Subject and Expectation:
In this second installment of the two-part editorial, The Small Town Humanist will be continuing the discussion on what indoctrination means, how brainwashing works, and explaining in detail how mind control techniques used by religious cults can absolutely destroy someone’s life. This subject matter is a very sensitive one that touches millions and has been the reason for far too much hurt and mental devastation in our world. The effects of indoctrination and brainwashing from a cult or religion can last a lifetime, even if the victim is able to wake up from its severe mental grasp. Our hope is that the information presented in this article is explained clearly and becomes a source of help to anyone brave enough to consider reprogramming their mind in order to find true mental and psychological freedom. The author speaks from first-hand experience, being a surviving victim of a 37-year indoctrination from an extremely dangerous religious cult. In accord with part one of this discussion, we will be continuing with using the Jehovah’s Witness religion as a case study to examine the 8 criteria for thought reform (brainwashing or mind control) that Dr. Lifton defined years ago.
Begin with ‘Part One’ before continuing on
If you have not yet read the first installment, we highly suggest that you begin there first. You can read it here.
Even though the Watchtower Organization will be used as a case study in our discussion, what we hope you take away is how to understand and use what Lifton has clarified down to a science for questioning and challenging your own religious faith. We owe it to ourselves to question everything. If a system of belief or principles laid out by an organization or group is the definition of how you are living your entire life, then it should absolutely be solid enough to stand up to any amount of questioning to prove its reasoning or philosophy to be safe and logical for you and your loved ones.
Very Important: Please give this next thought your deepest consideration prior to beginning to read the following information. Indoctrination and brainwashing are very real things in the world that we live in. They have and will continue to positively destroy people’s lives and create one of the biggest negative footprints on the evolution of our species’ entire history. It is not magic and it is not fake. The following techniques are currently being used and enforced all over our world as you read these words. They may even be used on you. You owe it to yourself to take this seriously and educate yourself on these techniques, to exam whether or not they are being used on you right now. The ensuing information is not for the faint at heart to consider. If you truly have empathetic love for yourself and for our future then PLEASE have a completely open mind in regards to what you are about to take in.
Continuing On…
5) The “Sacred Science” [Possession of the Ultimate Moral Vision of Truth]
| Lifton’s words paraphrased for clarity in this case |
“The totalist milieu [environment or context] contains an aura of sacredness around its basic dogma, holding it out as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. This sacredness is evident in the prohibition (whether or not explicit) against the questioning of basic assumptions, and in the reverence which is demanded for the originators of the Word, the present bearers of the Word, and the Word itself. While thus transcending ordinary concerns of logic, however, the milieu at the same time makes an exaggerated claim of airtight logic, of absolute ‘scientific’ precision. Thus the ultimate moral vision becomes an ultimate science; and the man who dares to criticize it, or to harbor even unspoken alternative ideas, becomes not only immoral and irreverent, but also ‘unscientific.’ …The assumption here is not so much that man can be God, but that man’s ideas can be God… At the level of the individual, the totalist sacred science can offer much comfort and security.”
| Jehovah’s Witnesses Technique |
If you are currently a Jehovah’s Witness, read that phrase again…the ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. I feel that I am safe in stating that there aren’t many other religions out there that place the amount of emphasis that Witnesses do, on the fact that they are the sole possessors of the only heavenly-directed enlightenment of biblical truth on the face of the Earth. The entire organization of followers, directed and taught by its Governing Body made up of a few men, collectively refer to the way that they all live as possessing “The Truth.” When a person from outside of the organization comes to a level of understanding taught by the Witnesses, they are said to have “found The Truth!”
Another point of focus that Lifton mentioned here is when a group uses an element of this technique to create the illusion of possessing a sacred science that transcends ordinary logic, making exaggerated claims of absolute ‘scientific’ precision, even on subjects that they are not professionally educated.
The main tool that Jehovah’s Witnesses use for this is a magazine called Awake. Most people have had the experience of getting the knock on their door early on a Saturday morning from Witnesses promoting the latest issue of The Watchtower. The Watchtower and Awake magazines are usually offered as a pair. While The Watchtower is usually used to highlight issues of doctrine, Awake is geared more towards various everyday topics. Growing up as a Witness, I was exposed to countless lessons on almost every subject known to man in the Awake magazine.
