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-- Scott Green; see quote In this section, we will illustrate that the International Churches of Christ (ICC) uses thought reform or “mind control” techniques, and look at measurable evidence of psychological harm caused by the ICC. Contents Intro An Introduction to Thought Reform [For our purposes, we will use the terms “thought reform” and “mind control” interchangeably.] Another model of thought reform/mind control inspired by Lifton, the BITE model of mental health counselor and Unification Church (Moon organization) former member Steve Hassan, capsulizes the techniques of destructive group mind control/thought reform in four categories: behavior control, information control, thought control and emotional control. [To see the BITE model from Hassan's Web site, click here.] In the following articles we parallel ICC practices with the BITE model, giving links to other RightCyberUp articles for detailed examples of mind control/thought reform in the ICC. Unless otherwise noted, quotes will be taken from Hassan’s book Releasing the Bonds. (3) [Note: each link in this section will open a new window. Use this feature to open articles of interest to you while you keep open the BITE comparison.] ICC Behavior Control The ICC may regulate members’ physical reality in several ways outlined by Hassan. Members may be instructed with whom they should live (see Disputable Matters) and told to primarily associate with other group members, who should be their “best friends” (see Influence and Use of Friendship). They may be “discipled” to change their appearance (see “Sharp” People) to help make them effective at recruiting. They may be instructed to lose weight (see Weight Issues) or to fast. (4) They may be pressured to reduce the amount of sleep they are getting, and compelled to give money to the group (see Enforced Tithing and Special Contribution). Time spent on leisure and entertainment is curtailed. The ICC book Discipling advises members to “seek advice in all areas of life, especially if you are a newer disciple. Get advice about priorities, time usage, spending time with old friends, evangelism, entertainment options, finances and the like.” (5) Members may even be instructed how long they can visit their families (see Familes). Hassan says mind control groups require major time commitment for indoctrination and group activities. Time commitment to the ICC is sought early with a “three week challenge” asking recruits to “read the Bible daily,” “come to all the services,” and “study together several times a week.” (6) Once they have joined, members are expected to attend a long list of required functions, and pressure may be used to enforce attendance (see Mandatory Attendance). Busy personal schedules are not seen as a valid excuse for being away from group members – as ICC founder Kip McKean has put it, “Daily contact is not an option with Christians.” (7) New members may have their schedule as a “disciple” entirely mapped out for them by ICC leaders/disciplers, with little time left for personal activities. Hassan says behavior control includes the need for members to ask permission for major decisions. The ICC expects members to “seek advice” from their discipling partners or other “spiritually mature” members, which is essentially “asking permission” because there may be pressure to follow advice (see Advice is just Advice?). Not asking for “advice” can subject members to criticism and/or rebuke. Behavior control’s “need to report thoughts, feelings, and activities to superiors” works in ICC discipling relationships, which are mandatory in the group (see Mandatory, Assigned One-Over-One Discipling). ICC discipling partners become not just a “best friend,” but a reporting mechanism, with members expected to be “totally open” to their discipler and report not just sins, but thoughts and attitudes (see Mandatory Confession). Members are also expected to report their progress in recruiting (see Fruit). As ICC World Sector Leader Scott Green once said, “Nothing is off-limits in discipling someone’s life.” (8) According to Hassan, in a mind control group “all behaviors can be either rewarded or punished.” (9) Rewards (“encouragement”) and punishments (“rebuke”) are doled out by the ICC in a highly sophisticated and often subtle way. Kip McKean has said that in an ideal ratio of positive vs. negative reinforcement, “commending should take place about 90% of the time, and convicting 10%.” (10) Through disciplers, leaders, and other group members, an unwritten code of behavior is learned and reinforced. Rigid ICC rules govern not just organizational matters like attendance and collection of money, but also personal areas like dating. “Rules” may be downplayed as “guidelines,” even though following them is essentially mandatory (see Control of Dating Relationships). The ICC’s rules create an environment of obedience and dependency. ICC Information Control Hassan calls information “the fuel we use to keep our minds working properly. Deny a person the information he requires to make sound judgements, and he will be incapable of doing so.” (11) Hassan’s view of information control includes three forms of deception we have apparently seen in the ICC: “deliberately holding back information” (see A Slip by Kip?, Orchestrated Bible Talks, Non-informed Consent, We’re a non-denominational church), “distorting information to make it more ‘acceptable’” (see Truth, Lies, and Indianapolis; One Church, One City), and perhaps even “outright lying” (see Lying and Church Plantings; The Indianapolis Numbers Deception). Information control includes restricting access to non-group sources of information like books and media stories and information on the Internet (see Inoculation against Criticism, Spiritual Pornography). In one example of information control, the ICC has sought to “flood the web” with positive material about the group, and bury “negative” web sites lower in the rankings of all the major search engines (see ICC Internet Publicity). “Most importantly,” says Hassan, “people are told to avoid contact with ex-members or critics. Those who could provide the most information are the ones to be especially shunned.” (12) This is especially true of the ICC, which has “marked” many of its most vocal critics (see Marking). The ICC teaches members that ex-members have no credibility (see A disgruntled few, Gossip, slander & hearsay). People who criticize the ICC may be aggressively discredited by leadership (see Truth, Lies, and Indianapolis, ICC Attacks on the Media). The vilification of critics and ex-members discourages current ICC members from seeking outside opinions. Meanwhile, the ICC’s busy schedule may, as Hassan says, “keep members so busy they don’t have time to think and check things out.” Information control also includes “compartmentalization of information” into multiple layers of “truth.” Hassan describes a