The Watchtower: No Monopoly on Mind Manipulation

Masoud-Banisadr-3

PART ONE

During the Undue Influence Press Conference in London on August 22, I had the pleasure of introducing six formidable experts who spoke about the growing danger of “undue influence.”

One of the experts who attended that conference, Masoud Banisadr, calls it “mind manipulation.”

In fact, Masoud’s presentation was so impressive that it attracted the attention of a free-lance writer who later interviewed Masoud and wrote an article titled, A Former MEK Member Speaks About the ‘Cult’ of Extremism.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/masoud-banisadr-mek-cult-184

While I recommend that you read the attached link, this is how the story begins:

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London Workshop – Un-doing Undue Influence – Steve Hassan

Steve Hassan

While writing this article I was faced with a major challenge: How would I pack all of the important information that was covered in a two-day workshop that enabled change and healing into just a few paragraphs on a web page? After all, a single article can only report everything discussed during the sessions in a very superficial way. The good news is that the workshop was filmed, allowing for a more comprehensive report to follow. For now, I will try to provide a few of the highlights from the “Un-doing Undue Influence” workshop and promise more to follow at a later date.

The workshop took place not far from the center of London in the “quaint” and comfortable surroundings of an English hotel August 23 and 24, 2014. The subtitle of the workshop was “Healing Yourself and Others from Undue Influence.” Steve Hassan, one of the foremost authorities on cults and mind control, led the discussions. Hassan is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the United States and is the author of two of the most respected books on those subjects.

During the workshop Steve Hassan, along with input from other cult survivors, academics and therapists, took the audience on a journey. Those in attendance not only discovered why destructive behaviour and patterns exist but also how to recover – and to be aware of triggers that indicate that more recovery work will be required.

Here is an outline of the program:

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Cult Experts Hold Press Conference at London College

Experts mingled with cult survivors and members of the press before launching into nearly two hours of presentations and questions at a press conference at London College in Notting Hill on August 22, 2014. These leading thinkers on extremist groups and cults spoke freely about the challenges faced by governments when tackling the risks posed by such groups.

London Press Meeting
Masoud Banisadar, a former MEK member (an Iranian terrorist organisation), said, “Terrorism is like any other virus. It attacks through our weaknesses.” He pointed out that as long as there are “open gates” that allow the virus to spread, cults and extremist groups will have a free hand to continue. What is needed is vaccination and prevention – and an understanding of what is “undue influence” or (mind manipulation) that enables such groups to thrive.

Lloyd Evans and Masoud Banisadar

Lloyd Evans and Masoud Banisadar

All of the participants echoed this theme in their presentations.

Lloyd Evans, editor of JWsurvey.org, focused on the “undue influence” of Jehovah’s Witnesses over their members. While acknowledging the right of religions to promote their unique set of beliefs, he argued that when some of those beliefs violate human rights there must be mechanisms in place for proper redress.

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International experts meet in London to discuss “UNDUE INFLUENCE” of extremist groups

London

A group of international experts will come together in London on the weekend of August 22-24, 2014 to address some of the major concerns relating to the undue influence of extremist groups and cults. Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Islamic extremists are just some of the groups that will be considered. The context of their discussions will be the impact these groups have and the control they are able to maintain over people’s lives. This is an invitation only meeting. The meeting/workshop led by Steve Hassan – Freedomofmind.com will be recorded and the information will be shared with a wider audience at a later date.  One aim of the workshop is to enable mental health professionals to gain a better understanding of the impact on people’s lives of “undue influence” by extremist groups and cults.

Undoing the damage of such groups is a huge task for governments and agencies who often struggle trying to understand their inner workings and cultures. Dealing with the fallout and damage is often left in the hands of professionals who are still trying to develop appropriate response and recovery techniques.

Some Government policy initiatives such as “social cohesion” are directed to the integration of such groups into mainstream society. But these policies do not directly address either the immediate or the ongoing impact of the beliefs and ideas disseminated by such groups. These cultish groups promote ideas that weaken or destroy family and societal relationships. The result is the creation of a continuum where mental health issues exist at one end – and extremism and terrorism at the other.

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Rebranding Jehovah’s Witnesses – same business, same beliefs, same abuses

Like something out of the classic movie,“2001, A Space Odyssey,” a “monolith” like image has suddenly appeared in an apparent attempt to rebrand and create a new marketing image for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. This particular monolith used as part of a logo (clearly a marketing ploy) can be found floating around the Internet and on Facebook in various incarnations (all rip-offs of a evangelical songwriter’s album cover – Link). It is often presented displaying these words:

“The world will know. 8.1.2014.”

They rarely hint at exactly what we all should expect to have “known” on that date. Our guess is this online phenomena may have been part of a concerted effort to advertise the beginning of a new door-to-door witnessing effort by local congregations to promote their corporate website and to change their public face.

This new campaign began on August 1, 2014 in the United States and continued at least through the first weekend of that month. Jehovah’s Witness publishers showed up en masse in neighborhoods and on street corners distributing a tiny 4-page flyer, “Where Can We Find Answers to Life’s Big Questions.” Their current answer seems to be the new version of their website, JW.org.

The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or whoever runs the marketing company trying to rebrand Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society, apparently underestimates the intelligence of those who make up “the world.”

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The World Remembers Watchtower Victims

Hope and connection brought people together around the globe on July 26, 2014. Organized through Facebook, the day became one to remember and quite unlike any other, marked from sunrise to sunset with tributes and respectful activism taking place in significant public and private locations.

It was a day that saw individuals of all ages who have been shunned and ostracised by their Jehovah’s Witness families make themselves visible in dignified, loving and purposeful ways. Several actually took flowers and cards to places where they had in the past experienced rejection and pain. Many memorialized the moment by taking photos and sharing their personal experiences where everything connected with the day began – the Facebook page “Watchtower Victims Memorial Day.”

