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         MindNet Journal - Vol. 1, No. 20
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         V E R I C O M M / MindNet         "Quid veritas est?"
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    Notes:

    The following is reproduced here with the express permission of
    the author.

    Permission is given to reproduce and redistribute, for
    non-commercial purposes only, provided this information and the
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    The views and opinions expressed below are not necessarily the
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    otherwise noted.

    Editor: Mike Coyle

    Contributing Editors: Walter Bowart
    		      Alex Constantine

    Assistant Editor: Rick Lawler

    Research: Darrell Bross

    ================================================================

    Another summary...

    	Summary: Hassan, Steven. Combatting Cult Mind Control,
    Rochester, Vermont, Park Street Press, 1988. Hassan is a former
    victim of cult mind control. He was rescued and deprogrammed. He
    is the National Coordinator of FOCUS, a support and information
    network for victims. He is one of the leading international
    experts on cult mind control. He pioneered the non-coercive cult
    exit-counseling method. He is a noted public speaker, seminar
    leader, exit-counselor, and author.

    Summary

    	Hassan details his experience of being victimized for
    over two years by cult mind control performed by the Moonies. He
    also describes his later rescue and deprogramming arranged by
    his parents.
    	Cults and charismatic leaders are not a new phenomenon.
    They have existed throughout history. What is new is the
    recently developed systematic use of psychological techniques to
    reduce someone's free will and gain control over his feelings,
    thoughts, and actions: hot seats, controlling behavior, age
    regression to reduce critical thinking capacity, cult recruiting
    techniques which exploit human needs, controlling the flow of
    information, techniques for inducing trance, privacy
    deprivation, techniques for systematically inducing phobias,
    controlling feelings, group process methods, reframing,
    controlling thoughts, group conformity pressures, obedience to
    authority, behavior modification, etc. Repetition, monotony and
    rhythm are all used during indoctrination to induce trance
    states.
    	A classic example of a double bind used on victims of
    cults is given. At a cult seminar, a victim is told: "'If you
    admit there are things in your life that aren't working, then by
    not taking the seminar, you are giving those things power to
    control your life.' In other words, just being here proves you
    are incompetent to judge whether to leave."
    	It is important to note relative to therapeutic,
    religious, and spiritual cults that any genuine growth in any of
    these areas cannot be founded upon deception and mind control,
    no matter how ideological or noble the cult's stated goals.
    	Without informed consent, the victim is made to become
    dependent upon outside authority figures, using mind control to
    do it. The recent developments learned in psychology as to how
    to manipulate the unconscious mind are being misused. "The
    conscious mind has a narrow range of attention. The unconscious
    does all the rest, including regulating all body
    functions....The unconscious mind is the primary manager of
    information."
    	Some groups, like drug rehabilitation and juvenile
    rehabilitation programs, use many of these same techniques to
    break a person, then rebuild them in a positive way.
    Unfortunately, these programs are completely dependent upon the
    integrity of their leaders. Some have stepped over the line.
    	Cult recruiters are no longer just the weird guy on the
    street corner selling flowers. Cult recruiters are the business
    colleague, friend, or peer begging you to attend the latest
    seminar, lecture, or meeting. Cults are now recruiting using TV
    ads selling books, the post office to send invitations to a
    seemingly harmless seminar, and the newspaper to place a want
    ad. Some victims are recruited when they hire on with a
    cult-owned business. The cults will put on free lectures,
    rallies, movies, poetry readings, etc., to entice potential
    members. Almost anyone can be a victim, except the handicapped:
    Most cults do not want them because of the necessary
    expenditures of time, money, and effort to care for them.
    	Children of cult members are also exploited. For example,
    many of the children who died at Jonestown had been adopted by
    the cult members and were wards of the state of California.
    Their presence created a cheap labor force and provided income
    from the state. In some cults, children are physically abused,
    sexually abused, isolated from school or community, and forced
    to depend upon cult indoctrination for their world view. Some
    children at Jonestown were placed at night into deep, dark pits
    and told the pits were filled with snakes.
    	Hassan says since cults faded from media coverage, most
    people have the erroneous impression that most cults faded away
    since the 1970s along with its rebellious youth and no longer
    present a threat. However, the truth is that cults have become
    even more sophisticated, expanding into areas the public never
    dreamed possible, using front groups in many  arenas, including
    economic, political, cultural, and religious. And they are not
    limiting themselves to the idealistic youth anymore either. They
    are going after many different kinds of people: corporate
    executives gathered together in hotel ballrooms; housewives
    attending psych-up rallies for pyramid sales organizations; high
    school students; business men in three-piece suits; and college
