What follows is IMO is one of the best and most well-written, cogent and articulate posts ever made to this JC thread of ours.
It's nearly three years old, is by muppet, and I thought that this post would be worth bringing out again.
Muppet, you really hit the nail on the head with this one. My compliments. I return to it again and again in my ongoing effort to really understand this group.
Have you ever actually MET a present member of a JC face-to-face, Blackhat? The reason I ask, is that if you had, then you would quickly realize that the JCs' modus operandi is NOT "love-bombing." DM and the JCs operate by instilling guilt and fear into their prospective recuits, and then manipulating them accordingly.
I have already taken and passed Cults 101. I am now in the midst of my advanced cult-ed coursework. Oh, and I made an A in Social Psych, too.
It's one things to read some books about cults and then make some generalizations based upon what you learned from the books, and it's quite another to go and interact with members of a cult on thier own territory. By doing so, as I have, you quickly realize that all cults do not "love bomb" potential recruits. No, all cults DO NOT work the same way, in terms of recruitment strategies. The Twelve Tribes, for example, love bomb with warm fuzzies and all that. The JCs, by contrast, "fear bomb" their potentials.
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muppet
DM is particularly concerned that professional 'cult-busters' can impact negatively on their recruitment. He claimed that they have a fairly high record of success in 'brainwashing people against groups if they are able to get the person before they have had deep personal involvement in the group'.
This is one reason for the JC's ruthless recruitment strategies. The object is to get the recruit IN quickly before they have time to assess and question the beliefs and practises of the group with anyone else. Once the recruit is brought in, they are taught that they have already been brainwashed by their families and by society since birth and encouraged to be suspicious of them. Slick. Anyone who is convinced they have been brainwashed becomes very keen to alter that. Decisions made by the group are then slickly presented to the recruit alongside a less attractive option (eg choosing eternal damnation or choosing to die an unbeleiver ). Reminders that no one who puts his / her hand to the plough should look back are added. Questions are sidelined as evidence that the recruit does not have faith. Fear is the only alternative presented by the group who claim that society lives in fear (and not by faith) In this setting when a new recruit 'decides' to stay after the trial week, they are unaware that they have been the victime of coercive persuasion. The group are constantly reminded of how evil 'cultbusters' are and one by one are inducted to recruit in the same way, on the basis that we will all try to justify our own behaviour. Therefore the recruit who attempts to recruit others becomes doubly convinced that thry are doing the right thing. DM's letters on cognitive dissonance explain this. DM constantly reminds members that everything they do is their own decision ( lie) and that 'there are no locks on the doors' (but the only alternative option presented is going to hell ) . Door locks are not necessary when a mind has been chained.
Ex members are very brave people.
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2010 08:55PM by zeuszor.