Rev. Bob Pardon and Judy Pardon who operate Meadowhaven, a recovery center for those who have exited high demand groups, will be giving a workshop discussing the phenomenon of spiritual abuse. If you live near Silver Spring, MD and can attend on Wednesday, July 2nd at 2PM, please feel welcome to attend. The workshop will be held before the Annual International Cultic Studies International Conference at the Sheraton Silver Spring on Georgia Avenue.
These experiences, occurring often as they do within the highly charged, tightly controlled atmosphere of the cult, are not subjected to the kind critical scrutiny that they ordinarily would be. Instead they are metabolized and socialized within the language and doctrine of the cult. They are the occasion for increased approval from the group. Phenomenologically speaking, they initiate the "divine history" of the individual, and they reinforce the history and mythology of the group. What is perceived as a flash of illumination and liberation becomes, in fact, the first step in a march toward moral slavery and psychological bondage.
The successfully socialized cult member has entered a world in which submission to authority, blind obedience and conformity have supplanted such "outmoded" notions of character formation as the development of self-reliance, the capacity for critical thinking and the need for openness and compassion in human relationships. Successful indoctrination into a destructive cult results in the repudiation of the individual conscience, rejection of one's critical faculties and the colonization of the imagination understood as a supernatural experience.
With the explosion of different sects that claim to honor and follow Jesus, how does one differentiate between true Biblical Christianity and an aberrant religious movement? Just what are "the marks of a cult?"
There are many definitions of what is meant by the term "cult." One must define which terms are being used. Within Christianity, the term is generally not considered to be a pejorative but describes a specific set of conditions.
Watch this film produced by one of the many organizations operated by Reverend Moon.
I would like you to ask yourselves how different this message is from the family-centered message of the so-called Biblical patriarchy movement. Moon does not preach Christ crucified, but how much of the same subject material do many gender obsessed Christians preach? The basic message seems the same to me: restoration of the family will save our nation and our churches and ourselves. But this is not the preaching of Christ and Him crucified.
From the Unification Church's description of this video:
The Family is the 1st institution created by God. The Family is the school of love where life's most important lessons are learned. Based on this understanding, the American Clergy Leadership Conference, an organization inspired by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, led a movement to rebuild the family in order to save the nation and the world.
How different is this message from what we hear from many evangelical Christian ministries that focus on the family?
Knowledge of solid Biblical doctrine will not protect or shield a person from spiritual deception. Many Evangelical Christians, including those who participate in Christian apologetics (defending the truth of the Christian faith with the Bible as the standard) believe that they are insulated from deception and spiritual abuse. Note what Dr. Harold Bussell has to say about how vulnerable just such a belief can render a person highly vulnerable.
Believing that one is impervious to spiritual deception actually puts a person at high risk for deception.
Michael Langone, Ph.D. on manipulative methods used by spiritual abusers From "Cults and Mind Control" on the ICSA Website:
What is Mind Control? Mind control (also known as "brainwashing," "coercive persuasion," and "thought reform") refers to a process in which a group or individual systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s). Such methods include the following:
extensive control of information in order to limit alternatives from which members may make "choices"
deception
group pressure
intense indoctrination into a belief system that denigrates independent critical thinking and considers the world outside the group to be threatening, evil, or gravely in error an insistence that members’ distress-much of which may consist of anxiety and guilt subtly induced by the group-can be relieved only by conforming to the group
physical and/or psychological debilitation through inadequate diet or fatigue the induction of dissociative (trance-like) states via the misuse of meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, and other exercises in which attention is narrowed, suggestibility heightened, and independent critical thinking weakened
alternation of harshness/threats and leniency/love in order to effect compliance with the leadership’s wishes isolation from social supports pressured public confessions
Deception in the recruitment process and throughout membership
Debilitation, because of the hours, the degree if commitment, the psychological pressures, and the inner constriction and strife.
Dependency, as a result of being cut off from the outside world in many ways
Dread, because of beliefs instilled by the cult that a person who leaves will find no real life on the outside
Desensitization, so that things that once have troubled them no longer do (for example, learning that money collected from fund-raising is supporting the leader's lavish lifestyle rather than the cause for which it was given, or seeing children badly abused or even killed.
After exiting a cult, an individual may experience a period of intense and often conflicting emotions. She or he may feel relief to be out of the group, but also may feel grief over the loss of positive elements in the cult, such as friendships, a sense of belonging or the feeling of personal worth generated by the group's stated ideals or mission. The emotional upheaval of the period is often characterized by "post- cult trauma syndrome":
A group of people polarized arounds somebodies’s interpretation of the Bible.
They always claim to be harmonious with the Christian faith.
And they always deny the central doctrine of the Christian faith: That Jesus Christ is nothing less than God himself in human flesh...
78% of people that are in the cults today came out of the Church.
Jesus said in Matthew 24 that the end times would be hallmarked by the rise of many false teachers. He also mentions earthquakes and wars, etc., but he emphasizes false teachers and prophets who look will look, sound and act just like the genuine article.
