The Violation Of Informed Consent
Excerpt:
Bringing home mementos when travelling is pretty standard. Usually, we do so in an effort to preserve a memory, a moment of connection or an item that resonates so strongly with us it would be foolish to not carry it home when returning from overseas. The latter saw me become the proud owner of a brand new fridge magnet. A slightly unusual choice I'll admit, but when I saw it on my trip to the USA, the slogan sprawled across it felt too important to leave behind.
“Liberal Democrats: Fierce defenders of your Democratic Right to practise their Faith.”
It is not the political rhetoric that appeals here. What drew me to this particular slogan was a fundamental question it left spiralling around my mind.
What is freedom of thought, freedom of belief?
So if you truly have the freedom to believe, to make choices, then a natural assumption would be you should also have the ability to leave?
Imagine you joined a hiking club, you enjoyed it for a year or even more, but then circumstances change and you leave.
Members might be disappointed by your departure and miss your presence, they may voice this disappointment and ask you to stay and likely you will continue to share friendships. But ultimately of course, the choice is your own and you are free to leave.
In a cult or high control group, the opposite is true.
When recruiters target people into a high control group, Multi-Level Marketing “opportunity” or cult, by default they violate the principle of informed consent if all of the facts are not provided before joining or signing up.
Being born into, raised and baptised into the Jehovah’s Witness religion, my worldview was entirely shaped by them. The secretive nature of such groups however, means not all their teachings are publicly available. There is “insider” versus “outsider” knowledge. Even members themselves have limited and controlled access to information, depending on gender and rank in the organization.
Cult members are trained and become adept through conditioning, to give the illusion that they are making a reasoned and reasonable choice of belief. This begs the question
“Can a choice be an informed one when a group
uses tactics like social conditioning, thought
control, information control and emotion control?”
Cult mind control tactics are designed to alter an individual's reality and their perception of the outside world. Black and White, “us” versus “them” thinking.
To make it easier to understand, I’m going to draw on the work of Dr Steven Hassan, a world leader in identifying high-control organizations.
As Dr. Hassan notes, this applies to both relationships and organizations and his work is fantastic in highlighting healthy and constructive traits v unhealthy and destructive traits:
1 - Egalitarianism -> Elitism
2- Checks and Balances -> Authoritarian Structure
3 - Informed Consent -> Deceptive/Manipulative
4 - Individuality/Diversity -> Clones People
5 - Means Create the End -> Ends Justify the Means
6 - Encourages Growth -> Preserves Own Power
7 - Free to Leave -> No Legitimate Reasons to Leave
Dr. Hassan’s BITE model which explains the signs and tactics of high control groups in much greater detail and will allow you to make a comprehensive evaluation of any groups or relationships you are involved with that you may be questioning. His website Freedom of Mind can be accessed here: https://freedomofmind.com/
Source: The Violation Of Informed Consent written by Christopher Karvountzis
Excerpt:
Bringing home mementos when travelling is pretty standard. Usually, we do so in an effort to preserve a memory, a moment of connection or an item that resonates so strongly with us it would be foolish to not carry it home when returning from overseas. The latter saw me become the proud owner of a brand new fridge magnet. A slightly unusual choice I'll admit, but when I saw it on my trip to the USA, the slogan sprawled across it felt too important to leave behind.
“Liberal Democrats: Fierce defenders of your Democratic Right to practise their Faith.”
It is not the political rhetoric that appeals here. What drew me to this particular slogan was a fundamental question it left spiralling around my mind.
What is freedom of thought, freedom of belief?
So if you truly have the freedom to believe, to make choices, then a natural assumption would be you should also have the ability to leave?
Imagine you joined a hiking club, you enjoyed it for a year or even more, but then circumstances change and you leave.
Members might be disappointed by your departure and miss your presence, they may voice this disappointment and ask you to stay and likely you will continue to share friendships. But ultimately of course, the choice is your own and you are free to leave.
In a cult or high control group, the opposite is true.
When recruiters target people into a high control group, Multi-Level Marketing “opportunity” or cult, by default they violate the principle of informed consent if all of the facts are not provided before joining or signing up.
Being born into, raised and baptised into the Jehovah’s Witness religion, my worldview was entirely shaped by them. The secretive nature of such groups however, means not all their teachings are publicly available. There is “insider” versus “outsider” knowledge. Even members themselves have limited and controlled access to information, depending on gender and rank in the organization.
Cult members are trained and become adept through conditioning, to give the illusion that they are making a reasoned and reasonable choice of belief. This begs the question
“Can a choice be an informed one when a group
uses tactics like social conditioning, thought
control, information control and emotion control?”
Cult mind control tactics are designed to alter an individual's reality and their perception of the outside world. Black and White, “us” versus “them” thinking.
To make it easier to understand, I’m going to draw on the work of Dr Steven Hassan, a world leader in identifying high-control organizations.
As Dr. Hassan notes, this applies to both relationships and organizations and his work is fantastic in highlighting healthy and constructive traits v unhealthy and destructive traits:
1 - Egalitarianism -> Elitism
2- Checks and Balances -> Authoritarian Structure
3 - Informed Consent -> Deceptive/Manipulative
4 - Individuality/Diversity -> Clones People
5 - Means Create the End -> Ends Justify the Means
6 - Encourages Growth -> Preserves Own Power
7 - Free to Leave -> No Legitimate Reasons to Leave
Dr. Hassan’s BITE model which explains the signs and tactics of high control groups in much greater detail and will allow you to make a comprehensive evaluation of any groups or relationships you are involved with that you may be questioning. His website Freedom of Mind can be accessed here: https://freedomofmind.com/
Source: The Violation Of Informed Consent written by Christopher Karvountzis
