Religions: are they all just brainwashing cults?
All religions use the same tricks and devices to keep the faithful in line, argues Claudia Dunn
148 Kurdish schoolboys were kidnapped on the way
home from school and subject to a brutal indoctrination program by Jihadist
extremists. The boys were eventually handed back to their family, but not
before the Jihadists had won their loyalties. This group is only a snapshot of
the list of victims who have been abducted, tortured and indoctrinated by
Islamic extremists. Constrained whilst hours’ worth of non-mujahedeen
decapitation tapes poison their eyes; tortured in ways unimaginable,
unbearable, unthinkable, by masked and faceless men. The lawless extremists flicker
between using bitter-sweet kindness, and unimaginable cruelty. These are just
some of the coercive methods used by Isis and similar factions to twist the
minds of their victims into conformity with their own extreme beliefs.
And it’s not just happening abroad. Every day there’s another tale of a young British teenager radicalised online or by shady groups and clubs. The public throw up their hands in horror – how could it happen? All too easily. Extremists simply dig their nails deep into the wiring of human brains in order to plant poisonous seeds; the systematic demolition of the victim’s beliefs is perpetrated until they no longer represent even a shadow of a shell of their former selves.
But of course this isn’t about Islam. It’s about brainwash.
The result of all these stories is increased Islamophobia, but of course this isn’t about Islam. It’s about brainwash. These are horrifying examples of thought-reform, taken to diabolical measures by Jihadist extremists. The term “brainwashing” was coined by Edward Hunter in the 1950s to explain the rapid switch of beliefs and sudden robotic attitudes adopted by soldiers of the UN multinational force, who had been abducted and released from the North Korean army in the fight against communism. When the soldiers emerged from these camps, their beliefs appeared to have been converted to exactly what they were fighting against. They seemed ready to denounce their country of birth, singing praise of the Maoist ways of life. One prisoner was interviewed and found speaking with words that seemed to be recited, like a disk that had to be played from start to finish, even when it had been rendered silly. He could no longer act with free will or adapt to a situation without being commanded. The Korean party discipline had extended to the mind, leaving him in a trance-like state.
Since the birth of the word, we have become increasingly aware of brainwash in action: dangerous cults such as the Jonestown Massacre, where victims committed mass suicide; the Chinese using the techniques on American prisoners; Kim Jong-il is thought to have used it in North Korea. For Westerners brought up to believe in free will and the strength of the mind, brainwashing is an apocalyptic idea.
However, brainwashing is a dangerously complex process, and when we understand only a snippet about the brain, how can we possibly be expected to understand completely the process of brainwashing? An individual needs to be unfeasibly strong minded to escape this “mental-rape” but, brainwashing isn’t always an obvious and vicious attack on an individual. Actually, it’s part and parcel of the way religions work – have always worked, and, whilst distracted by the brutal cases of brainwashing taking places in distant areas of the world, we have a tendency to forget the much subtler techniques used in our local church.
Sounds unlikely? Think again.
Psychologist Robert Lifton identifies four main methods of brainwashing. The most extreme method is coercion, which refers to the process of forcing a change amongst victims by force, with the threat of torture or even death as punishment of disobeying, e.g. burning for eternity in hell to pay for sins. Exhortation invokes a higher authority to argue, suggesting that changing in the proclaimed way, such as following commandments, will transform the victim into a better person. Therapy promises to grant the victim good health and freedom from suffering if they change in the way suggested, as quoted from the bible: “I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds”. Lastly, realisation states that to confront the new ideas and beliefs will change the victim and bring them to their full potential, much like praying; a promise full of hope that causes victims to overlook anything at stake. Ring a bell? That’s because religions threaten an eternity burning in hell to anyone who fails to abide by religious commandments.
Examples of each of these methods are scattered like seeds throughout the history of Christianity, beginning with coercion used with the persecution of Catholics throughout Tudor and Stuart times, where many were literally executed in the streets for their unpopular Catholic beliefs.Without even needing examples, the correlation between brainwashing method Therapy and Christianity is crystal clear; freedom from suffering (supreme happiness in heaven), granted by an adoption of beliefs. As for realisation, we only have to listen to evangelical preacher Billy Graham, who poured these brainwashing methods ruthlessly into religious speeches, “and when your heart is right”-meaning, of course, after you’ve lived through repression of your vocabulary, actions, your almost every human urge- “you have the ability, the capacity, to love your neighbour properly”, as if only God can create love within human beings. At sermons, the words “forgive us and help us” are conditioned and chanted repeatedly by everyone in a robotic-like manner after sins they are expected to have committed are announced one by one. These examples of Robert Lifton’s four main brainwashing techniques found in religion merely trace a finger down the spine of religious brainwashing.
Of course, just like within the mainstream Muslim community, the degree of brainwashing differs in the mainstream Christian community from fundamentalist extremists. However, the concept remains the same; humans are manipulated to dedicate the only life anyone can know for a fact exists, to a being that no one can ever prove has existed, for a reward that no one knows has ever been granted.
The problem with every religion occurs in the power of those delivering the ideas and the interpretation of the beliefs. Trust grants power, so when the trust those with religious influence is too strong, this power can be taken beyond the realms of a healthy religion into the chilling realms of brainwash. Although these realms of brainwash are not obvious, individuals may unknowingly wander into them and allow them to warp their minds. Religious brainwashing aims to isolate and fog up an individual’s windows until their view is lost and they have to depend on others to describe it for us. Avoiding mind-consumption involves opening these windows and seeing things with an unbiased mind; it involves refraining from handing our complete dedication over to singular persons, which would grant them the means to manipulate us, and most importantly, it involves realising that victims of brainwash do not realise they have been brainwashed. I ask that next time you hear the word “brainwash”, not to think merely of Isis extremists, most of whom live far from us, but to think about the Sunday service happening ten minutes from where you live.
And it’s not just happening abroad. Every day there’s another tale of a young British teenager radicalised online or by shady groups and clubs. The public throw up their hands in horror – how could it happen? All too easily. Extremists simply dig their nails deep into the wiring of human brains in order to plant poisonous seeds; the systematic demolition of the victim’s beliefs is perpetrated until they no longer represent even a shadow of a shell of their former selves.
But of course this isn’t about Islam. It’s about brainwash.
The result of all these stories is increased Islamophobia, but of course this isn’t about Islam. It’s about brainwash. These are horrifying examples of thought-reform, taken to diabolical measures by Jihadist extremists. The term “brainwashing” was coined by Edward Hunter in the 1950s to explain the rapid switch of beliefs and sudden robotic attitudes adopted by soldiers of the UN multinational force, who had been abducted and released from the North Korean army in the fight against communism. When the soldiers emerged from these camps, their beliefs appeared to have been converted to exactly what they were fighting against. They seemed ready to denounce their country of birth, singing praise of the Maoist ways of life. One prisoner was interviewed and found speaking with words that seemed to be recited, like a disk that had to be played from start to finish, even when it had been rendered silly. He could no longer act with free will or adapt to a situation without being commanded. The Korean party discipline had extended to the mind, leaving him in a trance-like state.
Since the birth of the word, we have become increasingly aware of brainwash in action: dangerous cults such as the Jonestown Massacre, where victims committed mass suicide; the Chinese using the techniques on American prisoners; Kim Jong-il is thought to have used it in North Korea. For Westerners brought up to believe in free will and the strength of the mind, brainwashing is an apocalyptic idea.
However, brainwashing is a dangerously complex process, and when we understand only a snippet about the brain, how can we possibly be expected to understand completely the process of brainwashing? An individual needs to be unfeasibly strong minded to escape this “mental-rape” but, brainwashing isn’t always an obvious and vicious attack on an individual. Actually, it’s part and parcel of the way religions work – have always worked, and, whilst distracted by the brutal cases of brainwashing taking places in distant areas of the world, we have a tendency to forget the much subtler techniques used in our local church.
Sounds unlikely? Think again.
Psychologist Robert Lifton identifies four main methods of brainwashing. The most extreme method is coercion, which refers to the process of forcing a change amongst victims by force, with the threat of torture or even death as punishment of disobeying, e.g. burning for eternity in hell to pay for sins. Exhortation invokes a higher authority to argue, suggesting that changing in the proclaimed way, such as following commandments, will transform the victim into a better person. Therapy promises to grant the victim good health and freedom from suffering if they change in the way suggested, as quoted from the bible: “I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds”. Lastly, realisation states that to confront the new ideas and beliefs will change the victim and bring them to their full potential, much like praying; a promise full of hope that causes victims to overlook anything at stake. Ring a bell? That’s because religions threaten an eternity burning in hell to anyone who fails to abide by religious commandments.
Examples of each of these methods are scattered like seeds throughout the history of Christianity, beginning with coercion used with the persecution of Catholics throughout Tudor and Stuart times, where many were literally executed in the streets for their unpopular Catholic beliefs.Without even needing examples, the correlation between brainwashing method Therapy and Christianity is crystal clear; freedom from suffering (supreme happiness in heaven), granted by an adoption of beliefs. As for realisation, we only have to listen to evangelical preacher Billy Graham, who poured these brainwashing methods ruthlessly into religious speeches, “and when your heart is right”-meaning, of course, after you’ve lived through repression of your vocabulary, actions, your almost every human urge- “you have the ability, the capacity, to love your neighbour properly”, as if only God can create love within human beings. At sermons, the words “forgive us and help us” are conditioned and chanted repeatedly by everyone in a robotic-like manner after sins they are expected to have committed are announced one by one. These examples of Robert Lifton’s four main brainwashing techniques found in religion merely trace a finger down the spine of religious brainwashing.
Of course, just like within the mainstream Muslim community, the degree of brainwashing differs in the mainstream Christian community from fundamentalist extremists. However, the concept remains the same; humans are manipulated to dedicate the only life anyone can know for a fact exists, to a being that no one can ever prove has existed, for a reward that no one knows has ever been granted.
The problem with every religion occurs in the power of those delivering the ideas and the interpretation of the beliefs. Trust grants power, so when the trust those with religious influence is too strong, this power can be taken beyond the realms of a healthy religion into the chilling realms of brainwash. Although these realms of brainwash are not obvious, individuals may unknowingly wander into them and allow them to warp their minds. Religious brainwashing aims to isolate and fog up an individual’s windows until their view is lost and they have to depend on others to describe it for us. Avoiding mind-consumption involves opening these windows and seeing things with an unbiased mind; it involves refraining from handing our complete dedication over to singular persons, which would grant them the means to manipulate us, and most importantly, it involves realising that victims of brainwash do not realise they have been brainwashed. I ask that next time you hear the word “brainwash”, not to think merely of Isis extremists, most of whom live far from us, but to think about the Sunday service happening ten minutes from where you live.