likely been fabricated or taken out-of-context), pretty graphics, and testimonials from other kool-aid drinkers. Then they go to meetings and rallies where Heartsell techniques are used on them; they feel good and reinforced because they are already familiar with these techniques and primed to respond favorably to them.
It's not about the oils so much as about a group of people who have invested their energy in being naive, easily led by their emotions, and proud of their ability to reinforce each other in group settings. That is truly scary.