Kicking Against the Pricks

I typically do not get really preachy in this blog, but there was a story in the Deseret News that struck me as a pathetic personification of the scriptural phrase, “kicking against the pricks.” A year ago, I saw a story about a Las Vegas man, who claimed membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who put together some beef-cake calendar featuring men who had previously served full-time missions for the Church. The calendar publisher, Chad Hardy, called the calendar Men on a Mission.

Well, it turns out that he is now facing church disciplinary action. The letter from his Stake President was provided to the Associated Press just a few days before Hardy was to release the 2009 version of the calendar. Since disciplinary matters are considered private and the Church does not provide copies of such letters to the press, I am left to assume that Hardy provided the letter, and did so in order to stir up some free publicity for his calendar (which I am also doing by writing about this matter). One has to wonder about how much someone truly values membership in the Church if the individual seeks to use a disciplinary hearing to make more money.

There were some fascinating quotes from the AP article. First, as I had suspected from the inception, the article provides some good insight into where Hardy stands. "Hardy acknowledged he's not been an active member of the church since 2002. A returned missionary who served in southern California, he said he no longer pays church tithing or wears the religious undergarments considered sacred."

Another quote showed either that Hardy is completely ignorant, or disingenuous. I am leaning toward disingenuous due to his willingness to use his disciplinary hearing as a marketing tool – selling his membership for filthy lucre. Hardy claimed that his "right to free speech is being violated." I always laugh when I hear people say this, as I cannot believe that people so badly misunderstand the right to free speech. He is not being imprisoned for his speech. He is free to express himself as he wishes. However, he is not free from the consequences that will naturally flow from such speech. Due to his opinions and his behavior, a private organization may not want its name associated with his. The organization is free to disassociate itself from him.

Hardy stated that the purpose of his calendar was to shake up Mormon stereotypes. (I thought the purpose was to make him some money – silly me). "It's not tearing anybody down," Hardy said. "I wondered what would happen if we took that perfect Disneyland image that the church spends millions of dollars cultivating each year and shook it up a little bit." In other words, he was not tearing anyone down, but he wanted to tear down the carefully cultivated public image of the Church. Hmmmm.

Then, Hardy went on to oddly insinuate that his inactivity is the Church's fault. "In six years, Hardy said he's never been contacted by anyone from the church encouraging his return to the fold and he suspects the current inquiry was driven by the church's Salt Lake City headquarters."

As I stated at the start of this post, this perfectly illustrates the proverbial kicking against the pricks. The phrase comes from farming, and since most people tilled the soil in the not-too-distant past, the analogy was well understood until our generation.

Before mechanization of farming methods, farmers used oxen to work the soil. The prick (or goad) was a useful device to manage oxen.The prick was usually a wooden shaft with a pointed spike (prick) at one end. The farmer working the ox would position the prick so as to exert influence and control over the ox. If the ox refused the farmer’s command, the prick would be used to jab the ox. Sometimes the ox would refuse this incentive by kicking out at the prick. As result, the prick would be driven deeper into the flesh of the rebellious animal. The more the animal rebelled, the more the animal suffered. Therefore, Jesus’ statement to Saul as he fought against His church was that “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:5).

God has all power, but he gives us the freedom to kick as we wish. However, much like the ox, we are not free from the consequences of such kicking. However, as God’s children, we may elect to disobey Him, but when we disobey, we pay. “[T]he way of transgressors is hard.” (Prov. 13: 15). When we continue to disobey and rebel, we are like the ox – driving the prick in deeper and deeper, hurting ourselves in rebelling against authority.

“[B]ut when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, . . . behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.” (D&C 121:37-38).