As usual, Teen Mania continues its doublespeak. On one hand, they insist that ESOAL/PEARL is optional and you can quit at any time without condemnation. On the other hand, they say that anyone who rings out is a quitter (remember Ron’s comment in the MSNBC documentary?)
In 2011, they also posted signs on the ESOAL/PEARL field that say:
“I cannot quit. I will not quit. Quitting is not an option.”
So which is it – is quitting a valid option or not?
20 comments:
Bensays:December 14, 2011 12:47 PMReply
Clearly that’s just left over from the euchre tournament.
Josh Ex-intern 00-01says:December 15, 2011 8:32 AMReply
Ben, what’s the euchre tournament?
Bensays:December 15, 2011 9:50 AMReply
(just a joke. it’s a rather mundane card game.)
Anonymoussays:December 15, 2011 8:24 PMReply
So much drama
Anonymoussays:December 19, 2011 6:33 PMReply
PEARL is designed to teach perseverance. Quitting in life generally isn’t an option. I’d be interested in knowing how you would approach teaching life perseverance to a group of young people?
cheshirekat5865says:December 19, 2011 10:19 PMReply
Actually quitting can the best course of action in many different life situations. Smoking, drinking, inappropriate or damaging relationships, or any situation where you’re being forced against your will to do something you’re not comfortable with, or more importantly, something that goes against your conscience. ESOAL/PEARL is a blatant example of TM’s ongoing penchant for equating physical performance with spiritual growth. When I was an intern, I experienced no spiritual growth during Gauntlet week, Week of the Ring, or Pike’s Peak, so I knew that I would get no such growth during ESOAL. You can’t dictate the Holy Spirit to work in a person’s heart. A teen who goes the distance during this event only takes away the knowledge that perseverance only leads to further abuse and ultimately, a lack of desire to try. The teen who quits leaves with only a feeling of failure when they didn’t experience the prerequisite “epiphany on the mountaintop” moment.
To answer your question, I would encourage any young person facing a decision whether to continue in a given course of action to seek Godly counsel, spend significant time in prayer, maybe fast and seek to bring themselves into obedience so that their will comes into accordance with God’s will. What I wouldn’t under any circumstances do is try to dictate the Holy Spirit’s work in that young person’s heart by laying out a series of hoops for him/her to jump through that according to my own arbitrary standards will somehow cause that teen to be closer to God.
This is TM’s greatest doctrinal failure, the implied idea that everything they do is God’s will and if the teens involved in their program don’t experience the growth promised, then it’s their fault. The young person is told they aren’t working hard enough, or there’s some kind of sin in their lives. PEARL is the prime example of TM’s faulty doctrine and how it needs to change.
Anonymoussays:December 20, 2011 12:01 PMReply
ESOAL/PEARL is intended to teach a young person perseverance though a difficult circumstance. This is a difficult skill to teach without an accompanying opportunity to apply the skill. I asked how you would teach that skill to a young person. Unfortunately, the method you laid out is effective one-on-one, but not well applied in a group setting. If you were to help Teen Mania solve issues that you see remaining in ESOAL/PEARL, on the scale that they have to work within, what would you tell them to do? When reading your response, I’ll assume that you’ve read David Hasz’s latest blog post about what has been changed in their LTEs.
laynesays:December 20, 2011 12:43 PMReply
“ESOAL/PEARL is intended to teach a young person perseverance though a difficult circumstance.”
I would disagree. They may claim that is ESOAL’s purpose, but in practice, ESOAL sets out to break a person’s spirit.
That being said, why do we teach that quitting is the absolute worst thing anyone can ever do? Sometimes quitting is the only way out of a situation. Sometimes you need to quit and start over again. Sometimes you have to stop and give it a few years. Quitting is not the end of the world. ESOAL teaches that to quit is to lose, every single time, which is not even close to reality. A healthy person learns when to say “enough, I can’t and shouldn’t do it anymore”.
Ericsays:December 20, 2011 3:06 PMReply
Anonymous:
First, I find the idea that a group is the most effective setting to teach perseverance a deeply flawed assumption. Perseverance is an individual character quality that everyone learns through the ordinary experiences of life, not something that you need someone else to drill into you. So, for instance, one approach might be to send all the members of the group off to college (or even high school) and have them work through a semester’s worth of assignments. Mission accomplished, and they’ve acquired some marketable job skills to boot. The high-pressure tactics of ESOAL/PEARL are completely unnecessary for the purpose.
Second, this post points out that the Honor Academy leadership is being deeply duplicitous– “lying is the intent to deceive,” remember — by saying that ESOAL/PEARL is “completely optional” in their public statements about it, yet in the event itself saying “quitting is not an option.” Which is it? Optional, or not an option? The two statements together show that Teen Mania leadership tells lies about the character of ESOAL/PEARL. You may not like it, but it’s simply inarguable. They said it’s both A and not A. By logical definition, one of those statements was a lie.
Third. I’ve linked this article before but it’s worth repeating. Watchman Fellowship lists a set of Coercive Persuasion Techniques that are often used by cults. As ESOAL/PEARL is described (see Dave Hasz’s latest blog post that you mention), it is clear that all of them are present in the current HA program. Here is the list (see the link for more thorough explanations of each):
– Isolation
– Peer Group Pressure
– Love Bombing
– Removal of Privacy
– Sleep Deprivation and Fatigue
– Games: Playing strenuous games with confusing rules builds increasing dependence on group leaders for correct answers. This undermines decision making skills.
