It just hit me how the song "Humble Way" really exposes the kind of double-speak that mormons use in most conversations - especially when one calls them out on their lies.

For example take this gem from the song "Humble Way":

Crooked generation, we demand your veneration.
Will you shake your heel at us as we call you to your knees?
Crooked generation, will you scoff at ordination?
We are warriors by a right, so respect us if you please!

We are not the ordinary,
Fearlessly extraodinary,
Workin' righteous Hari Kari,
In our Humble Way.

This lyric has so much judgment and holier-than-thou-ness it makes me sick...and it is ended with "In our humble way"..!?

Really?!!

This is such a classic example of the duality of mormon thought...we are SOO much better than you BUT we are "humble" (so that makes us even more greater-than-you)!

May the mormons sing this song as a salve to their pious souls while their congregations become leaner and leaner...and they wonder why the rest of the planet doesn't like them.

Don't they sing that song at a little unattended park!?? What's with the Hari Kari reference as well!??

What's with the Hari Kari reference? It rhymes.

Righteous Hari Kari?

Do you do that with a flaming sword?

That's what she said!

Chicken N. Backpacks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Righteous Hari Kari?
>
> Do you do that with a flaming sword?



Pause for a moment...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Mormon are so benighted that they don't realize that calling yourself "humble" is actually the OPPOSITE of humility.

"I humbly stand before you today..."

"We humbly pray..."

Perhaps why I am angry with these lyrics is that I was once a morbot that really liked this song. I sang it on my mission. I saw "Saturday's Warrior" with my girlfriend the week before I left.

I remember feeling like I was better than other people because they were wicked and I was following god. What a crock! I just need to get over it and find forgiveness for myself for being an arrogant hypocrite when I was young. I was far, far from being humble when I was really deep in the cult.

Leaving the church was the most humbling thing I ever did-- I thought I knew all the answers; I don't. So now when I hear the "I'm humble" references I have to think of the rameumptom: "I'm so humbly proud to be humble... don't you wish you were as humble as me?"
It seems to me that true humility ought to include listening to other peoples' point of view...

...they draw near to me with their lips...

It ain't easy being humble.....that's why they're so damn proud of it

All together now

"Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way..."

I am one of God's elect because I hear his still, small voice. I am highly flavored by God, because I belong to his one true church. I know and understand truth and righteousness in ways that you can't--because you are blinded by the adversary.

I say these things humbly.

I just love it! I know a 4-yr-old, and when his mom pins a towel to his shoulders he thinks he's got superpowers!

Don't take that song too seriously. It was written to be ironic, back in an era when Mormons were allowed to laugh at themselves.

Good luck seeing anything similar become popular in the cult, now that the membership is being correlated and "milked" (both meanings) to death.

Yeah--this song was meant as a joke. There are lots of things to get bothered about in the church, but getting worked up about this just shows that you can't take a joke.

If it's a joke, then where's the joke!!??

It was not written to be ironic.

It just sounds that way to 21st century ears.

Otherwise the same could be said about EVERY SONG in this horrible mess of a play.

I understand the song was meant to be ironic...however when I was a TBM i felt that this song had a lot of truth in it. It didn't just "ring" true - it was true! Of course I wouldn't have been so bold as to declare every non-mo as wicked, but that is how I felt inside.

Perhaps I was a zealot. To me, this song is 10% ironic and 90% rings true.

You're right, the song does have a lot of truth in it. The soul of humor lies in holding a distorted mirror up to life to point out (often) uncomfortable truths.

Elders Kessler and Green are a parody of missionaries fresh out of the MTC: told that they are God's soldiers, sent forth to save a wicked world controlled by wicked men, bearing the priesthood (more power than the Pope in Rome in their pinkies), but indoctrinated that they need to be humble.

The portrayal is way over the top, and was easily recognized at the time as a humorous take on missionary zeal.

The church has become too self conscious to do that kind of humor anymore. When is the last time you've seen missionaries shown in that light in the recent church? Heck, when is the last time the church put on road shows?

I don't know the 21st century ears to which you refer, but my ears, which heard the song over and over on 8-track tape back in the 70s, could easily recognize it as ironic. This number was part of the play's comedy relief. All the Mormons I knew loved the humor.

C'mon two missionaries, declaring themselves mighty warriors, demanding to be venerated, in their "humble way"? No one took it seriously in the 70s. No one should take it seriously now.

