Lifton's 8 criteria for mind control

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[AgathaL'Orange]

In Join Us, Lifton gives his Criteria for Mind Control.  I have been hesitant to put any GC behavior under this because it seemed so extreme to do so.  But after listening to the most recent Faithwalkers, I have been amazed at how many things still fit.

Robert J. Lifton's 8 Criteria for Mind Control

1. Mileu Control
Environment control and the control of human communication. Not just communication between people but communication within people's minds to themselves.
  
2. Mystical Manipulation
Everyone is manipulating everyone, under the belief that it advances the "ultimate purpose." Experiences are engineered to appear to be spontaneous, when, in fact, they are contrived to have a deliberate effect. People misattribute their experiences to spiritual causes when, in fact, they are concocted by human beings.
  
3. Loading the Language
Controlling words help to control people's thoughts. A totalist group uses totalist language to make reality compressed into black or white-"thought-terminating clichés." Non-members cannot simply understand what believers are talking about. The words constrict rather than expand human understanding.
  
4. Doctrine Over Person
No matter what a person experiences, it is the belief of the dogma which is important. Group belief supersedes conscience and integrity.
  
5. The Sacred Science
The group's belief is that their dogma is absolutely scientific and morally true. No alternative viewpoint is allowed. No questions of the dogma are permitted.
  
6. The Cult of Confession
The environment demands that personal boundaries are destroyed and that every thought, feeling, or action that does not conform with the group's rules be confessed; little or no privacy.
  
7. The Demand for Purity
The creation of a guilt and shame milieu by holding up standards of perfection that no human being can accomplish. People are punished and learn to punish themselves for not living up to the group's ideals.
  
8. The Dispensing of Existence
The group decides who has a right to exist and does not. There is no other legitimate alternative to the group. In political regimes, this permits state executions.

[Immortal_Raven]

Sadly, I've seen all of these apply to GC, some more prominent than others.  Numbers four through seven alone are heavily seen in the dating/courtship realms.
4.  You have to ask church leadership if you can date someone, regardless of feelings.
5.  Questioning the Elders' decision or not conforming to their dating rules is not tolerated.
6.  Every couple I knew had accountability partners that they had to confess anything to.
7.  Engaged couples felt ashamed for having sexual thoughts about their fiancee. 

1, 2, and 3 figure prominently in messages and sermons.  They're ramped up significantly at Faithwalkers and other retreats.

1 is also present in everyday life with all the group events and the frowning upon events with outsiders.

Number 8 bothers me the most.  Anyone not worthy is cast aside.  Unworthy people include free-thinkers, opinionated people, strong women, and the like.  Looking at it, it's all there to various degrees.  One could argue that these techniques are present in many churchs and even non-religious organizations such as the NRA or PETA.  The difference is that not all techniques are present in those organizations and they are not seen to the degree that they are in GC churches. 

-Immortal_Raven

[puff of purple smoke]

Before I left GC, a friend had me go through the list of Lifton's criteria and initial the ones I felt I had experienced at GC. Very eye opening. Looking through the list again:

1. Mileu Control
Environment control and the control of human communication. Not just communication between people but communication within people's minds to themselves.

Any negative information on the movement is "slander." Talking to ex-members is strongly discouraged, and in some cases forbidden even when the target has not been excommunicated. Teachings on obedience in GC train you to disregard your own critical thinking skills in exchange for deference to GC and its leaders.
 

2. Mystical Manipulation
Everyone is manipulating everyone, under the belief that it advances the "ultimate purpose." Experiences are engineered to appear to be spontaneous, when, in fact, they are contrived to have a deliberate effect. People misattribute their experiences to spiritual causes when, in fact, they are concocted by human beings.

Tons of manipulation going on in GC. Leaders manipulating their flock, new members being manipulated by small groups and the "bait and switch". The whole church puts on a facade of being open minded, hip and trendy, with secret teachings saved for members who advance up the GC chain.
 

3. Loading the Language
Controlling words help to control people's thoughts. A totalist group uses totalist language to make reality compressed into black or white-"thought-terminating clichés." Non-members cannot simply understand what believers are talking about. The words constrict rather than expand human understanding.

GC painted everything as black or white. You either went to GC, or you went to somewhere dead and inactive like "your parent's church". You were either "plugged into" a small group, or you weren't committed or serious about your faith. You either obeyed your leaders and didn't ask too many questions, or else you were "unteachable" or rebellious. Etc.
 

4. Doctrine Over Person
No matter what a person experiences, it is the belief of the dogma which is important. Group belief supersedes conscience and integrity.

In GC, obeying your leaders was the most important thing, even if the leaders were wrong. Being "Berean" was not encouraged because GC already had the answers for you and had already interpreted the scriptures for you. You also saw the "doctrine over person" play out every time somebody left the church and nobody ever spoke to them again. People do not mean anything in GC, and are easily replaced. It is not a system built on love.
 

5. The Sacred Science
The group's belief is that their dogma is absolutely scientific and morally true. No alternative viewpoint is allowed. No questions of the dogma are permitted.

GC has many "sacred cows" that cannot be questioned. Beliefs on dating, courtship, marriage, spanking, obedience to leaders, slander. Even bringing up GC's history will result in excuses/denials and red flag you as a probable trouble maker.
 

6. The Cult of Confession
The environment demands that personal boundaries are destroyed and that every thought, feeling, or action that does not conform with the group's rules be confessed; little or no privacy.

