Welcome back to my blog. Today I write this bit in the nice weather in my back garden. Excellent. Now some of you mat have notices that in my last blog I stated that I was not going to touch upon mind control (thought reform) and indoctrination until the next blog. Well this is the next blog. So here goes. I am going to say right here and right now that instead of using the terms mind control and brainwashing that I am going to talk about thought reform instead as this is how many of the professionals use the term.
Is the Christian church guilty of using thought reform in the same way that the cult of scientology has? I know that some of you are screaming yes but I have to be honest and say that the answer is a resounding no. Ok I am biased but now I am going t prove my point.
What is thought reform? What is indoctrination? What is brainwashing? What is the difference between thought reform and education? Is there any? Lets have a look at what thought reform and “Brainwashing” are first off. When we think about brainwashing we think of electricity being run thought someone’s body, long sleep deprived nights and a bright light shone in someone’s eyes until they give up… Not quite. The term brain washing comes from the:
“Miami herald in September 1950. The author Edward hunter coined the word as a rather down market translation of the Chinese “his-nao”, which meant “to cleanse the mind” Denise Winn, The Manipulated Mind
What was happening, in this example, was a lot of people that were coming back from Korea were suddenly agreeing with their captors. Going from one end of the spectrum to another.
Now we all know that the cult of scientology does these things. Or do they really? Does the Christian church do this?
First lets have a look at what is termed thought reform? According to Margaret Thaler Singer author of “Cults in our Midst” (a great book which has really helped a lot of my research, in case you hadn’t have guessed) that
“thought reform is a concerted effort to change a persons way of looking at the world, which will change his or her behaviour. It is distinguished from other forms of social learning by the conditions under which it is conducted and by the techniques of the environment and interpersonal manipulation that are meant to suppress certain behaviour and to elicit and train other behaviour”
This is quite detailed I am sure that you would agree, some of you are already on your keyboards ready to condemn the Christian church as I speak. Wait thought because I am not yet finished.
Steven Hassan in his amazing book Combating Cult Mind Control Makes another definition of thought reform he states that thought reform is
“A system which disrupts an individuals identity. The identity is made up of elements such as belief, behaviour, thought process and emotions which constitute a definitive pattern”
I like both of these definitions because having read a lot about this topic I can honestly say that these really do sum up what modern cults are doing. I like to think that Singer’s definition looks at the how (social learning, interpersonal manipulation) and the Hassan definition looks at the what (identity, beliefs, behaviour). Now lets have a look at how this can occur.
Remember I said above about how electricity and bright lights were not thought reform? Well its true.
“growing evidence in he behavioural science revels that a smiling big brother has greater power to influence an individuals thought and decision making than a visibly threatening person” Singer Cults in our midst
How do many people join the cult of scientology? Someone walks up to them and asks do they want a free personality test? How does someone join the church? Someone that they know who is quite nice comes up an asks them. Remember when I said in the first blog how I would walk out of any church that shouted and screamed at me? Same principal stands here. If someone walked up to you and grabbed you and took you into the cult then ran ten million volts through your body there would be some police involvement (plus a dead you as well). A cult, to use a bible term, is a wolf in sheep clothing.
The thing that I have noticed about doing this research is that ANYONE can be a cult member. Now your sitting there and quite happily thinking not me. I did as well. As Hassan points out (which nicely ties in with the point above)
“Mind control, also called thought reform is a more subtle and sophisticated. Its perpetrators are regarded as friends or peers, so the person is much less defensive”
So that man who walked up to you and asked you for a free stress test? But then again lets look at the man on the street corner and preaches about Jesus. Are both of them an agent of thought reform? IN a way yes, in a way no. they are both trying to change you opinions in one way or another. The preacher about your opinions on Jesus and the other trying to tell you about Scientology in another. This is where the similarities end thought. Remember that thought reform has more than just the simple hook to get you into the doors. There is far more to it than that.
Remember I stated earlier about how thought reform is a social process? Well getting them in thought the front door is only the start of this process. Now the question must be raised, does the Christian church practise them and does the cult of scientology do the same? Well lets have a look. We must look at how thought reform is carried about before we can make any accusations. Singer sets out six conditions which thought control must be met in order to enforce mind control. These are
Keep them unaware - “you find yourself in an environment to which you are forced to adapt in a series of steps, each sufficiently minor so that you don’t notice the changes in yourself and do not become aware of the goals of the programme (if ever) until to late in the process”
Control the environment and the time - Just because your not at the commune or the church doesn’t means that they cannot control you time. Cults give you tasks to do during the day in order to keep your head in the cults activities.
Create powerlessness, fear and dependency - stripping you of you support networks and your wealth. Creating your dependence upon the cult for all things.
Suppress old behaviour and attitude
Instil new behaviour and attitude
Create a closed system of logic. - create a system where you cannot complain or you cannot dissuade the leadership of their teachings.
Looking at these can the Christian church be accused of thought reform? Look at all of these? Can you honestly say that the church does all of these? Some of them may but in the mainstay no they cannot. Lets have a look at these in more detail.