Luckily or Unluckily; no one had a clue as to who Margaret Sanger was. She was the founder of "Planned Parenthood". She was also a follower and believer of eugenics. She wanted mentally handicapped (down syndrome, nervous breakdowns, etc...) all sterilized. She really pushed the agenda into the Black neighborhoods because of her bigoted eugenics views. Here's some of her quotes.
http://www.dianedew.com/sanger.htm

I'm pretty sure the speaker just pulled the quote out of one of the "Quote of the Day" books; or pulled it from a "memorable quotes" website. People really should study up on who they're quoting and the reason and background of the quote.

So this tears apart a "conservative" because they are against abortion and/or birth control. Yet wax wonderfully when it helps determine the lessening of those "other races".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2015 04:34PM by dydimus.

Margaret Sanger is another internet victim of fake quotes being
attributed to her. The website you link to contains such fake
quotes.

Missionaries are a mix of contradictions. They are young, foolish kids, now straight out of high school, but they are called "Elder" and tasked with saving the world. They carry the power of God and are responsible for the salvation of entire cities, but they live in crappy apartments and drink out of jelly jars.

They are expected to be teachers, but they don't know anything of religion, especially their own. The line "working righteous Hari Kari" makes absolutely no sense, except that you can tell the Elders have no idea what they are saying. It's hard to tell if the lyricist is making fun of his own character, or if he didn't know what Hari Kari meant.

They go to zone conferences and are told how important and special they are, and then how much of a disappointment they are. Build them up and then tear them down with guilt.

They go around teaching people about forever families, but are cut off from theirs for 2 years. After 2 years of living like monks, they are supposed to go home and get married ASAP, as if they've had any chance to live as an adult.

I think Saturday's Warriors captured the arrogant narcissism and deep insecurities of these missionaries well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2015 07:24PM by axeldc.

This song is meant as a joke. The Mormon writers are poking fun at Mormon attitudes, and the Mormon audience laughs because they understand so well. The actors playing the missionaries ham it up, and the audience of Mormons fully understands that these missionaries are not at all humble and are likely to run into problems because of it.

that's the point... it's a joke, watch the rest of the movie and you'll see, that's why the gatekeeper at the end says, "that earth is gonna give that boy exactly what he needs." XD

A Humble Way, a Humble Way, a Humble Way, a Humble Way,
a Humble Way, a Humble Way, a Humble Way, a Humble Way,
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight...

As much as I hate the church, that song is meant to be a case of mormons poking fun at their own faults. It's hard to dislike someone who tells the truth of who they are, while making fun of themselves for those same faults publicly. Too bad the actual religion doesn't operate that way.

If you want to hate the church, there are better reasons. Several docterines and the radical words of several General Authorities are good reasons.

Here's the full movie on YouTube.

Saturday's Warrior (1989)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--w9bOGpi2s

I was IN Saturday's Warrior, and I sang those words over and over and over, very "humbly." (NOT!)

Most of the chorus members used to laugh at the stupid lyrics. We didn't take them seriously, and would often comment that "we" were the actually the humble ones, singing this stuff over and over and over.

The one thing we knew for sure was that the authors wrote SW to make money. There were a few of us who took the "message" seriously, but only a few.

Singing in SW was kind of like a mission - bitter-sweet memories.

I once saw the play in Sacramento and regretted it.

"duality of thought" - a perfect phrase to describe me growing up.

I have often reflected on my Mormon upbringing and I've marveled at how I could be such an arrogant asshole at times while generally having such low self-esteem overall.

There were a lot of people that I was too "good" to associate with and if I had associated with them, my social isolation and esteem issues might have been much less of an issue.

I still like the music from Saturday's Warrior, even thouh I left the church. Talent is talent. They did a good job on it.

One of my vocal coaches from that era of the original play played the part of Jimmy's mother in the stake I lived in. She did well.

She was so much a perfectionist, as a LDS woman, that she became very depressed (prior to her becoming my vocal coach.) She told me how she became suicidal and tried taking her life (this with a husband and a large number of children to boot.) After a suicide attempt she started to get help for her problems.

If only she knew then that being LDS was a major contributor to that depression and perfectionism she suffered with.

I was depressed as a mormon too. I felt like I was doing everything I could and still the happiness did not come to me.

I hope your vocal coach was able to leave the cult and find her own happiness.

Saturday's Warrior is Sunday's Apostate

I always say.

"We're humble damn it! Now show us some flippin' respect and do what the hell we tell you!"

That's the humble little nutshell of mormonism.