separation between “inner” and “outer doctrines:” “The outsider material is relatively bland stuff for the general public or fresh converts. The inner doctrines are unveiled only gradually as a person gets in deeper.” (13) We have seen this same progression in the ICC’s Bible study series (see Incremental Disclosure). The ICC’s innocuous “outer doctrines” include mainstream Christian ideas like the deity of Christ, the inspired nature of the Bible, etc, while its “inner doctrines” – revealed primarily to members and advanced recruits – include the ICC being the kingdom of God (see The Kingdom Study) and all other churches going to hell (see Denominationalism and False Doctrines). “Inner doctrines” may be withheld from outsiders as leadership decides “who ‘needs to know’ what and when” (see Manipulated Commitment). Access to certain information may vary at different levels within the group (see Marking). Hassan’s information control includes members “spying on” other group members, both through the use of “buddy systems” like ICC discipling partners, and reporting by members of “deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership” – which the ICC might call “accountability.” Even ICC marriage relationships may lack true confidentiality (see Marriage). BITE model information control also includes “extensive use of [group] generated information and propaganda” in the form of books, tapes and other publicity materials. The ICC’s media and publishing arms manufacture huge amounts of positive publicity for the group, sometimes using “misquotations” and out-of-context statements from non-group sources (see When Publicity Becomes Propaganda, H.O.P.E.: Helping Our Publicity Efforts, Singapore Lawsuit). Hassan includes the “unethical use of confession” as information control, saying that confidentiality violations break identity boundaries between the individual and the group and that information about past sins may be used by mind control groups “to manipulate and control.” ICC confession information may get passed between leaders without members’ knowledge, as detailed in North American television reports (see Confidentiality of Confessions). ICC Thought Control Hassan’s third mind control component achieves the internalization of the group’s doctrine as “Truth”. The ICC’s “map of reality” is adopted by its converts as “Reality”: members are taught that the group is the “Kingdom of God” or “one true church” (see The Church) that no one else has “the truth,” and that people outside the group are “lost” unless they “become a disciple” in the ICC. We see Hassan’s model reflected in ICC black vs. white, good vs. evil, us vs. them thinking (see Partiality, Is God Preoccupied with the ICC?). Since words are tools for thinking, manipulating language becomes a device for manipulating thought. The ICC has its own “loaded language” – Carol Giambalvo in her book The Boston Movement has identified several examples including the terms “fruit,” ”be open,” “bad attitude,” “disciple,” “study it out,” “cranking,” “fell away,” “sentimentality,” “worldly,” “spiritual pornography,” “disciple’s heart,” “reconstruction,” “Quiet Time,” “awesome,” and “seek advice.” (14) Each term is defined or redefined according to the group’s needs. Hassan notes that “loaded language” puts up “an invisible wall between believers and outsiders. The language helps to make members feel special and separates them from the general public.” (15) Thoughts contrary to the ICC map of reality must be discouraged or eliminated. ICC members may learn to block negative thoughts using four defense mechanisms mentioned by Hassan: denial (e.g. “I’ve never seen that happen in my zone”), rationalization (“We’re just doing what’s most effective in evangelizing the world”), justification (“Some leaders need to live in expensive homes so wealthy neighborhoods can be evangelized”), and wishful thinking (“If the church is wrong, God will bring it to light”). Legitimate internal or external questions may be silenced by what Robert J. Lifton calls “thought-terminating cliches” – “brief, highly reductive definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and expressed.” (16) ICC fallacies that have crystallized into thought-terminating clichés include “God is in control” (see God is in control), “people make mistakes” (see People make mistakes), and “we’ve changed” (see We’ve changed). ICC members may even learn thought-stopping rituals, like repeating memorized scripture to eliminate an unfavorable thought (see Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength: Mind), abruptly and illogically “changing the subject” to God or Jesus when legitimate concerns are raised about the ICC, or assuming that all doubt is from Satan (see Doubt is from Satan). Says Hassan: “In order to be a good member, a person must learn to manipulate their own thought process.” (17) An environment of thought control leaves little room for rational analysis, critical thinking, or constructive criticism about the group. As Hassan notes, no critical questions about the group’s leaders, doctrine or policy are seen as legitimate (see Debating is Wrong?). Alternative belief systems are similarly viewed by the ICC as invalid (see Denominationalism and False Doctrines). ICC Emotional Control Mind control groups “manipulate and narrow the range of a person’s feelings” and “make the person feel that if there are ever any problems, it is always his fault, never the leader’s or the group’s” according to Hassan. Loyalty and devotion become “the most highly respected emotions of all.” (18) In the ICC, ingrained loyalty may cause members to blame themselves for their difficulties or unhappiness even in situations where the church may be responsible. Hassan says members of mind control groups “are conditioned to always blame themselves, so that they respond gratefully whenever a leader points out one of their ‘shortcomings.’” (19) BITE model emotional control includes “excessive use of guilt,” consisting of “identity guilt,” “social guilt,” and “historical guilt.” The components of identity guilt are skillfully utilized by the ICC: guilt about who one is as a person, about one’s family (e.g. Am I spending too much time with family? Not enough? Why is my family not “saved,” etc.). ICC members are made to feel guilty about their entire past life before joining the group, about their affiliations (e.g. Am I spending too much time with old friends? Not enough time recruiting people into the group?), and about their ongoing “thoughts, feelings, actions,” facilitated by what Hassan calls “ritual and often public confession of ‘sins’” (see Mandatory Confession). In spite of a theology that teaches forgiveness is forgetting, ICC members may not be allowed to forget their own sins, being constantly reminded of them by the group. The ongoing misuse of ICC confession may produce members who feel like they never measure up to the group’s standards – or God’s. