last update: May 2004
Organized religions do some positive things. Examples are helping those in need and providing a means of socialization for members. There may also be some tangible psychological benefits. For example, in 1986, a study in Barbados indicated that bereaved members of the Spiritual Baptist Church may psychologically benefit from an elaborate seven-day mourning ritual.
Organized religions have been touted as providing moral standards for civilized as well as primitive cultures. Whether or not these standards produce tangible results has never been proven. Salt Lake City, Utah is a community whose populace is strongly influenced by the Mormon church (70% of the people who live in Utah are Mormons) However, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City have lower crime rates. {FBI crime statistics for 1994 and 1995}. In spite of the Mormon church's stress on family values in their television ads, the rates of child abuse, divorce, suicide and unwed teenage pregnancy in Utah are above the United States average, unless one uses statistics provided by Mormon apologists.
Some organized religions appear to be implicated in profound emotional problems - such as chemical dependency, self mutilation, and sociopathic behaviour. Such problems typically don't fix themselves -- talking about them is the only recognized way to overcome them. For this reason, the negative aspects of organized religions need to be discussed openly. Holy Hooks is an attempt to do that. For some people, an open discussion in this area causes painful resentment. It is not easy to examine the tender underpinnings of our childhoods.
The type of problems that I set out to examine in Holy Hooks are similar to those which affected the children of entertainer Bing Crosby, a man who was perceived to have above average family-values. However, two of the Crosby children committed suicide. According to the surviving children, the two who killed themselves were the most sensitive and caring members of the family. According to the surviving children, their father physically and emotionally abused them.
Mr. Crosby believed completely in the organized religion (Roman Catholicism) to which he subscribed. In the tradition of his parents, he forced his religion upon his children. One of Bing's sons, Gary Crosby, wrote a book about the family. Many were shocked by the book. They felt that Gary had broken a sacred rule by talking openly about family problems.
In power-bent organized religions, close examination of their inner workings is taboo -- if not anathema. Such religions teach children that those who examine their teachings face grave consequences in the hereafter. Allegedly, this involves separation from family, friends, and God -- and just for good measure, they add the threat of rather lengthy torture in fire.
I believe that we can better understand where we are going if we understand where we have been. Holy Hooks reviews elements of the histories of some of the major organized religions -- histories that the hierarchies thereof have been remiss in propagating. The hierarchies of some organized religions have gone a step beyond omitting embarrassing elements of their histories -- they seem to have adjusted/revised their official histories. Muslims and Christians are quite likely to be affronted by this subject.
Some readers of Holy Hooks have been offended by the material on the sexual aspect of organized religions. Control of sexual behaviour is part of virtually all organized religions. Therefore, examining the sexual aspect of organized religions is a central, albeit tender, issue.
Since they provide a means of socialization, I do not advocate abandoning organized religions. I do, however, advocate fixing problems. Even the most totalitarian patriarchal organizations can be changed for the better if enough members make up their minds to openly practice nonviolent disobedience -- and to openly question inappropriate behaviour by the powers-that-be. Thank you, Mr. Gandhi.
Holy Hooks has been criticized for lack of balance because it does not praise the charity work that organized religions perform. Another criticism is the less than rigorous documentation. These are valid criticisms.
About the Author
I have never subscribed to an organized religion. However, I am not an atheist. I attended Baptist churches between the ages of three and eight. At that point, our family moved to another city. Since there was no Baptist church in the new neighbourhood, I attended a Presbyterian church. The main theological difference between Baptists and Presbyterians seemed to be that Baptist Hell was hotter by several hundred degrees Celsius. There were more immediate benefits. Saturday movie matinees and gin rummy were no longer taboo.
One Sunday when I was thirteen, a member of the church hierarchy took me aside and explained the doctrine of Christian salvation. Allegedly, "God" has three personalities. These are: the Father personality; the Son personality; and the Holy Ghost personality. About 19 centuries ago, God's Son personality apparently alloswed himself to be sacrificed to "pay" for our sins in order to save us from rather lengthy torture in Hell. There seemed to be a few problems with the story, for instance:
Was this really a genuine, bona fide sacrifice?
Who was the payee?
Who is responsible for the torture business?
By definition, sacrifice means forfeiture or permanent loss. However, this so-called sacrifice lasted only about 36 hours. After he who was "sacrificed" the Saviour reportedly went to a big resort in the sky to be with his Father -- so this was hardly a permanent loss.
The payee could have been one of the other two personalities -- but this is a murky area.
Concerning the torture question, the front-man who allegedly manages the torture business was formerly one of God's lieutenants (a.k.a. "archangel") at God's big resort in the sky (Heaven/Paradise/Celestial Kingdom, et cetera). This ex lieutenant has a remarkable number of names. Some examples are: Satan (clearly the most popular) in addition to Lucifer, Devil, Old Nick, Old Scratch, and Prince of Darkness. Satan allegedly has a number of like-minded employees who help to promote his agenda throughout the universe. Satan has a pervasive reputation for not telling the truth -- a trait that earned him a nickname: The Great Deceiver. As the story goes, God and Satan had a falling out that appears to have had something to do with puerile jealousy. Satan and his pals were allegedly booted out of God's resort and sent to manage the eternal torture business in a somewhat less luminous region of the cosmos. However, in the universal scheme of things the buck stops with numero uno, so God is the de facto franchisor of the eternal torture business, and is therefore at least partly responsible for what goes on there.
The Christian salvation story seems to boil down to this: God temporarily inconvenienced one of his three personalities temporarily to pay an unknown party for our transgressions so that we would not have to suffer lengthy torture at the hands of Satan and his pals. In other words, God is the Messiah (after 325 AD at least). The only catch is that we have to have swallow the whole story, or else.
-- If Christian salvation makes perfect sense to you, there is assuredly no reason for you to read beyond this point. --
Consider the issue of fairness. Eternal roasting in fire, alternating with involuntary baths in urine and feces, et cetera is hardly fair pay-back for a relatively brief life of somewhat less than exemplary behaviour. Sure, I knew some guys in Woodrow Wilson Junior High School who were pretty rotten -- but they didn't deserve eternal roasting and bobbing for road apples in a cesspool. An hour or two would be plenty. For Gary, maybe three hours.
As you have probably already guessed, after hearing the salvation story in detail at the age of thirteen, I came away with the feeling that it might be a thick slice of bologna. During the ensuing decades, I have read books, talked to people and tried to untangle this knotty subject. Holy Hooks puts it all together in a small book.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank those who consented to be interviewed. For some, talking openly about the family religion was painful.
To the Huntington Library -- thank you for having the conviction and the courage to release the photocopies of the Dead Sea Scrolls into the light of day.
Thanks to Christina Crawford for her revolutionary book 'Mommy Dearest.' This book has been widely credited with bringing down the once-sacrosanct taboo of never publicly discussing family problems.
I would like to thank the hierarchy of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith, Junior, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and the hierarchy of the Church of Rome for a seemingly endless cornucopia of tragi-comic fodder.
And finally I would like to thank those who read and critiqued Holy Hooks as it was being written. Without their suggestions and encouragement, it probably would have died on the vine.
After my attorney read Holy Hooks, he advised me to never copyright it and to never put my name on it. My wife subsequently had a dream that religious men came to our house in the wee hours of darkness, bearing assault rifles, so I decided to take my attorney's advice.
Caveats
Holy Hooks was written for those have questions and/or suspicions about one or more organized religions.
Holy Hooks is indelicate. One reviewer described it as a frontal assault with a chain saw upon the tender underpinnings of our childhoods.
Holy Hooks was written by a fallible person, so the faithful can expect some errors that they can point to with delight.
Holy Hooks should probably not be read by devout atheists or those who attend church two or more times per week.
End of
Preface
Illustrations
"Mother of God" / "Queen of Heaven": in the 1950s (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Manual for High School Pupils (® RCC), and in the 1990s (® Andelko Mikulec)
As phony as a Three Dollar Bill
Main Text, Holy
Hooks
...............
In the animal kingdom, males strive to dominate territory and other males. It's a primal game whose purpose is to control and impregnate females so that only the stronger and more cunning males' genes will survive. The process of carrying forward the best genes continually improves each species so that it may better compete -- thereby assuring its long term survival. Human males have a propensity to play the same game. Cunning, acting in concert with physical attributes, brings wealth, i.e., the means to control. Like dominant stallions, men who control receive that most highly prized carrot -- respect. It appears that man and his primal propensity to control are inseparable.
In order to gain wealth, men form businesses that provide products and/or services. Organized religions provide services and they often gain wealth. Some businesses and some organized religions have become quite wealthy. Where it suits their purposes, both types of organization use their power to influence those who make our local, state and federal laws. To accomplish this, smaller organizations hire the part-time services of professional lobbyists. The more powerful organizations, such as insurance companies and oil companies, typically employ a full-time lobbyist. The largest and wealthiest religious organization in California maintains a full-time lobbyist and staff at the state legislature in Sacramento.
Christianity has a long history of influencing laws -- especially those that relate to sex. Roman Emperor Justinian (483 - 565) created what were probably the first laws that attempted to control civilian sexual practices. When asked why the Roman populace needed such measures, Justinian said that they were necessary to maintain public safety because certain sexual practices were known to cause earthquakes. A few centuries ago, the Roman church was successful in having laws enacted that made its priests immune to civil law. In some European countries, a priest could not be prosecuted for committing a crime -- even the crime of murder. At one time, a woman who wore shorts in public on Sunday in North Carolina could be arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail. In the 1950s, a number of states in the Bible Belt. had laws that required businesses to remain closed on Sundays.
Although there are similarities, there are some notable differences between business organizations and religious organizations. Business organizations have historically been less prone to murder their competitors than have religious organizations. Another difference is that businesses pay tax. Organized religions enjoy other privileges that are denied to business. Probably the most remarkable of these is the right to discriminate as they see fit. The major organized religions -- and virtually all major businesses -- were invented by males and are controlled by males. A religion that was founded by a female is virtually certain to be taken over by males after the death of its founder. Examples of this phenomenon are seen in the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, founded in 1927 by Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), and Christian Science, founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910). Females need not apply for any position in church management that leads to the top jobs. Organized religion is the ideal male-dominated business because it is wholly exempted from sex discrimination laws by Article I of the Amendments to the United States Constitution. A male-dominated organized religion is like a men's club that admits non-voting female members who know their place. The Constitutional exemption also applies to race discrimination by organized religions. Such organizations are also exempted from more mundane laws. For example, if a restaurant had a public bowl of water at its entrance for patrons to dip their hands in, the local public health agency would promptly close the restaurant down. However, many churches have a bowl of "Holy Water" near the entrance into which a plethora of well-travelled hands are placed.
If an organized religion wishes to become powerful, it must first control peoples' emotions. In this way, the organization is able to control peoples' labor, money and children. Through control of the children, the children's eventual children are controlled and the organization becomes a perpetual machine which brings a steady flow of money, power, and respect to those who control it. Power-bent organized religions control their subscribers by subtle tactics based on knowledge of human fears, hopes, superstitions and weaknesses. Promoting feelings of guilt and shame are an especially effective means of control. By repeatedly associating guilt and shame with a certainty -- all types of sexual feelings -- a lifetime means of control is possible.