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Ostracismo – una imagen vale más que mil palabras

[Escrito por Rick Gonzalez]

Comer con la familia ...

Comer con la familia …

Esta es una foto de mi papá comiendo. Él acababa de hacer el almuerzo para mí, pero no podía comer junto conmigo. Tuve que comer en otra mesa con mi hijo de cuatro años de edad, mientras él estaba sentado allí, lejos de mí. ¿Por qué? Porque eso es lo que la Sociedad Watchtower le dice a él que haga.

Cuando publiqué esta imagen en un foro de Facebook el 26 de octubre, la primera respuesta que recibí fue: “No sé qué decir. Esto deja a uno aturdido, es control mental por la religión en grado sumo”. Y, minutos más tarde, la avalancha de comentarios y clics en “Me gusta” que le siguieron, ¡eso me hizo pensar en cómo una buena imagen, fácilmente puede reemplazar más de mil palabras!

Para los curiosos, mis familiares me empezaron a rehuir hace un año, después de que yo cuestionase la autoridad del Cuerpo Gobernante de la Sociedad Watchtower. Como respuesta unánime para mis dudas, mi bien intencionada familia indicó que yo debía ser un apóstata y que, “rehuyéndome” de forma severa, seguramente, me haría recuperar el sentido común.

Después de la muerte de mi madre hace ocho meses, mi papá, al encontrarse solo, se dirigió a los ancianos de la congregación a la que asiste para ver si le estaría permitido reunirse conmigo. Le dijeron que debido a que yo era su hijo, él podía reunirse conmigo en casa de él, pero no podía hablar de religión y no podía compartir una comida conmigo en la misma mesa.

Hace dos semanas, llamé a mi padre y le pregunté si su nieto y yo podíamos visitarlo. Él me dijo que sí y se ofreció para hacer el almuerzo. Sin embargo, poco antes de servir la comida, dijo que no se iba a sentar a la misma mesa. Cuando le pregunté el por qué, me respondió: “Así lo dice la organización. ”

Esa confesión hizo que yo desahogase mis sentimientos por unos treinta minutos, contándole sobre el daño causado por el rechazo y por las demás políticas de la Watchtower. Escuchó cortésmente. Pero él estaba en modalidad de disonancia cognitiva, por lo que no registraba nada en su mente.

Después de expresarle mis sentimientos, él nos sirvió una buena comida para mí y mi hijo. Luego, se sentó a solas en una pequeña área de la cocina, de espaldas a nosotros, mientras comía su almuerzo. Permanecí sentado en silencio, tratando de entender lo que estaba pasando en su mente. Fue entonces cuando se me ocurrió que tenía que capturar ese momento en la cámara de mi teléfono celular.

Mientras mordisqueaba mi almuerzo, un sentimiento de completa tristeza me envolvió. Pero tan mal como me sentía yo, me embargaba un sentimiento que me hacía conmoverme por mi papá. Eso tenía que ser mucho más difícil para él. Aquí está un pobre hombre, de 80 años de edad, pensando que él está haciendo esto por Dios y que él tiene que sufrir por este acto intuitivamente incorrecto a fin de ser leal a lo que él piensa que es la “Organización de Dios”.

Pero la historia no termina ahí. Mi hijo está creciendo viendo esta necedad. ¿Puede la Watchtower estar ciega ante sus políticas perniciosas que, no sólo nos afectan a nosotros, los adultos, sino a niños inocentes que no tienen “nada que ver en el pleito”?

Las lágrimas corrían por mi rostro mientras me alejaba de la casa de mi padre. Pero también me daba cuenta que no estaba solo en esta situación. Hoy en día, hay miles de nosotros que ya no creemos en las mentiras de la Watchtower que antes aceptábamos. Ahora conocemos la verdad sobre varias políticas de la Watchtower que sacrifican los derechos civiles de los miembros y ex miembros. Y ya no podemos hacer la vista gorda ante el sufrimiento y los clamores de los demás debido a la política de rechazo que mantiene la Watchtower. ¡Sé que yo no puedo hacerlo!

¡El rechazo extremo es inhumano! Es cruel y es un castigo injusto, un acto despreciable de parte de una religión que ejerce control mental por el temor a perder sus miembros y contribuyentes financieros. Mi objetivo es sensibilizar a la comunidad mundial que no es miembro de los TJ, del daño emocional y psicológico que resulta del rechazo, que por medio del tribunal de la opinión pública se encuentre a la Watchtower culpable de los cargos y se ponga fin a esta práctica bárbara.

Y, sí , creo que una imagen vale más que mil palabras , ¡tal vez más!


[Texto original fue revisado el 04 de noviembre 2013]

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“Truth Be Told” – How Successful Could it Be?

Truth Be Told posterI am very excited about the potential for Gregorio Smith’s compelling, fast-moving documentary, “Truth Be Told.” I am sure that if it is seen by enough people, it will alter public opinion about Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society.

Why? Because this film accurately captures the culture of undue influence from an organization that clearly violates the basic human rights of its members, their families, and especially the children of members.

In this documentary, former Jehovah’s Witnesses candidly talk about the emotional and psychological harm they suffered because of the policies and practices of the Watchtower Society.

The film includes heart-wrenching recollections and personal experiences about the long-term effects upon children who are forced to proselytize door-to-door. The psychological damage that results from enforced shunning of non-believing family members and friends. What happens when critical thinking skills are suspended? The lost opportunities because of the negative stigma attached to higher education; and how it feels to be unable to pursue one’s passion for art, music or science, or a young adult’s shattered dream to be a doctor, educator, librarian, journalist, writer or other professional career dreams.

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