I want to make it clear that I am not against an organization that publishes articles for its followers on various subjects, to give their opinions as to how these subjects should possibly be viewed. This is not, however, how Jehovah’s Witnesses handle it.
You can almost guarantee that if a Jehovah’s Witness is reading an article in Awake magazine about electronic devices, television shows that could be considered questionable, or even a certain diet fad that is labeled as being good or bad, that the person reading the article will take the advice in the magazine (written by The Governing Body) as absolute gospel. For most Witnesses, there wouldn’t even be a second thought given as to whether or not the author of the article was an educated scholar or expert on the subject matter. It simply wouldn’t even cross their mind to even care. The Witness reader would immediately consider the ‘sacred science’ that was handed down by The Governing Body as nothing but the best advice to be found in the world on that particular subject matter.
| Personal Challenge |
Having strength and confidence in your own personal faith, ask yourself honestly…does my religion or organization use this technique?
6) Loading the Language [Creating Their Own Language/Vocabulary]
| Lifton’s words paraphrased for clarity in this case |
“The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis… Totalist language, then, is repetitiously centered on all-encompassing jargon, prematurely abstract, highly categorical, relentlessly judging, and to anyone but its most devoted advocate, deadly dull: in Lionel Trilling’s phrase, ‘the language of nonthought.’…”
| Jehovah’s Witnesses Technique |
Have you ever heard of any of these phrases or words?
The faithful and discreet slave…144,000…the great tribulation…disfellowshipped (hmmm, autocorrect didn’t even recognize that one)…disassociated…mentally diseased….apostate…unbaptized publisher (autocorrect again??)…public reproof…the two witness rule…microphone privileges…field service…a conscience matter…special pioneer…auxiliary pioneer…regular pioneer…kingdom hall…shepherding call…euphemisms…watchtower magazine…awake magazine…bethel…circuit overseer…district convention…etc.
If some of these sound strange or if you’ve never heard them before in your life, then more than likely you were never one of Jehovah’s Witness. The Watchtower has the market cornered on loading the language.
Why do you think this technique works? Think back to when you were growing up as a child or maybe even now as an adult. Have you ever had a group of friends that you were a part of that was so close that you almost had your own language? Not an entire language, but inside jokes, sayings or phrases that were native to your group of friends? How did this make you feel? When a group of friends or family or even an organization of worshipers have certain stories or phrases that only they understand, it draws the group closer together, giving them a sense of camaraderie or belonging to something special.
This concept absolutely had that effect on me. I remember being in school at a young age, not feeling understood just like every young person in the world. It was the overwhelming feeling of togetherness and the unique nature of our group of worshippers that gave me feelings of strength and warmth, knowing that no matter how the rest of the world viewed me, my brothers and sisters in the religion understood things with me that made us special. It is absolutely human nature to feel very special when you belong to something. It gives you a feeling of closeness that is not so easily found in life. The bad thing is that this can be used against you by wicked and simply evil people, in order to control you.
If a group has this effect on you, making you feel special, then you’re less likely to ever leave it. Pretty smart technique huh?
| Personal Challenge |
Having strength and confidence in your own personal faith, ask yourself honestly…does my religion or organization use this technique?
7) Doctrine Over Person [Nonbelievers are Excommunicated]
| Lifton’s words paraphrased for clarity in this case |
“This sterile language reflects another characteristic feature of ideological totalism: the subordination of human experience to the claims of doctrine… [W]hen the myth becomes fused with the totalist sacred science, the resulting ‘logic’ can be so compelling and coercive that it simply replaces the realities of individual experience….The underlying assumption is that the doctrine–including its mythological elements–is ultimately more valid, true, and real than is any aspect of actual human character or human experience. Thus, even when circumstances require that a totalist movement follow a course of action in conflict with or outside the doctrine, there exists [a need to erect] an elaborate façade of new rationalizations designed to demonstrate the unerring consistency of the doctrine and the unfailing foresight which it provides… Rather than modify the myth in accordance with experience, the will to orthodoxy requires instead that men be modified in order to reaffirm the myth..”
| Jehovah’s Witnesses Technique |
If you have had a chance to view Leah Remini’s Scientology specials on A&E, more specifically the episode on Jehovah’s Witnesses, then you may understand that no one shuns like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Scientologists.
