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cleveland:
More from "The Religious Roots of AA by Agent Orange:"

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-religiousroots.html

"Note that a hierarchical, authoritarian system of control of members is very typical of cults.
So is the teaching that you cannot trust your own mind or your own thoughts, and must turn to the cult's mentors or elders for guidance.
And so is the attitude that newcomers can't think right.
And so is the deceit that "we have no structure or system", when in fact they have a very despotic system of control. "

cleveland:
Even more from "The Religious Roots of AA by Agent Orange:"

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-religiousroots.html

"The Either/Or Technique -- Bifurcation -- the Excluded Middle
Present the audience with only extreme either/or, black-or-white choices, while admitting to no gray areas inbetween. Consider only the two extremes in a range of possibilities, to make the "other side" look worse than it really is. Carl Sagan called this the "excluded middle" technique.
The Excluded Middle technique also includes:

Short-term versus long-term comparison -- a subset of the excluded middle -- "why pursue fundamental science when we have so huge a budget deficit?".
Slippery slope -- another subset of the excluded middle -- make unwarranted extrapolations of the effects of a course of action, like: "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile."
For example:


"If you're not one of us, you're one of them."
This is called "the sheep and goat distinction".

"If you aren't a dirty, lying Communist, then of course you agree with us, and you will be happy to join our John Birch Society (or the KKK, or the Nazi party, etc.)..."

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." [Matthew 12:30]

"Those who are not with us are against us." [Comrade Vladimir Ilich Lenin, Russia, 1917]

"You are either part of the solution, or part of the problem."

"Either you are Serving the Lord (as our church defines it) or you are serving the Forces of Evil."

"Either you are a fanatical true believer like us, or you are an evil hard-boiled atheist."

"Either you are willing to commit your entire life to our great cause or else you are a wimp, a weak hand, and a real loser."

cleveland:
Substitute "The Seed" for AA:

It's all a big bait-and-switch con game. There are so many bait-and-switch stunts pulled in Alcoholics Anonymous that it borders on amazing:

First, Bill Wilson declared that Alcoholics Anonymous was only one of many ways to achieve sobriety, then he declared that it was The Only Way.
First, A.A. is just a nice neighborhood quit-drinking self-help group, and then it's a hard-core religion.
First, it's only a "spiritual" alcoholism recovery program, and then it's a fundamentalist religion (that they won't admit is a religion).
Shifting objectives: First the goal is to quit drinking, and then the goal is to "acquire faith" and "come to believe" in Bill Wilson's religion.
First, they will tell you that you can "Take what you want, and leave the rest." Then they will tell you that you can't ever leave.
First, they will tell you that you can do it your way. Then they will tell you that you must do it their way.
First, they will tell you that the Twelve Steps are only suggested as a program of recovery, but then you hear the slogan "Work The Steps Or Die".
First, God loves you, and then He doesn't.
First, they tell you that Alcoholics Anonymous is a program of "rigorous honesty", and then it's gross dishonesty: "Fake It Until You Make It" and "Act As If" and "Don't tell the newcomers..."
First, it's just a quiet, confidential program of attraction, then it's a tough-love program of steel-fisted coercion and promotion.
First, you get easy-going tolerance, and then, death threats.
First, the story is that the Twelve Steps will work and make you quit drinking, and then they won't.
Redefine Words: First a word means one thing, and then it means something else.
First, the insanity referred to in Step Two means that you have been insanely drinking enough alcohol to kill you, but then "insanity" means that you have not been living according to God's will.
First, Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of equals, just a nice neighborhood self-help group, and then it's a hierarchical dictatorship with Bill Wilson at the top.
First, you are an adult, and then you are a child.
First, the alcoholics who are still drinking are our brothers, our "fellow travelers" -- people who should be granted sympathy, understanding, unconditional love, and complete acceptance -- and then the alcoholics who won't conform to the A.A. program are just worthless bums.
First, a cure, and then, no cure. First, hope of recovery, and then hopelessness.
The medical-to-moral morph.
First you aren't supposed to feel guilty, and then you are.
First they will tell you that alcoholism is not a moral stigma, and then they will tell you that it is.
First they will tell you that an alcoholic is just an good person who can't control his drinking, but later they will tell you that an alcoholic is a disgusting selfish evil creature who has a "spiritual disease".
First they tell you that "There are no 'MUSTS' in Alcoholics Anonymous, only suggestions", but then they will tell you that there are many necessities and musts.
First it isn't political, and then it is.
First, they tell you to do an honest, complete, "moral inventory", and then they tell you to only talk about your "wrongs" and "character defects" and "moral shortcomings".
First, ego-mania, and then abject humility. First, happiness, and then sadness.
First, ego-destruction, and then bombastic delusions of grandeur.
First, expect a great religious or spiritual experience, and then expect nothing.
First, "unconditional love" and then hateful contempt.
First, A.A. tells you to "Think, Think, Think", but later it's "Stop Your Stinkin' Thinkin'."
First, A.A. tells you that "A.A. requires no beliefs," but then you have to believe everything they tell you, and have blind faith in the proclamations of Bill Wilson.
First, prospective new members are offered a tolerant, open-minded "spiritual" program, but then they get narrow-minded demands for belief in Bill Wilson's teachings.
First, you can keep your own religion, and then you can't.
First it's "Surrender to God" and then it's "surrender to some A.A. members".
First, it's "any God as you understand Him", and then it's "You don't understand God."
First, declarations of Religious Freedom, and then demands for Religious Conformity.
First, a loosely-defined "Higher Power", and then an explicitly-defined "God".
Redefine God. First you get one God, then you get a different God.
Hide from newcomers what membership entails. First show them one image, then show them another image.
Offer them medical treatment for alcoholism, but give them the twelve-step religion.

cleveland:
Many of these could be applied to The Seed:

See the Agent Orange AA website for more. It's amazing.