    students gathered at accredited universities to attend seminars.
    	The vast majority of people victimized by cults are
    intelligent, stable, well-educated, and from respectable
    families. Cults do not want to waste their resources on someone
    who is not put together well: The victim might break down, a
    loss for cult profit. Cults are big business. Consequently, they
    watch the bottom line of the cost/benefit ratio when it comes to
    evaluating a potential new member.
    	One of the reasons the cults are making such headway is
    because the idea that someone's will can be altered flys in the
    face of our entire legal and philosophical foundations which
    deny the possibility that someone's mind can be controlled.
    Current law simply does not recognize the existence of mind
    control, unless force or the threat of force has been used.
    Hassan challenges, "How would you know if you were under mind
    control?" Without help from another human being, no one has a
    way to make this determination once under mind control. But as
    long as our society remains in mass denial about the power of
    mind control, the body count will continue.
    	The cults are learning to shield themselves from public
    scrutiny by spending vast sums of money on public relations
    firms. Some are entering corporate America and sell leadership
    training seminars to the executives, while secretly developing
    designs to take over the company. They have become adept at
    influencing political directions, changing United States foreign
    policy by covertly lobbying for foreign powers, developing
    economic power through purchasing huge chunks of real estate and
    purchasing hundreds of businesses, influencing the judicial
    system, lobbying efforts, and electioneering for certain
    candidates.
    	For example, the Moonies have ties to the Korean Central
    Intelligence Agency, while Moon, himself, has ties with the
    Japanese organized crime network. They have a definite political
    agenda. Moon has founded business ventures which include the
    manufacture of M16 rifles, developing think tanks, supporting
    extreme right-wing groups, cultural exchange programs, and
    purchasing the Washington Times newspaper. Moon believes an
    automatic theocracy should rule the world because "a separation
    between religion and politics is what Satan likes  most." Moon
    is staunchly anti-communist, yet runs his religious cults off of
    slave labor. He is trying to buy some legitimacy for himself by
    spending vast amounts of money on conservative causes. Moon has
    already poured more than two hundred million dollars into the
    Washington Times, a business which has yet to show a profit.
    "However, the newspaper has served its true purpose: enabling
    Moon to have access to the power brokers of American politics."
    Moon actually said, "When we take power in America, we will have
    to amend the Constitution and make it a capital offense for
    anyone to have sexual relations with anyone other than the
    person assigned to him."
    	It should be noted that Ronald Reagan said his favorite
    newspaper is the Washington Times and that he reads it every
    day. It should also be noted that Moon inexplicably attended
    Ronald Reagan's inauguration.
    	Hassan is careful to delineate the difference between a
    destructive cult and any other group, the difference being that a
    destructive cult engages in outright deception, systematically
    lying to its victims. Just because a group is unorthodox or even
    bizarre does not make it a cult. On new members, the rule of
    thumb used by most cults is, "Tell him only what he can accept."
     Hassan says, "If people want to believe that Mr. Moon is the
    Messiah, that is their right. However -- and  this is a crucial
    point -- people should be protected from processes that  make
    them believe Mr. Moon is the Messiah."
    	Hassan is also careful to note that there is both good
    and bad mind control. Good mind control is exemplified by
    someone choosing to use hypnosis to quit smoking. Bad mind
    control is when the locus of control is not with the individual,
    but is being perpetrated upon them without their choice.
    	Groups fall on a spectrum, ranging from good to
    destructive, as does the use of mind control techniques. A group
    can have a single destructive aspect without being a full blown
    destructive cult.
    	He describes the experiences of victims from many
    different types of cults, involving: Being systematically lied
    to; being physically abused; being barraged with flattery or
    guilt; being forced to sit in long sessions of indoctrination
    where no questions are allowed; never being allowed any free
    time to think critically or reflect; being induced to work at
    menial labor twelve to twenty hours daily; being systematically
    indoctrinated; being deprived of sleep; being forced to ask
    permission for everything; being assigned a constant buddy;
    discouraging individualism; being publicly humiliated and
    criticized; redefining reality; fostering feelings of dependency
    and helplessness; forced to participate in public confessions
    which are then used as blackmail; disallowing complaints or
    negative feelings about the cult, allowing them only about
    outsiders; being forced to spy on other members;
    compartmentalizing information so that no member gets the bigger
    picture; changing a member's name to hasten a new cult identity;
    manufacturing spiritual experiences; forcing members to abandon
    any unique talents, interests, or hobbies; relocating new
    members away from familiar turf; forcing participation in
    humiliating fundraising efforts; disorienting new members;
    encouraging black and white thinking; preventing members from
    hearing or reading any information critical of the cult; being
    deprived of healthy nutrition through a low-protein, high-sugar
