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Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control by LUNA LINDSEY Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control Copyright ©2013-2014 by Luna Flesher Lindsey Internal Graphics ©2014 by Luna Flesher Lindsey Cover Art ©2014 by Ana Cruz All rights reserved. This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, professional works, or reviews. www.lunalindsey.com ISBN-10: 1489595937 ISBN-13: 978-1489595935 First digital & print publication: July 2014 iv RECOVERING AGENCY Table of Contents FOREWORD' VIII' PART%1:%IN%THE%BEGINNING% ' IT'STARTED'IN'A'GARDEN…' 2' Free$Will$vs.$Determinism$ 3' Exit$Story$ 5' The$Illusion$of$Choice$ 9' WHAT'IS'MIND'CONTROL?' 13' What$is$a$Cult?$ 16' Myths$of$Cults$&$MinD$Control$ 17' ALL'IS'NOT'WELL'IN'ZION' 21' Is$Mormonism$A$DanGer$To$Society?$ 22' Why$ShoulD$We$Mourn$Or$Think$Our$Lot$Is$HarD?$ 26' Self<esteem' ' Square'Peg,'Round'Hole'Syndrome' ' Guilt'&'Shame' ' Depression,'Eating'Disorders,'&'Suicide' ' Codependency'&'Passive<Aggressive'Culture' ' Material'Loss' ' DON’T'JUST'GET'OVER'IT—RECOVER!' 36' Though$harD$to$you$this$journey$may$appear…$ 40' Born$UnDer$the$Covenant$ 41' We$Then$Are$Free$From$Toil$anD$Sorrow,$Too…$ 43' SLIPPERY'SOURCES' 45' Truth$Is$Eternal$$(And$Verifiable)$ 45' Truth$Is$Eternal$$(Depends$on$Who$You$Ask)$ 46' -
Barker, Eileen. "Denominationalization Or Death
Barker, Eileen. "Denominationalization or Death? Comparing Processes of Change within the Jesus Fellowship Church and the Children of God aka The Family International." The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate. By Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright and Carole M. Cusack. London,: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. 99–118. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 2 Oct. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350162945.ch-006>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 2 October 2021, 18:58 UTC. Copyright © Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright, Carole M. Cusack, and contributors 2020. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 6 Denominationalization or Death? Comparing Processes of Change within the Jesus Fellowship Church and the Children of God aka The Family International Eileen Barker This is an account of the apparently impending demise of two new religious movements (NRMs) which were part of the Jesus movement that was spreading across North America and western Europe in the late 1960s. Both movements were evangelical in nature; both had a charismatic preacher as its founder; and both believed from their inception in following the lifestyle of the early Christians as described in the Acts of the Apostles.1 One of the movements began in the small village of Bugbrooke, a few miles southwest of Northampton in the English Midlands; the other began in Huntington Beach, California. -
The Israeli Center for Victims of Cults Who Is Who? Who Is Behind It?
Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l Avenue d’Auderghem 61/16, 1040 Brussels Phone/Fax: 32 2 3456145 Email: [email protected] – Website: http://www.hrwf.eu No Entreprise: 0473.809.960 The Israeli Center for Victims of Cults Who is Who? Who is Behind it? By Willy Fautré The Israeli Center for Victims of Cults About the so-called experts of the Israeli Center for Victims of Cults and Yad L'Achim Rami Feller ICVC Directors Some Other So-called Experts Some Dangerous Liaisons of the Israeli Center for Victims of Cults Conclusions Annexes Brussels, 1 September 2018 The Israeli Center for Victims of Cults Who is Who? Who is Behind it? The Israeli Center for Victims of Cults (ICVC) is well-known in Israel for its activities against a number of religious and spiritual movements that are depicted as harmful and dangerous. Over the years, the ICVC has managed to garner easy access to the media and Israeli government due to its moral panic narratives and campaign for an anti-cult law. It is therefore not surprising that the ICVC has also emerged in Europe, in particular, on the website of FECRIS (European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on Cults and Sects), as its Israel correspondent.1 For many years, FECRIS has been heavily criticized by international human rights organizations for fomenting social hostility and hate speech towards non-mainstream religions and worldviews, usually of foreign origin, and for stigmatizing members of these groups.2 Religious studies scholars and the scientific establishment in general have also denounced FECRIS for the lack of expertise of their so-called “cult experts”. -
Thecultphenomenonhowgroup
Authors: Mike Kropveld Executive Director Info-Cult Marie-Andrée Pelland Doctoral Student in Criminology Université de Montréal Translated by: Natasha DeCruz Gwendolyn Schulman Linguistic Landscapes Cover Design by: Philippe Lamoureux This book was made possible through the financial support of the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration. However, the opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. The translation from the French version (Le phénomène des sectes: L’étude du fonctionnement des groupes ©2003) into English was made possible through the financial support of Canadian Heritage. ©Info-Cult 2006 ISBN: 2-9808258-1-6 The Cult Phenomenon: How Groups Function ii Contents Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii Preface .......................................................................................................................viii Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: History of Info-Cult.......................................................................................3 Cult Project................................................................................................................3 Description.............................................................................................................3 Cult Project’s objectives.........................................................................................4 -
Cults and Psychological Manipulation
WORKSHOP FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: PSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION, CULTS AND CULTIC RELATIONSHIPS 1. What is a destructive cult? Langone’s definition Singer’s Continuum of Influence and Persuasion 2. Do people join cultic groups? Factors that increase vulnerability Cult Recruitment: One Predictable Factor 3. Overview of Thought Reform: Four models 4. Singer’s Conditions for Thought Reform (Explore how each condition applies to the client’s group) 5. Assessment of current and former group members Screening tools Motivation for seeking therapy Clinical picture of cult survivors Post Group Distress Most typical cult induced psychopathologies PTSD/Complex PTSD 6. Assessment of cult as well as cult leader Evaluate client’s safety while inquiring about the cult and its leadership Discuss possible psychopathology of the cult leader 7. Treatment of current cult members 8. Treatment of former members: First and Second Generation Stages of Recovery: Therapeutic goals Recommendations for Therapists 9. Types of care and reliable resources Prepared by: Rosanne Henry, LPC www.CultRecover.com I WHAT IS A DESTRUCTIVE CULT? A destructive cult is a group or movement that, to a significant degree xhibits great or excessive devotion or dedicationto some person, idea, or thing Uses a thought-reform program to persuade, control, and socialize members Systematically induces states of psychological dependency in members Exploits members to advance the leadership’s goals, and Causes psychological harm to members, their families, and the community. Langone, M.D. (Ed.). (1993) Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse. New York: W. Norton & Company. SINGER’S CONTINUUM OF INFLUENCE AND PERSUASION Singer, M.T. -
Steven Hassan M.Ed., LMHC
