By Vicki Polin, MA, NCC, LCPC, Executive Director - The Awareness Center
The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter - April 8, 2008
It seems strange that Rabbi Yona Metzger
would be making the following statement, especially since he was
accused of sexual misconduct/clergy sexual abuse (with four men) several
years ago.
I strongly disagree with the statement Rabbi Metzger
made regarding excommunicating the parents of the children who were so
horrendously abused. Even though the actions came from their own
hands, I believe that they were being manipulated and were acting under
the explicit directions of their spiritual leader/cult leader, Rabbi Elior Chen.
Many
individuals who get involved with cults, often have histories of child
abuse and or neglect. From past experience in working with ex-cult
members, I found that women who have left abusive relationships are also
more susceptible to getting involved in cult like groups.
The
basic issue is that adult survivors of child abuse (emotional, physical
and sexual abuse) and those battered as adults are looking for
unconditional love. What happens is they get manipulated in believing
that their leader represents "the truth." They no longer are able to
access their ability to use deductive reasoning / critical thinking.
Though
I do believe these parents should no longer have custody of their
children, I do not believe that we should make blanket statements
stating they should all be excommunicated. We need to look at each
situation on a case by case basis. I also have mixed feelings about
the parents and the criminal cases that will be brought up against them.
If these parents were unable to access their critical thinking, would
they then be considered mentally ill? Were they at the time of each
act unable to discern right from wrong? I'm not trying to make excuses
for their behavior, it's just that I think there is much more to the
story then what we are reading in the newspapers. The parents
psychiatric help and exit counseling. This can occur either in a
prison or a psychiatric facility. I believe that the parents are most
likely individuals who most likely have the potential for
rehabilitation.
I do not believe this is true when talking about Rabbi Elior Chen. I
do agree with Rabbi Metzger that Chen should loose his rabbinical title
and believe he should spend the rest of his life in a prison. I do
not believe he will ever be safe to be out with the rest of our society.
Below is the article that was in the Jerusalem Post, below that is information on Destructive Cults.
-----------------------------
Metzger: Abusive parents and rabbis should be 'excommunicated'Jerusalem Post - April 9, 2008http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649968071&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Following a spate of allegations of child abuse in the religious community, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on rabbis to "unhesitatingly renounce" such violent acts.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Metzger said that abusive parents and rabbis must be "condemned" and "excommunicated."
He told community rabbis to express their disapproval and the disapproval of the Torah for such "acts of brutality."
_________________Biderman's Chart of Coercion
http://members.aol.com/carol2180/biderman.htm
Most
people who brainwash...use methods similar to those of prison guards
who recognize that physical control is never easily accomplished without
the cooperation of the prisoner. The most effective way to gain that
cooperation is through subversive manipulation of the mind and feelings
of the victim, who then becomes a psychological, as well as a physical,
prisoner. (from an Amnesty International publication, "Report on
Torture", which depicts the brainwashing of prisoners of war.
Isolation
• Deprives individual of social support, effectively rendering him unable to resist
• Makes individual dependent upon interrogator
• Develops an intense concern with self.
Once a person is away from longstanding emotional support and thus
reality checks, it is fairly easy to set a stage for brainwashing.
Spiritually abusive groups work to isolate individuals from friends and
family, whether directly, by requiring the individuals to forsake
friends and family for the sake of the "Kingdom" (group membership), or
indirectly, by preaching the necessity to demonstrate one's love for God
by "hating" one's father, mother, family, friends.
Abusive groups are not outward-looking, but inward-looking, insisting
that members find all comfort and support and a replacement family
within the group. Cut off from friends, relatives, previous
relationships, abusive groups surround the recruits and hammer rigid
ideologies into their consciousness, saturating their senses with
specific doctrines and requirements of the group.
Isolated from everyone but those within the group, recruits become
dependent upon group members and leaders and find it difficult if not
impossible to offer resistance to group teachings. They become
self-interested and hyper-vigilant, very fearful should they incur the
disapproval of the group, which now offers the only support available to
them which has group approval.
