Christianity was once a cult, as was Islam. Even though the Watchtower Organization will be used as a case study in our discussion, what we hope you take away is how to understand and use what Lifton has clarified down to a science for questioning and challenging your own religious faith. The group uses "thought reform" methods If your serious questions are answered with cliches, you're probably in a cult. Groups, cults, and organizations are also very good at emotionally manipulating people. Why? He went on to study various people from many situations of either imprisonment or indoctrination of some sort. Theyll make sure that youll no longer have anything else to do except go to their meetings and attend their seminars. People are often recruited at a time of personal stress such as divorce, bereavement, unemployment or depression. Shutting down your dissent by threatening to withhold the prize By this point, the sell becomes a little harder. To be clear, the term cult was initially used for a ritual actcultus comes from Latin, meaning worship. Throughout the world the word is still used to cite a religious group. Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree of indoctrination is implicit in the parent-child relationship, and has an essential function in forming stable communities of shared values, and thus . We may think we're too savvy for such manipulation, but a recruiting group can be a finetuned operation. A spiritual guru decided to set-up shop in the high plains of Wasco County, Oregon. Continuing control relies on absolute obedience and members being afraid to leave. At the same time, rewards are offered - rest, love, comfort: the carrot and the stick. Most cult ideologies have a profound loathing for that description of the human condition. There are many self-proclaimed Christs around the world. Young adults often go off to college happy and excited, but come . "How Cults Work" Indoctrination or "brainwashing" is the process through which a . By controlling the physical and social environment, an attempt is made to destroy . Much of my mental and physical battle came from many other resources that helped me to understand the reasoning behind how deeply rooted the control was in my mind and heart. Paranoia: To maintain a false sense of comfort, cults often rely on paranoia tactics. Similarly, any thought or action which questions the higher Codifying Consent w/Joyce Short & Nina Lucas. They may punish you for contradicting their values. All religions begin as cults. 9. By morning almost a thousand members of the People's Temple had died, many of them children. If so, dont worry because weve all been there. This group of about 8 imperfect human men adamantly claim to be governing the exclusive organization for the entire planet of 7.6 billion humans, possessing the divinely-gifted authority to oversee the single organization on Earth that contains the only system of principles to guide humans in living a life that will ensure the best chance There's even one in Australia. Slowly people began to hear about the commune. Spread the Love - Share this Post! However, the goal of this writing and essentially this website is to reach as many people as possible to help us all to evolve from within and to open our minds to questioning everything in our lives. If youre a massless particle, you must always move at light speed. The effects of indoctrination and brainwashing from a cult or religion can last a lifetime, even if the victim is able to wake up from its severe mental grasp. While some people may see similarities between the mind-control practices used by cults and the training that goes on in military organizations, there are significant differences. For example, do you have to go to their meetings every week? that he participate actively in the manipulation of otherswhatever his He called himself Osho. "Nothing is at last sacred, but the integrity of your own mind." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson. They reminded him of his Catholic upbringing, one filled with violence and abuse, yet, as he says of Roach, represented a demilitarized, more feminine version of the robes of my childhood. Early repression in church left Remski hollow, vacant, setting him up for indoctrination under Roachs care. Even the most intense religious indoctrination can be overcome. A colloquial term, it is more generally applied to any technique designed to manipulate human thought or action against the desire, will, or knowledge of the individual. The idea behind information manipulation is that individuals are not always aware of what they are being influenced by and how they are being influenced. Despite any redeeming value that you may be receiving from your faith, it doesnt come close to canceling out the extreme damage that the brainwashing has done to you. This body of men that is comprised of anywhere from eight to twelve men is a unit of self-proclaimed representatives for Gods faithful and discreet slave class.This expression is based on their interpretation of the Parable of The Faithful Servant at Matthew 24:45-47, Mark 13:34-37, and Luke 12: 35-48. A cult leader may use members' altered consciousness, induced by activities like meditation, chanting or drug use, to increase vulnerability to suggestion. Theres a riot of motivations. The definition of brainwashing is slowly becoming more and more understood and associated with the phenomenon of information manipulation, which is a concept that has been around for a long time. Once you say what you feel out loud, that becomes part of your identity. Was it a reward for helping somebody out? Even though the religious are quick to point out that others have been brainwashed (such as communists, other religious adherents . You do this by keeping your members away from outsiders. Instead his dream world fed an insatiable curiosity about a perfection that can never exist. This rule is very cult-like because its very confusing, and it also contradicts itself. Then, lets get a clearer idea of what indoctrination truly is. Its natural. Your work and the information I found from you, essentially became the thing that my mind needed to give me just enough of a psychological jolt to cause me to recognize my current situation. Cf. There are religions lead by "charismatics" and cults lead by dullards. I once spoke to the mother of a young man who had joined a destructive community in England. Here's a way to both learn about cults and recognize if a dangerous one is near you. Words and experiences can be so powerful and so helpful. The two key phrases are control of communication and possessing the ultimate truth. strength and confidence in your own personal faith, ask yourself honestlydoes "Phobia indoctrination is the programming of irrational fears of ever leaving the group, or even questioning the leadership's authority. The leader may punish doubt or insubordination with physical or emotional trauma. 