– Indoctrination
– Change of Diet: Omission of nutrients increases susceptibility to manipulation of one’s emotional “highs” and “lows”.
– Fear
– Chanting and Singing: Constant repetition of mind-narrowing chants block rational thought and induces a quasi-hypnotic state of susceptibility.
– Childlike Dependence: No questions are allowed. Total acceptance is mandatory.
– Dress: Conformity in dress removes one’s individuality and promotes disorientation.
– Elitism
– Replacement of Relationships
– Rejection of Old Values (even of spiritually neutral things)
– Financial Commitment
PEARL is not designed to teach perseverance. It is designed to make young people dependent on their leaders and susceptible to persuasion. That is what cults do.
If the PEARL event was really about training people to have godly character, they should take a lesson from Daniel and his friends. The “winner” would be the first person to stand up against their leader and say, “No sir, that goes against my conscience, so I’m not going to do it.” Why doesn’t Teen Mania want their interns to instill this value, surely a genuine biblical example of persistence and integrity? The reason is surely obvious.
Anonymoussays:December 27, 2011 2:58 PMReply
Eric, I believe Teen Mania DOES want to instill Godly character, perseverance and courage in their interns. Thank you for answering my question.
Ericsays:December 30, 2011 1:36 AMReply
Anon – You’re welcome.
Sadly, intentions and methods are often two different things. Whatever the leadership wants to instill, the methods of ESOAL/Pearl reward conformity and unquestioning compliance, not the courage to (for example) challenge abusive authorities or destructive practices. The latter is much more Christ-like, and would serve interns better in the real world. Of course, if TM encouraged it, their organization might fall apart!
Anonymoussays:December 30, 2011 7:13 PMReply
ESOAL has has its black eyes… but PEARL was a great re-boot to an amazing weekend that allows opportunity for learning while leaving out any sort of condemnation or manipulation. I’ve been through a few ESOALS and then PEARL and am happy to announce that It is a great lTE!
Instead of critisizing it, why don’t these people all go participate next year? Take cameras, note books, food (you are allowed to take in whatever food you want..) and have a great weekend!
Recovering Alumnisays:December 31, 2011 3:22 AMReply
I’m not sure if you are really that clueless or if you are trying to be rude, but the idea that people who were abused at ESOAL should return is beyond absurd. Any further suggestions along those lines will be deleted.
Anonymoussays:December 31, 2011 10:11 AMReply
RA – Not trying to be rude… Just want people to see that it really has improved. As someone who has never participated or seen more than a few clips of the event, have you thought about participating?
Recovering Alumnisays:January 1, 2012 2:08 PMReply
Its hard for me to even respond to that question – because I find it so bizarre and outside the paradigm I’m living in and promoting. Have you read anything I’ve written about the philosophy and abuse at ESOAL? If you had, you’d realize that a few very minor changes to a program that is fundamentally unScriptural and abusive basically amount to nothing.
Anonymoussays:January 16, 2012 6:39 PMReply
RA, Dave Hasz has reported extensive changes to the entire HA program, some of them in response to the concerns aired here. You say that you have a paradigm that you’re living in and promoting – that sounds a lot like a personal vendetta. Perhaps you should consider the possibility that your view isn’t entirely accurate? Change happens. The world didn’t stop turning when you drove out of those gates.
Have you seen this?
http://davidhasz.com/changes-in-the-honor-academy-over-the-past-16-years-part-i/
wanderersays:January 16, 2012 7:57 PMReply
I was cruising along, reading the link anon 6:39 posted, thinking “hey, great changes!”. Until the discipline section came along. If you show a negative attitude toward HA? If you seem belligerent? Ug…. when will the minutiae of rules & judgments stop? An atmosphere of respect and trust goes a LOOTTTTT farther than continuing to add to the rulebook.
Ericsays:January 16, 2012 8:44 PMReply
> “You say that you have a paradigm that you’re living in and promoting – that sounds a lot like a personal vendetta.”
The irony of a Teen Mania supporter writing that sentence should not be understated. The pot calling the dove black.
None of Dave Hasz’s superficial alleged changes address the underlying problem of the unabashed fundamental legalism in their doctrine, which can be identified in their teachings in 2011. Here’s the link: Honor Academy False Teaching
Anonymoussays:January 17, 2012 11:59 AMReply
Eric, thanks for posting your link. I’m not a theology expert, didn’t graduate from Moody, and have never taken Hebrew. I do know the heart of Teen Mania for their interns and know that they want to do a good job. I hope that you take the time to talk with Dave about the content of your post.
Ericsays:January 17, 2012 10:42 PMReply
Anonymous: You’re welcome. I’m glad you found my link thought-provoking.
I don’t doubt Teen Mania’s good intentions, but their false doctrines do call for public criticism, according to 1 Timothy 5:20. Of course if Dave wants to talk with me about the Gospel as I present it in my article, I’d be quite open to it, although he hasn’t been willing to respond to comments I’ve sent him in the past. Still, there’s hope for everybody I suppose.