Is Mormonism a cult? my blog http://freedomofmind.com/Media/blog.php?id=15&title=An_Expert_Responds_to_the_Cult_Controversy_re:_Mormonism

I did some research on the degree to which Mormonism meets the criteria of several cult experts:

- Steve Hassan's own BITE-model: 85%
- Rick Ross Institute: 95%
- International Cultic Studies Association: 100%
- Professional Association of German Psychologists: 89%
- Belgian Government's Information Centre on Harmful Cultic Organisations: 75%
- Swiss journalist and cult expert Hugo Stamm: 89%

Hell yeah, it's a cult allright. The differences in percentages are primarily due to the granularity of the models used. If you're interested AND you speak Dutch, here's the research:

http://www.mormonisme.nl/2009/12/kerk-of-sekte-slot.html

Coming to the conclusion that mormonism is a cult is the original reason I walked away from mormonism 3 years ago. I had absolutely no idea about doctrinal issues even though I was a tbm with leadership callings for 45 years. The doctrinal, and historical whitewashing were just icing on the cake.

In mormonism, you are not an individual, but a part of the cult. You are in the "matrix", a fantasy world. And there is an appeal to being in fantasy land, even an addiction. You feel special, superior and want to share the kool aid with others, but if they are not interested in the kool aid, then they are not interested in you, because you don't matter, only how you related to and fit into the cult.

Instant "friends" are another appeal, but they are pseudo friends because in mormonism you have to behave with a false persona of perfection. Everybody behaves like they are actors. They have left reality. Your spouse has conditional love for you as you perform mormonism. She probably never loved you as a person, but you as a priesthood holder, an RM, or as a potential bishop. If you don't do everything you are expected to do in mormonism, you are expendable, and will probably lead to divorce.

There is no intimacy in mormon relationships. You have to conform. You have to agree. You have to believe that everything is inspired and you can't say no. Your life has to revolve around mormonism. Anything you want to do that doesn't revolve around mormonism is seen as a selfish sin and must be discontinued.

The worst effect of mormonism, in my opinion, is that tbm's are brainwashed, there minds are closed, they are always right, and only feelings matter. They love living in the isolated, fantasy world of mormonism, because it makes them feel special and superior. Mormonism makes people narcissistic to some degree.

There is little empathy in mormonsism. In my new Christian church you can feel the empathy that the pastor has, the unconditional love, the acceptance, and they way he doesn't want to make others feel less than. In mormonism, you are either worthy or unworthy.

...and extortion is based on fear.

TSCC actually behaves like organized crime with coercion and intimidation at every turn, except with a sweet smile and a sing-song voice.

In strategies developed in Family Systems Therapy and in Brief Therapy--I'm thinking in particular of work by Paul Watzlawick, Don Jackson, Gregory Bateson, Milton Erickson, and Virginia Satir--one idea is to prescribe the symptom.

For example, in the Pragmatics of Human Communication (a book dedicated to Bateson but which he said made him understand how a Native American (he didn't use that phrase) would feel looking at a cigar store wooden indian)--in the Pragmatics book there is a brief case of a paranoid coming into a therapist's office and insisting that the room was bugged. The therapist buys into the premise, stating that they must search the room. This leaves the "client" with two alternatives: either pursue the search or relinquish the insistence that the room is bugged. The two search the room for a while, the client becoming "unsure" and "embarrassed." The therapist insists that they finish the search. Next ensues an extremely productive session covering a lot of ground for the client (Pragmatics 243).

So, when dealing with induced persecution complexes, phobias, or people under the influence of "hidden persuaders," mind control, delusion, one possibility is to prescribe the symptom: Go with it COMPLETELY.

So what would that entail? The apostate goes overboard in proclaiming the veracity of the Gospel, the miracles, the non-sense? "I believe in the Green Salamander--look at what these people say against it. But they MUST BE WRONG!" That seems a scary approach--like you'd be pushing people further in.

In World War II when Bateson was working with the US Office of Strategic Services, he recommended playing back in Japanese over radio in the Pacific exaggerations of Japanese success. He advocated 1/3rd greater exaggeration over any actual success--just enough to create disturbance among the Japanese, but not enough to create suspicion.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 01:26PM by derrida.

He pretends to be an extremely devout Mormon, quotes from the leaders, and the TBMs go, "Uh, wait... What? We don't believe that."

Agreed. Paternoster is onto something special. I wonder how many TBMs have come upon that site and swallowed the hook. I know at least one case where a TBM got very angry with the good SP.

The first--and most obvious to me--is make sure the patient isn't drunk or otherwise "under the influence" (and that includes pot in this case).

Second, the case history of the individual needs to be understood (one reason evaluations are given on intake). I had a student exhibit serious psychotic symptoms after only a mild confrontation (I didn't "break him"; turns out he'd had them all along), and this was in a therapeutic millieu... LDS missionaries may "target" more unstable sorts as "golden prospects," but this information is strictly for academic purposes and not application.

The sort of moderate confrontation and "mirroring" that takes place on RFM is far less "invasive" than what these individual therapists are advocating (and they are generally skilled in their use and their limits). I keep that in mind even as I'm slipping in a few modest metaphors and some other tactics from my old rodeo bag... I love Virginia Satir et al, notably Minuchin, among the "system therapists," and understanding the role of "structure" is particularly useful, but it needs to be confined to "one's own journey." The lesson there is that recovery is essentially an individual journey, but at least we can take comfort that we are not walking it alone.

Which is what RFM is all about...

I think it is hard, if not impossible, for an outsider not to think, upon learning a little about Mormon doctrine and culture, that it is not a cult. It is equally IMPOSSIBLE for a TBM to accept that they are in a cult. The term has a very explosive and negative meaning and will cause arguements when it is brought up.

I don't think it is useful to bring it up. Just my opinion. We ultimately want to help our loved ones. We have to be careful what we say to them to help them. Using words like "cult" will almost always turn them off to our message and our concern.

> Cult members are told that leaving the group or disobeying its teachings will result in horrible things happening to themselves or their loved ones. By instilling fear deep in the minds of its members, a cult creates invisible bonds that keep the member a mental and emotional prisoner.
> While many organizations threaten some sort of psychic retribution for drop-outs, destructive cults implant and reinforce irrational fears with astounding efficiency. As a young man in the Moonies, I was utterly convinced that my ancestors would suffer for all eternity if I left the group. <

In Mormonism, it's that you'll lose your family, if not immediately, then in eternity. That's the evil flipside of Forever Families.

AKA extortion or coercion. Tactics used by organized crime.