I was kicked out of my religion, having God and the privilege of prayer taken away from me in 1999. The local body of elders decided that I was showing signs of being an unrepentant sinner and that I needed to be removed from the congregation and to be shunned as if I did not exist, regardless of what that would do to me.
All of this was set in motion by nothing more than an emotional statement by one person to the body of elders in my congregation. I sat in committee meeting after meeting for many weeks before many groups of men from surrounding congregations, trying to fight for my right to continue on as I was. These men, however, chose to take the word of one person against my own and took away everything that I had in the world, completely destroying me. It was the most devastating blow I could possibly imagine.
Recall in Part One of this editorial that we discussed in-depth The Two Witness Rule and how the organization simply refuses to go to the authorities or even investigate internally any accusation of child sex abuse unless there have been two witnesses that can testify to the act? In my case, this rule was completely ignored. I lost my parents, my siblings, most of my family, and every friend that I had in my life all in one evening…with the reading of one simple phrase. Why did they do this? Simply because the doctrine laid out by The Watchtower and The Governing Body was viewed as having more importance than my own faith and essentially my life.
Try to imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning having lost every single person in your life. Not one of them even acknowledging your existence. Not your parents, not your siblings, not one of your friends, not your children, and none of your family members. What would you do? How would that affect your life? Think very hard; would you even be able to go on with life? Is having faith and belief in something worth that? Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for thousands and thousands of people that have been kicked out and shunned by the Jehovah’s Witness organization, because of the technique of holding doctrine over person.
To review a horribly disturbing visual representation of this shunning process actually made and produced by the Watchtower Society, click here.
| Personal Challenge |
Having strength and confidence in your own personal faith, ask yourself honestly…does my religion or organization use this technique?
8) Dispensing of Existence [Group Has the Power to Decide Who Exists and Who Does Not]
| Lifton’s words paraphrased for clarity in this case |
“The totalist environment always draws a sharp line between those whose right to existence can be recognized, and those who possess no such right… [O]ne underlying assumption makes this arrogance mandatory: the conviction that there is just one path to true existence, just one valid mode of being, and that all others are perforce invalid and false…The totalist environment… thus stimulates in everyone a fear of extinction or annihilation.. Existence comes to depend upon creed (I believe, therefore I am), upon submission (I obey, therefore I am) and beyond these, upon a sense of total merger with the ideological movement. Ultimately of course one compromises and combines the totalist ‘confirmation’ with independent elements of personal identity; but one is ever made aware that, should he stray too far along this ‘erroneous path,’ his right to existence may be withdrawn.”
| Jehovah’s Witnesses Technique |
Technique number eight is a natural follow up to technique number seven. You are not allowed to exist in the organization if you have even the slightest doubt that they are incorrect on anything! Even the small things.
In #7 we defined the process of how a Jehovah’s Witness can be labeled as “disfellowshipped” by the organization if there is a “sin” committed by that person and the group collectively decides that he or she is truly unrepentant for committing the sin. Even though this thought is more than likely bothersome to even think of, there is actually an even worse label that a person can carry in the eyes of a Jehovah’s Witness. The label we’re referring to is when a member of the group “disassociates themselves from the organization” because of a personal conscience matter in the heart. What exactly are we talking about here? How does this differ from being labeled as disfellowshipped?
Let’s say that you have belonged to this religion since birth and you are a young adult now. You’ve grown up living your entire life in accord with the rules and suggestions that are laid out by the Watchtower Society to stay a devoted and loyal servant to Jehovah God. You did everything you were supposed to do and have always been an extremely good person. As an adult you have been given the most wonderful privilege that a human being can have; you’ve created life and now view your child as the most precious thing in this world.
You come to a crossroad in your life at this point. You come to the decision that you can no longer have a peaceful conscience belonging to an organization that demands two witnesses to confess to an act of sexual abuse of a child before they even consider taking it to the authorities. What if this child was your own?