"The sex drive itself gave organized religion an opportunity to amass what was indisputably the greatest power ever lodged in human hands." -- Rabbi Abraham Feinberg
Another guilt tool is wealth. Even in modest amounts, wealth -- a.k.a. "mammon" -- is not good unless the church hierarchy receives a generous slice of the pie. Organized religion is invariably financed from the bottom and controlled from the top.
To some individuals, and to some organizations, power is an addicting drug that requires progressively higher doses. At the peak of his power, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil empire controlled approximately 90% of the petroleum in the United States. However, Rockefeller's vast power was gained by bribery, violence, threats of violence, and by keeping wages at or near the poverty level -- facts that most of his descendants still deny. John D. Rockefeller was a devout Christian.
In more recent times, Wall Street marvel Ivan Boesky was not content with a few hundred million dollars. He so desperately wanted even more power -- and the respect that it brings -- he violated the law by resorting to insider-trading to make yet more money. As a result, Boesky went to prison.
Michael Milken, Boesky's covert partner in securities crime, also went to prison. Milken paid a 100 million dollar fine. In a March 1992 prison interview, Milken said that the real goal was not the money. Many people found this to be incredulous -- but I believe him. Milken's ultimate goal was the most highly prized carrot -- respect. Before he was caught, Milken donated huge sums of money to charities. This bought him respect.
Power seems to create a need for more power. The only exceptions that comes to mind are George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. They said no, thank you to another term as President of the United States and went home to their farms.
According to Will Durant in The Mansions of Philosophy,
"By the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, the Roman church owned one-third of the arable land in Europe and her coffers were full."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormon church (1830), has vast holdings of real estate, businesses, cash, and a substantial investment portfolio. Mormons believe that wealth is proof of God's approval. More money equals more divine-approval. Before he invaded Kuwait, Saddam Hussein reportedly had around 10 billion dollars worth of divine-approval in his personal bank accounts.
The Mormon church is a stickler about tithing -- which is defined as a "tenth part." However, Mormons who wish to receive more divine approval can give more than 10%. Mormon bishops are expected to give substantially more than 10%. One Mormon male told me that he hoped to someday be able to give 18% -- curiously, the then maximum allowable federal income tax deduction for donations to organized religions. He explained that it was like an investment. More investment brings more return. Other organized religions promote the same, give more, get more concept. Want to get a big salary increase or reserve a front row seat in Heaven? Just give "God," i.e., the church hierarchy, more of your money. . Since LDS "tithing" is based on gross income instead of spendable income after federal and state income taxes, for Californians, the LDS "tithe" can take roughly 20% of spendable income.
Phineas Taylor Barnum may have underestimated the situation. Perhaps there's more than one sucker born every minute.
A survey in Central California found that Mormons donate the highest average percentage of their incomes to their church. Mormons donated six times the percentage that Roman Catholics donated. No other church came close to the Mormon church hierarchy's percentage take -- estimated to total over four billion dollars per year. Mormons who don't ante-up are denied a 'Temple Recommend' by their local bishop -- a depravation of considerable gravity in Mormon society. . With Catholics donating at only one-sixth the rate that Mormons donate, the percentage donation that God wants is not certain. I propose a foolproof method of determining exactly what percentage of one's income is appropriate to donate: Each Sunday morning, take all your cash on hand and clip it together with a clothes pin. Step outdoors and toss it as high up as possible. Your correct change will infallibly return to Earth. If only the clothes pin returns, try clipping on a VISA® card or MasterCard® and give it another toss.
The appetite of organized religion is seemingly not limited to cash.
"When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible." - Jomo Kenyata
A similar transfer of property ownership took place in Hawaii after the Christian missionaries arrived. The descendants of these missionaries still own large tracts of land in the Hawaiian Islands.
All that power-bent organized religions do is justified under the guise of providing "salvation" to its subscribers. Salvation seems to be a blanket immunization that miraculously saves believers from the wrath of a surprisingly spiteful and sadistic sky-god who doesn't think twice about passing out cruel and lengthy punishment to those who do not play ball with the holy men. Verily this is scary stuff, kids.
The idea of one's entire family eventually being united forever in a happy hereafter has a wondrous appeal. Promoting the idea that an "unconverted" or "unsaved" family member might be doomed to a much less than wonderful eternity is a good selling point for allowing -- or even coercing -- one's children to come under the influence of the religious organization. Power-bent organized religions promote such concepts -- claiming to be God's One True Church and the sole source of supreme truth.
On "Judgment Day," the billions of people from all of the world's competing religions will presumably gather in "His" stadium. It's probably safe to assume that there won't be any Astroturf or artificial lighting in that venue. It would have to be natural grass and natural sunshine. After everybody finds his or her reserved seat, God sends Ed Sullivan up to the microphone. Ed says something like this: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the really big winner, the One True Faith is -- (breathless silence)______________-- the rest of you folks go to Hell. . . Sorry.
Pyramid Power
The structure of power-bent organized religions is a hierarchal, authoritarian pyramid. Each layer in the pyramid follows orders from the layer above -- much like a military organization. At the top of the pyramid is a dominant male. An election takes place after the death of a dominant male. The new dominant male is elected by the males at the second level in the pyramid. The dominant male typically appoints replacements to the electorate. He usually appoints males who can be depended upon not to rock the boat. This system virtually guarantees a very conservative electorate -- resulting in an organization that is less than eager to make even needed changes. And then there's the sticky business of infallibility. If a dominant male supposedly never makes a mistake in matters of faith, making any change is certain to raise unwelcome questions, as well as eyebrows.
The Divine Hotline
To strengthen the aura of authenticity and infallibility, true-believers are told that their leader/dominant male communicates directly with God. If true-believers want God's love instead of God's wrath, they must unquestioningly obey the dominant male. Presumably, such communication takes place by way of an unfathomable Divine Hotline. In most organized religions, the Divine Hotline is definitely not a party-line. There is allegedly one direct line of divine communication on Earth and each of the power-bent organized religions claims to have it.
When the dominant male appears in public, be he ayatollah, pope, guru, prophet, or church president, true-believers have a tendency to become mesmerized since they have been taught to believe that it's almost like God himself walking and talking. After Pope John Paul II was shot, Time magazine reported {May 25, 1981, page 12} "It's like shooting God."
Some examples of the Divine Hotline in action:
In the 1840s, polygamy somewhat suddenly became an important tenet of Mormonism. It was purportedly what God wanted the so-inclined Mormon males to do. Coincidentally, this occurred shortly after two-pairs of well-endowed orphaned sisters, aged 17, 19, and 19, 23, were graciously taken in by the founder of Mormonism and his wife.
Late in the 19th century, the Utah Territory wanted to become a state -- but there was a problem. The United States Congress made it abundantly clear that it would be inappropriate for any territory that permitted polygamy to apply for statehood. Fortunately, this was around the same time that The Lord changed his mind about polygamy. The Lord apparently told the maximum-leader and prophet of the Mormons, Wilford Woodruff, about the sudden rule change on the Divine Hotline. Woodruff relayed the message to the faithful. Polygamy technically became illegal therein, and Utah became a state in 1896. However, the Mormon hierarchy -- a.k.a. the "General Authorities" -- ignored the law. Secret polygamy permits were granted to members of the hierarchy until c. 1906 After a well-known Mormon church historian wrote about this, he was excommunicated. More on that later.
Before the civil-rights era, any person with African blood was officially persona non grata in the Mormon church. Brigham Young, the man who brought the Mormons to Utah, was an avowed white racist. He said that any person with "one drop of Negroid blood in his veins" was not acceptable. Church doctrine professed that dark skin was a curse from God to be visited on all of the descendants of Ham -- a character in the Old Testament section of the Bible. During the Civil Rights Era, a number of social activists advocated boycotting athletic teams from Brigham Young University. Naturally, this resulted in a loss of revenue from athletic events. Loss of revenue is, in the Mormon faith, a sure sign that divine approval is on the wane. Another source of pressure was coming from the I. R. S., who was evaluating the church's tax-exempt status. Because of these factors, imminent communication via the Divine Hotline seemed quite likely. Sure enough, in June of 1978, the Divine Hotline phone rang. Mormon church president Spencer Kimball apparently took the call. Dark-skinned folks were now officially OK with God, B.Y.U.'s basketball and football programs were saved from pecuniary perdition, and the I.R.S. discontinued it's rather worrisome investigation into the church's tax-exempt status -- which is probably worth at least a billion dollars per year. Hallelujah! Obviously, God decided not to change any skin tones after he lifted the curse of Ham. It was a good thing too, considering those growing ozone holes that are floating about in the ionosphere. Due to the increasing level of UV rays from the sun, ozone holes seem to be causing a steady rise in the incidence of skin cancer -- especially in light-skinned people. In the future, the curse may be white skin.
Although darker skinned races are now officially acceptable to the Mormon hierarchy, you aren't likely to find Mormon missionaries knocking on doors in Harlem, Compton or Watts. The church is run by and for white Anglo-Saxon males -- and they obviously plan to keep it that way.
It seems to me that if God is to have any credibility, he should not be changing the rules in midstream. He should say what's what, and that's it -- period. Wishy-washiness does not deserve anyone's respect, and it's hardly what most people would rate as a divine trait. While we're on the subject, putting a curse on millions of yet-to-be-born children because of an ancient offence is hardly appropriate behaviour from a so-called "God of love."
The rank of cardinal is pivotal in the Roman church because the College of Cardinals elects popes. The organization used to have a problem with elderly cardinals who had become senile and refused to retire. Some of these guys were ancient. There are few sights more appalling than a drooling cardinal. Something had to be done. The Divine-Hotline phone rang. Henceforth, all members of the organization's upper hierarchy -- with one exception -- would retire at age 75. If you guessed that the exception was for the guy who answers the Divine Hotline phone, congratulations.
Organized Religion versus Democracy
Power-bent organized religions are the antithesis of democracy. The concept of allowing people to choose for themselves is their old and frustrating rival. Organized religion can be depended upon to thwart freedom of speech and democracy whenever doing so serves its interests. Needless to say, this policy breeds totalitarian governments.
Irish author James Joyce was presented with the following choice: continue to write in Ireland and be jailed for blasphemy against the Roman church -- or move to another country. Joyce moved to Paris and, thank God, continued to write. Ireland is one of the most conservative Roman Catholic countries in the world. Irish women can not obtain a divorce. Irish women can not have an abortion even in cases of physical abuse, rape, incest, a severely deformed fetus, or to save the mother's life.
The Russian Orthodox church hierarchy did not support the democratic movement during the early part of the 1917 Revolution and they do not support the modern democratic movement in Russia. Before the assassination of Czar Nicholas II in 1916, the church operated in concert with the government to brutally subjugate the Russian people. This was one source of the hatred that fueled the Russian Revolution. Before 1916, the church was involved in the suppression of competing religions. Judaism was a favorite target of church propagandists. Many Jewish people were murdered or were worked to death in Russian slave labor camps that were operated by Christians. This practice continued under the communists.
A good example of the close relationship between organized religion and power politics was Joseph "Uncle Joe" Stalin (Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, 1879 - 1953). Although his original chosen vocation was the priesthood, Uncle Joe easily switched his career to politics. During communism, many KGB agents moonlighted as Orthodox priests.