    diet; deliberately using confusion to induce trance; sensory
    deprivation; deliberately using double binds; being coaxed to
    survive numerous hardships for the sake of spiritual growth;
    being kept continually surrounded by already indoctrinated
    members; being subjected to medical neglect; being coaxed to
    participate in political activism to support issues and
    candidates endorsed by the cult; having to fill out papers
    describing all that the member is thinking and feeling, which
    information is then later used against the member; being coaxed
    into using deception in all the cult's affairs, including
    recruiting, fundraising, and public relations because the end
    justifies the means; being instructed to drop  out of school,
    quit their jobs, and move into the cult; stimulating  competition
    between members to maximize profits; receiving verbal abuse one
    minute followed by complimentary strokes the next; being
    discouraged from forming close bonds with people in the cult;
    forming bonds only vertically with those in a supervisory
    position to the member; being encouraged to cut off contact with
    family and friends; being exploited for economic and political
    gain; being sent underground when families attempt a rescue;
    being told to lie to the public, saying that the fundraising was
    for charity, a Christian youth program, drug rehabilitation, or
    to help orphaned children; using doctrines which are impossible
    to verify or evaluate; using doctrines which require that the
    member distrust himself; encouraging an us-versus-them mentality
    by creating pet devils, such as communism, capitalism,
    psychiatrists, deprogrammers, satan, UFO creatures, and spirits;
    creating a sense of speciality in members by emphasizing the
    special mission of the cult; allowing only external referencing;
    promoting and demoting members on whim to foster disorientation
    and dependency; disorienting time in the member by rewriting
    the past, making the present very urgent, and making the future
    an apocalyptic scenario; being pressured psychologically to turn
    over all possessions and wealth to the cult; being punished for
    independent thought, feeling or action; being rewarded for
    maintaining total dependence upon the cult for everything, even
    simple choices; being told repeatedly that it is better to die
    or kill than to leave the cult; being ordered to press
    kidnapping charges against parents who attempt a rescue; using
    thought-stopping rituals such as chanting or praying to cease
    critical thinking skills; violating members' civil rights;
    turning people into slaves; lying; stealing; cheating; having
    one's children taken away and sent to another location to be
    raised; and having one's children violated and harmed for life
    while being raised in a cult.
    	Many of these same tactics are found in the dynamics of a
     domestic violence situation.
    	Once indoctrinated, the new member becomes the new
    recruiter: The victim becomes the victimizer. Through
    indoctrination, the victim has literally been given a new
    identity.
    	Deprogramming and exit counseling usually involves
    explaining to the victim how the mind control techniques used on
    him are similar to those used by the Communist Chinese to
    brainwash prisoners of war. The dual identities of the victim
    must be sorted through and worked out, similar to dissociative
    states having to be healed.
    	Conservatorship laws used by families to rescue their
    children from cults were more than likely lobbied out of
    existence by cult lawyers.
    	Congressman Leo J. Ryan had been a member of the House
    Subcommittee on International Relations which investigated Korean
    CIA activities in the United States, commonly known as
    Koreagate. Their report revealed that Moon had "systematically
    violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking, currency, and Foreign
    agents Registration Act laws, as well as state and local laws
    relating to charity fraud." Ryan was gunned down while trying
    to investigate another cult, the People's Temple.
    	Robert Dole's public hearings into cults was a disaster.
    All of the former cult victims who had been invited to speak
    were taken off the agenda at the last minute.
    	In a Freedom of Information Act request, Hassan asked why
    Moon was allowed to make American M-16 rifles in Korea when only
    the South Korean government was allowed to do so. "Was the Moon
    organization part of the Korean government? Was the Department
    of Defense giving it favored treatment?"  Hassan never received
    any answers from the United States Government: The answers
    remain hidden behind a wall of national security.
    	The therapy oriented cults are misusing the idea of
    enlightenment, exploiting people's desires for growth. By
    creating an initial experience of extended consciousness, then
    taking credit for it, the cults foster dependency within the
    members who think they must return to the cult seminar in order
    to have another experience.
    	It should be noted that cults do not require a live-in
    experience for members to be victimized. The est seminars are
    given as an example where members are turned into junkies,
    returning again and again for yet another seminar. If problems
    come up in a cult, they are always blamed on the members, never
    on the cult leaders or cult doctrine.
    	The rise of satanic cults is a concern. Young people are
    being set up by popular books, films, and music to believe
    satanic practices will give them power. Slow steps are taken by
    recruiters, inviting the young person to a party, giving them
    drugs, and introducing sexual rites of initiation. Only when his
    trust is complete is the young person introduced to satanic
    worship.
    	There are questions to ask to protect yourself from mind
    controlling cults:

