Recovery Board
: RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mette-ivie-harrison/are-we-mormons-a-cult_b_7485784.html
Signs of a Cult (according to the article):
1) A Charismatic Leader
(Joseph Smith and the prophets)
2) Denial of Essential Christian Teachings (Trinity, Christ's Reality, the Second Coming)
The Trinity for example.
3) Brainwashing/Systematic Programs of Indoctrinization
Psychological Abuse/Intimidation
Youth trek, Fast and Testimony meetings, Endowments, etc...
4) Mass Suicide/Doomsday Expectations
Many Mormons think September 2015 is the end of the world
5) Authoritarian Mind Control
Follow the prophet he knows the way...
6) Communal and Totalistic Organization
All non-Mormons are lost in the world and need guidance from their church.
7) Aggressive Proselytizing
80,000 missionaries world wide, every member a missionary, etc
8) Social Humiliation and Punishment
Excommunication, shunning, cut off from family, work, etc...
9) Limitation of Information to Membership or Outright Deception
Mormon leaders often times lie about their history and doctrines. Polygamy is a perfect example.
------------------------------------------------------------
Even Mette Ivie Harrison, a faithful Mormon, admits that many of the behaviors of her church are cultish.
Signs of a Cult (according to the article):
1) A Charismatic Leader
(Joseph Smith and the prophets)
2) Denial of Essential Christian Teachings (Trinity, Christ's Reality, the Second Coming)
The Trinity for example.
3) Brainwashing/Systematic Programs of Indoctrinization
Psychological Abuse/Intimidation
Youth trek, Fast and Testimony meetings, Endowments, etc...
4) Mass Suicide/Doomsday Expectations
Many Mormons think September 2015 is the end of the world
5) Authoritarian Mind Control
Follow the prophet he knows the way...
6) Communal and Totalistic Organization
All non-Mormons are lost in the world and need guidance from their church.
7) Aggressive Proselytizing
80,000 missionaries world wide, every member a missionary, etc
8) Social Humiliation and Punishment
Excommunication, shunning, cut off from family, work, etc...
9) Limitation of Information to Membership or Outright Deception
Mormon leaders often times lie about their history and doctrines. Polygamy is a perfect example.
------------------------------------------------------------
Even Mette Ivie Harrison, a faithful Mormon, admits that many of the behaviors of her church are cultish.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact this is the topic that I "lost my testimony" studying. How can a church be true if it uses the same thought control that Nazi Germany used.
Avoid the very appearance of evil. Unless its to promote the "goodness" of the gospel.
Behavior Control
1. Regulate individual’s physical reality
2. Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates
3. When, how and with whom the member has sex
4. Control types of clothing and hairstyles
5. Regulate diet - food and drink, hunger and/or fasting
6. Manipulation and deprivation of sleep
7. Financial exploitation, manipulation or dependence
8. Restrict leisure, entertainment, vacation time
9. Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self indoctrination including the Internet
10. Permission required for major decisions
11. Thoughts, feelings, and activities (of self and others) reported to superiors
12. Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative
13. Discourage individualism, encourage group-think
14. Impose rigid rules and regulations
15. Instill dependency and obedience
Information Control
1. Deception:
a. Deliberately withhold information
b. Distort information to make it more acceptable
c. Systematically lie to the cult member
2. Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including:
a. Internet, TV, radio, books, articles, newspapers, magazines, other media
b.Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate
e. Control through cell phone with texting, calls, internet tracking
3. Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Ensure that information is not freely accessible
b.Control information at different levels and missions within group
c. Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when
4. Encourage spying on other members
a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member
b.Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership
c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group
5. Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda, including:
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audiotapes, videotapes, YouTube, movies and other media
b.Misquoting statements or using them out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
a. Information about sins used to disrupt and/or dissolve identity boundaries
b. Withholding forgiveness or absolution
c. Manipulation of memory, possible false memories
Thought Control
1. Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth
a. Adopting the group's ‘map of reality’ as reality
b. Instill black and white thinking
c. Decide between good vs. evil
d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders)
2.Change person’s name and identity
3. Use of loaded language and clichés which constrict knowledge, stop critical thoughts and reduce complexities into platitudinous buzz words
4. Encourage only ‘good and proper’ thoughts
5. Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member
6. Memories are manipulated and false memories are created
7. Teaching thought-stopping techniques which shut down reality testing by stopping negative thoughts and allowing only positive thoughts, including:
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
b. Chanting
c. Meditating
d. Praying
e. Speaking in tongues
f. Singing or humming
8. Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism
9. Forbid critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy allowed
10. Labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate, evil, or not useful
Emotional Control
1. Manipulate and narrow the range of feelings – some emotions and/or needs are deemed as evil, wrong or selfish
2. Teach emotion-stopping techniques to block feelings of homesickness, anger, doubt
3. Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault
4. Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as
a. Identity guilt
b. You are not living up to your potential
c. Your family is deficient
d. Your past is suspect
e. Your affiliations are unwise
f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish
g. Social guilt
h. Historical guilt
5. Instill fear, such as fear of:
a. Thinking independently
b. The outside world
c. Enemies
d. Losing one’s salvation
e. Leaving or being shunned by the group
f. Other’s disapproval
6. Extremes of emotional highs and lows – love bombing and praise one moment and then declaring you are horrible sinner
7. Ritualistic and sometimes public confession of sins
8. Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority
a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group
b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc.
c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll
e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family
https://www.freedomofmind.com/Info/BITE/bitemodel.php
Avoid the very appearance of evil. Unless its to promote the "goodness" of the gospel.