Truly democratic governments have been rare in predominately Roman Catholic Latin America. During the last few centuries, Latin America has not had a shortage of brutal, patriarchal dictators. In the 1910 Mexican Revolution, the people chose to throw out their oppressive dictator. Instead of supporting the oppressed Mexican people, the Roman church hierarchy supported the oppressors. Haiti's pro-democracy President Father Jean Aristide was expelled from his religious order. The sacred heart of democracy, open discussion, is what the Roman church hierarchy fears most. However, when it comes to democracy in the workplace, the Roman church is pro-union -- with one important exception: The church is less than enthusiastic about the unionization of its own laborers who toil at church-owned cemeteries.
Israel is touted as a democracy. The Israeli Constitution provides disproportional representation to otherwise insignificant, radical Jewish sects -- simply because they wrote it. Five of Israel's 25 political parties are religious in nature. As a result, Israel's democracy is often hamstrung by its official organized religion. The Israeli Knesset [parliament] has more than a fair share of members who are radical Jewish fundamentalists. The most radical Jewish fundamentalists are called haredim -- literally "fearful of God." Their fear of God could be described as paralytic. Haredim are so meshuggah [crazy] that the Israeli army doesn't want anything to do with them. Haredim are -- thank God -- exempt from the military draft. This exemption disappoints no one except possibly Israel's enemies. Those who drive their cars through a haredim neighbourhood on the Sabbath should be prepared to have a rock thrown through the glass. This practice began long before the Palestinians started throwing rocks. A friend who was visiting Israel tried to use a public telephone in a haredim neighbourhood on the Sabbath. He was accosted by a stentorian woman who popped out of a nearby house -- like a trapdoor spider. For years, haredim have been trying to have a law passed that would make it illegal for Israeli Christians to raise pigs. Haredim who are fortunate enough to live in Jerusalem enjoy a somewhat more relaxed Sabbath thanks to the Eruv -- an 80 mile-long rope that , according to holy men, professedly turns the city into a single dwelling. This allows the faithful to legally carry things outside their houses on the Sabbath.
However, in comparison to its Arab neighbours, Israel is a beacon of democracy in the region. In Arabic, "Islam" means "to submit." Muslim is an Arabic word which means one who submits to the will of God -- at least according to Islam's current version of it. Since democracy is defined as submitting to the will of the majority of the people, conflict is certain. Saudi Arabia, the bastion of Islam, is rigorously opposed to any form of democracy on or even near its borders.
When Democracy Kills Itself
Islam promotes large families. A Muslim male can currently have up to four wives at a time. However, since a wife can be easily divorced under Islamic Law, younger wives can be added at will. This arrangement can lead to many progeny. King Faisal ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud c.1906 - 1975), reportedly fathered over one thousand children. Thanks to Faisal's considerable efforts, long-feuding Arab families were united by marriage and blood. This was how the country of Saudi Arabia came to be.
When Muslims become the voting majority within a democracy, a danger arises. When Muslim cleric-politicians take control of a country, the national constitution is virtually certain to be changed from democratic to theocratic -- i.e., a religious dictatorship. The vehicle that propelled them into political office -- democracy -- suddenly becomes blasphemy. Anyone who promotes democracy blasphemes against Allah and the Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdallah. In Islam, blasphemy is a summarily executable offense. Such is the case in Iran. After the Islamic Revolution, the Shah was out and democracy was in - - but not for long. Iran voted to become an Islamic theocracy. Subsequently, Iran's Islamic government handed down death sentences for its own democratically-elected president, Bani-Sadr, and prime minister, Ghotzbadeh. Their crime was advocating democracy. Ghotzbadeh was executed. Bani-Sadr narrowly escaped -- first to France and then to Africa. He is currently being hunted by devout assassins who are eager to win favor with Allah -- and collect a tidy bounty from the Islamic government of Iran.
After Muslim politicians take control of a country, non-Muslims are likely to be given a choice: convert to Islam or die. This is one of the points of contention in the civil war in Sudan which began in the early 1980s. The war started when the government imposed Islamic law. Many of the rebels in the south are people who do not choose to convert to Islam at the point of a gun. In 1993, U.S. intelligence discovered that Sudan's Islamic government is involved in international terrorism and slavery.
In Iran, after the Islamic Revolution, about 40,000 people were legally executed by the Islamic government. For females, violating the traditional Muslim dress code could be unhealthy -- even though the Qur'an prescribes no dress code. The Qur'an says only that women should dress modestly. [Note: the Qur'an is also known as the Koran.]
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, shortly after the Islamic Revolution, an 18 year old Iranian woman was wearing a western-style bathing suit while she was using her family's private backyard swimming pool in Teheran. Even though the backyard was surrounded by a high wall, a Muslim cleric-trainee who lived in a multi-story apartment across the street, was able to see her from his apartment. Upon seeing her, the cleric-trainee experienced a presumably-unholy erection. He reported the incident to his local mullah [Muslim holy man]. The woman was reportedly arrested, taken to prison, condemned, raped and executed. Rape is not an option. According to Muslim law, it is strictly illegal to execute a virgin. No problem!! Any female who is to be executed is always thoroughly devirginized by at least two faithful Muslim males to be absolutely sure they don't offend God/Allah by executing a virgin. All in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate. Let rapists give thanks for the Holy Qur'an.
During the Islamic Revolution, many Iranian men and women who had attended western universities before the Revolution were arrested and executed for speaking out against the epidemic of human rights violations that were taking place. Apparently, Allah isn't generally in favor of human rights and other western ideas. Even sunglasses seem to be of concern to Allah. Wearing sunglasses in Iran will often result in arrest.
Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979 was supposed to wipe out the widespread government corruption that existed under Shah M. R. Pahlavi (1919 -1980). However, by 1990, there was reportedly more government corruption in Iran than there ever was under the Shah -- and the problem is growing worse. The Islamic government of Iran funds and directs international terrorism. The problems of corruption and terrorism are never discussed in the state-controlled Iranian media. However, they are reported on in news programs originating in other countries. Since such programs can be received in Iran with a TV satellite dish, satellite dishes are now illegal in Iran. The new Iranian Satellite Police currently prowl neighbourhoods looking for violators. However, in 1997, Iran's newly-elected liberal president began to push for needed changes.
Sin, Guilt, Ritual and Myth
Participation in rituals can take people's minds away from reality and temporarily bring them a feeling of well being. This is especially the case for those who are suffering from the pain of guilt and shame. Rituals seem to be habit forming to people who were exposed to guilt-based religious inculcation during their childhoods. Those who are authorized to perform such rituals receive respect from those who are not authorized to perform rituals.
I believe there is an intrinsic problem with ritual-intensive religions such as Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Mormonism. True-believers search for the answer to self-realization within the rituals instead of within themselves. However, Zen Buddhism rejects all rituals -- including Buddhist rituals.
In some religions, to secure God's kindness, or "Grace," one sins, does penance and/or makes a sacrifice -- and one is free to sin again. In the Russian Orthodox church, holy men have concluded that sin is necessary to enjoy the blessings of divine grace. The bottom-line is that sin is pleasing to God. By this rationale, Uncle Joe Stalin must have brought God much happiness while he was torturing and murdering the 22 million.
Guilt and sin are the engine and fuel of power-bent organized religions. If one supposedly sins, he or she feels compelled to go to church to facilitate receiving forgiveness. Sin is elaborated into a mind boggling labyrinth. There are seemingly more ways to sin than the number of flavors available in any ice cream emporium.
To enhance the image of genuineness, each power-bent organized religion claims to be God's one and only factory-authorized dealer on Earth. Such religions typically lay claim to an unbroken "laying of hands" line of holy men going back to the supposed founder of their faith. In Christian religions, this line purportedly leads back to Jesus (the) Christ and the original 12 disciples -- presumably minus their treasonous treasurer, Judas Iscariot.
Promoting the idea that holy men are God's official representatives is helpful in suppressing free thought and open discussion among the laity. Challenging holy men is equated with challenging God. Who would dare? Those who advocate open discussion are compared with Satan, who allegedly challenged God.
A Polish astronomer, Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik, 1473 - 1543) wrote the first scientific book which proposed that Earth revolved around the Sun. Galileo (1564 - 1642) read Copernicus' book and supported the concept -- as did fellow astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). During this era, the organization that likes to refer to itself as "God's Holy Church"-- professed that Earth was stationary at the center of the universe. The Sun allegedly revolved around Earth. The church made Copernicus an offer he could not refuse: publicly deny that Earth revolves around the Sun or be turned over to the church's Holy Inquisition branch for torture and roasting at the stake. Copernicus recanted. When he was 68 years old -- and safely past the church's maximum legal age for torture -- Galileo was threatened with excommunication. Galileo recanted. From this episode came the words revolutionaries, revolution and revolt. It was not until late in the 19th century that the church quietly removed Copernicus' book from its banned books list. In October of 1992, the pope acknowledged that Earth revolves around the Sun.
The element of mysticism is a useful means of receiving respect because people are intimidated by things they can not fully understand. Thus, holy men invent myths -- the more incredible the better.
"I can believe anything, provided it is incredible." -- Oscar Wilde
Phineas Taylor Barnum observed that the attendance at his shows bore a close relationship to the incredibility of the claims that he made. Apparently, there's no shortage of people who like to be wowed more than they dislike being fooled -- an artifice that consistently sells tabloids at the grocery checkout.
Augustine (354 - 430), one of the main engineers of what was then called the Church of Rome said:
"If you understand it, it is not God."
Apparently, jabberwocky is of divine origin.
Holy men tell the faithful: You (lay members of the church) can not understand these beautiful "divine mysteries" since God has ordained that you are not capable of doing so. You should gracefully accept these wondrous things as articles of faith. In other words, God supposedly puts an ignoramus-gene factor into the brains of the laity. But all is not lost, thank God. The hierarchy will happily do the thinking for the laity. As the Greyhound bus people say -- just leave the driving to us.
A good example of a "divine mystery" is the triple-personality deity -- a.k.a. the "Holy Trinity." The concept of a multi-personality deity was a common element of pagan religions for many centuries before Plato wrote about it c.400 BC. The Arab religion that preceded Islam had a triple deity. Many Christians assume that mankind learned of the Holy Trinity from the lips of the one they call Jesus (the) Christ. However, a trinity is mentioned nowhere in the Bible. The concept of the Christian Trinity appeared after the First Century. Much debate ensued. In the Spring of 325, a conference was held at Nicaea, Bithynia in northwest Asia Minor. Thanks in part to pressure from Roman Emperor Constantine and pressure from Constantine's mom, on the 20th of May 325, a majority of delegates voted for the new triple-personality doctrine.
Constantine was not someone to trifle with. Like 'The Juice', he murdered his second wife. However, the trinity issue was far from settled in 325. More debate followed. Those who questioned the new doctrine occasionally had to take sudden vacations for reasons of personal safety. However, by the time of the First Council of Constantinople (381) the trinity promoters seemed to be in control.
In essence, after 325, Christians were expected to believe that God caused a woman to become pregnant so that she would give birth to God. Thus, the father is allegedly the son, i.e., God is the Savior/Messiah. . . And Oedipus Rex thought he had problems. A god who impregnates his mother? Would you like a pickle with that bologna sandwich?