2 Choose a subject or activity that you are passionate about. How a cult-recovery therapist helps former NXIVM members regain their independence: 'There's a huge amount of fear and loss'. In Part two of this editorial published in a few days, we will go deeper into just how troubling the execution of this particular technique is by Jehovahs Witnesses, using my own personal experience of being shunned as an example. This is why its important to always be aware of what you are being influenced by. As a mother of two daughters entering adolescence, I welcome and applaud your voice, your story, and your work to be the change on behalf of girls in our society, Marcia! The leader typically controls every minute of a member's waking time. Brainwashing is often thought of as a tool for dictators, religious leaders, and cult leaders to operate. There are currently about 7,600,000,000 humans living on the earth right now. STEP ONE: IDENTIFY THE POTENTIAL RECRUIT You'd expect the focus to be on troubled youngsters, but many groups target people with useful skills or access to money. Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst publishing fortune, became famous in the 1970s after she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (the SLA, which some deem a "political cult") and allegedly brainwashed into joining the group. He is based in Los Angeles. humility. And they use various ways to achieve their goals. Doctor Lifton decoded the tactics that were used by the Chinese to completely reform a persons thoughts, practically changing who the person was so drastically that they became unrecognizable to who they used to be. This is where trauma enters. actions which are consistent with the totalist ideology and policy; anything else In reading Liftons words above, it is easy for most of us to immediately think of Catholicism and their long-established institution of Confession. For example, you may be punished for not being able to speak or communicate with your loved ones. I began to start freaking out a bit. NPR's Tovia Smith took a look inside the practice of deprogramming. Derek Beres is working on his new book,Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health(Carrel/Skyhorse, Spring 2017). Rigid rules and rituals may be introduced. We owe this to ourselves to question everything. There are cults within cults, like the two thousand or so accepted faiths that borrow from Christian doctrine: Mormonism, Eastern Orthodox, Catholicism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Scientology,. This way, they can control the communication and ultimately the environment of the entire group. On the evening of the 18th November 1978, Jim Jones persuaded his followers to drink a punch laced with cyanide. Was it a reward for being a good friend? I felt his body in my body, the same gangly awkwardness, the same hiked-up shoulder, the same thoracic kyphosis when he sat in meditation. Members are continually subjected to these techniques -- it's part of daily life in a cult. No one has all the answers. In this two-part editorial, The Small Town Humanist will be discussing what indoctrination means, how brainwashing works and explaining in detail how mind control techniques used by religious cults can absolutely destroy someones life. purpose is considered to be stimulated by a lower purpose, to be backward, 4 "Cults Insist On Reprogramming The Way People See The World." Cults insist they are the only ones that know the truthabout society. Instructions and/or knowledge are sometimes said to be received by a leader (s) from God. I was in 4th grade. Sometimes people might even do it to themselves. Shame anyone who questions; shun any who leave. Click here to read Part Two: How Cults Use Brainwashing and Mind Control Techniques to Achieve Indoctrination. Remski does not like the question as it focuses on the potential psychological flaws or moral failures of the initiate. People are indoctrinated without leaving their bedrooms. Love Bombing. Do you understand why you do what you do? 1. The goal may be to make them. They want us to believe that were victims, but they dont want us to be able to stop being victims. 6 replies to The Steps of Indoctrination. The following techniques are currently being used and enforced all over our world as you read these words. How do you feel when you read your favorite news source? Do you understand why you do what you do? Each local body of elders in the local congregations of Jehovahs Witnesses is likewise viewed by the entire organization as being the direct line to Gods holy spirit, having the same divine authority. Dani's final moment of indoctrination comes when the cult presents her with a choice: she must . "Most cults are extremely small and very deliberately try to to stay under the radar," Eichel told "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant. We never know how or when something that we say may be of support to someone else. But you know what? How is this connected with indoctrination? Who was the father of American photojournalism? The recruit must see smiling, friendly, happy people - a living advertisement. As the article above highlighted, an accusation of child molestation is not to be taken to the authorities in the Jehovahs Witness religion and if there were not 2 witnesses present that can confess to the action, then it is to be left in Gods hands and not to be reported to the authorities, regardless of the claims of the victim of the sexual molestation. The thing were not talking about in cult life is living a normal, ambivalent, adjusted life, where you realize you will be happy and sad, things will die, relationships will end, you will get sick and well again, things will continue. If that group has some, to borrow a term from Alan Watts, inside dope, then in your mind its not a cult at all. Heres a look at the Civil War work of Mathew Brady. Within two months of her kidnapping, Patty had changed her name, issued a statement in which she referred to her family as the "pig-Hearsts" and appeared on a security tape robbing a bank with her kidnappers. January 14, 2022, 7:15 pm. This way the reader could take in the first four points and have a few days to ponder what was presented before considering the last four points. The ensuing information is not for the faint at heart to consider. Follow. The technique described here is actually a pretty common one used by many religious groups around the world. Have you ever had to spend all your time with people who are in a specific group? The member's confidence in all previously trusted social . While the U.S. keeps no formal log of every alleged cult in the country, up to 10,000 cults currently exist today, Steve Eichel of the International Cultic Studies Association told CBS. Indoctrination, or thought reform, is a long process that never really ends. This happens in groups of ten or ten million. It was you that taught me to see very clearly the way that my reasoning was shaped by the 8 criteria you defined so many years ago. Members are told what to eat, what to wear, how to feed their children, when to sleep the member is removed from all decision-making. Remski admits to his intense drive for crisis-type experiences of love that left him feeling manic. So many people have had their lives completely destroyed from Watchtower covering up these crimes. In the Jehovahs Witness religion, there is an absolutely unrelenting control of every single piece of information that the followers have access to. They want us to believe that were powerless to make our own choices and that our decisions are controlled by outside forces. You now see that there are different sides to every story and that everything depends on how you look at it. Are you really willing to give your money to people you dont even know? 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