Warning signs
The seed of extremism exists wherever a group demands all the free time
of a member, insisting he be in church every time the doors are open
and calling him to account if he isn't, is critical or disapproving of
involvements with friends and family outside the group, encourages
secrecy by asking that members not share what they have seen or heard in
meetings or about church affairs with outsiders, is openly, publicly,
and repeatedly critical of other churches or groups (especially if the
group claims to be the only one which speaks for God), is critical when
members attend conferences, workshops or services at other churches,
checks up on members in any way, i.e., to determine that the reason they
gave for missing a meeting was valid, or makes attendance at all church
functions mandatory for participating in church ministry or enjoying
other benefits of church fellowship.
Once a member stops interacting openly with others, the group's
influence is all that matters. He is bombarded with group values and
information and there is no one outside the group with whom to share
thoughts or who will offer reinforcement or affirmation if the member
disagrees with or doubts the values of the group. The process of
isolation and the self-doubt it creates allow the group and its leaders
to gain power over the members. Leaders may criticize major and minor
flaws of members, sometimes publicly, or remind them of present or past
sins. They may call members names, insult them or ignore them, or
practice a combination of ignoring members at some times and receiving
them warmly at others, thus maintaining a position of power (i.e., the
leaders call the shots.)
The sense of humiliation makes members feel they deserve the poor
treatment they are receiving and may cause them to allow themselves to
be subjected to any and all indignities out of gratefulness that one as
unworthy as they feel is allowed to participate in the group at all.
When leaders treat the member well occasionally, they accept any and all
crumbs gratefully. Eventually, awareness of how dependent they are on
the group and gratitude for the smallest attention contributes to an
increasing sense of shame and degradation on the part of the members,
who begin to abuse themselves with "litanies of self-blame," i.e., "No
matter what they do to me, I deserve it, as sinful and wretched as I am.
I deserve no better. I have no rights but to go to hell. I should be
grateful for everything I receive, even punishment."
Monopolization of Perception
• Fixes attention upon immediate predicament; fosters introspection
• Eliminates stimuli competing with those controlled by captor
• Frustrates all actions not consistent with compliance
Abusive groups insist on compliance with trivial demands related to all
facets of life: food, clothing, money, household arrangements,
children, conversation. They monitor members' appearances, criticize
language and child care practices. They insist on precise schedules and
routines, which may change and be contradictory from day to day or
moment to moment, depending on the whims of group leaders.
At first, new members may think these expectations are unreasonable and
may dispute them, but later, either because they want to be at peace or
because they are afraid, or because everyone else is complying, they
attempt to comply. After all, what real difference does it make if a
member is not allowed to wear a certain color, or to wear his hair in a
certain way, to eat certain foods, or say certain words, to go certain
places, watch certain things, or associate with certain individuals. In
the overall scheme of things, does it really matter? In fact, in the
long run, the member begins to reason, it is probably good to learn
these disciplines, and after all, as they have frequently been reminded,
they are to submit to spiritual authority as unto the Lord.. Soon it
becomes apparent that the demands will be unending, and increasing time
and energy are focused on avoiding group disapproval by doing something
"wrong." There is a feeling of walking on eggs. Everything becomes
important in terms of how the group or its leaders will respond, and
members' desires, feelings and ideas become insignificant. Eventually,
members may no longer even know what they want, feel or think. The group
has so monopolized all of the members' perceptions with trivial demands
that members lose their perspective as to the enormity of the situation
they are in.
The leaders may also persuade the members that they have the inside
track with God and therefore know how everything should be done. When
their behavior results in disastrous consequences, as it often does, the
members are blamed. Sometimes the leaders may have moments, especially
after abusive episodes, when they appear to humble themselves and
confess their faults, and the contrast of these moments of vulnerability
with their usual pose of being all-powerful endears them to members and
gives hope for some open communication.
Threats sometimes accompany all of these methods. Members are told they
will be under God's judgment, under a curse, punished, chastised,
chastened if they leave the group or disobey group leaders. Sometimes
the leaders, themselves, punish the members, and so members can never be
sure when leaders will make good on the threats which they say are
God's idea. The members begin to focus on what they can do to meet any
and all group demands and how to preserve peace in the short run.