In the Qur'an [a.k.a. Koran], at 5:15 - 5:18, Mohammed ibn Abdallah said:
Unbelievers in God are those who declare: God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.
The Qur'an is not the only book to cast doubt on the Christian Trinity. According to the New Testament section of the Bible: The Son of man reportedly said:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." {Matthew 24:36}
If the Father knows something that the Son doesn't know, could they be the same? The only possible explanation for Matthew 24:36 is that some anti-Trinity person must have put it there when no one was looking. If this is not true, the Trinity is porcine shampoo.
Since myths contain fiction, they are vulnerable to examination. Thus, one myth is often used to support another myth. The triple-personality deity serves this purpose. It works in concert with the concept of the perfect sacrifice. This will be discussed later in the section titled Ritual-Cannibalism.
Jumping-Off
Most dictionaries use the term fictitious story to define myth. However, the Catholic Encyclopedia defines myth as follows:
"It can be said that myth, in its functional use, explains the origin of events or actions, and thus myths are the jumping-off point for things or events that humans cannot immediately grasp from their experimental knowledge."
The "Act of Faith" Celebration
In the previous section, the subject of the Holy Inquisition was broached. The Holy Inquisition was basically a branch of the Roman church whose purpose was to encourage compliance with the church's teaching and to promote belief in the organization's myths. Accepted forms of evidence against the accused included rumor and hearsay. After being condemned by the Holy Inquisition branch, victims who did not die during torture were punished publicly in the Auto-Da-Fé ("Act of Faith") celebration. The first one took place in 1481. The last took place in 1830. In the Americas, the last Act of Faith celebration took place in Mexico in 1815. The Act of Faith celebration was one of the Roman church's most solemn and most pompous. It was probably the church's most memorable celebration as well. Typically, Act of Faith celebrations were held between Whit Sunday and Advent. Sometimes an Act of Faith would be celebrated on All Saints's Day. The celebration consisted of a public display of the condemned, the preaching of a sermon, followed by the murder of the victim. Burning alive at the stake was a popular form of accomplishing the desired result. According to its own records, 340,000 people were murdered in public by "God's Holy Church" between the 15th and 19th centuries. (Fr. Peter DeRosa, ''Vicars of Christ'')
The Art of Inculcation
The word inculcate comes from the Latin word inculcatus, which means 'to trample' (from calx, calc-, heel) Inculcation is a unique type of instruction that is designed to slowly trample down an individual's reasoning ability and self-worth. As self-worth wanes, faith-in-self is replaced by faith in the organization doing the inculcating. Religious organizations that inculcate prefer to describe their activities with euphemisms like religious instruction or religious training..
The word religion comes from the Latin word ligare, which means 'to bind'. An English derivative is the word ligature. When inculcation is combined with religion, an individual can be emotionally trampled down and bound. The goal is control. Like the Japanese art of binding the growth of a tree -- bonsai -- binding the reasoning ability of a human mind is best begun at an early age.
Some factors that facilitate inculcation are:
Children need the attention of adults.
A child equates almost any form of attention with love - - and only rarely looks back objectively for the remainder of his or her life.
Young children have a tendency to believe what they are told by adults and by older children.
When a charismatic person passionately believes something -- whether it be true or not -- he or she becomes a convincing salesman.
That which children perceive as reality can be molded by repeated suggestion from key adult leaders and peer group pressure.
The targets of inculcation are gently anesthetized by the attention they receive. The perception of love is a potent anesthetic -- so few of the children who are being inculcated are likely to realize what is taking place.
Some obstacles to inculcation are:
Beyond the age of about five years, children become increasingly able to separate reality from fiction.
The ideas that children are exposed to during inculcation must be protected from open discussion outside the classroom.
The mind of a child can be programmed for a lifetime by adults who operate under the warm, fuzzy aura of love and repeat a blend of truths and myths often enough to make a lasting impression.
There are no deliberately deceptive persons at work here. Those doing the inculcation -- the inculcators -- were similarly warm-fuzzied and molded by the same techniques during their most impressionable years. The inculcators are sincere, they are innocent victims -- and they help to make more innocent victims. We are blinded by what we perceive as love.
Most people need and enjoy open discussion. TV and radio talk shows enjoy high ratings. Talking about problems is how people overcome problems. However, it's also how people separate fact from fiction. Since delusive concepts are vulnerable in the light of day, open discussion is inculcation's eternal enemy. To satisfy the human need to talk things over, carefully-controlled discussion may be incorporated into religious inculcation. To further preclude the possibility of truly open discussion, children may be cautioned (at the risk of being a traitor to 'God's Holy Family') not to discuss everything that goes on in religion class with outsiders. One may presume that dire consequences beyond the grave awaits such traitors.
When an inculcated person reaches a specified age, usually between the ages of eight to sixteen, he or she will be called upon to formally join the organization. The initiation ceremony is sometimes called confirmation. The initiate confirms the church hierarchy's teaching and thereby submits to the authority of the hierarchy and its dominant male. The person who is being confirmed/initiated may be required to kiss the ring of a supposedly superior holy man -- the equivalent of kissing the royal ring to show obedience to the king. The name of the game is seemingly submission and domination. The payoff is respect. The respect must be automatic and devoid of consideration as to whether the superior person deserves respect or not.
Ring-kissing is a traditional form of showing respect. Holy men take ring kissing rather seriously. One of the alleged crimes of Joan of Arc (1412?-1431, French name Jeanne d'Arc) -- the 17 year old woman who saved France from English invaders -- was that she did not prevent her admirers from spontaneously kissing a simple ring she wore, inscribed: "Mary and Jesus." This ring was given to her by Joan's mother and father. For this and other so-called crimes against God's Holy Church -- Joan was judged guilty by a panel of priests, raped, and burned alive in an "Act of Faith" celebration.
When inculcated children grow up and have families, they unconsciously assist in preparing their own children for inculcation. Consequently, the inculcators will only need to reinforce and build upon the basics that the children were already exposed to at home.
Inculcation is designed to produce individuals who are dependent on the organization doing the inculcating. The organization claims to have everything of value. The child is expected to show up, show respect, keep quiet, and listen. Inculcation is also designed to produce individuals who bring cash to the organization. In Mormon inculcation classes, giving a minimum of 10% to the church is advanced as an unquestionable holy duty. In the Roman church's inculcation classes, the idea of bringing cash donations is introduced around the age of six.
To keep the ball rolling in a power-bent organized religion, no marriage is performed unless both parties indicate their intention to put their children through the organization's inculcation system. In the event that both parents die, the obligation of exposing the children to the inculcation system falls upon the godparents. All of the bases are covered. As a result, children are likely to be coerced to attend religious inculcation classes as well as religious services. However, when a child is repeatedly coerced or forced into situations where he or she is not given choices, problems can result. One of the most insidious problems is lowered self-esteem.
"If I did not go to Mass, I could not eat that day. The family sat around the table and I was alone in the corner. If I missed confession, I could not eat with the family. Nobody spoke to me. Nobody was allowed to comfort me. All this was done in the name of God. It was the silence that hurt; it is the silence that I remember." - Paul, age 28.
Controlling the reasoning ability and the emotions of a young mind requires less time than one might presume. The Roman church hierarchy has stated that, if they have access to a child through the age of six, that child will be their's for life. The Mormon church, seems to feel that their inculcation program will have succeeded by the time a child reaches the age of eight.
Mixed Messages
In the game of log rolling, one's opponent can be controlled by keeping him, or her, off balance with a mix of real and fake reverses. In baseball, the pitcher may send the batter a contradictory message in the form of an occasional "brush off pitch" to gain the upper hand by keeping the batter off balance. A parent may use contradictory messages to control his or her children. The following ploy is an example: The parent tells their teenage child: "You should socialize more with your friends." After the teenager goes out with friends and returns home, the parent sobs "I was so lonely while you were gone." If this ruse to induce shame and guilt eventually succeeds, the teenager may stop socializing with peers -- thereby arresting normal social development. 20 years down the road, there could be yet another Norman Bates. {Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'}
A common ploy used in inculcation is to keep people off balance with contradictory messages. For example, students are told that "God is love" -- and yet his favor can supposedly be gained by suffering. God is love -- yet he allegedly abets eternal torture in fire. Sex is bad -- but post pubescent sex feels good. Love your neighbours as yourself -- but be prepared to destroy them if they subscribe to different religious beliefs.
Mixed messages make mixed-up people. Mixed-up people are vulnerable to being controlled. In the game of submission and domination, those who can be thrown off balance by mixed messages will be controlled by those who are adept at pitching mixed messages. The collision of contradictory messages can also cause mental disorders. This subject is covered in the section titled Compulsive Behaviors.
The Sugar/Stick Shtik
One of the tools of inculcation is sugar/stick. Exuberant group praise of an individual is alternated with harsh group criticism of the individual. It is difficult to overstate the effectiveness of this tool. Sugar/stick is so powerful that, in the hands of skilled practitioners, it can be used to control thought -- i.e., create mind-control. Sugar/stick can be used to change a person's personality.
Scapegoats
Persons who have had their self-respect lessened by inculcation need someone to look down upon so that they can synthetically feel better about themselves. Skin color difference carries considerable weight during the process of selecting a suitable scapegoat. Religions of darker skinned people tend to use lighter skinned people for their scapegoat. Religions of lighter skinned people tend to use darker skinned people for their scapegoat. The Black Muslim church [a.k.a. the "Nation of Islam"] teaches its followers to love Allah and yet to hate one of Allah's creations -- white folks. The Nation of Islam's racist attitude is somewhat understandable. For hundreds of years in the United States, white Christian parents taught their children to love "GEEE-sus" and to hate "niggers." In the 16th century, after long deliberation and supplication for divine guidance, the Roman church hierarchy concluded that African people were a commodity which could be sold for profit -- like beasts of burden. Portuguese traders were given the necessary approval from Rome to buy slaves in Africa and sell them in the New World. The profits from such activities were astronomical. The church was not unreceptive to sharing in the profits from the New World. The first boatload of stolen gold to be brought back from the New World to the Old World was used to guild the ceiling of a church in Italy. In 1895, Pope Leo XIII rescinded the church's approval of black slavery.
The Roman church never used dark skinned people for a scapegoat. Perhaps beasts of burden weren't good enough. It's probably a moot point because the hierarchy already had a very human scapegoat: the "Christ Killers"--or Jews. Christianity's hatred of Jews is a tradition that can be traced back to the 4th century.
"I hate Jews. No pardon is possible for the odious murderers of the Lord." - Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407)
Many people believe that the target of the Crusades was Islam. This is only partly true. When the Christian army finally captured Jerusalem, one of their first Christian deeds was to round up every Jew they could find. The Jews were locked inside the synagogue and it was burned.
The Roman church's hatred of Jews is difficult to understand. According to post-325 Christian belief, Jesus of Nazareth was one of God's several personalities. Therefore Jesus was God. However, Jesus of Nazareth was irrefutably Jewish because his mother was Jewish. Yet for 15 centuries the church taught the faithful to hate Jews and love God.