You can’t help but be consumed by the thought of what would happen if your precious child was being sexually abused and there wasn’t a third person present watching the act, to stand up as a witness to the horrendous act of violence that was committed against your child? You think logically to yourself that even if the child comes forward with the accusation, the perpetrator certainly isn’t going to confess to the felony that he or she committed resulting in nothing at all being done about the unspeakable crime that will no doubt scar your child for the rest of their life. Without hesitation, sensible reasoning and unconditional love for protecting your child take over and you decide that you simply can no longer be identified as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
You decide that you want to peacefully disassociate yourself from this organization simply because you no longer wish to be connected, exercising your personal stand against child sex abuse. You write a letter to the local body of elders stating exactly this, in addition to informing them that you have no wishes to judge the group or to be an enemy of any witnesses. You state in the letter that you still love all of the friends and your family that have been your brothers and sisters since you were born and it is your wish to stay close to everyone, agreeing to simply refrain from ever discussing religious matters with any of them. The body of elders then simply announce at the next meeting in The Kingdom Hall [their place of worship] that “{your name} has disassociated themselves from the organization.”
And that is it! With the simple reading of just a few words similar to this, you have just lost every friend that you ever had and every member of your family that is a witness. It does not matter at all that you have clearly stated your wish to still be connected to your family members and dear friends that basically have made up your whole life since you were born; with that announcement, you have lost almost everything that made up who you are with the exception of your child.
There is no logic inside of a cult. There is no reasoning inside of a cult. There is no grey matter inside of a cult, only black and white. You simply either toe the line and believe every single word that The Governing Body says and prints, to the letter, or you no longer exist in the eyes of the entire organization. It is that simple. No one in this world is able to leave this religion peacefully without losing almost everything that they have. Ladies and gentlemen, this horrible reality is the essence of what life is like being indoctrinated inside of a brainwashing mind control cult.
| Keep thinking, talking, reasoning, and loving |
We’ve been ending each topic with the challenge to the reader to question their own belief system or religion in regards to each technique. The editorial is now over and the ball is now in your court. Do not be weak…be strong. Do not be a puppet…control your own life. Do not be a pawn to be used and abused…guide every minute of your own life to what makes you happy and helps others. Do not let someone else think for you…critically think your way to the best life that your heart desires. Do not hate someone simply for what they believe or how they choose to live their life…love them for who they are inside and for what they contribute to your life and your happiness. These are all part of the Philosophy of Humanism Theory.
Don’t allow your precious mind or your identity to be formed and imprisoned by a group of small-minded control freaks. Keep thinking…keep talking…keep reasoning…keep loving. - The Small Town Humanist Click To TweetWe want to help you
It is our earnest wish that the information in this article was presented in a clear enough manner to be of assistance to you or anyone that may be mentally struggling with the fallout of being a mind control victim of indoctrination or a brainwashing cult. If you wish to learn more about the real truth behind being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and especially if you are currently seeking help in waking up from this particular system of indoctrination through the brainwashing mind control techniques that we have discussed, please do not hesitate to contact us via our Contact Page.
We conducted a survey on Twitter recently. After defining the 8 criteria for thought reform, we asked the audience to select from multiple-choice options, choosing their personal opinion of how many of the techniques that they felt Jehovah’s Witnesses use in their belief system. 3% of them feel that the organization uses 1 or 2 of the techniques. 97% of them feel that they use all 8 of the techniques. You decide for yourself considering this current poll data and the two editorials that you have just read. Do you think that Jehovah’s Witnesses are an extremely dangerous cult? If you answered yes, then please share these two articles with anyone that you may feel is under its control.
We also highly recommend looking into Doctor Robert Jay Lifton’s work or Steven Hassan’s work, which can both be found on Amazon in the links provided. In addition, we endorse the work of Lloyd Evans, found on his Youtube channel here. Lloyd’s video library is vast and extremely valuable to anyone that is mentally trapped inside of the Watchtower. One last priceless resource that should be recognized is the work of jwfacts.com. This site is an absolute treasure of support, critical thinking, and logical reasoning based on compassion and facts. As the site itself exclaims, “JWfacts makes it as simple as possible to determine if Jehovah’s Witnesses have ‘the truth.’”
We want to hear your experiences with Indoctrination
Remember, the whole point of this website and this global conversation is for all of us to work together and help each other. We chose to highlight Jehovah’s Witnesses as the case study for the discussion but there are literally thousands of cults out there, some of which are so intelligently put together that it is very hard to identify them as a cult and even harder for a member in it to know that they are in a dangerous cult. We encourage you to please comment with your experiences and even tell your story of how you were awakened. Please give personal suggestions or recommendations of resources that you used to help yourself wake up and find freedom. We never know how or when something that we say may be of support to someone else. Words and experiences can be so powerful and so helpful.