1) Keep them unaware - When I go to a bible study I go to a bible study. When I go to a church service I am going to a church service. When I am going to a fund raiser then I am going to a fund raiser. If I do not like what the church is doing then I am free to find another one. The church will ask you to adapt and reform some of your attitudes but than again all organisations will ask you to do so in a series of steps. For example when I joined anonymous I was forced to keep my identity secret and do certain practices that I would not normally do. The point that I am trying to make is that when you go to a lot of Christian events there is very little hidden agenda. I have always been aware of the aims and objectives of any events that I am going to.
2) Control the environment and time - Well I am controlled to certain events. Sundays for example is church day. The rest of my week is mine to do with what I want (not including my job and family commitments). I choose to regularly attend a Bible study. I can, if I choose, not to go. And some times (and it is only rarely) I choose to miss church! Dear me! The thing of it is that I do not have my time controlled.
3)Create powerlessness and fear & dependency - When was the last time I had to sell my car in order to give the money to the church? When was the last time that I had to give all of my money to the church? When was the last time that I had to work for the church because it told me that I had to? Let me think about this one… Never? When is it going to happen? Never. Now you could make the argument that the environment that is encouraged by the church is the feeling of powerlessness and dependency upon God. The accusation can hold up some light as the teachings of the church do state that you should put al of your fears and hope and fully rely upon God. The problem come with free will. God again give us the free will in order to do what we want with our lives and what we want to do. I rely upon God for most things. Do I feel fear towards God for not doing his will? No. God again gives me free will to do what he DOESN’T want as well. This coupled with the fact that sometimes I feel that God has given me the power to cope on my own sometime as well.
4&5) Suppress old attitudes and behaviours & instil new attitudes and behaviours - This one the church is TOTALLY ONE HUNDERED AND TEN PERCENT GUILTY!!! There is no way of looking at it these two without a verdict of guilty. By our very nature we have to be guilty of this one. We believe in the resurrection of Jesus and that thought his sacrifice upon the cross that we are born again into power and love. The bible tells us about the death of our old selves and the birth of the new. To the extent that cults do it though? I don’t think so. Making people confess to things they didn’t do? Making you go along exactly with the group over various topics? No. Every church will encourage you to do certain good things and leave out the bad, but then again ALL social systems will do that. From your work place to your school to your social grouping. For example when I am out with my mates, banter is extremely encouraged and not taking it well is extremely discouraged. When you look at it, its all a matter of extremes
6) Instil a system of closed logic - I don’t think that we are guilty of this one. If I have a problem with the preacher I can always walk out. If I don’t like the teaching I can go to the minister and state why I think that he is wrong. The opposite is also true. The church is a very democratic organisation in a lot of ways. Just because you think someone is an absolute silly old buffer, doesn’t mean you have to live with it. You can correct it. The accusation can be made that we have a closed system of logic when it comes to different points of view. Remember I have only talked here about complaining about the church and its teachings within the church. What about someone like Richard Dawkins OR Christopher Hitchin? Some people will have blind faith and they always will. I know some of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters who have stated how can I read the God delusion? The same can be said of ANY closely held belief thought as Elliot Aronson states in the Social Animal “often beliefs that we hold dear are never called into question; when they are not, it is relatively easy for us to lose sight of why we hold them. Thus if subjected to sever attack such beliefs may crumble”. You could therefore say that the church should teach its congregation to question its own held beliefs in order to negate this “closed system of logic”. Think of this, however, you can have a closed system of logic on any belief. This could include atheism, communism, socialism, the free market economy, a football team, ethnicity, social problems. If you are going to say that we have to question our deeply held beliefs then you would be right. You will, however, have to do the same yourself.
The main stay of this comes down to one word and I will use this word quite a lot. Transparency. The Christian church allows you to buy a bible anywhere you want and in different versions to (the street bible and the Manga bible are personal favourites). You can buy teachings from any organisation you so desire. You can even go to many different churches and hear about their ministers from other people! Can you do this in the church of scientology? Hell no.
In order to progress in scientology you have to buy the auditing and the Operating Thetan levels from the church. You have to conform to the social processes. You have to sell your house, join the sea Org and various others. Remember the church is resplendent ability to tear families apart due to disconnection policy. If you look back at all of these six points the cult of scientology is guilty upon ALL costs.
1) keep the person unaware - Stress test anyone? A bit of auditing? Join the sea Org?
2) Control the environment and time - Come on live with us. How about some auditing at night time. You need to put time on your car, let me come with you.
3) Create powerlessness and fear - If you join then you have acquire a quota of things to do. If you want to leave remember we have all your details on file. Suppressive people are everywhere remember?
4) Suppress old behavior and attitudes - those nasty thetan, why go to the doctor? Psychologists? Damn them all.
5) Instill new behavior and attitudes - Now that your in remember that suppressive are everywhere. Remember that the psychologist are responsible for 9/11.
6) create a closed system of logic - You disagree with our teaching? You squirrel (a person who subverts the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard [LRH])! Didn’t you know that LRH holds doctorates in everything!
Does the church use thought reform? Yes but lets be honest no more so than any other organization. As Hassan states
“we are all subjected to social pressures everyday, most noticeably in our work. The pressure to conform to certain standards of behaviour exists in nearly every organisation. Many kinds of influence are at work on us all of the time, some obvious, some benign and others subtle and destructive. I cannot emphasise too strongly then that when I use the term “mind control” I referring to the destructive end of the spectrum.
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