Behavior Control
1. Regulate individual’s physical reality
2. Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates
3. When, how and with whom the member has sex
4. Control types of clothing and hairstyles
5. Regulate diet - food and drink, hunger and/or fasting
6. Manipulation and deprivation of sleep
7. Financial exploitation, manipulation or dependence
8. Restrict leisure, entertainment, vacation time
9. Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self indoctrination including the Internet
10. Permission required for major decisions
11. Thoughts, feelings, and activities (of self and others) reported to superiors
12. Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative
13. Discourage individualism, encourage group-think
14. Impose rigid rules and regulations
15. Instill dependency and obedience
Information Control
1. Deception:
a. Deliberately withhold information
b. Distort information to make it more acceptable
c. Systematically lie to the cult member
2. Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including:
a. Internet, TV, radio, books, articles, newspapers, magazines, other media
b.Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate
e. Control through cell phone with texting, calls, internet tracking
3. Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Ensure that information is not freely accessible
b.Control information at different levels and missions within group
c. Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when
4. Encourage spying on other members
a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member
b.Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership
c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group
5. Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda, including:
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audiotapes, videotapes, YouTube, movies and other media
b.Misquoting statements or using them out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
a. Information about sins used to disrupt and/or dissolve identity boundaries
b. Withholding forgiveness or absolution
c. Manipulation of memory, possible false memories
Thought Control
1. Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth
a. Adopting the group's ‘map of reality’ as reality
b. Instill black and white thinking
c. Decide between good vs. evil
d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders)
2.Change person’s name and identity
3. Use of loaded language and clichés which constrict knowledge, stop critical thoughts and reduce complexities into platitudinous buzz words
4. Encourage only ‘good and proper’ thoughts
5. Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member
6. Memories are manipulated and false memories are created
7. Teaching thought-stopping techniques which shut down reality testing by stopping negative thoughts and allowing only positive thoughts, including:
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
b. Chanting
c. Meditating
d. Praying
e. Speaking in tongues
f. Singing or humming
8. Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism
9. Forbid critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy allowed
10. Labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate, evil, or not useful
Emotional Control
1. Manipulate and narrow the range of feelings – some emotions and/or needs are deemed as evil, wrong or selfish
2. Teach emotion-stopping techniques to block feelings of homesickness, anger, doubt
3. Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault
4. Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as
a. Identity guilt
b. You are not living up to your potential
c. Your family is deficient
d. Your past is suspect
e. Your affiliations are unwise
f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish
g. Social guilt
h. Historical guilt
5. Instill fear, such as fear of:
a. Thinking independently
b. The outside world
c. Enemies
d. Losing one’s salvation
e. Leaving or being shunned by the group
f. Other’s disapproval
6. Extremes of emotional highs and lows – love bombing and praise one moment and then declaring you are horrible sinner
7. Ritualistic and sometimes public confession of sins
8. Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority
a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group
b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc.
c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll
e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family
https://www.freedomofmind.com/Info/BITE/bitemodel.php
Who can read this and not realize Mormonism is a cult? It seems pretty plain to me. Everyone should learn how to recognize cults so they don't suffer the consequences of belonging to one. It's a very expensive mistake to make.
When I was studying my way out of the cult I found a couple of websites that described cults and as I read this information all I could think was this is describing mormonism to a "T". Here are some links.
http://www.howcultswork.com/
http://ex-cult.org/General/identifying-a-cult
http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=6
Enjoy they contain great information.
http://www.howcultswork.com/
http://ex-cult.org/General/identifying-a-cult
http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=6
Enjoy they contain great information.
The only thing I don't like about this is
#2. Denial of Essential Christian Teachings (Trinity, Christ's Reality, the Second Coming)
Why is Christian teaching and the bible always set as the gold example? The bible is treated as fact. Many other "christian" churches also have many things that resemble cultish behavior.
Behavior Control
Information Control
Thought Control
Emotional Control
#2. Denial of Essential Christian Teachings (Trinity, Christ's Reality, the Second Coming)
Why is Christian teaching and the bible always set as the gold example? The bible is treated as fact. Many other "christian" churches also have many things that resemble cultish behavior.
Behavior Control
Information Control
Thought Control
Emotional Control
@wanderinggeek
I think that second point is the distinguish between traditional Christianity and heretical sects imitating Christianity. Christians describe these sects as theological cults because they intentionally distort the doctrines of Christianity. They usually also fit the definition of what a cult is (For example: Scientology is a cult).
I think that Christians are trying to be generous and polite by calling them theological cults instead of cults like Scientology simply because it is not politically correct to call groups like Scientology a cult these days.
Christians don't want to come out and label millions of people cult members in public because that would be too shocking and politically incorrect.
I think that second point is the distinguish between traditional Christianity and heretical sects imitating Christianity. Christians describe these sects as theological cults because they intentionally distort the doctrines of Christianity. They usually also fit the definition of what a cult is (For example: Scientology is a cult).
I think that Christians are trying to be generous and polite by calling them theological cults instead of cults like Scientology simply because it is not politically correct to call groups like Scientology a cult these days.
Christians don't want to come out and label millions of people cult members in public because that would be too shocking and politically incorrect.