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I would like to hearall of the patriarchy in churches and all of those who ascribe to hierarchalism explain all of their beliefs about the Trinity specifically. But considering that the concept of eternal hierarchalism in the Godhead has been published in one of the most popular, contemporary Systematic Theology texts used today, I guess that we can expect as much.
And people wonder why I am so personally concerned about why notable professors in the SBC preach that Jesus -- God -- has less authority than God????? Well, let me rephrase that. Supposedly that means something different than saying that the Father has ultimate or supreme authority over the Son (a quality that the Son does not have, to the point of not being able to hear and answer prayer without a special dispensation from the Father). Gotta support that gender hierarchy!
I found a newly available series of videos taken from the old Geraldo Rivera show from the '80s. All the segments are very valuable, but I wanted to draw attention to some specific information first. The first video posted here opens up with a great description of what happens when you experience a high degree of cognitive dissonance.
There are many other elements of spiritual abuse (thought reform and mind control) that the guests on the show the discuss.
In the first clip, some of the guests that emerged from fundamentalist Christian groups talk about their experiences in abusive fundamentalist Evangelical groups. It's very interesting to see the Teen Challenge alumni become offended. Since this original broadcast, Teen Challenge has changed leadership and experienced quite a few cultic problems which can be researched on line at sites like FactNet.
Rick Ross made it clear that not all Evangelical groups practice thought reform or mind control, and even Geraldo was kind enough to point this out.
The Teen Challenge alumni become quite offended and question the salvation of the young woman who was raped in a cultic Christian church. They accused her of not reading her Bible or of studying the Word of God. This is a common misunderstanding about cults -- knowledge of the Bible provides NO insulation against cultic manipulation. The Teen Challenge folks also challenge the young woman by pointing out her sin of turning to drugs, even though she was born again. (It is the shame mongering that takes place in so many pious churches that I believe turns Christian kids into the world. It was certainly true of my peers and myself in my youth. Discovering that the pastor of the church that ran the Christian School I attended did not help.) Is this not similar to the experiences of so many in the Patriarchy movement? "It must be your fault." When I eventually post all the videos of the entire program, you will note that she was blamed for her own rape by church staff because they said that her heart was unpure. She brought the rape on herself because she admitted to the desire to have a boyfriend. Wanting a boyfriend at age 16 makes a person at fault if they get raped?
In the second segment shown here, Rick Ross (of the Rick Ross Institute listed in the resources on the sidebar of this page) and a counselor from "Fundamentalists Anonymous" compare and contrast "Exit Counseling" versus the antiquated practice of "Deprogramming", even though the Geraldo show identifies exit counseling as deprogramming on their graphics and the guests refer to it in this terminology.
The gentleman from Fundamentalists Anonymous describes contemporary exit counseling, though Rick Ross essentially agrees with him.
In the next post on this topic, I will include the segment that contains the testimony of the young woman featured here who was raped by a staff member at her church. (She was at fault primarily "because she was the woman.") I will then post all the segments together in one post for future and easy reference.
Four minutes into this video, a young woman describes her experience in an Evangelical church where she, at age 16, was raped by a member of the church staff. She refused to go to law enforcement at her mothers encouragement and went to her pastor instead. Hoping to find someone who would be a caring shepherd, an advocate and a protector, her pastor told her to "keep her mouth shut."
She describes how she was found to be at fault for her own rape because she desired to have a boyfriend. (It sounds so reminiscent of the things that I heard Bill Gothard say and the types of immature arguements offered by those who followed Gothard's teachings.)
As I mentioned in a recent post, in my former cultic church, whenever there was an issue in a marriage, leadership percieved issues of sin in the lives of husbands to be a response to the wife's refusal of his authority or her lack of care for his needs. If there was a marital problem and a wife approached the elders to confront her husband, it was incumbent upon that woman to prove that she had not created a situation that caused her husband to sin.
I also recall Jen Epstein's account of her experience at Boerne Christian Assembly where it was always assumed that a wife was "the squeaky wheel" in the relationship. I know this to be sadly true based on my observations in my own, Gothard and Shepherding/Discipleship influenced church.
Of the 210 verses that refer to false prophets, priests, elders and Pharisees, here is a summary of their content:
99 verses (47%) concern Behavior
66 verses (31%) concern Fruit
24 verses (12%) concern Motives
21 verses (10%) concern Doctrine
It is interesting that most Christians who deal with apologetics, false teachers and Bible-based cults are most concerned with doctrine only. When discussing the patriarchy movement on SharperIron.com and ibelieve.com earlier last year, I was told by many that it was not appropriate to discuss much of anything save these folks' misuse of Scripture. But doctrine represents only a small portion of what Bible speaks about concerning false teachers. According to the Scriptures, we should be very concerned with both the behaviors and the fruit of spiritual leadership in the church and in parachurch organizations. This is not gossip or mean-spirited criticism but what Scripture actually teaches us to observe.