In men's and women's groups, members are strongly encouraged to disclose every personal detail of their lives to other members. Without asking the confessors or informing them, the small group leaders then disclosed those secrets freely amongst themselves and to higher up leaders, all under the spiritualized guise of "we need to pray for W because he/she did X Y and Z".
 

7. The Demand for Purity
The creation of a guilt and shame milieu by holding up standards of perfection that no human being can accomplish. People are punished and learn to punish themselves for not living up to the group's ideals.

#6 used to achieve this.
 

8. The Dispensing of Existence
The group decides who has a right to exist and does not. There is no other legitimate alternative to the group. In political regimes, this permits state executions.

The excommunications, or more modernly, "people leaving silently and mysteriously, and we never talk about them again." You are either for GC or against it. Also the teaching that you cannot ever leave GC unless a pastor gives you permission, coupled with the "plant your flag and die with GC" teaching that insures no GC pastor ever will give you permission to do so. There are no "legitimate alternatives" to them once you join GC.

[AgathaL'Orange]

Robert J. Lifton's 8 Criteria for Mind Control as applied to GCx

1. Mileu Control -- I found this to be that case at retreats to the extreme.  Also with the "leaving family" and shutting off input from outside sources through sermons, books, and conversation.  There is an attempt to control information.

2. Mystical Manipulation-- This isn't exclusive to GCx by any means, but the music is very contrived to make a "spiritual" emotional experience.  Also, many, many things are blamed on or attributed to God, when they could easily have just happened.  There was a sense that if you were "Seeking God's Best" you would be blessed and things would go great.  Also, there is HUGE pressure to obey without questioning authority.  This was seen as your service to God.  No matter what, obey and it would be counted to you as righteousness.  You are not accountable for your obeying a crazy command, your leader is.
 

3. Loading the Language -- HUGE HUGE issue in Gcx.  They have their own vocabulary as we've discussed before.  Here are a few I could think of.  Swerver, God's Best, winsome (meaning win some to Christ not the playful definition of the word according to Webster's), etc.  But not only are there words unique to GCx, there thought stopping words given in apocalyptic terms that cause an emotional response.  Some still affect me to this day.  Examples of this would be:  Plant your flag and die here, Obey what your elder tells you to do, Sheep are stupid--- therefore obey your leader, and more as we've discussed here before.
  
4. Doctrine Over Person -- this one still fits even though GCx is weak on traditional Christian doctrine such as the Nicene Creed.  The doctrines of GCx are Unity, Submission, Commitment.  And these are certainly given priority over the individual every time.  Also given priority over integrity.

[AgathaL'Orange]

5. The Sacred Science-- Oh yes, the GC way is the only way.  It's special, it's unique.  It's tried and true.  (Of course that isn't true)
6. The Cult of Confession--- People have experienced this at LT, in small groups that were overly invasive, in mentor relationships.  I personally did not experience this, but then again, I confess and apologize constantly anyway!

 
7. The Demand for Purity --- Most definitely.  I am amazed at the continued expectations on the GCx members.  Unbelievable submission, impossible obedience, unnatural denial of self and relational attachments, an unhealthy reliance on someone else's observations and standards for a person's growth.

 
8. The Dispensing of Existence--- This is applied through GC by GC deciding who are the true Christians, who are the right followers, who is a Great Commission Christian, who is seeking God's best, who is leaving a legacy, and who is SERIOUS about their Christian faith.   

[AgathaL'Orange]

Puff, love your list.  Very thought out and completely accurate. 

[AgathaL'Orange]

I wanted to bump this up to the top again because I would love to hear your thoughts on how this list fits other people's experiences.

[Linda]

Good idea to bump it up, Agatha.

I've been thinking about #1 "Milieu Control" because I have recently been thinking about the number of people who never asked us why we left our church. I mean, if an entire family that you knew very well and was very active in your church left, wouldn't you ask them why? If you were a pastor at a different GC location and knew these people really well, wouldn't you ask them why? Instead, the silence was deafening. I ran into someone at the grocery store a few months ago who asked me about where I was going to church. Finally, she said, "Just why did you leave, we were told not to ask you."

Oh, really. They told people not to ask. Then I remembered, when one of the pastors left GC, we were told not to ask him why he left. There was a vague implication that it would be awkward for him to be asked. To protect him, of course.

So, information is controlled. They control what is said. But, they are good at it and can get you to not ask questions without feeling you are being controlled.

People were told not to read my husband's blog post stating why we left (which he put up because no one asked us why, but would say things implying that we left because we didn't like the youth group). They called it slander. Technically, since it was written it would be "libel" if it contained false statements, I believe. However, since everything on it was true, it was neither. Anyway, they control sensitive Christians by using the word "slander'. Don't read it, it's slander.

BTW, have you noticed that GC elders on a regular basis do slander people. When they tell others that this forum, or people who leave and talk about what is wrong with the theology of GC are "slandering" GC, they are accusing those people of telling falsehood as truth. If you say someone is a slanderer you are saying they are a liar. If the person wasn't lying, you have just called an innocent person a liar and have slandered him/her! GC elders do that all the time.

Also under milieu control, I believe, would be things like not getting us the copy of the Statement of Error and Weaknesses when we asked for it. Not only did our pastor (who goes back to the McCotter days, has been a pastor since the mid-80's and sits on the national board) not get us the statement, he said it "wasn't so much a statement of error" as it was a "statement of clarification." In my kindest moments, I choose to believe he forgot. In reality, I'm sure he was controlling what information we would see. There's no way he didn't know that was a statement of error and apology. (Not getting the statement prompted our call to Larry Pile, who sent us Marching to Zion which contained the statement so that worked out well in the end!)