With voting at the forefront of the news and the individual's minds, I decided to address a concern I have been dancing around in some of my posts. It seems that many people are susceptible to the influence of people in positions of authority not thinking for themselves. The media has been accused of being too liberal flooding the airwaves with their particular leanings. The Tea Party has been accused of fear mongering; scaring their members into action. If true, each of these groups are exhibiting cult like tendencies.
On American Family Radio, I have heard hosts tell people not to even listen to the President when he speaks, not to allow their children to listen to him, and recently not to listen to any reports on the Rally To Restore Sanity. When someone begins to suggest what you listen to, there may be a problem. When any group gets all of it's information and entertainment from one source, there is a chance of brainwashing. Most people are unaware when they are being brainwashed or manipulated so I decided to define it for you. Many religious organizations morph into cults. But, they are not the only group that can do so. In my book "The Politics Of Prayer" I offer two religious/political groups that went astray: The Peoples Temple and The Jones town Massacre. They began in a climate of frustration and upheaval much like the climate of today. Before going to the polls and as you remain active in politics, keep an eye out for organizations with cult like leanings or followings.
A cult, by modern standards, is any group that incorporates mind control to deceive, influence and govern its followers. Although most people think of cults as being religious, they can also be found in political, athletic, philosophical, racial or psycho-therapeutic arenas.
The mind control, or brainwashing, exerted by cults often take the form of at least several of the following elements:
A totalitarian control over the lifestyle and time of its members - Many cults tend to dictate exactly what its followers should read, eat, how and with whom they should spend their time, and even what they should do in off hours. This totalitarian control is necessary for the leaders to indoctrinate the followers in everything they do, and is also an attempt to separate them from anything not associated with the cult. This is why cults often live together in groups.
****Pushing the news outlet you get all of your news from*****
A charismatic, self-appointed leader with complete authority - Cult members are taught not to question the teachings, practices, or ideas of the leader. Many cult leaders truly are charismatic people, and are able to influence people to believe them. It is common that a cult member is not told everything up front when joining the group, but that they are taught increasingly controlling ideas and teachings as they go. In the case of some of the more well-publicized cults that have come and gone, it is also common that the leader's ideas and demands evolve over time, becoming increasingly controlling and restrictive. One very clear identifying element dealing with the leader of a cult is that the leader will always focus the attention and veneration of the members upon himself or herself. At the heart of a cult usually lies a very self-centered and self-seeking person.
****One person to whom you turn to for the final word, word for the day, issue to get behind, influence over thousands to repeat what they say word by word"
A focus on withholding truth from non-members - Many cults teach their followers to be completely open and truthful within the group, while at the same time they are encouraged to be secretive and evasive when questioned by people outside of the group. This is another form of mind control-instilling guilt in the members if they hold anything back within the group. The members are taught that outsiders wouldn't understand or that they would only make fun of the ideas and practices and requirements for living within the group. Only specially-commissioned members are appointed to recruit members from outside. New members are usually encouraged to keep silent or even lie, especially to their families and close friends.
**I am the ONLY one who cares enough to give you the truth. If you even listen to others you are are a trader to the group****
The three elements listed above are very successful ways to create a group mentality, an us-against-them way of looking at things. This is essential for any cult that wants to keep its members. The more afraid of the outside world the members become, the more strongly and faithfully they will keep within the safe fold of the cult.
For those having difficulty understanding what is a cult and what is not, it is best to keep in mind the idea that cults generally B.I.T.E — that is, they use:
* Behavioral,
* Informational,
* Thought, and
* Emotional control
to obtain and maintain their flock. These four components are guidelines. Although most cults practice these four aspects of mind control, not all will practice them to the extreme.
* On Behavior Control
* On Information Control
* On Thought Control
* On Emotional Control
What is the Overall Effect?
What matters most is the overall impact these thought-stop processes have on a recruit's feelings, will, and ability to make personal choices. A person's uniqueness, talents, skills, creativity, and free will should be encouraged and not suppressed in any healthy group. Cult mind control programs seek to mold recruits into the image of the cult leader(s), although the recruits may not be aware of this. This process is called "cloning" from a psychological perspective.
Recruits' "new identities" within a cult are the result of a systematic process that works to dissociate them from their previous identities, including beliefs, values, and significant relationships. The end result is the creation of a dual identity: a dominant "cult identity" that is constantly at war with the subconscious old identity.
****You are for us all or nothing" Completely liberal or completely conservative.****
Taken from Steve Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control (Park Street Press, 1988). Visit his web site: http://www.freedomofmind.com"
The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. [Slogans] The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed.
***Obamacare, socilism, take our country back, tea baggers, fix news, etc.***
The cult invents a new vocabulary, giving well-known words special new meanings, making them into trite clichés. The clichés become "ultimate terms", either "god terms", representative of ultimate good, or "devil terms", representative of ultimate evil. Totalist language, then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: the language of non-thought. (Page 429.)
n a television interview, Dr. Robert J. Lifton also said that cults exhibit these characteristics:
* The guru is worshiped, rather than the principles or doctrines (on which the sect is supposed to be based).
* The group exhibits thought-reform-like characteristics.
* The members experience heavy exploitation from above.
Loading the Language
Controlling words helps to control people's thoughts.
The group uses black-or-white thinking and thought-terminating clichés.
The special words constrict rather than expand human understanding.
Non-members cannot simply comprehend what cult members are talking about.
Be careful not to limit yourself in obtaining information or data. If the disciples boxed themselves in to only what Jesus said while on earth, Paul would not have been a part of the Christian relationship because he ministered to the Greeks. Most things that are good for humanity is expansive and not for a select group, as is the case in Christianity - it is for all - come as your are.
There are guidelines to becoming a Christian, but even the Bible says to test the people, to compare what Satan is offering, to study the bible to convince your free will of your choice. The members of the religion of Christianity are told how they are to treat others in love in different stages of maturity. Christianity is welcoming not threatening, demanding, or isolating.
Take time for self reflection.
True Power
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