The following series of six messages are transcripts from a recent series from Recorded Messages For Jehovah's Witnesses, a branch of Christian Research Institute - Toronto Centre - dedicated to ministering to those who are having doubts about the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, or who have been disfellowshipped from the Watchtower and don't know where to turn. The phone number for the recorded messages is (416)757-4692, or you can reach us at CRI at "Box 505, Station R, Toronto, Ontario M4G 4E1" Phone: (416)696-5553 --- Bob Hunter --- ====================================================================== WARNING - THE MOONIES One of the messages we are dedicated to bring to Jehovah's Witnesses is a warning about those groups who would prey upon them in order to enslave them. These groups are the ones practicing mind control in order to win and keep new members. For that reason, we will, today, turn our attention to The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, better known as the Unification Church or "Moonies". Steve Hassan has talked about his recruitment, indoctrination, and life as a member of this cult in his book, Combatting Cult Mind Control. What he tells us there provides a valuable insight into the subtle, yet effective, ways this group attracts and keeps its members. For Steve, it started when he was approached while a college student, by several warm and friendly people. They asked questions and engaged in spirited conversations. The questions and answers given were successful in creating in Steve a curiosity about the group and its teachings. The Moonies, who did not identify themselves as such, quickly seized upon the interest Steve displayed and invited him to study with them further. At that point the indoctrination began in earnest. During the study, Steve asked questions about what he was hearing. He was told not to judge, to keep an open mind until he had heard it all. During the study, the thought was planted that he was not serving God in the right way. He was bombarded with material that brought into question areas of belief he had never really thought about before. Confusion mounted and soon the leaders were supplying answers. Of course these answers assumed acceptance of all previous teachings. The schedule of study left little time for anything else. The leaders endorsed this by pointing out that there was really nothing in life more important than this. Soon the indoctrination was complete. The leaders had successfully convinced Steve that the Unification Church alone was God's chosen Organization and that it was being led by God's Messiah, Sun Myung Moon. Once acceptance of this idea had been accomplished, the rest was easy. The leaders then planted the idea that God had seen fit to bring Steve into this truth and that the worst thing Steve could ever do was to abandon what God had so generously provided. They drove home the point that there were only two classifications in this world by saying there is: 1) God's organization and 2) Satan's organization, 1) God's people and 2) Satan's people, 1) God's communication and 2) Satan's communication, 1) God's religion (the Unification Church) and 2) Satan's religion (all others). They, alone, had the truth. Next they put controls on the information that Steve had access to. They told Steve that contact with outsiders was to be limited to trying to convert them or to solicit money. There was to be no contact with anyone opposed to the group. If confronted with seemingly contradictory issues, he was conditioned to think that contradictions and confusion were simply a lack of spiritual perception or knowledge on his part. There was an explanation for all seeming contradictions. After all, God's organization couldn't be wrong! He lived for years being isolated from the world in this way. He saw nothing wrong during that time. That raises a good question: how does a victim of mind control, who's thinking has been impaired, come to realize his plight? Steve was brought out of the Unification Church with the help of some people who provided him information on the techniques of mind control as employed by the Unification Church and others like it. He learned that if you can control someone's behaviour, their thoughts, their emotions, and then the information they have available to them, you can control their entire life. He had seen the Moonies control his behaviour by dictating how he should spend his time and his thoughts by repetitive exposure to the group's doctrine, and requiring that he teach this doctrine to potential new members. They controlled his emotions by convincing him that he wasn't serving God the way God wanted him to (a heavy emphasis on guilt) - along with this they created in him mind the idea that leaving the group (or being told to leave) was worse than death itself; and finally, they established control over the information he had available to him by labelling all opposing communication as from Satan, and forbidding him to have contact with it. Once this was understood, the thought occurred that was, for Steve, a turning point. Having learned that these techniques are used by groups that Steve knew to be destructive cults, he asked himself if God would need to use the same tactics used by the Chinese communists and destructive cults in order to attract and keep followers. If the truths were really from God, would they require isolation from all contrary thought? For that matter, would God have any part of an organization that used these tactics. His answer to that question brought him to the realization that he had been deceived, and with that realization came the freedom to leave the Unification Church. MIND CONTROL As part of the stated mission of Answers, we are dedicated to providing information to Jehovah's Witnesses and others about those groups who would prey upon them in order to enslave them. Last week, we spoke about the Unification Church. Rather than to examine each of these groups individually, I thought that it would be interesting to look at the traits that are common to all. The Cult Awareness Network lists 10 marks of a destructive cult. The Moonies, Hare Krishnas, The Way, The Children of God, and dozens upon dozens of groups like them exhibit these traits. Now a group need not exhibit every trait listed here to be considered destructive. In fact, the presence of only one or two of these traits indicates a need for real concern. 