On 2004-07-29 19:31:00, ottawa5 wrote:
To the recent Anon poster: You know, when I first came to this site, I would have tried to reason with you, to convince you that I am an independent person looking for answers.
Trouble is that we're no longer a bunch of naive kids operating under extreme stress w/o the time and presense of mind to reason out and challenge what we're told to believe.
You're getting the answers you say you want. We're telling you about everything you ask. You simply don't seem to want to accept what we're telling you.
I was never in CEDU. But I've learned enough about their Program to understand the fundamental similarities among all of the Synanon based programs.
Here's the program, in a nutshell.
Starting w/ a person who, for whatever reasons, does not want or believe they need to change their ways, how do you make them change anyway? Well, first you isolate them from all influences over which you have no control. This would include family, friends, newspapers, television, etc. any kind of input or stimulation other than what the Program providers want the person to have.
Then you inflict some dominance rituals. These often include things like surprise midnight abductions, strip searches, extended and provocative interrogations, etc. Show them who's boss, ya know?
From that point, it's just a matter of keeping the subject fatigued, confused, a little frightened and constantly emmersed in an atmosphere of indoctrination. Eventually, even a grown person w/ strong convictions (such as a military officer in a POW camp) will break down and accept the indoctrination. But it doesn't always last forever. And many people, once they have time to reflect on what happened to them, when they see through the slight of mind that has been worked on them, are quite resentful about it. Worse yet? A major componant of the Synanon method is that every inductee, in order to progress closer to the door, has to work the program on others.
Put yourself in the shoes of any of those fellow hikers who took part in chiding and belittling Ian August in the final days and hours before his death. At the time, they probably all sincerely believed that Ian was faking and that they were helping him to become a better person by not bying into it. But now they know the truth. Now they have to live, for the rest of their lives, w/ the knowledge that they stood and laughed and scolded this boy while he died.
But that, according to Program proponants, is just one of the risks we must face in order to save the children. God! But I hate the sanctimonious sadistic bastards who are often found waving
that banner!
Power concedes nothing without a demand. The limit of oppression is determined by the extent of the endurance of the oppressed.
--Frederick Douglas