Schismata
The Orthodox church also used the "Christ Killers" as their scapegoat. This was not a coincidence. The Roman church in the west, and the Orthodox church in the east, in Constantinople, were once branches of the same church. For many centuries they had much in common. Ideas and inventions flowed back and forth. The Holy Trinity and the crucifix are examples. The Trinity was a collaboration. The crucifix was invented by the Orthodox church around the 9th century. Although the Roman church initially rejected the crucifix on theological grounds, when it was discovered that crucifixes were selling like hotcakes, Rome decided to go with the flow. Despite their long collaboration, they went separate ways in 1054. The problem was a dispute that began about two centuries earlier. The dispute was punctuated with numerous mutual-excommunications. A smaller split occurred in 451 when the Coptic church broke away from the Orthodox and Roman churches. The point of contention was the official definition of the Trinity. The East-West split in Christianity in 1054 is known as the Great Schism. 1054 was a year of great splits. It was the year of the great supernova in the Crab Nebula. A huge star collapsed on itself, exploded, and split into countless bits that are still expanding. This supernova was so bright that it could be seen plainly during the day.
Abusive Sects
There is considerable controversy over what criteria defines an abusive religious sect//cult. In my opinion, abusive cults:
The word 'cult' usually conjures up the image of a small, rabid, abusive, religious organization. However, it seems that cults come in a wide variety of sizes. It can, however, be a serious faux pas to refer to a large religious organization as a cult -- even though the organization has many of the characteristics of one. Not all cults are abusive or dangerous. Many are innocuous. In the United States, there is an FDR cult, an MLK cult, an Abe Lincoln cult, an Elvis cult, and a JFK cult -- none of which are dangerous or abusive.
A serious stumbling block on the path to becoming a responsible adult is lack of self-worth in childhood. Self-worth is a delicate asset. Anything that erodes a child's faith in self can be a serious problem. I believe that abusive cults are especially dangerous to children because they are designed to erode self-worth.
When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true! Don't give up your education, your hopes and ambitions, to follow a rainbow." --Jeanne Mills
{Jeanne Mills was a former member of an abusive cult -- The People's Temple of Rev. Jim Jones. Jeanne Mills left the People's Temple after 913 members died as the result of drinking cyanide laced Koolaid, or from being shot in the back, in Jonestown, Guyana. Jeanne Mills was assassinated by a People's Temple cult member one year After the Koolaid party.}
Far Better Than God
Reverend Sun Myung Moon holds the self-proclaimed titles of "Messiah" and "Master." Moon is the Master of the Unification Church - - a.k.a. the Moonies. Since Moon claims to be God's man on Earth, his followers are not allowed to question anything Moon says. What follows are a collection of translated quotes from Sun Myung Moon:
"God is now throwing Christianity away and is now establishing a new religion, and this new religion is the Unification Church... With the fullness of time, God has sent his messenger to resolve the fundamental questions of life and the universe. His name is Sun Myung Moon."--Sun Myung Moon in Divine Principle.
"So from this time of peak every people or every organization that goes against the Unification Church will gradually come down or drastically come down and die. Many people will die those who do against our movement." (Master Speaks 2/14/74)
"The whole world is in my hand, and I will conquer and subjugate the world." (Master Speaks 5/17/73)
"Then in one sense, Father, Heavenly Father will say "Reverend Moon is far better than me, the Heavenly Father". In a short period of time, He will synthesize, He will crush the enemy and let them surrender. Our Master senses this kind of feeling of the Heavenly Father. Also, he is proud of himself and appreciates that Jesus Christ's unfinished job of 6000 years has been completed by him in his lifetime." (Master Speaks 7/31/74)
"So telling a lie becomes a sin if you tell it to take advantage of a person, but if you tell a lie to do a good thing for him that is not a sin. Even God tells lies very often; you can see this throughout history." (Master Speaks 3/16/72)
The Discipling Movement
The roots of the modern discipling movement, or shepherding movement churches can be traced back over 1400 years. In the 5th century, the Roman church started using the spiritual director system in monasteries and convents. Each new disciple was discipled by a spiritual director/discipler. The disciple was encouraged to confess their most secret thoughts to the discipler and submit themselves completely to the discipler's decisions as to what is good and what is evil. For some as yet unclear reason, such a system tends to create mind-control. The spiritual director system produced so many cases of abuse of disciples by their disciplers that the Roman church abandoned the use of discipling.
Watchman Nee was a charismatic, authoritarian Christian preacher who was persecuted by the Chinese Communists during the 1950s. Nee founded the movement known as "Little Flock." Nee said: "The church is a place not only for fellowship of brothers and sisters, but also for the manifestation of authority." {Eternity, January 1976, page 9.} Nee taught that each person must be responsible to a person of higher status -- which Nee called a "covering." This "covering" was an authoritarian discipler. Since Nee discipled his followers, who in turn discipled those below them, who in turn discipled those below them, a power pyramid of followers was created with Nee at the top of the power pyramid. Nee controlled everything -- like a godfather in the Chinese mafia or Triads. Nee taught that each disciple must confess all sins to his or her discipler -- who in turn passes the information up the ladder to his or her discipler. Nee knew virtually everything he needed to maintain control. This system was very much like that used in the Nazi Party -- wherein everyone became an informant. This is an effective control tool. Nee also taught that each disciple must imitate his or her discipler. In other words, monkey see, monkey do. The lowest disciples would be trying to ape their disciplers, who in turn would be trying to ape their disciplers, who in turn would be trying to ape their disciplers, on up the pyramid. The result was a pyramid of people attempting to mimic the person at the top of the pyramid.
In 1963, Robert Coleman's book The Master Plan of Evangelism was published. Coleman argues that Christ was a stern discipler who controlled virtually every aspect of his disciples' lives. Coleman references scriptural evidence to support his claim. However, Coleman's scriptural evidence is somewhat less than convincing -- although it is rather imaginative.
Coleman asserts that modern churches are intrinsically cold and impersonal because they lack intense one-on-one student-teacher relationships. This is probably a valid criticism. However, in Coleman's model, the discipler is not just a teacher. The discipler dictates virtually every aspect of disciples' lives. The net effect of the discipling system/discipling movement is to put a human being between each person and God -- the very thing that the alleged founder of Christianity spoke against in his lectures.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Chuck Lucas, a young, charismatic preacher, formulated the plan for a new discipling movement. The plan was based on the principles laid down by Nee and Coleman. Some elements were similar to techniques used by the Church of Scientology™, multi-level marketing scams, Jehovah's Witnesses, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Moonies, and Est. Elements of Lucas' plan were:
Social control maintained by:
Briefly, this is how it all works: Prospective members are bowled over by the intense aura of love and enthusiasm presented by the group. However, prospective members are not aware that the sect conducts acting classes. I have seen such people in action and some of them are extremely good at what they do. New members are kept so busy that they have essentially no time for old friends and family. Old friends are slowly displaced by the new instant-friends in the sect. Eventually, all of one's 'friends' belong to the sect. From this point on, leaving the sect becomes extremely difficult. . . The hook is set.
In the beginning, Lucas' discipling movement was affiliated with the mainline Churches of Christ. In 1967, Chuck Lucas joined the 14th Street Church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida. Lucas succeeding in making discipling part of church policy. Thanks to Lucas and his plan, the church experienced a phenomenal growth rate that attracted widespread attention. When the 14th Street Church of Christ built a new building, the name was changed to Crossroads Church of Christ. The discipling movement came to be known as the Crossroads Movement and Crossroadsism. Lucas sent teams to spread discipling movement techniques to other mainline Church of Christ congregations. It was during this phase that Lucas recruited Thomas 'Kip' McKean from the University of Florida at Gainesville. Lucas baptised McKean in 1972. Lucas was McKean's discipler.
McKean is a gifted, charismatic orator and the son of a U. S. Navy admiral. McKean attempted to take over congregations in other cities. McKean's agenda was somewhat less than well received. In a letter from one congregation, the following appears:
"... Brother McKean has brought unbiblical practices, peculiar language, and subtle, deceitful doctrines to Charleston from the Crossroads Church at Gainesville, Florida."
In 1979, at the age of 25, McKean was invited to become the minister of the mainline Church of Christ congregation in Lexington, Massachusetts. The congregation was in decline. Kip, his wife Elena, and his followers joined the Lexington congregation. 'Christianity' would never be the same. After McKean became minister, roughly half of the old congregation walked out. However, due to McKean's charisma, infectious zeal, oratory skill, Elena, Lucas' plan, and intense recruitment by McKean's dedicated followers, the congregation grew phenomenally. The congregation outgrew its quarters and started meeting in nearby Boston. The name of the congregation was changed to Boston Church of Christ [BCC]. Thanks to McKean, the network of discipling churches that Lucas started went international. Examples are the Tokyo Church of Christ, London Church of Christ, Toronto Church of Christ, et cetera.
In 1985, Chuck Lucas was dismissed from the Crossroads Church of Christ after a number of young men in the discipling movement admitted that they had been having sex with him. Lucas moved to Thomasville, Georgia and began preaching at another church. With Lucas out of the way, Kip McKean took firm control of the discipling movement. He began a purge to entrench his control. The key people in the movement that Lucas had discipled were steadily replaced with people McKean had discipled. However, Chuck Lucas mysteriously remained on the BCC payroll for years -- even though he was no longer connected with the discipling movement.
Perhaps the most curious things about McKean's takeover was baptism nullification. Sins which had previously been absolutely washed away by baptism, were now outstanding. This meant those who had been assured they were Heaven-bound were instead headed on a one-way trip to the eternal fires of Hell. Thus, those who had been baptized in the Lucas-era had to be rebaptized in the McKean-era. If you guessed that McKean was an exception, congratulations. The Crossroads Movement was now the Boston Movement.
Mainline Churches of Christ are autonomous. Each church is controlled by a council of elders. At Crossroads, Lucas was booted out by a vote of the church elders. In the Boston Movement, there is a council of elders -- but they do not vote independently. The only vote that counts is McKean's. There is no system of checks and balances. Due to disagreement with McKean's spin on interpretation of scriptures, the de facto non-voting status of elders in his church, and McKean's dependence on using established mind-control techniques, the mainline Churches of Christ began disassociating themselves from the discipling movement in 1987. On 19 June 1988, based on a decision by its elders, the Crossroads Church of Christ publicly distanced itself from the Boston Movement.
Just as Lucas recruited McKean, new members in the Boston Movement are typically recruited from college campuses. This is not a coincidence. The movement's shtik is designed to take advantage of the fact that college students are often recently separated from their families. This makes them vulnerable to the group's love bombing and instant friends ploys. Due to numerous complaints of harassment of students and use of deceptive practices, ICoC recruiters have been banned from a number of college campuses in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. Newspapers and magazines picked up on this and articles began appearing which detailed the deceptions and high pressure tactics the Boston Movement uses. Subsequently, ABC's 20/20 produced a segment which used videotape evidence to prove that Al Baird, a member of the Boston Movement elite, was less than truthful about the practices of the organization. McKean counterattacked by labeling media reports as "persecution" and "spiritual pornography." New and old memberships in the BCC seemed to be declining.