1. The first trait is mind control. If you were one of the callers last week, you learned that the Moonies, and other groups like them, strive to gain control over their members through the use of mind control. That is, a change in the behaviour, thought and emotional patterns of our lives. They then establish control over the information we have access to, particularly information critical of the group, in order to maintain control. 2. Change in diet is used by a number of groups to keep their members undernourished and thereby less able to engage in independent thinking. Since independent thinking is the greatest enemy of these groups, they all go to great lengths to shut it down. 3. The third trait is Charismatic Leadership. That is - claiming divinity, divine appointment or special knowledge. This typically applies to a central figure or to a group of leaders. Growing from this claim is the demand for absolute obedience and submission to the leadership. 4. Next is the use of deception. These groups encourage dishonest answers and hidden agenda when dealing with those outside of the groups. 5. Exclusivity/Elitism/Euphoria is another trait. Members are promised something if they remain true followers. This could be power, spiritual highs, fulfilment, or salvation. They maintain it is available only through the group. 6. The sixth trait is Alienation. The group encourages separation of its members from family, friends and society in general. Higher education is strongly discouraged since the independent thinking that goes on there works against mind control. 7. Fatigue is another trait. This might be depriving members of sleep and insisting upon long hours of work or it could be simply dictating a schedule of meetings and service that leaves little time for anything else. 8. A lack of privacy is used to interfere with moments of private contemplation and independent thinking. 9. Exploitation is the ninth trait. This is a broad label. It ranges from pressure to give all one's belongings to the group to the use of fear and guilt to maintain control over members. Because of the depth of indoctrination, groups use the threat of forcing members to leave the group as leverage to control them. 10. The last trait is that of Totalitarian World View. Simply stated, this is the we/they syndrome. It is designed to enhance the group identity and promote the goals and welfare of the group above the individual. Those are the ten traits of a destructive cult. They are all designed to do one thing: indoctrinate into the group's belief system and then shut down independent thought. It is as simple as that. When you find a group of warm and friendly people who have all of the answers; a group who claims to speak for God exclusively and encourages you to stop thinking for yourself - you have found a destructive cult. MIND CONTROL II During the past few weeks, we have been exploring the traits shared by destructive cults such as the Moonies or the Children of God. The first of these traits mentioned was Mind Control. I would like to explore that in more detail this week. Now, it's important to ask a question at this point: How would a person know if they, themselves, were under the influence of mind control? If you answered, "They wouldn't", you would be right. You see, a person who is a victim of mind control lacks the only tool one has to test reality and truth. That tool is a free mind. A mind that is able to think clearly and critically. It is easy to manipulate someone into changing their behaviour. If the change is maintained, their emotions and thoughts will change as well. If you then establish control over the information they have access to, you can maintain control over them. Let's see how it works. During the recruitment phase, the object is to get the person to isolate themselves from their current way of life. Now, this is not difficult. The Moonies use a technique called "Love Bombing". Simply stated, this is the process of heaping affection, praise, unconditional acceptance and instant friendship on the one they want to convert. If they are successful in locating someone who is lonely, confused, or searching, that person will be drawn to this group easily by this method. Once that step is completed, indoctrination and training is started. This could take the form of a weekend or even a longer period of time at some remote location, or it might simply be regular study sessions, week after week, followed by pressure to attend more and more meetings. The reason behind these sessions is often disguised. The Boston Church of Christ calls it a Bible study, but in fact it is a study of their teachings. You can be sure that so-called Bible study will be conducted with one of the group's books in hand. And that book will guide you through every thought during that study, not the Bible. The next step is to establish authority over the potential new member. Now this is very important. Every one of these groups claim to have special favour with God. The Moonies, Children of God, Church Universal and Triumphant, Boston Church of Christ, and virtually hundreds like them, claim recent revelation from God within the past 200 years, wherein their leader or leaders were told that they alone have been chosen by God to carry out his work on earth. Every one of these groups teach that they alone have salvation and truth; that the only way to please God is to be in their group. The drive to isolate the victim continues, as they are told: - to avoid their worldly friends and even family. - to drop hobbies, careers, school; anything that takes time away from serving God. - to avoid anything or anyone critical of the group or its leaders, especially ex-members. - that service and teaching is the only way to please God, and that you can never do enough. - that independent thought is prideful and sinful, and that the group leaders will tell them all they need to know. In the groups that claim respect for the Bible, the leaders teach that the Bible is correct, but only as interpreted by the group. Listen to this quote: "Scripture can be likened to a lamp which illuminates the truth. It's mission is to shed the light of truth. When a brighter light appears, the mission of the old one fades. Today's religions have failed to lead the present generation out of the dark valley of death into the radiance of life, so there must now come a new truth