Abusive groups may remove children from their parents, control all the
money in the group, arrange marriages, destroy personal items of members
or hide personal items.
Warning signs:
Preoccupation
with trivial demands of daily life, demanding strict compliance with
standards of appearance, dress codes, what foods are or are not to be
eaten and when, schedules, threats of God's wrath if group rules are not
obeyed, a feeling of being monitored, watched constantly by those in
the group or by leaders. In other words, what the church wants, believes
and thinks its members should do becomes everything, and you feel
preoccupied with making sure you are meeting the standards. It no longer
matters whether you agree that the standards are correct, only that you
follow them and thus keep the peace and in the good graces of leaders.
Induced Debility and Exhaustion
People subjected to this type of spiritual abuse become worn out by
tension, fear and continual rushing about in an effort to meet group
standards. They must often avoid displays of fear, sorrow or rage, since
these may result in ridicule or punishment. Rigid ministry demands and
requirements that members attend unreasonable numbers of meetings and
events makes the exhaustion and ability to resist group pressure even
worse.
Warning Signs:
Feelings of being overwhelmed by demands, close to tears, guilty if one
says no to a request or goes against a church standards. Being
intimidated or pressured into volunteering for church duties and
subjected to scorn or ridicule when one does not "volunteer." Being
rebuked or reproved when family or work responsibilities intrude on
church responsibilities.
Occasional Indulgences
• Provides motivation for compliance
Leaders of abusive groups often sense when members are making plans to
leave and may suddenly offer some kind of indulgence, perhaps just love
or affection, attention where there was none before, a note or a gesture
of concern. Hope that the situation in the church will change or self
doubt ("Maybe I'm just imagining it's this bad,") then replace fear or
despair and the members decide to stay a while longer. Other groups
practice sporadic demonstrations of compassion or affection right in the
middle of desperate conflict or abusive episodes. This keeps members
off guard and doubting their own perceptions of what is happening.
Some of the brainwashing techniques described are extreme, some groups
may use them in a disciplined, regular manner while others use them more
sporadically. But even mild, occasional use of these techniques is
effective in gaining power.
Warning Signs:
Be concerned if you have had an ongoing desire to leave a church or
group you believe may be abusive, but find yourself repeatedly drawn
back in just at the moment you are ready to leave, by a call, a comment
or moment of compassion. These moments, infrequent as they may be, are
enough to keep hope in change alive and thus you sacrifice years and
years to an abusive group.
Devaluing the Individual
• Creates fear of freedom and dependence upon captors
• Creates feelings of helplessness
• Develops lack of faith in individual capabilities
Abusive leaders are frequently uncannily able to pick out traits church
members are proud of and to use those very traits against the members.
Those with natural gifts in the areas of music may be told they are
proud or puffed up or "anxious to be up front" if they want to use their
talents and denied that opportunity. Those with discernment are called
judgmental or critical, the merciful are lacking in holiness or good
judgment, the peacemakers are reminded the Lord came to bring a sword,
not peace. Sometimes efforts are made to convince members that they
really are not gifted teachers or musically talented or prophetically
inclined as they believed they were. When members begin to doubt the one
or two special gifts they possess which they have always been sure were
God-given, they begin to doubt everything else they have ever believed
about themselves, to feel dependent upon church leaders and afraid to
leave the group. ("If I've been wrong about even *that*, how can I ever
trust myself to make right decisions ever again?").
Warning Signs:
Unwillingness to allow members to use their gifts. Establishing rigid
boot camp-like requirements for the sake of proving commitment to the
group before gifts may be exercised. Repeatedly criticizing natural
giftedness by reminding members they must die to their natural gifts,
that Paul, after all, said, "When I'm weak, I'm strong," and that they
should expect God to use them in areas other than their areas of
giftedness. Emphasizing helps or service to the group as a prerequisite
to church ministry. This might take the form of requiring that anyone
wanting to serve in any way first have the responsibility of cleaning
toilets or cleaning the church for a specified time, that anyone wanting
to sing in the worship band must first sing to the children in Sunday
School, or that before exercising any gifts at all, members must
demonstrate loyalty to the group by faithful attendance at all functions
and such things as tithing. No consideration is given to the length of
time a new member has been a Christian or to his age or station in life
or his unique talents or abilities. The rules apply to everyone alike.