Dr. Paul Martin (an evangelical Christian) is CEO and Founder of the
(A residential treatment center in Albany, OH for those who have been abused in relationships, cults, or by professionals or clergy. They offer hope and help through a program of counseling, education and retreat.)
To heal from a traumatic experience of this type, it is important to understand who and what the perpetrator is. As long as there are illusions about the leader's motivation, powers and abilities, those who have been in his grip deprive themselves of an important opportunity for growth: the chance to empower themselves, to become free of the tyranny of dependency on others for their well-being, spiritual growth, and happiness.
Since the cause of [group] mania lies within the processes associated with parental dependency and the seductive pitfalls of emotional language, the potential for another epidemic is always very real. No doubt the precise details may change, but their themes and personal promises will remain.
Conditions of anxiety and global apprehension—no matter how large the persons world – breed an odd composite of fantasy and fear.
[Groups] that promise perfect prediction, cosmic order and the complete relief of uncertainty are always there with an answer. Sometimes they are called TMers, Jones’ cultists or radical Christians. Sill other times, they may start innocently but then transform from a mute conglomerate of pantheism and world brotherhood {such as the Bahai} into frantic [group] conversion.
The present forms of [group-think] will soon habituate.
[Blog host note: This was written/published circa 1980….]
Those that are based upon novelty-jags and the stimulation associated with simple change must become more and more bizarre. Like TM, they must promise their followers more potent sources of irrational power. At some point, the credibility will be extended and the movement, except for the hard-core members, will collapse….
Movements such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and many similar cults that venerate the distant past will become reinforcing. The simplicity of the past and the dependence upon a benevolent force will be the essential themes of control. Like the atheist who prays during an airplane crisis, no one will dare take the chance….
As before, these odd events will be sources of anxiety and potential terror. People will report them as if they are singular prodromes to the ends to the occurrence of some great alteration in man’s future. These events will be seen as signs of an uncertain future, because of man’s ignorance of the same occurrences from times past.
from Pgs 172 - 176
"TM and Cult Mania"
by Persinger, Carrey and Seuss
(what a great couple of names for co-authors!)
1980
Note: The following terms were substituted in the passage:
Consider Confounding Factors Most successful [groups] caplitalize upon basic human behaviors. The most infrequently displayed response (due to inexperience or active suppression) of a particular generation is selected as a major sell point. For example the TM sell job tapped heavily into this [the baby-boomer] generation’s basic ignorance of the consequences of silence and relaxation.
When [group] claims are made, look for the confounding factor. In other words, attempt to determine what actual stimulus is involved that is masked or misinterpreted by the [group] leaders. Usually the confounding factor is so simple that it is easily overlooked. Never underestimate the effects of expectancy upon the interpretations of otherwise mundane private experiences.
Michael Persinger, professor of neurophysiology at Laurentian University has long studied neurophysiology and religious experience, winning the 2007 Best Speaker Award on Ontario Television’s “Big Ideas” competition. One of his earlier books concerning religious experience offers these “first order protections” for resisting religious deception – or any deception – as all types of religious or non-religious deceptions involve logical fallacy and temporary suspension of critical thought processes.
Persinger has this to say of deception and manipulative ideological groups:
Although they are obvious from hindsight, their contemporary existence is hidden cleverly within the vehicle of the day. By necessity, otherwise, they would be unattractive to present problems or rejected reflexively, each new [group] must contain a new vehicle immersed in a deceiving mass of details and sell routines. Following are some protective procedures that may be helpful. However, they are not infallible.
Abusive relationships require and "thrive" off of an imbalance of power within a relationship or within a group. The subordinates serve the needs of the person who holds authority over them. Though not all authoritarian systems and relationships are abusive and harmful, it is important to learn to recognize authoritarian systems and those who have authoritarian personality and management styles. Spiritual abusers always prefer authoritarianism and have an authoritarian traits.
Lalich and Tobias offer this list of authoritarian traits in Captive Hearts, Captive Minds:
tendency to hierarchy
the drive for power (and wealth)
hostility, hatred, prejudice
superficial judgments of people and events
a one-sided scale of values favoring the one in power
interpreting kindness as weakness
the tendency to use people and see others as inferior
a sadistic-masochistic tendency
incapability of being ultimately satisfied
paranoia
List adapted from Ivan Volgyes in The Cult of Power: Dictators in the Twentieth Century;
Editor Joseph Held; East European Monographs, 1983. pgs 23-39
PART III: First Order Protections
Abusive relationships require and "thrive" off of an imbalance of power within a relationship or within a group. The subordinates serve the needs of the person who holds authority over them. Though not all authoritarian systems and relationships are abusive and harmful, it is important to learn to recognize authoritarian systems and those who have authoritarian personality and management styles. Spiritual abusers always prefer authoritarianism and have an authoritarian traits.
Lalich and Tobias offer this list of authoritarian traits in Captive Hearts, Captive Minds:
