PART II Addendum: Spiritualizing All Activities, First Time Obedience, Multigenerational Faithfulness and Unquestioned Obedience

I am a little amused this week, as I did not even intend to post anything about First Time Obedience in reference to multigenerational faithfulness, the code word for conformity within patriocentricity. Then, a few people asked me questions about Voddie Baucham’s online audio teachings about this issue of expectations from small children, all along the lines of “the breaking” of children through discipline. When I went to listen to a new audio of Baucham that I hadn’t yet heard, I noted that the message in this discipline oriented presentation differed little in content from his multigenerational faithfulness messages, and all of these issues were also addressed in his book. And I intended to pull out and comment on sections that I had already marked in his book when I read it about two months ago or so. I figured one blog post would take care of this aspect of multigenerational faithfulness...

How can men make 200 year plans, when I cannot manage to plan a blog post and make it work out as I intend? ;-)

And though I have worked through so much of these emotions and made peace with these aspects of my past, I am still amazed at how deeply this material still pierces into my own personal experiences. In yesterday’s blog post, I noted many families that I observed and those I know well who treated personality traits in their children as faults of sin. One particular young lady who I once carted around on my hip in whose personality I delight represents only one of many of these homeschooled kids. My friend, a mother of 7, says that I get to claim 2 of her children as my own if anyone asks, and I proudly claim this one daughter who I dearly love, lip ring and all. And there is good reason for this – that being that I am also one of those whose bore certain character traits that were treated as sin and error. My dear friend's daughter is much like me (sans lip ring).

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Spiritual Politics, Occidentalism and (Some) Modern Evangelicals

A few years ago, I read “Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies” by Buruma and Margalit. Written in the wake of 9/11/01 and the start of the U.S. War with Iraq, and just as I completed a paper on totalitarian idealism in the church, I found the parallels staggering. I’d misplaced the book and just recently turned it up again. (I was amazed, because I did not remember the number of notes and red pen marks I’d made in the book on my first time through it four years ago.)

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Langone on Techniques of Mind Control

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

Read more HERE.

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What Goes on In the Soul of Those Who Abuse For the Cause of the Greater Good?

What Goes On in the Soul

of the Spiritual Abuser?

This question, more than any, other troubled me very much as I healed and continue to heal from my realization of spiritual abuse.

Delving deep to find these answers perhaps impeded my own healing in some ways, though after many years of pursing true forgiveness, I believe I also needed to search out the answers for my own well-being and acceptance. When one has been deeply wounded, I believe it is natural to ask questions about why someone was motivated or why they neglected to notice how profoundly they wounded us. I found it troubling to realize that there were essentially no simple answers to these questions.

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The Awe Inspiring Height of the Greater Good: Who Becomes a Spiritual Abuser?

To point out the powerful influence of the ideology of the greater good, I ask the reader here who is likely familiar with it to consider the "ethos of family" that has sought to overtake the homeschooling community in recent years. Think about that mix of American nationalism, Christian principle and love of wholesome living and the joy of family that comprises patriocentricity as somewhat analogous to this following statement.

Pay attention to what you feel as you read this passage from Robert Lifton and ask yourself if it sounds like a foreign concept.

I’ve taken out key terms and replaced them with ones that typify homeschooling and the ethos of family.

"Consider the more or less typical homeschooler, interested in patriarchy, who sought from the movement a form of national renewal; who laughed at the more extreme claims of the hard-line complementarians in the gender debate but was drawn to "Biblical manhood" with its emphasis on Christian unity; who considered the Christian faith generally superior, and feared ecumenism; who considered himself a rational rather than a fanatical homeschooler and was critical of the growing number and prominence of women in leadership in Christian churches; who had not marched in the streets with the more zealous homeschoolers but came to offer them obedience and service in exchange for social significance and a sense of Christian unity; who volunteered no great personal sacrifice on behalf of the cause of "Biblical family" but respected those who did; and who sought maximum professional and personal success within this newly dominant national movement. Such a homeschooler, despite a seemingly restrained relationship to ideology, could experience the mystical power of the Christian family ethos. He could also respond in some degree to the call of militant fecundity."

