The church runs an extensive brainwashing network. It starts with primary and then it’s youth programs. If you ever were involved in church leadership you know how much focus the church puts here.

Name another church that has seminary on school days and even builds buildings next to schools to do it. Then at college there is institute. Just the Church Educational System alone is a huge brainwashing operation.

Then you have missions. I was told by a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy that the missions were to convert the missionaries. The huge missionary effort was not bringing in enough converts to grow the church.

Then you have temples. Another mind programming tool using extreme peer pressure to make you do stuff you normally wouldn’t do. When you look at it, you have a brainwashed population of people.

Faith is believing in something because YOU choose to. Brainwashing is believing in something to avoid punishment, social isolation or you were constantly exposed to the same messages over and over.

The difference between a religion and a cult is a religion does not use extreme brainwashing techniques. Cults do.

A psychologist Robert Jay Lifton outlined the process for brainwashing as he sees it. What I found was that if you just list the process and skip brainwashing as the title, that, Mormonism works just the same as a title.

BRAINWASHING:

1.Milieu Control — The control of information and communication, resulting in extreme isolation from the outside world.

2.Mystical Manipulation — Experiences that appears spontaneous but are actually planned and orchestrated to demonstrate divine authority, spiritual advancement, or other insight.

3. Demand for Purity — The requirement to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. Guilt and shame are often employed.

4.Confession — Ways to monitor the personal thoughts (“sins”) of individual members — which are then discussed and exploited by group leaders.

5. Sacred Science — The idea that the group’s ideology is beyond questioning or dispute.

6. Loading the Language — The use of jargon and terminology that the outside world does not understand as a means of gaining thought-control and conformity.

7. Doctrine over Person — Subordinating all personal experiences to the ideology of the group.

8. Dispensing of Existence — In order to be saved or enlightened, individuals must convert to the group’s ideology. If they are critical of the group, or decide to leave the group, they are rejected by all members.

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For me, #5 is of particular interest. I think in many ways it is the key to making the rest work. How filled to the brim is the Endowment with loaded language?

I see what others call religion, however, as just Cult-Lite. Some are better at it than others is all. The Mormons were really good til Google stole their MoJo.

"Demand for Purity"

But I AM pure. I drink my coffee black.

I just saw this posted by a TBM relative on social media:

"I believe in God not because my parents told me to, not because the church told me to, but because I've experienced His goodness and mercy for myself".

Seems like when you're raised in a cult your perception of God (and attending goodness and mercy) is going to be colored by your parents and cult teachings. How could they not? Silly Mormons, gotta prop that testimonkey up at all costs.

There is an organization called God's Love We Deliver. According to their site:

"God's Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves."

So, a human thought of the organization, built it. Humans find the money for the food, cook it, deliver it. But, God gets the credit.

I have never experienced some God's goodness and mercy. Least of all Mormon God. Certainly not Christian God of the Bible. Although I have experienced much love and mercy from many humans, also, what I am experiencing now is something rather scary from his Bible Thumpers that I would not call goodness and mercy.

Why don't people give credit--good or bad--where credit is due?

"Why don't people give credit--good or bad--where credit is due?"

Well that doesn't fit the agenda, can't be saying stuff like that or God looks pretty bad.

>>..but because I've experienced His goodness and mercy for myself".

I wonder why they don't say they believe in God because they have seen horror and merciless cruelty from God and other people who believe in God.

I think it is because they are brainwashed to credit God for everything good and never blame God for anything bad. Brainwashing requires cherry picking and bias fishing.

Their thinking is that bad doesn't come from God, he just allows the devil and people to do it, cuz free agency. So, of course, only good can come from God. They've been told (brainwashed) this all their lives by both parents and church, so how could it be wrong? Mental gymnastics working overtime.

You said it, Sister!

> I wonder why they don't say they believe in God
> because they have seen horror and merciless
> cruelty from God and other people who believe in
> God.

Brilliant.

I think that it's most religions or denominations to one degree or another. But it's true that Mormon indoctrination is extreme even by religious standards.

Religion is a business. Like a store they want you to continue to come back and spend your money there. They will use sales and marketing techniques. A cult is way more manipulative. You are punished for not doing business with them and they will use social programming strategies to make you think they are the only store selling anything good.

There are honest businesses and there are rackets.

    
  

Depends on the eye of the beholder. TBMs think they are offering you the deal of the century for a mere 10% of your income. They are baffled that you can't see the magnificent clothes of their naked emperor.

I believe ALL things.
Especially when a place is choiced behind me.

As for missions being to help the missionary attain what passes as a "testimony", that idea is going rather tits-up, don't you think. First there is the normal stress and cost of a mission. But then, rather than make the mission a nice experience for the missionary, the church chose to double down with nitnoy demands and rules, shackling them to a ball and following up with a constant belittling and shame. In addition to that, the church's product has lost interest to the public. No fun here!, that's for sure. It was so, so different when I went on a mission in 1969. It's not even the same church, as many of us have agreed.

SPOT ON!

If a person has doubts, the others don't want to deal with the substance of matters, I've seen that repeated MANY TIMES; so, the situation - circumstances are quickly reduced to being 'a matter of faith', often in the FP, 15, and on down the line...

Then there's the 'it's not important to Your salvation' chirp which is a Classic Mormon dodge.


Hello, Cult.

I disagree. One can have faith in something you were not brainwashed into but you can also have faith in something that you were brainwashed into. It may be misplaced, but many people are essentially mirrors for more cynical interests around then who seek to control them through natural instincts like fear and concern for others (the health and safety of the elderly, children, "loved ones".)