One of our forum members recently shared a link to some great information about mind control. I’m excerpting part of it here. Reflect on your experiences at the HA and answer these questions to see if you were under mind control tactics. How many questions can you answer “yes” to?
1. Is your doctrine legislated rather than guided? (You should be free to search things out for yourself.)
2. Are your moral choices legislated rather than guided?
3. Are you unsure of the background of your leader(s)?
4. Do you solely rely on information given to you by your group?
5. Is there pressure to avoid all other information about your group?
6. Is there pressure on you to agree with all that the group says?
7. Are your leaders generally inaccessible to ordinary members?
8. Are leaders or other members hostile to your questions?
9. Are you fearful of your leaders?
10. Is your group secretive about its doctrines or its actions? (For example, is there any doctrine you have been instructed not to share with outsiders?)
11. Are members ever “disciplined” by threats, bribes, or other unpleasant pressures to conform?
12. Were you required to cut all ties with the past (including friends and relatives) when you joined?
13. Do others within the group make decisions for you?
14. Are you dependent on your leader’s or on other’s approval for what you do?
15. Are you afraid of leaving?
16. Do people constantly leave amidst controversy, strife and bitterness?
17. Do you condemn those outside your group as being “ungodly” or “satanic”?
18. Do you use “God wants me here” as an excuse to avoid facing the issue of leaving?
19. If your group uses the Bible, does it only use it with reference to (or explanation from) another person’s teachings?
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Count up your number of “yes” answers. If 4-5 you may be under mind control. If over 10 your group likely has serious problems.
11 comments:
Anonymous said March 2, 2011 8:58 AM
Re: number 10, there is a difference between not telling someone about something because you’ve been told to keep it a “secret” vs. not telling someone something because it is sacred. I just wanted to make that distinction.
enlightenmentisntsoscary said March 2, 2011 9:09 AM
Anon: I think I see what you are saying. But, in my opinion…
Husband and wife decide not to discuss thier sex life with others because it is sacred: Your comment applies.
Ministry tells you to not tell other people about what you are doing, what they are teaching you, etc.: Does not apply.
I don’t know if you are but I will just say if someone was to suggest that Teen Mania teaches anything that is too “sacred” to share with “outsiders” Now we are dealing with the whole issue of their elitist christian mentality and teachings which are not sacred. They are poison!
Great post!
layne said March 2, 2011 9:44 AM
Anon, I think the Masons would agree.
Renae said March 2, 2011 9:46 AM
When I was there we weren’t told not to share certain things (ESOAL being the best example) because they were sacred, we were told not to share them because outsiders wouldn’t understand… which definitely falls under the criteria of question number 10.
I answered yes to ten of those questions, and I was being generous.
Eric said March 2, 2011 9:59 AM
Anon– It’s problematic, though, because someone could easily use the second category to be manipulative about the first. “You can’t tell anyone about this! Why not? Um, because it’s sacred, that’s it.”
Also, Jesus specifically said that none of His teachings were too sacred to be spoken in public: “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.” (John 18:20) If somebody says “We have a teaching that’s too sacred for outsiders to hear,” then it’s not something Jesus taught.
Recall the current intern interviewed in the KLTV documentary… “We’re not allowed to talk about ESOAL.” Yeah. Because the world is not yet ready for the sacred mysteries of Beanie Weenie Hill, I’m sure.
Anonymous said March 2, 2011 10:15 AM
@enlightenment I am in now way associated with TM or HA. My comment was just to make sure that people didn’t mistake sacred for secret for other religions that don’t always divulge all of their religious traditions (to individuals outside the religion, that is). In my opinion, TM tends to fall into the category of telling members to keep secrets, because if ESOAL (for example) was sacred then they would not allow it to be filmed (which I believe they allowed…) and would prepare interns for it rather than keeping them in the dark (in order to enable them to know its purpose, why the event is held, and what they can expect to make their experience positive (if ESOAL was positive, that is…)).
Anonymous said March 2, 2011 10:31 AM
@ Eric I wasn’t referring to teachings per se, but religious traditions that members of certain religions do not discuss openly because they are sacred to the members of those religions. Members of these religions prepare for these traditions for many years before they partake in them and they are prepared beforehand to have an idea of what they will be expecting and its purpose. Compare that to ESOAL where no preparation is given and interns are kept in the dark and never informed about it (or adequately taught the principles behind it) and then told not to talk about it because “outsiders wouldn’t understand”- I think it’s clear that there is a legitimate distinction.
Recovering Alumni said March 2, 2011 10:58 AM
Let’s try to stick to how these questions relate to Teen Mania and not other religions…cause that could take us on a whole other tangent. 🙂
Eric said March 2, 2011 2:00 PM
@Anon, fair enough. I just think the distinction could be made into something blurry and thus exploitable. As RA says, though, this really isn’t the place to get into comparative religion. 🙂
Stacy said March 2, 2011 4:07 PM
I answered ‘Yes’ to 13 of the 19.
Z said March 5, 2011 10:05 PM
This is really scary.