Steven Hassen is a well known name for many, if you do not know him google can help. This information is certainly not new, but as almost every exJW has deep affection and concern for active JWs it is certainly my wish and I hope the wish of other exJWs that any active JW considers this information. This information cannot be deemed as Apostate, it is just stating the opinion of someone who has spent much of his adult life in helping people to realize what a Cult is
Here is his BITE model to determine if a group can be classified as a CULT.
Behavior
Information
Thought Control
Emotions
Behavior
· Regulation of individual's physical reality, for example, what clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears
· Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group rituals
· Individualism discouraged; "group think" prevails
· Rigid rules and regulations
· Need for obedience and dependency
Information
· Use of deception
- Deliberately holding back information
- Distorting information to make it more "acceptable"
- Outright lying
· Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
- Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
- Critical information
- Former members
- Keep members so busy they don't have time to think and check things out.
· Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
- Information is not freely accessible
- Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
- Leadership decides who "needs to know" what and when
· Spying and reporting on other members
· Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
- Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, and other media
- Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
· Confession
Thought Control
· Need to internalize the group's doctrine as "Truth"
· Black and White thinking - Good vs. Evil, us vs. them, inside vs. outside
· Use of "loaded" language (for example, "thought-terminating clichés"). Words are the tools we use to think with. These "special" words constrict rather than expand understanding, and can even stop thoughts altogether. They function to reduce complexities of experience into trite, platitudinous "buzz words."
· Only "good" and "proper" thoughts are encouraged.
· No critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as legitimate
· No alternative belief systems viewed as legitimate, good, or useful
Emotions
· Make the person feel that if there are ever any problems, it is always their fault, never the leader's or the group's.
- Excessive use of guilt
- Excessive use of fear
- Fear of thinking independently
- Fear of the "outside" world
- Fear of enemies
- Fear of losing one's "salvation"
- Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by group
- Fear of disapproval
· Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about ever leaving the group or even questioning the leader's authority. The person under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group.
- No happiness or fulfilment outside of the group
- Terrible consequences will take place if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc.
- Shunning of leave takers; fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family
- Never a legitimate reason to leave. From the group's perspective, people who leave are "weak," "undisciplined," "unspiritual," "worldly," "brainwashed by family or counselor," or "seduced by money, sex, rock and roll."
More information on Mind Control can be obtained from:
http://jwfacts.com/watchtower/fear-cult-mind-control.php
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