that can shed a new light." From the Moonies Divine Principle Book, p. 10. Sun Myung Moon teaches that "new light" is needed to understand God. And do you know where new light comes from? Sun Myung Moon. Finally, these groups implant the thought that if someone leaves, they are angering God and that they will surely go into sin, illness, mental problems, or death. These phobias are designed to use fear and guilt to keep the person in the group. If you are interested in learning more about Mind Control, I recommend that you check your local library or bookstore for the book called Combatting Cult Mind Control by author Steve Hassan. INDEPENDENT THINKING In our examination of those groups that use Mind Control to capture and hold new members, we have mentioned again and again that every one of these groups goes to great lengths to shut down independent thinking. They will normally pull Bible verses out of their context to support their efforts. The usual verses include pointing out that we are to have a child-like faith, that there is to be complete unity of thought. The Moonies talk about stripping off the old personality to achieve this. Some teach that Adam and Eve's sin was that of independent thought. Does the Bible really teach us to put aside independent thought and develop a child-like dependence on human leaders or organizations run by human leaders? Let's take a look at some scriptures and find out. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (1 Cor. 13:11) Here is another: Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil, be infants, but in your thinking, be adults. (1 Cor. 14:21) In the very next verse, Paul quotes from Isaiah 28, where we learn more about the danger of child-like thinking. Referring to God, here is what it says: Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there. Jehovah tells us that spiritual children respond only to detailed instructions, rules and constant supervision. The next section tells us that it is dangerous to remain in this child-like state of immaturity. Isaiah continues: Very well, then, with foreign lips and strange tongues, God will speak to this people, to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose" .. but they would not listen. So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and Do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there -- so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. (Isaiah 28:9-13) So those who think like children, without mature, independent thinking, will fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. That's quite a warning, isn't it? Here is more. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So, also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. (Galatians 4:1-3) In Hebrews we are told to develop our powers of discernment as a part of maturity. Listen to this: In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14) So, clearly, we are called to be mature in our thinking. Achieving maturity without independent thought is impossible. Here is another verse that gives us more insight into the dangers of child-like dependency: It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:11-14) The warning is pretty clear. God will provide teachers for us. Teachers to help us understand His word. But we are warned that there will also be false teachers. How do we recognize a false teacher? The Bible teaches that a false teacher is one who places us under rules, watches us constantly, and stands in the way of growth by doing all of our thinking for us. Quite simply, false teachers shut down independent thinking. The scriptures warn that those who allow cunning men to manipulate them into giving up independent thinking will be put upon with rule after rule, be blown back and forth by ever-changing teachings, will be snared, enslaved, injured and held captive. SUMMARIZATION I would like to summarize the messages of the past several weeks, to take a practical look at the workings of those groups that use mind control to prey upon the unsuspecting. Groups like the Moonies, Children of God, the Church Universal and Triumphant and hundreds of others follow a pattern. First of all, they seek people who have a genuine hunger to serve God. Now, every single one of these groups claim that God has chosen them alone to start a new church on Earth, claiming that all other religions have fallen away from God. They use this claim to establish strict and unbending authority over their members. They use instant friendship, love and affection to attract new members. Called "love bombing", this tactic has the effect of lowering the defenses of the person they are trying to convert and makes them more open to the group's teachings. Nearly all of these groups encourage members to isolate themselves socially from anyone outside of the group, especially ex-members. They say this is to keep their members away from worldly teachings. However, this tactic has the effect of making followers totally dependent upon the sect for both social and spiritual needs. Every single one of these groups produce their own writings to support their teachings. They pass these writings off as being directly from God. Listen to this quote from Sun Myung Moon: "Scripture can be likened to a lamp which illuminates the truth. It's mission is to shed the light of truth. When a brighter light appears, the mission of the old one fades. Today's religions have failed to lead the present generation out of the dark valley of death into the radiance of life, so there must now come a new truth that can shed a new light." Divine Principle, p.10. Moon teaches that the Bible alone is not enough, that you need the "new light" offered by Moon's organization. Though these groups claim to revere the Bible, members are told that the group leaders are the only ones who can correctly interpret scripture. As a result, members spend their time reading literature written by the group supplemented by little pieces of the Bible. Groups like these make salvation dependent upon service to the organization. Most often, this service involves selling things to support the group and winning converts. Doctrine is taught by using highly repetitive teaching, rote memorization, group study meetings and mandatory service. This is done for good reason. You see, this type of learning minimizes independent thought. Every successful group like these strives to eliminate independent thought among its membership. Without exception, groups like these discourage contact with "worldly teachings," that is, anything not written by them. By producing volumes of required reading and holding constant study meetings, members have little time for questioning. Once members are committed, these groups use the threat of excommunication and shunning to ensure obedience by their members. Since a member's entire social and spiritual identity is connected to the group, this threat is most effective. Let's review the eight steps used so effectively by these groups: 1. They seek people who have a real desire to serve God. 2. They use love bombing to attract and disarm potential converts. 