McKean moved from Boston to Los Angeles, where he was virtually unknown by the local media. On 6 January 1992, Kip McKean informed all lead evangelists in the Boston Movement that he is now serving as the evangelist of the Los Angeles Church of Christ. In other words, the world headquarters for the movement is L.A. On 22 July 1993, Kip McKean informed his followers that the Boston Movement has a new name -- International Churches of Christ (ICoC). During the World Leadership Conference In Los Angeles (11-15 August 1993) -- essentially following in the footsteps of David Koresh and Rev. Jim Jones -- McKean declared himself to be "God's man" leading "God's movement."
Kip obviously owes much to his one time discipler, baptizer, and the founder of the present day discipling movement -- Chuck Lucas. In 1988, Kip's followers were being told about Lucas and Crossroads. However, by 1991, Kip's followers were being told that the discipling movement began in Boston. I asked a current member of the ICoC about Chuck Lucas. He had no idea who Chuck Lucas was -- although he was sure that the ICoC had told him the complete truth about the history of the discipling movement.
The Movement of Money
One of the reasons for the rapid growth of the discipling movement has been its ability to move impressive sums of money from the pockets of members to McKean's pocket. ICoC members are expected to donate a minimum of 10% of their weekly gross income in addition to "special contributions" for the allegedly poor/needy, plus other spurious contributions. For example, a member whose income is $500 per week must contribute $50 minimum per week to the discipling movement. There are at least two "special contributions" per year. The "special contribution" is based on an announced multiplier. If "God's man" decides that the multiplier is 20, and the weekly contribution is $50, then the special contribution would be $1000 for that week, plus the normal contribution of $50--for a total take of $1050. With this system, it is possible for the movement to take a high percentage of disciples' incomes. One college student, Donna Buckmeyer, said that she donated $4,000 to the movement -- money she needed to complete her education. {"I Got Caught Up In a Cult," Seventeen Magazine, Sept. 1995, page 178}
In the United States, it is difficult to find out what percentage of church contributions for the poor and needy are going to the poor and needy. However, in the United Kingdom, the Charities Commission keeps a watchful eye on organizations who ostensibly collect money for the poor and needy. According to a Charities Commission investigation, ICoC/London Church of Christ collections for the poor and needy delivered between 1% and 3% of the monies collected to the poor and needy. The rest went for 'administrative costs'.
Personality Change and Mind-Control
The discipling movement has been widely accused of practicing cultic mind-control. Kip McKean was so sure that his critics were wrong, he hired researcher and author, Flavil Yeakley, Jr. to scientifically investigate the matter. Yeakley did his job. He conducted standard personality tests on members of the Boston Movement. Yeakley discovered that approximately 95% of the members had changed personalities. When Yeakley informed Kip McKean of the statistical results, McKean reacted favorably -- assuming that changed personality was a good thing.
Yeakley's book, The Discipling Dilemma, details his findings about the discipling movement. Yeakley points out that personality change is widely recognized as a harbinger of serious psychological troubles. There is substantial evidence that persons who are mind-controlled exhibit changed personalities. A high rate of changed personality has been measured in members of: the Unification Church, Church of Scientology™, Jehovah's Witnesses, Children of God, and Aum Shin Rikyo (supreme truth)--the church that nerve-gassed the Tokyo subway in March of 1995, killing 12 and injuring thousands.
The existence of changed personality can also be detected by observation. According to Richard G. (Rick) Bauer, an ex-member of the discipling movement elite, many male members of the discipling movement ape (mimmick) the personality of Kip McKean. Bauer said that this somewhat humorous phenomenon only became clear to him after he left the movement. Bauer left the movement after he discovered that McKean had revised the history of the movement and diverted $3.1 million in 'special contribution' funds into a numbered bank account in a foreign country.
According to "God's man" and "prophet" Kip McKean, Mother Teresa and Joan of Arc are going to spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell.
One of the more unique things about the 'discipling movement' is that, from it's beginning, members who marry are required to disclose what took place in the honeymoon bed. A description of each coital position used, number of male orgasms, and number of female orgasms must be disclosed to "God's Leaders".
Mischief
Probably the best -- or worst -- example of mind-control took place in Germany from 1933 to 1945. People were inculcated with a clever blend of truths and untruths. Many people began to believe in and act upon the untruths. Those who lived through it have described Naziism as a patriarchal, organized religion. The chief architect and patriarch of this madness, Adolph Hitler, might seem to have been an inventive, diabolical genius. However, he invented little. Hitler copied things that worked.
Herman Rauschning was a former Nazi official who fled Germany in 1935. In 1939 he finished his book '''The Revolution of Nihilism''', a report and analysis of Hitler and the Nazi movement. Rauschning said:
"Hitler has a deep respect for the Catholic church and the Jesuit order, not because of their Christian doctrine, but because of the 'machinery' they have elaborated and controlled, their hierarchal system, their extremely clever tactics, their knowledge of human nature and their wise use of human weaknesses in ruling over believers."
Hitler freely plagiarized from the 'machinery' that the church developed and refined over the centuries. Nazi tactics for gaining influence and repressing introspection resembled those used by the church. The leader of Nazism, Adolph Hitler, and the leader of Catholicism, Eugenio Pacelli, alias Pope Pius XII, were both said to be infallible. It is easy to believe that one can never do wrong if he or she is only following orders from an infallible leader. No thinking required -- or desired. The German people were told to always trust the National Socialist German Workers' Party's judgment instead of their own judgment. In A Full Catechism of the Catholic Religion, by Fr. Joseph De Harbe, S.J., on page 77 the following appears --
"In matters of faith never trust your own judgment, but always humbly submit to the decisions of the Holy Church."
The two organizations had another parallel. The Schutzstaffel, a.k.a. the S.S. -- literally 'protection squad'-- and the Jesuits. Both organizations were mysterious, charismatic and elitist. The S.S. and the Jesuits took similar oaths. They swore that they would follow every order from their (infallible) leader without exception -- and so they did. Understandably, the Jesuits and the S.S. often received the jobs that conscionable men could not stomach.
The Third Reich copied anything that suited its needs. Nazi ritualism borrowed from Catholic ritualism. Since authoritarian organizations fear open discussion, another parallel was book burning. Papal and Nazi book burning were hardly rare events. At one time, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Boccacio's masterpiece Decameron were on the papal must burn list. Sometimes, whole libraries had to go -- such as the vast library torched by Theodosius I at Alexandria, Egypt in the 4th century. When the Nazis wanted to identify Jews for persecution, they borrowed an idea that had once been used by God's Holy Church. Jews were required to wear a yellow Star of David in public.
During his childhood in Austria, Hitler was baptized and inculcated by the Roman Catholic church. Hitler's father taught catechism classes. Little Adolph served as a choir boy. In those days, catechism included hateful anti-Semitic propaganda.
During the course of his religious inculcation, little Adolph was somehow able to grasp the intricacies of how the organization's 'machinery' works its magic on the mind. Another person in the Third Reich who understood these mind-control techniques was Reinhard Heydrich. Like Hitler, Heydrich passionately hated Jews -- most probably for religious reasons. Heydrich was the principal architect of the "Final Solution." He was the German governor of occupied Czechoslovakia, an important producer of German armaments. Heydrich was a master at controlling people. He was instrumental in bringing Eastern Europe under Nazi influence and increasing the production of materiel for the war effort. The Allies were so concerned about Heydrich that they had him assassinated by a two-man Czech assassination team. In retribution, Hitler ordered the murder of all of the adult males in Lidice, a village in northwest Czechoslovakia. Only one man escaped. The women and children were sent to concentration camps and Lidice was burned to the ground. (June 9-10, 1942).
God's Holy Church operated a convent near the death factory at Auschwitz, Poland where millions were gassed and cremated. The fetid odor of burning flesh was unmistakable according to people who lived many miles away from the death factory. It seems unlikely that those in the convent would have concluded that the neighbours were burning up millions of chickens during a time of food shortage. Trains would arrive, unload several thousand people, and depart virtually empty. The convent and the death factory are still there -- and so are ten acres of human skeletons, ten feet deep. Word of what was taking place in Auschwitz most certainly got to Rome. Members of the Roman church hierarchy were allowed to travel freely during the Second World War. It was said that the church had better intelligence than the Allies or the Axis. The Nazis largely respected church property and church authorities. Hitler, however, gave no indulgence to lay Catholics or Catholic priests who criticized the Nazis. If caught, they were typically guillotined or shot. The Nazis also dealt harshly with one of the Roman church's religious adversaries -- the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In the area of dealing with critics, the parallel between Catholicism and Naziism diverges. Where the Nazis often used the relatively humane guillotine to silence its critics -- the church's Holy Office/Inquisition branch had a three century tradition of terminally toasting them in public.
Hatred -- the Universal Glue
Before he could set out to conquer the world, Hitler needed to unite the divergent political factions in Germany. The universal glue for uniting people from divergent factions is common hatred. Hate is stronger than love.
When he was a young aspiring artist in Vienna, an organization of prominent artists -- some of whom happened to be Jewish -- rejected his artwork. Hitler was enraged. He blamed the Jews instead of his marginal artistic talent. Hitler said he would get even. Ironically, it was this rejection that turned Hitler's career from painting to politics.
The Church of Rome renamed itself the Roman Catholic Church in the 1400s. The name change was appropriate because, by then, the organization had become designed to unite people under an ingenious belief system. Hatred was one of the tools the organization used to bring this about. The church hated Jews. Hitler hated Jews. Before the war started, Hitler informed the church that he was merely picking up where the church left off. Hitler's campaign against Jews not only helped to unite Germany, it assisted him in weakening the resolve of Jew-hating predominately Roman Catholic countries such as Poland, France, Rumania, Lithuania, Austria, and Hungary.
Cultivating hatred against Jews in Germany was facilitated by factors that had nothing to do with the Roman church's pervasive anti-Semitic teachings. During WWI, a number of German financial institutions, who were controlled by Jewish families, withdrew financial support from Germany after the U.S. entered the war. Hitler repeatedly used this fact in his public condemnations of Jews. However, Hitler conveniently forgot that there were plenty of non-Jewish German financiers who also withdrew financial support after the U.S. declared war on Germany. Beyond this point, it was like pouring money into a rat-hole, and virtually all financiers knew it.
In France, Catholic bishops collaborated with the Nazis to round up Jews for deportation to the death factories. The pope knew about this and he said nothing. He knew that Catholics were helping to operate the Nazi death factories. Italian Jews were rounded up for deportation within sight of the pope's residence in Rome. The pope had no comment.
Hitler, who respected little -- including Germany itself -- largely respected the church's property. It seems as though there was, as some -- including an ex-Jesuit -- have alleged, a written agreement between Adolph Hitler and Eugenio Pacelli before the Second World War began.
There were many Christian civilians in Nazi-occupied countries who cooperated in the murder of their Jewish neighbours. On average, the Nazis were able to kill about 60% of the Jews in the regions that were under their control. In certain areas, the percentage of Jews that were murdered was substantially greater. Such was the case in Lithuania and Poland. In Vilnius, Lithuania, 94% of the Jews were killed. This rate of murder would have been impossible without enthusiastic local support. There were 250,000 Jews in Lithuania before the war. The Jewish population was so devastated by genocide that there was no recovery after the war. In 1991, there were less than 7,000 Jews in Lithuania and many of them were planning to leave. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, newly independent Lithuania decided not to prosecute eight Lithuanian civilians who publicly shot Jews during the war.