Now, read the original passage that describes the process of the acceptance of a foreign ideology and ethos from page 434 of Lifton’s book:

"Consider the more or less typical Nazi doctor who sought from the movement a form of national renewal; who laughed at the more extreme claims of the Nazi racial party but was drawn to "scientific racism" with its emphasis on German unity; who considered the Nordic race generally superior, and feared racial mixture; who considered himself a rational rather than a fanatical anti-Semite and was critical of the number and prominence of Jewish doctors in German cities; who had not marched in the streets with the Nazis but came to offer them obedience and service in exchange for rank and military uniform; who volunteered no great personal sacrifice on behalf of the Nazi cause but respected those who did; and who sought maximum professional and personal success within this newly dominant national movement. Such a doctor, despite a seemingly restrained relationship to ideology, could experience the mystical power of the German-Nazi ethos. He could also respond in some degree to the call of Auschwitz."

Lifton points out that doctors were especially vulnerable to these influences within the Nazi system because of their professions prepared them to be prideful. Doctors also become somewhat adept at learning to separate their personal emotions from intimidating or disturbing aspects of their work and from intimacy with their patients. They likely had pre-existing idealistic reasons for pursing medicine that could be tapped and manipulated as well. So they provide an interesting subject for study of the psychology of ideology and how it can twist us.

Here, we have men reaching for that which is greater and higher and more than what they are in and of themselves. Each passage sounds a similar call to nationalism and unity. The dynamics of the ideology of man – any ideology whether Biblically-based or fascist – all eventually degrade into some form of ideological totalism, something that Christianity clearly does not advocate.

The end never justifies the means. It is through a drift into legalism and the traditions of men that such good outward signs of a life dedicated to the Lord become corrupt. And because of human nature, all systems become corrupt in similar fashion. The deadly logic of the sacred science eventually overtakes all that is good and the end justifies whatever means necessary to accomplish the idealistic goals when pursued apart from mature, balanced service to God. When the greater good becomes greater in our hearts than anything else and out of balance, we can be so easily pulled off course.

Second quote taken from Robert Lifton's

"The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide"

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First Documented Occurance of Thought Reform, "Loaded Language" and Spiritual Abuse

From a reader:

“I am going to have to process this deeply. I have really gotten convicted about the loaded language and how much I have allowed it to define the debate.”

“Cindy, I would love to see you expand upon the use of words to redefine people’s beliefs. This is becoming more and more clear to me. I can see how just using the word ‘feminists’ redefines the conversation. All of a sudden one feels compelled to prove they are not a feminists and before they know it, they have aligned themselves with their views.”

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What is "Damage Control" within a Spiritually Abusive System?

Damage Control is a term that was originally coined and used by maritime industries, probably originating in the Merchant Marines or navy, describing emergency measures to prevent the sinking of a ship. The language and theory of management borrowed the term to describe measures that can be taken to contain problems that might threaten a particular project.

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Beware the Love Bomb!

In “thatmom’s” latest Podcast, Part III of our discussion of Spiritual Abuse, Karen and I mentioned the term “love bombing,” and discussion of this one element of Thought Reform could encompass an entire Podcast itself. So I’d like to explain additional details and information about “love bombing” as a concept that can help you be much more objective when you encounter this technique.

…and you will.

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An Example of Lifton's "Doctrine Over Person" at Work

The Doctrine Over Person technique of thought reform requires that members of the group subjugate their own experiences to fit the desired group model, and they often will redefine their own histories in order to comply. Usually this takes place through social mentoring, pressure and the direct/indirect requests by leadership, but it can take place in other ways as well.

Watch Derren Brown use a technique of NeuroLinguistic Programing to convince a subject to redefine his own perceptions, wants and desires through use of a technique called "anchoring." This is perhaps one of the most powerful techniques used in hypnotherapy and is often referred to as a type of "waking hypnosis." Watch how Brown grabs the subject's right wrist to establish his authority and then "anchors" his subtle suggestions by touching the subject's left arm repeatedly as he speaks to him.

This technique may not be used by the patriocentrics to "anchor" their moral imperatives and their doctrines, but this demonstrates how easy it is for a skilled person to surreptitiously influence their thinking. In this example, one can see "Doctrine Over Person" at work. The manipulator influences the subject to accept his "doctrine" by one of many available techniques that manipulators and salesmen have done since the beginning of time.

Resisting manipulation starts with knowledge about the techniques of manipulation.

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Mind Wars and Ethics

Moreno, JD. From the dust jacket of Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense (a book investigating military applications of brain neural interface): Moreno takes us on an exciting journey exploring the fascinating, formidable and frightening questions for social ethics and public policy.

Page 176: 

[I]n dealing with emerging neuroethical dilemmas in the national security context we can learn from previous ethical quandaries, especially in terms of the conditions under which we have those discussions. I also agree that in many cases, the ethically acceptable course of action will be a matter of weighing and balancing rather than appeal to an overarching moral doctrine, although basic guidance from some principles is going to be needed. 

