"In some groups, happiness simply means following the leader's directions, recruiting a lot of new members, or bringing in a lot of money. Happiness is defined as the sense of community provided by the [group], to those who enjoy good status" (Hassan 64).

"The most powerful technique of emotional control is phobia indoctrination.... People are made to have a panic reaction at the thought of leaving: sweating, rapid heartbeat, intense desire to avoid the possibility. They are told that if they leave they will be lost and defenseless in the face of dark horrors: they'll go insane, be killed, become drug addicts, or commit suicide. Actual tales of such cases are constantly told, both in lectures and in hushed tones through informal gossip. It is nearly impossible for an indoctrinated...member to feel he can have any security outside the group" (64-65).

"[M]embers may not have a real choice [about leaving], because they have been indoctrinated to have a phobia of the outside world. Induced phobias eliminate the psychological possibility of a person choosing to leave the group merely because he is unhappy or wants to do something else" (65).

"If a person's emotions are successfully brought under the group's control, his thoughts and behavior will follow" (65).

(From Steve Hassan, Combatting Cult Mind Control, Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1990.)

So . . . are you referring to attitudes like:


"I don't know where I would be without the church"

"I don't know how people can raise their kids without the church in this crazy world"


Or comments like:

"He left the church and went off the deep end" . . . (followed by tales of extreme depravity, like drinking coffee, tea, beer, or wearing normal underwear).

Or fears people have of having financial setbacks if they don't pay their tithing, or getting in accidents if they are out doing fun things on Sunday? Or of having an unhappy marriage or losing their spouse and kids if they don't get married in the temple?

Or fears of losing the "spirit" and the ability to feel (become "past feeling") if they reject the church. Or a variations of that . . . becoming dark and losing all morals if they leave.

<<"He left the church and went off the deep end" . . . (followed by tales of extreme depravity, like drinking coffee, tea, beer, or wearing normal underwear).>>

I've heard this dozens of times in church. What's really vicious about it is that if you do take someone who has been TBM his or whole life, and they start to question and then leave, the chances are very good that there will be a period of adjustment and that there will be chaos and craziness involved in that as that person finds him or herself, discovers what the world is actually like, and hopefully seeks some effective counseling to come to grips with the trauma of leaving the church.

It's like "Duh!" that this person would "go off the deep end," because that person is confused, and hurt, and probably trying to appease family members who don't understand how anyone could question church teachings, i.e., recapitulate the history of Western culture over the last three hundred years of secularization where most major artists, thinkers, and scientists have thrown theology on the dust heap of history.

Yeah, that person leaving the womb of the church might have a difficult time adjusting, a difficult time I should add that the church does not help to make any easier.

will be in following the Lord's anointed. IE Follow The Prophet, Follow The Prophet, Follow the Prophet...Don't go Astray. You'd be surprised at the number of talks given by higher ups in the church that use this theme about being in the last days and how our leaders are our only safety. I know because my mom sends me every single one she can lay her hands on. She is a big believer in the apocalypse. Blech. This is such a major contradiction - the world is ending - you must follow the leaders - the leaders must build a $4 billion mall and new hotel in Hawaii to appease God - the leaders will keep you safe. WHATEVER!!!

And from what I hear, people have been predicting that for hundreds (even thousands) of years.

If God has prophets, and wants to give us a heads up about impending doom, you'd think he could time it better. I personally helped throw away hundreds and hundreds of pounds of rotten food storage that my parents stored for decades in their basement.

What a waste.

The "last days" my A**.

I could copy out half, maybe three-fourths, of Hassan's book, word for word without mentioning the church at all, and you dear readers of this forum would pick up on the EXACT and PRECISE nature of what it is he's talking about as relating to the church, just as CA girl and imaworkinonit have done in this thread.

What does that tell us about the church?

My dw hates that I have a book on such a subject where so many lines are highlighted. I say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then maybe, you know, IT'S A DUCK!