In other countries, however, the Nazis enjoyed less success. When the Nazi invaders demanded that Danish Jews identify themselves by wearing a yellow Star of David, nearly every Dane wore one. In Denmark, the dominant religion is not Roman Catholicism. Early on, Denmark sent most of its Jewish citizens to neutral Sweden. After the invasion, many Danes continued to help Jews escape.
In Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine, hatred still lingered from the Russian Orthodox church's anti-Semitic propaganda. There were many citizens in those areas eagerly helped the Nazi invaders kill Jewish citizens or round them up for deportation to Auschwitz. Over 100,000 Jewish corpses were discovered in a single grave at Babiyar, Ukraine. Hatred of Jews is currently widespread in western Ukraine. Many Ukrainian Jews are trying to immigrate.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, the United States government began a hate campaign against the Japanese race that was intended to glue America together during the war. Some of the cartoon propaganda that was used to cultivate Japanese race hatred in the U.S. appears to have borrowed unabashedly from Nazi anti-Semitic cartoon propaganda.
One might assume that church-inspired hatred against Jews stopped after the details of the 'Final Solution' were revealed to the world. However, during the course of gathering material for this book, I interviewed three Jewish men who attended elementary schools during the 1950s in widely separated regions of the United States. Each of them reported that he had regularly experienced taunts of "Christ Killer" from Catholic school children. Two of the three said that they had been physically assaulted on more than one occasion by groups of Catholic children. One of them later married into a Catholic family. In 1988, he took his grandmother-in-law to a Mass at Saint Timothy's Catholic Church in Morro Bay, California. The priest preached a stentorian sermon against the Jewish race.
Even though the Roman church no longer openly advocates anti-Semitism, the fallout from the wrongs of the past can be expected to last at least another generation.
Propaganda
The Nazis used a simple technique that is used in religious inculcation. That is: Repeat almost anything often enough and people will eventually believe it.
Hitler picked a number of fellow Roman Catholics for important jobs in the Third Reich. He picked Joseph P. Goebbels to head the new Ministry of Propaganda. When Hitler proposed his propaganda program, Goebbels was astounded. Goebbels said that he had no idea of how the highly educated German people could be led to believe such things. Hitler said it would be simple -- repeat lies. Hitler was not guessing. As a child, he had seen it work during his religious training.
Whenever the opportunity presented itself at gatherings of the Nazi elite, Goebbels would gleefully tell the story as testimony to der Führer's brilliantly simple genius -- much to the delight of those present. Certainly, the propaganda techniques were ingenious -- but many of them were simply copied from organized religion.
In actual practice it takes more than simple lies to make effective political propaganda. As in religious propaganda, the fabrications in political propaganda must be designed to play on people's innermost fears and emotional needs. Repeated suggestion from key adult leaders and peer-group pressure are essential adjuncts. Fabrications are- blended with some truths -- like the sugar coating on a pill that is otherwise too bitter to swallow. Throughout history, political propaganda and religious propaganda have been combined in order to subjugate people. The Nazis were very good at this game.
Needless to say, Nazi propaganda was highly successful in Germany. Many Catholic priests joined the Nazi party. This encouraged their parishioners to join. Nazi propaganda enjoyed success in other countries as well. Race superiority was already a widespread belief In the United States. Nazi propaganda merely capitalized on the idea. Henry Ford, an outspoken anti-Semite, and Charles Lindbergh were taken in. After a half century, the effects of Nazi propaganda still linger. A number of currently-active racist organizations in the U.S. and Germany have affiliated themselves with the Nazi movement.
The concept of genetic superiority and inferiority -- eugenics -- became popular in England during the early part of the 20th century. Adolph Hitler was strongly influenced by the eugenics movement in England. However, Hitler distorted the concept for his own purposes by altering the concept of gene superiority to include race superiority -- a major facet of Nazi propaganda.
Doing the Right Thing
Maximum genocide requires maximum secrecy. There were two organizations who acted in concert to keep the sheer scale of the Holocaust secret from the public. When genocide was well underway, Cardinal Tisserant urged Pope Pius XII to state publicly that Catholics can not participate in mass murder -- even under the orders of their legally-elected political leader. Pius XII said nothing. However, to his credit, Pius XII was instrumental in hiding some Italian Jews from the Gestapo.
After the war in Europe ended in 1945, many high-ranking Nazi war criminals mysteriously vanished. The most infamous were Adolph Eichmann, the SS Commandant of Auschwitz, and Dr. Joseph Mengele -- a.k.a. "Doctor Death." A substantial part of the more than 50 tons of gold that the SS confiscated from the millions of Jews they gassed also mysteriously vanished. Near the end of the war, the trail of some of the escaping war criminals and the trail of gold led south toward Italy -- and then disappeared. Decades later, it would be discovered that some of the most infamous war criminals lived lives of luxury in South America. Other war criminals escaped to Syria. Some war criminals escaped to the U.S.--thanks to covert U.S. government involvement. Klaus "Sonny" Barbie, a.k.a. the "Butcher of Lyon," was one of them. Barbie was a CIA employee during the beginning of the Cold War. Eventually Barbie became too hot for the CIA to handle -- so the CIA and another organization helped him escape to La Paz, Bolivia. Other war criminals hid in French monasteries. A recent find occurred in 1991 -- but after a half-century, prosecution of any war criminal is problematic.
In February 1992, the Argentine government released once-secret documents that explained one means of escape. Eichmann, Mengele and other fleeing Nazi war criminals had simply traveled to Argentina on passports that were issued by the Vatican. This conduit for escaping war criminals was known in intelligence circles as the "Rat Line." Those involved preferred to call it the "Monastery Route." Prominent individuals in this enterprise were Bishop Hudal, Father Drugonovich -- a Croat living in Rome, Ivo Omrcamin and the pope. Drugonovich specialized in forged documents and hiding money -- presumably in the church's Institute for Religious Works (bank) in Rome. Omrcamin was responsible for the physical operation of the line. In an interview with Memory Pictures, Inc. in 1986, Omrcamin explained that Pius XII approved of the operation because he, like the Nazis, was anticommunist. According to Omrcamin, the last pope to use the "Monastery Route" was Paul VI.
In light of Pope Pius XII's silence during the Holocaust -- and the Vatican's complicity in helping Nazi war criminals escape justice -- a public confession and apology from God's Holy Church would seem to be appropriate. However, the organization has a long history of burying its head in the sand. The hierarchy seems to fear that confessing publicly to failings and misdeeds might cast doubt on their credibility. Less credibility could mean less r-e-s-p-e-c-t.
In practice, however, admitting to a mistake often increases credibility and respect. For example, a major turning point in the presidency of John F. Kennedy was his acceptance of blame for the Bay Of Pigs Invasion debacle. Subsequently, Kennedy's public approval rating increased. Truth does set people free. Conversely, denial of truth is inevitably toxic -- as the Nixon White House so painfully discovered.
The Roman church has yet to own up to its shameful anti-Semitic past. Perhaps the church hierarchy should consider what would have happened if the one they call Jesus had not been executed at the age of 33, and had died instead from something less dramatic -- such as Alzheimer's disease -- at the age of 100.
Perhaps the sore point with Rome was that the clever Jewish holy men tricked the Roman government into killing the troublemaker for them. It's not nice to fool the godfather.
In December 1993, almost a half century after the last Jew was gassed at Auschwitz, the Vatican finally established basic diplomatic relations with Israel. This could lead to full diplomatic recognition. However, there could be an ulterior motive. Karol Wojtyla reportedly wants to visit Jerusalem near the end of his reign as pope.
The Father and the Mother of Psychoanalysis
In addition to Adolph Hitler, another Austrian who understood esoteric mind-control techniques was Dr. Sigmund Freud. Hitler considered Freud to be an especially dangerous Jew. Dr. Freud, who had been living in England since 1938, was near the top of der Führer's must gas list. Curiously, Freud remained on the must gas list for several years after his death in 1939.
Freud had another powerful enemy. In 1908, Freud's book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality was published. In it, Freud expressed the opinion that children were sexual beings. He also reached some conclusions about the sexual victimization of children that affronted many holy men. Freud's biographer, Ernest Jones, said that Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality brought down more odium than any of Freud's other writings. Much of the odium was vented from pulpits.
Freud's 1927 magazine article The Future of an Illusion -- now a 56 page book published by W. W. Norton Co., originally published in Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, provided insight into the deep rooted human emotions that are manipulated during religious instruction/inculcation. Freud concluded that some organized religions are designed as a father substitute so that they will appeal to the child in all of us. The Roman church counterattacked by publishing a book of her own, The Illusion of the Future, that tried to discredit Freud's theories.
"The lady doth protest too much, me thinks." -- William Shakespeare, '''Hamlet'''
Freud was alarmed by the attentions of the church. He began writing another book about organized religion, Moses and Monotheism -- which earned him the wrath of Catholicism and Judaism! Influential rabbis from around the world were outraged. Many influential rabbis publicly disowned Freud as a Jew.
Near the end of Part-I, Freud said --
"Psychoanalytic research is in any case the subject of suspicious attention from Catholicism."
He went on to say that the church's political power was such that it could have all work in psychoanalysis outlawed in Austria. Again quoting:
"Such violent means of suppression are by no means alien to the Catholic church; she feels it rather an intrusion into her privileges when other people resort to the same means."
Freud decided not publish any part of this book until after he moved to England.
The church had been using psychoanalysis to refine its 'machinery' for more than a millennium before Freud was born. Freud may have picked up ideas for some of his theories on psychoanalysis by analyzing the church's 'machinery'. Even though he had many flaws, Freud is widely credited as being the Father Of Psychoanalysis. Perhaps the Roman church deserves credit for being the Mother of Psychoanalysis.
Confession
Before the Spanish conquest, the Inca Empire in South America controlled its people masterfully. At the heart of the system was the Inca religion. A major element of this religion was the act of regularly confessing one's sins to a priest who allegedly had the power to facilitate divine forgiveness of sin. The seemingly harmless act of confession is a purposeful mind-control tool since baring one's soul through confession is an act of submission to authority.
The Church of Scientology (tm) uses confession as a tool of control. In 1959, the church's inventor, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard introduced "security checking," wherein members are interrogated -- having to answer long, prepared lists of questions about their sins. A record is kept. Such records have proved to be an effective means of silencing dissidents. Wealthy celebrities are a favorite target of Scientology™. Once a celebrity is in and has confessed his or her darkest secrets, there is no way out short of having their career ruined by juicy disclosures to the tabloids. The International Churches of Christ (a.k.a. the Boston Movement) also keeps detailed records of confessions to its "disciplers." The confessional record -- or "sin list"--is used to weaken the resolve of members in an approximately eight against one "Breaking Session." {Richard Bauer}
After the Spanish conquest and pillage of South America, the Inca religion was out and Roman Catholicism was in. The Incas tended to accept the new religion because there were similarities between the old religion and the new religion. The similarities were: a divine queen, confession, forgiveness of sins, and sacrifice. Another probable factor was public disfavor with the ever-increasing rate of human sacrifice. The Roman church's pretend sacrifice was more appealing than seeing one of your family members sliced open in public. Another element was undoubtedly firearms.