For instance, a number of the scientists, lawyers, ethicists, and advocates with whom I spoke in writing this book agreed that there had to be vigorous protection of at least one nonnegotiable premise when considering the appropriate security applications of neuroscience. In the law, this principle might be expressed in terms of the protection afforded in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution regarding self-incrimination: “to be a witness against himself.” Philosophically, this can be expressed as the proposition that no one else should be able to decide what goes into my brain or who “reads” it.

Those who exact milieu control within Christian groups by vilification of their critics and concealment of fact seem to believe that it is perfectly acceptable to decide what goes into the brains of their followers.

The secular world demands a high ethical standard in these matters.

How can such an ethical standard of accountability be expected from the secular world

if Christ’s Church cannot model it for secular society

within the context and realm of our own Christian subgroup?

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Thought Reform (The Last of Lifton 101)

Thought reform is accomplished through the use of psychological and environmental control processes that do not depend on physical coercion.  

Today's thought reform programs are sophisticated, subtle, and insidious, creating a psychological bond that in many ways is far more powerful than gun-at-the-head methods of influence.

The effects generally lose their potency 

when the control processes 

are lifted or neutralized in some way.

That is why most Korean War POWs gave up the content of their prison camp indoctrination programs when they came home, and why many cultists leave their groups 

• if they spend a substantial amount of time away from the group 
• or if they have an opportunity to discuss their doubts with an intimate.

Thought Reform Exists: Organized, Programmatic Influence

Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D

The Cult Observer

Vol. 11 No. 6 1994.

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The Dispensing of Existence (Lifton 101)

Simply described, the dispensing of existence is the group’s prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. 

This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. Within many "Bible-based cults" (or Biblically Christian churches that practice surreptitious manipulation), a higher way of living or greater enlightenment may be obtained by striving and modeling the group’s ideals. 

If persons do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Sometimes they are denounced as apostates, but they are certainly viewed as lesser Christians. All those outside the group (both within the world and those within Christianity) lose all credibility as the "special-ness" of the group promotes greater desire for milieu control and a sense of martyrdom. 

Leadership and group dogma manipulate members through fear of the outside world, because rejection of the dogma will result in loss of all social contacts in the group, loss of reputation and personal salvation. This mystical superstition also instills members with fear of complete abandonment by God so that they may anticipate befalling all manner of harm as a result of questioning or leaving the group. They are taught that their existence is dependent on the group’s favorable opinion of them and upon meeting the group’s standards of performance. 

Those within the group who demonstrate non-conformity may also lose privileges or the status of enlightenment which serves as a very potent method of negative reinforcement. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must also be rejected by those who remain in the group. Even after leaving a group, the former member tends to have a sense of loss of grace and a programmed sense of shame. Leadership thus makes it difficult to leave such groups, and departure implies a rejection of the only true means of religious transcendence. Ron Henzel’s article discusses this means of manipulation through fear in his article about walking away from his own aberrant group.

“They told me that if I left…” by Ron Henzel:

One of the most insidious features of Spiritual Abuse ... ... is the state of terror in which it leaves so many of its victims. People who flee Spiritual Abuse are in a double-bind: in the very process of fleeing from the oppression that comes from being part of the group, they are terrorized by the threats of the leadership and various members -- threats of dire consequences, punishment from God, and even eternal damnation.

Adapted from and expanded upon from the original source, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brain Washing in China by Robert Jay Lifton. 

In chapter 22 entitled "Ideological Totalism," Lifton details the major defining techniques that hallmark surreptitious manipulation, formulated from his experience working with prisoners who survived a Chinese brainwashing program while serving in the Korean War.

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Doctrine Over Person (Lifton 101)

Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.  

The end ideology of the group must be maintained by any means, even at the personal expense or the personal suffering of the group members. Love for the system or ideology supersedes that of the people, places or lesser causes. This promotes hatred and intolerance of all opposing critics or ideologies (sadly, often including those within the group).

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Loading the Language (Lifton 101)

The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.

Connotation also plays a major role in the loading of language. A most potent means of loading the language comes through accusations such as "gossip", "rebellion", "Jezebel" and the like, as these are modifiers to be avoided at all costs by membership.

Please review these previous posts regarding the nature of the use of connotation, thought-stopping cliché and neologism to manipulate individuals without their awareness of the process:

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Sacred Science (Lifton 101)

The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. 

Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or all humanity, is likewise above criticism. Many such leaders have patterns of avoiding accountability and demonstrating aggression towards critics. Leaders and their religious followers often have the appearance of accountability to a presbytery and an internal church government, but often the systems have been designed to avoid all accountability. Presbyters are often friends, associates or subordinates of the group leader(s). 

The article “Authoritarianism in the Church” by Steve Martin that appears on the Battered Sheep website explains some of these aspects of the “sacred science.” (This article also appears in the Founders Journal 15 (Winter 1994). Martin states this specifically:

First, the sin of authoritarianism exists when pastors and other office holders speak with binding authority where God Himself has not spoken in His written Word. Second, the sin of authoritarianism exists when pastors and other office holders usurp the Lordship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people by deciding the will of God for them where Scripture is silent.

The excellent article examines the development of authoritarianism and offers resources to help Christians through the process of repentance and healing. Through the sins of idolatry, prayerlessness, unbelief, lack of love for the sheep and pride, shepherds fall into the trap of authoritarian patterns of behavior. Congregations also promote the development of the sin of authoritarianism through their own tendency towards idol-worship, unbelief and the fear of man (both of fellow congregants and the church leadership.

Adapted from and expanded upon from the original source, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brain Washing in China by Robert Jay Lifton. 

In chapter 22 entitled "Ideological Totalism," Lifton details the major defining techniques that hallmark surreptitious manipulation, formulated from his experience working with prisoners who survived a Chinese brainwashing program while serving in the Korean War.

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The Cult of Confession (Lifton 101)

Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders. Even if not obviously promoted by the group, information is collected (usually automatically without set guidelines for collection) and fed to leadership. Shameful past events may then be exploited to manipulate individual compliance or as evidence for disciplinary actions. Information about those who leave the group is also exploited after they leave to enhance the milieu control. Sometimes, "sins" are confabulated to instill members with fear to decrease their chances of contacting dissidents or members who have left the group.

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Demand for Purity (Lifton 101)

Within a manipulative group, the demand for purity describes the “black and white” or the “all or nothing” thought that pervades the ideology and leadership of the group. This follows naturally from the rigid standards of perfection that the group ideology establishes and often develops out of necessity due to milieu control. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for the extreme perfection. Dissidents or competing ideologies are labeled as entirely untrustworthy and are given the connotation of near-heresy. (In psychology, this ego defense is termed "splitting" and is a normal, temporary function of early childhood.) As a support to the milieu control, the demand for purity enhances the group norm and ideals of focus.

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Mystical Manipulation (Lifton 101)

Mystical Manipulation, in the context of a manipulative group, is simply the manipulation of planned experiences so that they appear spontaneous.

 Ministers often use this technique to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement to gain and further solidify the confidence of their followers. Apparent special gifts or talents of the minister allow the leadership of the group to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes for the ultimate benefit of the group.

The term “vision” and the practice of “vision casting” has recently become popular in many Evangelical Christian circles and represents a certain type of mystical manipulation. (Frankly, it sounds akin to "spell casting" to me, although I suspect that it is more like what the Pentecostals/Charismatics refer to as prophesying regarding the direction and misison of the congregation.)

Members are encouraged to be visionary and to follow the visions of their leaders to further the Kingdom of God and the mission of the group. A pastor of a church certainly gives spiritual direction and guidance, but many use this duty to guide their congregations towards ideals that may not be germane to the mission of the New Testament Church.

 Fishburn has this to say in “Confronting the Idolatry of Family”:

Yet, many Protestant congregations are in a state of spiritual drift, in bondage to some part of the American Dream. Although denominational leaders, seminary professors, and pastors may know that dreams of American manifest destiny influenced nineteenth-century theology, few seem to recognize the ways in which the American Dream still influences the church today. The task of giving special direction to a congregation that does not embody some of the attitudes of a family-pew theology calls for pastors with the convictions of a prophet, able to tell the people of God that their loyalties are misplaced. (pg 64)

This technique may also apply to alignment of the group or group leaders with powerful, respected and orthodox others who may be enlisted to make statements or write opinionated articles in support of the cultic group or leaders. 

When a well-respected and established leader or group lends their name and support to a spiritual abuser or manipulator, the public depends on and trusts in the recommendation of that established leader, interpreting it as a sign of legitimacy. Ministries that recommend questionable teachers and sources put honest people at risk, as those who trust them will trust their discernment.

Safe people tend to recommend and associate with safe others, and their recommendations have a very potent influence on the public as a result. Media presentations may also connote legitimacy when they are well done and impressive in our commercial culture of consumerism. Photographs that exemplify the desired persona of the group provide a powerful means of suggesting the ideal of the group. Mystical manipulation overlaps somewhat with milieu control and supports the desired milieu in this way.

