Excerpt:
In this two-part editorial, The Small Town Humanist will be discussing what indoctrination means, how brainwashing works and explaining in detail how mind control techniques used by religious cults can absolutely destroy someone’s life.
'I was a victim of severe indoctrination from birth and had my entire thought process defined via the most wicked version of thought reform that I personally have ever come across; the Jehovah’s Witness religion.'
In 1961, Lifton published his book “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China” where he broke down the entire process of how a person or an entity can use 8 defined techniques ( 8 criteria for Thought Reform, Mind Control and Brainwashing) to actually reform the way a person thinks and reasons.
We will be using the organization Jehovah’s Witnesses as a case study. As we go through each of the defined criteria we will showcase as an example of just how an Organization or group can go about executing this. I chose The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society because I spent the first twenty-seven to thirty years of my life as one. It was everything to me and I was extremely indoctrinated into its culture. I was appointed to a position called a “Ministerial Servant” and came very close to being appointed as an “Elder,” which is the highest position of leadership within a congregation.
smalltownhumanist.org
In this two-part editorial, The Small Town Humanist will be discussing what indoctrination means, how brainwashing works and explaining in detail how mind control techniques used by religious cults can absolutely destroy someone’s life.
'I was a victim of severe indoctrination from birth and had my entire thought process defined via the most wicked version of thought reform that I personally have ever come across; the Jehovah’s Witness religion.'
In 1961, Lifton published his book “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China” where he broke down the entire process of how a person or an entity can use 8 defined techniques ( 8 criteria for Thought Reform, Mind Control and Brainwashing) to actually reform the way a person thinks and reasons.
We will be using the organization Jehovah’s Witnesses as a case study. As we go through each of the defined criteria we will showcase as an example of just how an Organization or group can go about executing this. I chose The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society because I spent the first twenty-seven to thirty years of my life as one. It was everything to me and I was extremely indoctrinated into its culture. I was appointed to a position called a “Ministerial Servant” and came very close to being appointed as an “Elder,” which is the highest position of leadership within a congregation.
Part One: How Cults Use Brainwashing and Mind Control Techniques to Achieve Indoctrination - The Small Town Humanist
What indoctrination means, how brainwashing works and explaining how mind control techniques used by religious cults can absolutely destroy someone's life.
smalltownhumanist.org
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