Steven Hassan M.Ed., LMHC, NCC 716 Beacon Street #590443 Newton, Massachusetts 02459 (617) 396-4638, Fax (617) 628-8153 Email: [email protected] Web: www.freedomofmind.com and www.freedomfromundueinfluence.org SUMMARY Licensed mental health professional, cult expert and undue influence expert with professional experience in the United States and abroad including consulting, counseling, speaking, media appearances, activism, writing, researching, teaching, and expert witness work to assist individuals and families with problems related to undue influence including brainwashing, mind control, and unethical hypnosis. Expertise includes undue influence in cases of destructive one-on-one relationships, families, parental alienation, mini-cults, religious cults, therapy and self-improvement groups, professional abuse, institutional abuse, corporations, multi-level marketing, political groups, human trafficking, hate and violent extremism, and other undue influence situations. CREDENTIALS Doctoral Studies Fielding Graduate University, School of Leadership Studies, PhD student in Organizational Development and Change (ODC) (Expected 2020) Masters Cambridge College, Masters in Education in Counseling Psychology, Cambridge, MA (1985) License Licensed Mental Health Counselor in 1992 (Commonwealth of Massachusetts #820) Hassan, Steven A., CV Revised 10/30/2019 Page 1 National Certification National Board of Certified Counselors: Nationally Certified Counselor, Cert. No. 43226 Additional Professional Training American Academy of Psychiatry -
Manufacturing Sectarian Divides Th E Chinese State, Identities, and Collective Violence Ƒ Patricia M
— 9 — Manufacturing Sectarian Divides Th e Chinese State, Identities, and Collective Violence ƒ Patricia M. Th ornton In the predawn hours of 24 April 1999, an unusual group slowly began assem- bling before Zhongnanhai, the highly guarded and gated compound that houses the elite national leaders of the Chinese party-state. Appearing to arrive nearly simultaneously in small bands from all corners of Beijing, they silently congregated before the compound gates and formed a neat grid only a few blocks from famed Tiananmen Square, the site of the massive student demon- strations that had been brutally suppressed almost exactly ten years earlier. By noon, the crowd had swelled to over ten thousand and occupied at least three streets surrounding the perimeter of the compound, with most participants silently standing in meditation or reading the written works of Li Hongzhi, the venerated founder and leader of the quasi-Buddhist movement commonly known as Falun Gong (Practitioners or Cultivators of the Wheel of Law). Many of the participants had packed food and water to sustain them during their long vigil, and some even vowed to spend the night. Despite a week of unrest orchestrated by Falun Gong practitioners in nearby Tianjin, the Beijing police were caught off guard by the demonstration. Aft er stationing uniformed police offi cers every six meters around the perimeter of the protesters’ grid, police authorities took well over twelve hours to disperse the group. Most left voluntarily around 8:30pm aft er police threatened to herd them all onto eighty buses waiting behind the nearby Great Hall of the People. -
What Is a Cult? the Mind Control Process in the FWBO
Mind control as practised by Friends of the Western Buddhist Order Text by Mark Dunlop Legal Disclaimer The following information is based on experience of The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) in the UK, and should therefore be taken as applying only to FWBO bodies located in the UK. Readers in other parts of the world should make their own enquiries as to whether or not the information provided here is relevant to their local situation. The FWBO is a UK based religious charity, which also has about thirty centres in the rest of the world. The FWBO offers public classes in meditation, Buddhism, and related disciplines. They also run residential communities, retreat centres, fund-raising trusts, and various businesses, and they can be viewed on the Internet at: http://www.fwbo.org/index.html [WARNING: this is the cult's home page] This is one page of an ex - FWBO site. The purpose of the site is to inform a wider public about some of the harmful aspects of new religious movements and mind control cults in general, and of the FWBO in particular. The site is spread over a number of pages: Main page: The FWBO Files (140 kb text.) The following pages have been contributed by ex-member Mark Dunlop: Section 1: Shorter History and Teachings of The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. (27 kb text.) Section 2 [this page]: What is a Cult? -The Mind Control Process in the FWBO (67 kb text plus 181 kb pictures) Section 5: Possible Legal Protection against Cults - 'gold dust', according to a leading British cult expert. -
THESIS P TROTTA Title: the Potential Contribution Of
1 THESIS P TROTTA Title: The potential contribution of psychosynthesis to education: an interview- based exploration of educators’ experiences of working with members of the ‘New Generations’ who are developing towards self-actualisation and self- transcendence. Submitted by Patrizia Trotta as a thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Submitted for examination in December 2012, revised thesis sent in May 2013. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Patrizia Trotta , MSc Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology Signature ........................................................ 2 ABSTRACT The intention behind this research was to reveal through two interpretive, inter-related studies the perceived needs of differently-labelled youth, collectively addressed in this thesis as ‘the New Generations’, exploring potentially viable ways of working with them in education. The first study focused on youth labelled Indigos, and the second study focused on exploring a possible way of working with the New Generations according to experienced teachers. Both studies drew on lived experience and opinions of educators who have acquired extensive experience respectively with the Indigo phenomenon and with the psychosynthetic educational model. The first study’s results revealed not only Indigos’ self-actualising and self-transcending characteristics and needs, but also indicated that holistic approaches to education appeared to have been successful with them. -
