Garybuss (and others that agree with him) -- You are right.
Minimus (and others that agree with him) -- You are right.
I am going to quote Steven Hassan in Combatting Cult Mind Control a number of times in this post.
I do not 100% agree with everything Hassan has to say, but I do agree with the quotes used here and he says things much better than I can.
Pg 7 -
"Mind control" may be understood as a system of influences that disrupts an individual's
identity (beliefs, behavior, thinking, and emotions) and replaces it with a new identity.
In most cases, the new identity is one that the original identity would strongly object to
if it knew in advance what was in store.
Not all mind control techniques are inherently bad or unethical; for some, the manner
in which they are used is what is important. The locus of control should always remain
within the individual.
Pg 44-45 :
Phobias: The Force that Robs Cult Members' Freedom
What do phobia have to do with cult groups and mind control? In some cults, members are
systematically made to be phoic about ever leaving the group. Today's cults know how to
effectively implant vivid negative images deep within members' unconscious minds, making
it impossible for the member to even conceive of ever being happy and successful outside
of the group.
Pg 55 :
"Brainwashing" is typically coercive. The person knows at the outset that he is in the
hands of an enemy. It begins with a clear demarcation of the respective roles - who is
prisoner and who is jailer - and the prisoner experiences an absolute minimum of choice.
Pg 59 :
The Four Components of Mind Control
As I have come to see it, mind control may be largely understood by analysis of the three components
described by Lean Festinger, a pschologoist, in what has become known as the "cognitive dissonance
theory". These components are control of behavior, control of thoughts, and control of emotions.
Each component has a powerful effect on the other two: change one, and the others will tend to
follow. Succeed in changing all three, and the individual will be swept away. However, from my
experience in researching destructive cults, I have added one additional compnonent which is vital:
control of information. If you control the information someone receives, you restrict his free
ability to think for himself.
Steven Hassan describes in detail all four components. Most importantly, this is what he says about information control --
Pg 65 :
Information control also extends across all relationships. People are not allowed to talk to each
other about anything critical of the leader, doctrine, or organization. Members must spy on each
other and report imporper activites or comments to leaders... Most importantly, people are told
to avoid conact with ex-memvers or critics. those who could provide the most information are the
ones to be especially shunned.
In summary of this discussion, Steven Hassan states:
Pg 66 :
Together, the form a totalistic web, which can manipulate even the strongest-minded people. In fact,
it is the strongest-minded individuals who make the most involved and enthusiastic cult members.
Before I answer the Minimus' question, I want to assure myself part of the class of individuals that garybuss will "have little interest in perusing that topic with". Is education a form of mind control, or, more generally, is living in society a form of mind control?
I would unequivocally answer YES to both of these questions. The education system in the US is a form of mind control. We only study historical events from the US perspective, we have books censored because they open peoples minds to "politically incorrect" behaviors, attitudes, and/or political positions. We, as a society, conform to and live within this education system because we choose to. Because we believe it is better than others or maybe because it would emotionally cost us too much to move 1/2 way around the world to obtain a more open form of education. Whichever the case, we have free will to not attend this educational system (although we could be punished).
Now, in response to Minimus --
There are degrees to everything, and there are individual responses to everything. For whatever reason (or lack thereof), eg. childhood, abuse, emotional awareness, etc. people will respond and recover differently from identical forms of trauma. Some will be able to process the after effects of the trauma they experienced more easily than others. Some will be able to resolve the cognitive dissonance, others will not.
As in Love and War, everyones experience and emotional investment is different. For example, extramarital[?] affairs and divorce are part (or a way) of life for some. For others, these events create cognitive dissonance and these individuals have therefore been subjected to mind-control.
So, I argue, that you are under extreme mind control as a Jehovah's Witness if you are experiencing cognitive dissonance and yet continue to follow along, just as the wife of an abusive husband who cannot muster the willpower to leave. (My apologies to any I offend with this statement. I am in no way trying to minimize such a traumatic situation.)
From my perspective, and from my relationships with my family, Jehovah's Witnesses are under mind control. More so that you and I. They have been given a restricted source of information, been told how they must behave in order to obtain an everlasting life, told how to "think" about their own flesh and blood who happen to disagree with their spiritual beliefs, and they are held "emotional hostages" out of fear, guilt, and loneliness.
Do they have free will to choose? Yes, they do. And I had free will went I went to college, which, BTW, I only did to get a piece of paper so I could make enough money to support my family... therefore a victim of social mind control... Now, I WANT to go to school to take classes I enjoy and find personal satisfaction in.
gambit
Gary Buss also stated --
Education, influence and free will are different things. One popular opinion here is that the Witness people have no free will. I disagree with that. I made every decision to do every action as a Witness of my own free will. Was I deluded? Often, yes! Were my actions pragmatic? Many were not. Did I have choices? Yes!
de·lud·ed, de·lud·ing, de·ludes
To deceive the mind or judgment of --
Gary, If your mind or judgement where often decieved by someone or something you had 100% trust in, you wouldn't consider this a form of mind control? I am in no way eliminating your own responsibility in the situation... but, honestly, you wouldn't consider this a form of mind control? Interesting !