Personal prophecy and current day manifestation of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit” provide us the most obvious examples of mystical manipulation. Within Charismatic/Pentecostal groups, collected information or desired behavior may come in the form of messages of prophecy. These systems tend to operate on “grapevine communication” because most manipulative groups intervene on behalf of their members. Leadership in spiritually abusive groups often assume responsibility for the sanctification and spiritual advancement of their followers, so such grapevine knowledge of the activities of their followers becomes a vital tool.

Although, divine knowledge may be at work at times, in controlling groups, leaders often use the information that they’ve collected about a member to manipulate them, giving the impression that their knowledge came from a divine source. “Thus saith the Lord” or “I had a dream about you” demonstrate this kind of mystical power, suggesting and reinforcing the special connection that the leader has with God.

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Milieu Control (Lifton 101)

Most simply stated, “Milieu Control” is the control of an environment by controlling the information and activities within the environment. 

Pertaining to manipulative and closed groups, this involves control of communication and generation of acceptable information to be disseminated among the membership. Ultimately, the group seeks to control the thought environment of individual members, and it is this internal milieu control that produces the isolation from society at large. 

The cognitive dissonance produced by the incongruent messages received from the outside creates the natural desire to withdraw or filter information that does not coincide with information within the group. It’s too draining and stressful to constantly try to reckon conflicting worldviews, so isolationism seen in closed systems of thought is often a necessary adaptation. 

Healthy people do filter information, but in closed systems, the group dictates what sources of information are restricted in an effort to maintain compliance and limit dissent. “Love bombing” is a most effective means of recruiting new membership and falls under the category of milieu control. Groups thrive and grow, primarily by their ability to create an ideal environment that members tend to associate with pleasant, safe and nurturing feelings. A utopia can be defined as an ideally perfect place, generally in a social and moral sense. The creation of the idealistic world of rest and special bliss without the cumbersome burdens of life is very seductive. 

Most people who have participated in such a group and left, despite the heartaches of their experiences, long for a return to the “feeling” that the manipulative group appeared to create for them. Often, leadership will tell members that their group is the only place where one can find this type of comfort which makes those who enjoy the environment less likely to leave the group. Free exchange of information is tightly controlled by threats of accusation of gossip or "touching not the anointed" leadership in manipulative groups. 

Another popular phrase that is often used to discourage critical evaluation of legitimate information within Christian churches is the admonishment to refrain from “sewing discord among the brethren.” This is not a blanket command however and would be an inappropriate response to false teaching and error. Perhaps the most dangerous harm to the milieu of a group occurs as a result of drawing leadership into question. This is a taboo in spiritually abusive groups in particular. 

Stories concocted for the purpose of "damage control" (prevent membership from thinking critically about events or arguments that might draw the ideology or leadership into question) also fall under this category so that members are fearful or reluctant to fairly consider information produced by dissidents. Information from outside sources is often criticized and discounted to discourage acceptance by group members. Connotation is a powerful tool in the maintenance of milieu control, often aimed at creating the perception that certain types of information are tainted or dangerous. (See “Biblical Modifiers.”) 

Maintenance of group milieu within a closed system, religious or otherwise, is perhaps the most demanding aspects of thought reform and manipulative systems, but it is a profoundly effective one.

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"Biblical" Modifiers and Discernment

Of the many oddities of post-Christian culture, many in the church seem to have also inherited a tendency towards a type of postmodern discernment (or lack thereof). Postmodernism prefers intuitive reasoning and many Christians who have been raised in the era of postmodernism prefer it as well. "Heart knowledge" is preferred to "head knowledge" in many denominations, thus many Christian leaders actually teach this kind of subjective reasoning and validation of truth. Also consider that we are now bombarded with considerably more information that we can reasonably consider, and ideology is now marketed right along with goods and services. If we possess adequate discernment skills, we may have no time or opportunity to objectively evaluate things, especially ideas.

We Christians fall prey to this all the time. It’s very easy to assume that when someone uses the same type of religious language that we are talking about the same religious concepts. This is increasingly not the case in our information-driven world. Christians even capitalize on this, using the emotional connotation of certain words and concepts to package their beliefs. Trusting the language of the heart can pull us into subjective reasoning if we are not discerning. Also, if we trust the source of the information, we also let our guard down, assuming that we don’t have to critically evaluate new messages. When we trust language, even when we have great confidence in the source, we make ourselves vulnerable.

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