Following is a comment LTravis left on Jeff's blog. Clicking the link at the bottom of the comment will bring you to the original site.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF HOW THE CULTS OPERATE
For abusive cults, the key word is CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL
by Submitting to the Leadership - leaders tend to be the absolute end, looked to as prophets of God, as specially anointed apostles.
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| Kow tow: We all bow down! |
Or they can be a strong, controlling, manipulative personality who demands submission even if he changes his views or conflicts occur in doctrine or behavior.
sometimes they can be looked on as God Himself.
Often to obey a leader and their teaching is equal to obeying God.
**"If you have a problem with me, you have a problem with God."--r w davis**
It can take time for them to gain power over the new convert, but it will eventually be there.
Control is usually overwhelming and can cover most aspects of the followers' lives:
Dress codes, activities, finances, time, possessions and relationships.
They can dictate to the member who to see, what to do, what is the right thing to say, and how to say it.
Various degrees of control can be experienced, from subtle manipulation to blatant ordering.
They will expect Rigid obedience of the members time and activities - involving their followers in physically and emotionally draining activities leaving little time for privacy and reflection, or questioning their authority.
Expecting one to show up when everyone else does, and everything is usually done in groups.
The methods of control which are used is usually FEAR of displeasing God the leader or both.
Fear of rejection, punishment, losing ones salvation, missing the rapture, going to hell.
Guilt, Fear, intimidation are Weapons used to maintain their loyalty and devotion to the group.
Intimidation and accusation are the most often used. For example, any questioning of authority is treated as rebellion, and not trusting.
They suppress questions and conform to the groups behavior. They Discourage Critical or Rational Thought and Questions they will reply with comments like,
"Satan is the cause of all doubt; he is keeping you from the Truth,"
or it will take time to understand the deep things of God.
Critical thinking is discouraged being called prideful or sinful or rebellious.
No independent thinking is encouraged.
**quote by r w davis and image added by Don and Ange**
2 comments:
Larry touched on some really good stuff here and made some very interesting points. It seems that many that leave the ntcc have a very hard time recovering from the cult experience that they have been through. Many folks that have left the ntcc have nothing to do with their former cult and wish never to speak with or about anyone in or out of the ntcc.
I can understand this, because this is exactly how I dealt with my departure from the ntcc for 14 straight years. I did not want to speak with anyone in or out of the ntcc. I did my best to forget them completely. I feared them because the brainwashing and manipulation was complete in my life and I never intended to have anything to do with them. I didn't google anyone from the ntcc, never seen or heard from anyone. During this time I enjoyed freedom that escaped me while in the ntcc. The freedom that I enjoyed was living my life the way I wanted to. This was good and bad. It was good because I did a lot of things that I never could do in the ntcc. I enjoyed many things that I Believe God intended for everyone to enjoy, for example, His creation, the beauty of the land we live in and how to enjoy it. But I also lived recklessly and had little regard for anyone but myself.
That all came to an end when in mercy, God dealt with my heart. In an instant, I realized God still loved and cared for me outside of the ntcc. This realization opened my eyes to all the lies that were programmed into my brain by the ntcc. The ntcc didn't go around saying they were the only church going to heaven, at least not very often. But what they did was to make statements like, "If other churches were doing right, there would be no need for God to raise up the ntcc". They would single out every church and give you a reason to exclude them from fellowship. They made other churches off limits. Try attending another church and then watch your pastor tear that churches doctrine to shreds.
When you come to the realization that the ntcc is not God's plan for fallen man than you begin to take a closer look at what they are doing to people you realize how wrong they are. What they are doing is opposite to the example that Jesus and New Testament saints did. They are absolutely a menace to society. They do not show Christianity to the lost world but they show a Pharisaical hypocrisy to the world and it displays the opposite of Christianity.
The ntcc is so thoroughly brainwashed that they think it is okay to preach a doctrine of exclusion and isolation. It's okay to place everyone in hell with the only avenue of escape being to pay tithe to leaders that don't live by the same rules required of you. It's okay to use people for monetary gain. It's okay to control people. It's okay to isolate people. It's okay to tell them who they can or can't talk to or date. It's okay to publicly humiliate folks to keep them in line.
When you realize that it is not God's will to destroy people and that the ntcc is counter productive to God's mercy and grace, it opens your eyes to what is really happening in the ntcc. The ntcc fits every definition of a cult. The ntcc hates us and anyone that speaks against them because we testify of their works. Their works are not right. We hope that people will read this article posted by Larry and will compare the characteristics of how cults operate to how the ntcc operates and realize that they need to escape.
DnA
When I was in the ntcc, I never realized that I was in a cult. You could have told me that I was in a cult, and I would have said, You are too late to tell me that I'm in a cult because what I have is real. And what God did in my life was real.
The reason that the ntcc is so dangerous is that they introduce people to real salvation. You start out right in the ntcc. You get saved and you love God. They teach salvation and preach Christ crucified. Sounds pretty good right? Stay with me. Many of the brothers and sisters around you are saved and the pastor that you follow might even be saved. Pastors are brainwashed even worse than the members. When you go to Graham to follow the calling that you are convinced is placed upon your life, this is where you really get messed up in the head. If you stay in a local church for years you also get messed up.
This is the process. Get them saved, when they love God they will do anything you ask them and they will believe anything you tell them. Introduce rules that isolate them from "the world". "The world" is your family, your friends and your old life". Listen, here is where it gets confusing. Your family and your friends are part of your past life. They are all grouped together and defined by the ntcc leadership as dangerous. They don't care about you. They are sinners and you are now a saint. You are above everyone else around you. You are a child of God. This kind of thing is pumped into your brain so you will think that you are special above all others and that the ntcc is special above all others. They fill every corner of your life with time consuming chores and obligations. Your life becomes a routine, and you forget what you once had.
You start getting introduced to pride and you want to emulate the leaders you see around you. To do that you have to do everything they say without question. To be in their favor, you have to sacrifice everything in your life. If you go to bible school, in order to succeed you must eat huge amounts of cheese and you have to be a man-pleaser. When you do these things, your salvation gets weaker and weaker. You become a programmed robot that practices learned behavior. While you still read and pray and go through all the motions, pride fills your heart and you forget what it's like to have peace and joy and love towards the brethren in your heart. Your focus is still trying to please the ntcc leadership.
All the while you have not even noticed that right under your noses the ntcc leadership in Graham is violating all the rules that you have diligently kept for so many years. All the while you haven't even noticed where all the money that you have collected from your congregation is going towards. You have been in the organization for over a decade and you are leading people in a pastoral position and you don't even know the bible. You are telling your church members that they are going to die and go to hell if they don't pay tithe and give in offerings which is nowhere to be found in the bible, but you preach it because somebody preached it to you. You don't question anything, but when your leaders rebuke you, you just pray through and keep the same routine that you've always kept.
"Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;" Luke 20:46
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