    	1. "How long have you (the recruiter) been involved? Are
    you trying to recruit me into any type of organization?"
    	2. "Can you tell me the names of all other organizations
    that are affiliated with this group?"
    	3. "Who is the top leader? What are his background and
    qualifications? Does he have any criminal record?"
    	4. "What does your group believe? Does it believe that
    the ends justify the means? Is deception allowed in certain
    circumstances?"
    	5. "What are members expected to do once they join? Do I
    have to quit school or work, donate my money and property, or cut
    myself off from family members and friends who might oppose my
    membership?"
    	6. "Is your group considered to be controversial by
    anyone? If people are critical of your group, what are their main
    objections?"
    	7. "How do you feel about former members of your group?
    Have  you ever sat down to speak with a former member to find out
    why he left the group? If not, why not? Does your group impose
    restrictions on communicating with former members?"
    	8. "What are the three things you like the least about
    the group  and the leader?"

    	Hassan gives some extremely helpful guidelines to
    families worried about a loved one caught in a mind control
    cult. He outlines specifically what to do and what not to do.
    	He also describes his techniques for exit-counseling,
    giving strategies for recovery for those who have been victims.
    He warns of the typical problems which will come up in the long
    term recovery of a victim.
    	In particular, he notes that victims have been harassed
    by other cult members, particularly if the victim goes public to
    prevent further victims. Former members have had break-ins and
    have been threatened, sued, blackmailed, and murdered. The
    Church of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard's group, has filed
    hundreds of harassment suits designed merely to hassle and
    financially drain former members, those who help former members,
    and critics. Hassan has personally seen how the fear of cults
    within the media has influenced what is reported.
    	Hassan sees that the unethical use of mind control has
    become a major social problem worldwide. Mind controlled
    business executives placed in key positions in major
    corporations, political influence peddling, and the high degree
    of social acceptance by prominent professionals make cults a
    large problem. Cults have sponsored conferences for lawyers,
    clergy, scientists, politicians, and academics.
    	Ties are explored between cults and the United States
    Government. After Jonestown and the murder of a congressman, the
    public became very concerned. But due to the intervention of
    cult influence and money and lobbying, efforts to investigate,
    to reform, to educate the public, to get media coverage have by
    and large failed. A few examples are given. After the report was
    issued from the Koreagate investigation, no action was taken on
    the recommendations made in the report. After the congressional
    report was issued from the People's Temple investigation, no
    action was taken on that either. After all former members were
    forbidden to speak at the Bob Dole hearings, one Moonie
    representative was allowed to give a statement. In a major TV
    special, two top Central Intelligence Agency psychologists made
    inexplicable statements, one saying that hypnosis was of no
    operational use, the other saying mind control research had been
    abandoned in 1963.
    	Hassan says,

    	I knew that no self-respecting psychologist would deny
    that there was anything "useful" in mind control research. The
    statements of Gittinger and Gottlieb forced me to confront a
    number of questions that needed answers.
    	Why wasn't our federal government informing the American
    people about the dangers of mind control? Why was the issue
    continually shuffled into a discussion of religious liberty and
    the First Amendment?....However, if the government has indeed
    been conducting research into mind control, then it has a
    responsibility to inform the American public that mind control
    exists....In the absence of recognition by the government that
    mind control exists and that unethical mind control is wrong,
    then the government's silence indirectly condones the practice
    of unethical mind control in the rest of society. In a practical
    sense, one only need look around to see the effects of
    government silence and inaction: mind control groups are
    proliferating at an unprecedented pace.
    	The principles of freedom and democracy in our country
    demand that the reality of mind control be exposed to full
    public scrutiny.

    	There are even some so called researchers who seem to
    have big funding behind them, doing everything within their
    power to dispel the public's concern about mind control or
    cults. Other legitimate researchers are uncovering that victims,
    regardless of what cult they are from, are all developing the
    same type of personality profile.
    	Hassan also warns of the effects of cults within our
    shaky economy. As the economy worsens, employees will be
    expected to attend all company-sponsored seminars in an attempt
    to make them more productive. Executives at major corporations
    are "flocking to programs that can teach them how to better
    influence and control people. In some cases, cults have actually
    taken over the running of a company in this  way." Of course
    with free labor, cult-owned businesses can undercut their
    competition. Further, taxes don't have to be paid by the cult
    because it never looks like they make a profit: Wages are paid to
    the members, but the members donate their wages right back to
    the cult again.

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