This has the effect of reducing everyone to some kind of lowest common
denominator where no one's gifts or natural abilities are valued or
appreciated, where the individual is not cherished for the unique
blessing he or she is to the body of Christ, where what is most highly
valued is service, obedience, submission to authority, and performance
without regard to gifts or abilities or, for that matter, individual
limitations.
----------------------------Characteristics of a Destructive Cult
reFOCUS
What is a Cult?
A
cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or
dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically
manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from
former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to
heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures,
information management, suspension of individuality or critical
judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving
it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the
actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the
community. (West & Langone, 1986)
Characteristics of a Destructive Cult
1. Authoritarian pyramid structure with authority at the top
2. Charismatic or messianic leader(s) (Messianic meaning they
either say they are God OR that they alone can interpret the scriptures
the way God intended.....the leaders are self-appointed.
3. Deception in recruitment and/or fund raising
4. Isolation from society -- not necessarily physical isolation like on some compound in Waco,
but this can be psychological isolation -- the rest of the world is not
saved, not Christian, not transformed (whatever) -- the only valid
source of feedback and information is the group.
5. Use of
mind control techniques (we use Dr. Robert Jay Lifton's criteria from
chapter 22 of his book Thought Reform & the Psychology of Totalism
to compare whether the eight psychological and social methods he lists
are present in the group at question)
• Milieu Control: Control of the environment and communication within the environment
• Mystical Manipulation: Seeks to promote specific patterns of
behavior and emotion in such a way that it appears to have arisen
spontaneously from within the environment, while it actually has been
orchestrated totalist leaders claim to be agents chosen by God, history,
or some supernatural force, to carry out the mystical imperative the
"principles" (God-centered or otherwise) can be put forcibly and claimed
exclusively, so that the cult and its beliefs become the only true path
to salvation (or enlightenment)
• Demand for Purity: The
world becomes sharply divided into the pure and the impure, the
absolutely good (the group/ideology) and the absolutely evil (everything
outside the group) one must continually change or conform to the group
"norm"; tendencies towards guilt and shame are used as emotional levers
for the group's controlling and manipulative influences
•
Confession: Cultic confession is carried beyond its ordinary religious,
legal and therapeutic expressions to the point of becoming a cult in
itself sessions in which one confesses to one's sin are accompanied by
patterns of criticism and self-criticism, generally transpiring within
small groups with an active and dynamic thrust toward personal change
• Sacred Science: The totalist milieu maintains an aura of
sacredness around its basic doctrine or ideology, holding it as an
ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence questioning or
criticizing those basic assumptions is prohibited a reverence is
demanded for the ideology/doctrine, the originators of the
ideology/doctrine, the present bearers of the ideology/doctrine offers
considerable security to young people because it greatly simplifies the
world and answers a contemporary need to combine a sacred set of
dogmatic principles with a claim to a science embodying the truth about
human behavior and human psychology
• Loading the Language:
Words are given new meanings -- the outside world does not use the
words or phrases in the same way -- it becomes a "group" word or phrase
• Doctrine Over Person: If one questions the beliefs of the group
or the leaders of the group, one is made to feel that there is something
inherently wrong with them to even question -- it is always "turned
around" on them and the questioner/criticizer is questioned rather than
the questions answered directly the underlying assumption is that
doctrine/ideology is ultimately more valid, true and real than any
aspect of actual human character or human experience and one must
subject one's experience to that "truth" the experience of contradiction
can be immediately associated with guilt one is made to feel that
doubts are reflections of one's own evil when doubt arises, conflicts
become intense.
• Dispensing of Existence: Since the group
has an absolute or totalist vision of truth, those who are not in the
group are bound up in evil, are not enlightened, are not saved, and do
not have the right to exist; impediments to legitimate being must be
pushed away or destroyed one outside the group may always receive their
right of existence by joining the group; fear manipulation -- if one
leaves this group, one leaves God or loses their
salvation/transformation, or something bad will happen to them; the
group is the "elite", outsiders are "of the world", "evil",
"unenlightened", etc.