1. The Guru is always right.
2. You are always wrong.
3. No Exit.
4. No Graduates.
5. Cult-speak.
6. Group-think.
7. Irrationality.
8. Suspension of disbelief.
9. Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions...
10. Personal attacks on critics.
11. Insistence that the cult is THE ONLY WAY.
12. The cult and its members are special.
13. Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate cult members.
14. Dogma, Unquestionable Dogma, and Sacred Science.
15. Indoctrination of members.
16. Appeals to "holy" or "wise" authorities.
17. Instant Community.
18. Instant Intimacy.
19. Surrender To The Cult.
20. Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith.
21. Personal testimonies of earlier converts.
22. The cult is self-absorbed.
23. Dual Purposes.
24. Aggressive Recruiting.
25. Deceptive Recruiting.
26. No Humor.
27. You can't tell the truth.
28. Cloning -- You must redefine yourself and your life in cult terms.
29. You must change your beliefs to conform to the group's beliefs.
30. The End Justifies The Means.
31. Dishonesty, Deceit, Denial, Falsification, and Rewriting History.
32. Different Levels of Truth.
33. Newcomers can't think right.
34. The Cult Implants Phobias.
35. The Cult is Money-Grubbing.
36. Confession Sessions.
37. A System of Punishments and Rewards.
38. An Impossible Superhuman Model of Perfection.
39. Mentoring.
40. Intrusiveness.
41. Disturbed Guru, Mentally Ill Leader.
42. Disturbed Members, Mentally Ill Followers.
43. Create a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, guilt, and dependency.
44. Dispensed existence
45. Ideology Over Experience, Observation, and Logic
46. Keep them unaware that there is an agenda to change them
47. Thought-Stopping Language. Thought-terminating clichés and slogans.
48. Mystical Manipulation
49. The guru or the group demands ultra-loyalty and total committment.
50. Demands for Total Faith and Total Trust
51. Members Get No Respect. They Get Abused.
52. Inconsistency. Contradictory Messages
53. Hierarchical, Authoritarian Power Structure, and Social Castes
54. Front groups, masquerading recruiters, hidden promoters, and disguised propagandists
55. Belief equals truth
56. Use of double-binds
57. The cult leader is not held accountable for his actions.
58. Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around.
59. The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru.
60. Dispensed truth and social definition of reality
61. The Guru Is Extra-Special.
62. Flexible, shifting morality
63. Separatism
64. Inability to tolerate criticism
65. A Charismatic Leader
66. Calls to Obliterate Self
67. Don't Trust Your Own Mind.
68. Don't Feel Your Feelings.
69. The cult takes over the individual's decision-making process.
70. You Owe The Group.
71. We Have The Panacea.
72. Progressive Indoctrination and Progressive Commitments
73. Magical, Mystical, Unexplainable Workings
74. Trance-Inducing Practices
75. New Identity -- Redefinition of Self -- Revision of Personal History
76. Membership Rivalry
77. True Believers
78. Scapegoating and Excommunication
79. Promised Powers or Knowledge
80. It's a con. You don't get the promised goodies.
81. Hypocrisy
82. Denial of the truth. Reversal of reality. Rationalization and Denial.
83. Seeing Through Tinted Lenses
84. You can't make it without the cult.
85. Enemy-making and Devaluing the Outsider
86. The cult wants to own you.
87. Channelling or other occult, unchallengeable, sources of information.
88. They Make You Dependent On The Group.
89. Demands For Compliance With The Group
90. Newcomers Need Fixing.
91. Use of the Cognitive Dissonance Technique.
92. Grandiose existence. Bombastic, Grandiose Claims.
93. Black And White Thinking
94. The use of heavy-duty mind control and rapid conversion techniques.
95. Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who leaves the cult.
96. Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who criticizes the cult.
97. Appropriation of all of the members' worldly wealth.
98. Making cult members work long hours for free.
99. Total immersion and total isolation.
100. Mass suicide.
Bibliography
[ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2005-09-19 07:19 ]

marcwordsmith:
I'm struck by a few things as I read this thread. The first is that, simply, I find it hard to believe that the 12-step recovery programs, including AA, have only about a 5% success rate. It seems, based on people I know and have known, that they actually do much better than that. I have a good deal of respect for 12-step programs, which are voluntary, nurturing programs for adults who are in a lot of pain. As far as I can tell, these programs, even with their cult-like trappings, do much more good than harm.

But Walter's history at the beginning of this thread is most interesting. Why IS it that prophets, sages, charismatic individuals throughout time immemorial receive certain "revealed truths" which DO affect great positive changes in themselves and those around them--but then once these revelations are codified and rigidified into a self-perpetuating system or philosophy or organization, they almost always lend themselves to some very crazy thinking at best, and abusive behavior at worst?

I'm thinking right now, for example, of Hasidic Judaism. (I myself am Jewish, so I hope this is all right for me to talk about.) Hasidism was begun by a rabbinical mystic known as the Baal Shem Tov, who was an ecstatic, effusive visionary. And yet the movement that proceeded from his insights is full of so much solemnly prescribed ritual, such strict methods of dress and highly structured modes of worship, it seems almost antithetical to the original spirit of the Baal Shem Tov's vision.  

I actually do believe in revealed truths. I just think human rationality and logic are a safeguard, a criterion against which "divinely revealed" truths must ultimately be measured. And not all revealed truths turn out to be true, let alone 100% true.

I think the allure of revealed truth is that life is so complicated and confusing--it's comforting and seductive to get to feel unconflicted, 100% sure about anything.

Go Walter! Thanks for this thread.

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