Flirty Fishing in the Children of God: the Sexual Body As a Site of Proselytization and Salvation
Marburg Journal of Religion: Volume 12, No. 1 (May 2007) Flirty Fishing in the Children of God: The Sexual Body as a Site of Proselytization and Salvation Susan Raine Abstract: The Children of God [now called The Family] emerged as an apocalyptic new religious movement in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, the group had engendered a great deal of academic and popular debate due to, among other things, its controversial sexual practices. In this article, I examine one such practice, namely, Flirty Fishing, in which many women in the group used their sexuality in combination with scriptural discussions as a method of proselytization. Utilizing social theories of the body, I explore the ways that many of the women may have adopted strategies that helped them to perceive their bodies and their behaviours in ways that did not threaten their senses of self. I consider both how women were able to endure the physical and emotional aspects of Flirty Fishing, and how they contextualized their behaviour in terms of the group’s general dynamics and belief system. Thus, I explore not only the organizational imposition of certain modes of behaviour on the body, but also individual perceptions of, responses to, and negotiations of them. Importantly, this article applies a theoretical approach to the study of new religious movements that few scholars thus far have explored. Introduction The Children of God (the COG, hereafter)i emerged during the late 1960s under the leadership of the Christian evangelical preacher, David Berg (1919-1994). The group offered a radically different platform from which to worship and spread what Berg believed to be the word of God. -
Researching New Religious Movements
Researching New Religious Movements ‘The most important “first” that this book achieves is its bold questioning of the whole intellectual apparatus of the sociology of religion as it has been applied to the understanding of the new religious movements. I am confident that Elisabeth Arweck’s study will quickly become required reading in the sociology of new religious movements.’ Professor David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, University of London ‘Powerful and original . it succeeds triumphantly in being at the same time an important, high-quality academic study and a book for our times.’ Professor David Marsland, Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Buckingham New religious movements such as Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church (Moonies) are now well established in mainstream cul- tural consciousness. However, responses to these ‘cult’ groups still tend to be overwhelmingly negative, characterized by the furious reactions that they evoke from majority interests. Modern societies need to learn how to respond to such movements and how to interpret their benefits and dangers. Researching New Religious Movements provides a fresh look at the history and development of ‘anti-cult’ groups and the response of main- stream churches to these new movements. In this unique reception study, Elisabeth Arweck traces the path of scholarship of new religious move- ments, exploring the development of research in this growing field. She con- siders academic and media interventions on both sides, with special emphasis on the problems of objectivity inherent in terminologies of ‘sects’, ‘cults’, and ‘brainwashing’. Ideal for students and researchers, this much- needed book takes the debate over new religious movements to a more sophisticated level. -
Rebuilding the Jigsaw Gillie Jenkinson Spent Years in an Abusive Cult
People Rebuilding the jigsaw Gillie Jenkinson spent years in an abusive cult. Now she specialises in counselling others recovering from similar experiences was thrilled when I discovered a psychological perspective, which caused cognitive dissonance in many Christianity in my late teens. The acknowledges the potential for harm: of the members, cognitive dissonance Ipeople I met were well meaning and ‘A group or movement that, to a being the emotional state set up when many were genuinely kind. Christianity significant degree there is a conflict between belief and answered many existential and I exhibits great or excessive devotion behaviour5. It was a confusing and emotional questions for me, but or dedication to some person, idea, terrifying milieu to live in, and the sadly, at that stage in my life, I had or thing psychological imprisonment, like the neither learned to think critically nor I uses a thought-reform programme dog in the electrocuted cage that does was I encouraged to do so. to persuade, control, and socialise not realise the door is open, was nearly I did not have a close mentor who members (ie to integrate them into total for me. At that point in my life, could help me make safe choices; the group’s unique pattern of I was living in an environment of indeed I did not think I needed to be relationships, beliefs, values and total control. wary; and my passion led me down a practices) I lost myself completely and had no road into ‘community’ (the in-thing in I systematically induces states of thought of leaving – that would have the 1970s) and into what ultimately psychological dependency in been ‘rebellion’ and the punishment became an abusive cult.