3. They claim to speak for God Himself. 4. They encourage members to associate only with other members. 5. They teach members that the Bible alone is not enough. 6. They strangle independent thought by their members by using highly repetitive teaching, rote learning, memorization, discouraging questions and making thinkers feel guilty. 7. They keep followers busy with mandatory reading, meetings and service, so that they don't have time to question. 8. They use the threat of excommunication and phobias to ensure obedience. When group members recognize that they have been manipulated into a form of self-imposed slavery, they have taken the first step to being able to free themselves. Next, we'll examine how you can recognize if you are being manipulated by one of these groups. SELF-EXAMINATION For the past few weeks, we have been exploring the tactics used by the Moonies, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Boston Church of Christ and its affiliates, The Children of God and all other groups that use manipulation, deceit, guilt and fear to capture and control members. The process has been called mind control, in that it compels people to give up independent thought and rely totally on the group leaders and their teachings. Two weeks ago, I asked listeners an important question: How would a person know if they, themselves, were under the influence of mind control? If you answered, "They wouldn't", you would be right. You see, a person who is a victim of mind control lacks the only tool one has to test reality and truth. That tool is a free mind. If you ask a Moonie if their mind is being controlled by Sun Myung Moon, they will smile broadly and answer, "absolutely not." You will get the same answer from active members of any of these groups. They all sincerely believe that they have the truth, and that you are the one in need of help. All of them! When, however, you talk to ex-members of these groups, certain common feelings begin to surface. A frequent observation is that the unconditional love and acceptance that was present during recruitment dwindles. After the member is committed to the group, the love and attention goes to other new people. Love and acceptance becomes dependent ..... dependent upon performance. It is a reward or punishment. Now there is a sense of camaraderie among members, a sense of community, but in the midst of this camaraderie there is loneliness. John, a former member of the Children of God told me this: "I would look at the smiles on the faces of all of the other members and feel guilty. You see, I was wearing the same smile on the outside, but inside I was miserable. It never occurred to me that the others might feel the same way. We had all been conditioned to assume that any problem we had, even unhappiness, was due to our own inner weakness and sin." This feeling of inner weakness and failure prevents members from sharing their innermost feelings and doubts with other members. Without this sharing, deep relationships will not occur. A universal feeling is that of obligation. Every one of these groups use guilt to motivate their members into service. Members frequently talk about the overwhelming sense of burden they felt. The feeling that they could never do enough to measure up to God's standards. God becomes, to them, a Cosmic Cop just waiting for them to fail and keeping score when they do. These factors are magnified by the apocalyptic teachings of these groups. The Moonies and the Church Universal and Triumphant are just two of the more recent examples of groups that predict the end of the world. Even when there is no specific date given, members are conditioned to think that the end is imminent. This leads many group members to describe their group experience as putting their lives on hold. In short, members of these groups are able to see distinct patterns: 1. Unconditional love fades, rather than grows, with involvement. 2. The hope of drawing closer to God turns into guilt over the fact that they don't measure up. 3. The service that is designed to help them measure up becomes a source of further guilt, since no one can tell them how much is enough. 4. The thrill of learning so many new things is replaced by boredom as the same things are repeated over and over and over again. The sense of personal growth fades. 5. The promise of closeness that drew them to the group is fulfilled only in part. There is camaraderie and a sense of community, but deep, meaningful relationships are missing. 6. The structure and boundaries that were so healthful at the beginning now feel oppressive, and there is no legitimate way to leave the group without creating a crisis. 7. In short, the promises that drew these people to the group to begin with did not happen, and each individual is left with the feeling that the failure was theirs. Do you recognize yourself in any of the above discussion? Some obviously have, in that they have left messages asking me to call them. Others have left messages telling me that Jehovah will certainly judge me for criticizing the Witnesses. This is interesting. You see, I have carefully avoided any mention of the Witnesses in this series of discussions. All examples have come directly from groups which the Witnesses themselves call cults. The fact that these people recognized these tactics as being used by the Watchtower is the most revealing of all. The question is, what will you do? The Watchtower has told you that you should investigate any organization with which you are associated. If you think that is a logical next step, I would like to help. You can be certain that your contact will be kept totally confidential. **********************************************************************