Control of Females
Warning -- This section contains material that some people find offensive and/or obscene. If you haven't already done so, please read the Preface before continuing with this section.
As I mentioned earlier, males seem to satisfy a primal need by controlling females. Controlling females can also be a means of gaining yet more power and respect.
A necessary ingredient for rapid growth of a power-bent organized religion is a generous supply of children. This result can be achieved if the dominant male plays his cards appropriately.
The dominant male tells females how "God" wants them to use their reproductive ability. This prescription results in the rapid production of babies with little or no regard for the realities of genetics or economics -- and without regard for our planet. Are we to believe that God wants to see Earth trashed by human overpopulation? Quality of human life does not appear to be as important as quantity of human life.
Madagascar's unique and delicate flora and fauna are rapidly being destroyed by human over population. When Pope John Paul II visited Madagascar, he acknowledged that an environmental disaster is taking place. His recommendation was for the locals to stop having sex. Condoms? Use condoms, burn in Hell. The Holy Father's doomsday proscription against condoms extends to a person who would reduce the risk of giving HIV to their spouse -- even when the deadly virus was acquired by way of medical malpractice.
In 1991, the Roman church hierarchy in the United States proclaimed that merely discussing the use of condoms in high schools increases the spread of the AIDS epidemic. The hierarchy appears to be suffering from acute condom phobia -- a recently discovered brain disorder that corrupts brain logic operations which contain the word "condom." The hierarchy currently approves the rhythm-method of contraception. The basic premise of the rhythm-method is that if no semen enters a woman during specific days of her menstrual cycle, conception will not occur. This supposedly leaves about a dozen days per menstrual cycle for copulation without conception -- curiously, the same desired result of having used real birth control. Although it sounds good in theory, and it does work more often than not, there is a physiological glitch in the rhythm-method. The bottom-line is simply that a normal woman can occasionally become pregnant on any day of her menstrual cycle. The rhythm-method appears to be a method of rhythmically increasing church membership.
From time to time, the hierarchy comes up with a new-and-improved version of the rhythm-method. A recent book on the subject is The Art of Natural Family Planning. The success rate of the new method described is said to be 'at the 99% level'. In other words, the rhythm-method limits pregnancies to 1 per 100 sexual intercourses -- or roughly one per year. The rhythm-method appears to be contraception-deception.
When a child with a severe genetic defect is brought into the world by parents who have been faithfully practicing the rhythm-method in order to avoid just such a catastrophe, holy men tell the distressed parents that what appears to be bad is really good. In church literature, the terms his agony and her agony are used in a delightfully positive context. The Roman church teaches that suffering is one of the paths to salvation. A constant reminder of this concept is the center of focus in their churches -- the statue of the bleeding, suffering human figure -- a subtle introduction to sadomasochism. Children are casually exposed to this endangerment from the earliest age.
Historian Rudolph Bell discovered that about half of the Roman church's female saints punished their "sinful" bodies compulsively. Many met an early grave. Deliberate malnutrition, skin-abrading garments and self-flagellation were especially popular. Saint Catherine of Siena reportedly beat herself daily. She beat herself until she was standing in her own blood. Saint Catherine died in her early 30s -- clearly a victim of protracted suicide. The church teaches that suicide is a mortal sin.
Especially in Mexico and in Italy, devout women often ambulate to church on bleeding and battered knees. Suffering and blood supposedly pleases their God and brings "His" blessings.
Many organized religions teach that God designed sex for procreation -- and that little or no pleasure is supposed to accompany the sex act. However, since every normal female has sensitive areas that are pleasantly stimulated during sex, feelings of guilt are quite likely. In some Christian denominations, females who are about to be married are given special instruction. They are told that if they begin to experience pleasure during sex on their wedding night, they should put it out of their mind by thinking about something holy. Such attitudes are partly rooted in Judaism. The Torah advises "when having intercourse, one should think of matters of the Torah or any holy subject." The Torah also advises that, during sex, a woman should not be allowed on top of the man. Apparently, it is feared that if given the opportunity, a women would move in ways that would cause the penis to rub on pleasurably on her Gräfenberg-spot, and that might take her mind off of holy subjects.
There was a time when wedding night sex was taboo for Roman Catholics. To so contaminate the day of the Holy Sacrament of Marriage with sex was professed to be an abomination in the eyes of God. Having sex on designated holy days was also said to offend God. A few centuries ago, suspected violators were dealt with by the church's Holy Inquisition branch. Curiously, the overwhelming majority of the Holy Inquisition's victims were female. Burning at the stake was a commonly used form of execution. There was, however, a less painful option. If a condemned female confessed to being a witch, the church mercifully rewarded her with strangulation before the fire was lit.
Christian females are commonly taught that a Christian wife is required to provide sex, as a service on demand to satisfy her husband. In other words, having sex with her husband is mandatory. The principal differences between such a wife and a prostitute appears to be in the term of the contract, fringe benefits, probable variety of services available and the long-term amount of remuneration. For the first two centuries of the existence of the United States of America, complaints of spousal rape were very rarely prosecuted. It was not until the mid-1980s, that U.S. courts began recognizing spousal rape as a criminal act. Prior to 1986, spousal rape was perfectly legal in California.
Females who believe the predominant Christian teaching about sex may never experience the pleasantness of an orgasm. The likelihood of an orgasm is further reduced if the husband is of the same faith since he is not inclined to do anything that might cause his wife to sin by experiencing pleasure. Such a wife seems to be little more than a breeding animal and a servant.
One survey found that roughly half of adult females in the U.S. have never been able to enjoy the potential gift of orgasm that their designer gave them. 70% of the women who had orgasms required a form of clitoral stimulation in addition to penile stimulation. Mormonism has a hotly-denied taboo against oral-clitoral stimulation by the husband and the reciprocal activity that can be performed by the wife. Some Mormon bishops refer to these taboo activities as "mouthing." Mormons are also forbidden to practice masturbation. Mormons who violate these taboos can be denied a Temple Recommend by their bishop. Without a Temple Recommend, Mormons are barred from temple ceremonies. According to Deborah Laake, the author of Secret Ceremonies, some Mormon bishops are apparently so embarrassed by the subject of oral-clitoral stimulation, that they do not broach the issue before issuing a Temple Recommend.
For many years in California, the Christian lobby was successful in keeping oral-clitoral stimulation outlawed -- even between a man and his wife. Recently these laws were overturned. However, it should be noted that California had terrible earthquakes in 1989, 1992 and 1994.
Mormon men have a novel method of subjugating their wives. Mormons believe that God, who was once a man, the Heavenly Mother, and God's other wives live in the Celestial Kingdom on a planet which revolves around the star Kolob in the Constellation of Cancer, once every 1000 earth years. In the "Celestial Kingdom," Mormon males become gods in training. Each Mormon male's job assignment is to inseminate his many wives. IF his earthly wife served him well and IF she showed him proper respect during their earthly marriage, she may be allowed to join god, i.e., her husband, on the Celestial planet, and be inseminated along with the other females. If she did not meet the Mormon standard for wives on Earth, she is barred from the Celestial Kingdom for eternity.
The fathers of the Mormon church have an imaginative way of pressuring Mormon women into having large families: Mormons are taught that all other religions are inferior to theirs. To a Mormon, one of the most inferior religions is Roman Catholicism. The feeling is mutual. Catholics consider Mormons to be non-Christian -- a rating that is only slightly less abominable than Satanism. Part of the problem may be that both organizations claim to be God's one true church. Mormons are taught that a large number of unborn souls [a.k.a. spirit babies] are waiting to be born into bodies on Earth. A soul can be born into any family, Mormon or otherwise. Unborn souls allegedly have no choice in the matter. They get in line and wait for the next vacant womb. There are no reserved seats in the earthly theatre. Thus, if a Mormon family chooses to stop having children, those souls who they did not allow to be born into their family could be born into a non-Mormon family. If a soul is, instead, born into a Catholic family, this is cause for guilt and shame. In the mind of a devout Mormon, perhaps the only thing that could be more dreadful than being born into a Catholic family is being born into an African-American Catholic family. As a result of such teaching, married Mormon women are under subtle pressure to have more children than they can handle emotionally. Married Mormon women have a rate of suicide that is roughly double the national average for non-Mormon married women.
Mormonism's revisionism is discussed in more detail in the section titled Latter Day Adjusters.
Surgical Subjugation
The clitoris appears to be a source of apprehension for many "God-fearing" people. This seems curious since God-fearing people give God full credit for designing and creating humans. Beginning in the 1870s, a nearly painless medical treatment for this source of apprehension became widely available in the United States. The treatment involved a simple office procedure that was made possible by the new wonder drug of the 1870s -- the long sought after, first effective local-anesthetic: cocaine -- a substance that is ideal for this application since it numbs and it restricts the flow of blood to minimize bleeding during surgery.
The surgical procedure: Cocaine is used to numb the vulva. The glans clitoridis is grasped and pulled outward to expose the base of the clitoris. The object is to excise as much nerve tissue as is practicable along with the clitoris. The resulting void is sutured with a few stitches. The medical term for this procedure is clitoridectomy.
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, clitoridectomy was regularly performed on children in the United States. Clitoridectomy was seldom performed on patients beyond the age of ten. The main purpose of the procedure was to stop little girls from masturbating -- a very serious -- although unbiblical taboo in all versions of Christianity. Also, unusually large clitorii were routinely excised by 19th century doctors to supposedly prevent lesbianism -- another Christian taboo. Probably because male circumcision was socially acceptable, clitoridectomy was euphemistically called "female circumcision." Since there is another type of female circumcision (If it's causing a problem, an oversized prepuce, or hood, can be trimmed back to improve clitoral sensitivity.), ambiguity helped to cloud the terrible truth that cutting off a woman's clitoris is the equivalent of cutting off a man's glans-penis.
In the United States, medically-performed clitoridectomy declined in the early part of the twentieth century. However, it is still perfectly legal for doctors in the United States to perform clitoridectomies on children. In 1993 the price was roughly $3000.
Non-medical clitoridectomy is currently practiced in some fundamentalist Christian religions in the United States. The evidence for this comes from hospital emergency room personnel who see the botched jobs that become infected. The victims are typically around three years of age. One doctor reported that he has seen cases of this type of infection which were fatal.
Clitoridectomy is not a recent invention. Historical records indicate that clitoridectomy was practiced in Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs, over 4,000 years ago. Clitoridectomy is currently practiced in over 30 countries. Most of these countries have a high percentage of Muslims. Clitoridectomy is also practiced among Gypsies, Coptic Christians, and various African tribes. In Africa it is widely believed that the clitoris is an evil part of the body that must be removed for the sake of the soul. Changing such beliefs will be a terribly slow process. In Kenya, clitoridectomy was outlawed in 1990 -- but the practice persists, especially among the Masai tribe. In Nigeria, shops that perform clitoridectomies operate like ordinary small businesses -- along side bakeries, shoe stores and the like. In Somalia, roughly 90% of the population is Muslim and roughly 90% of Somali females have been declitorized. In Egypt, about 80% of the women have been declitorized. According to Newsweek
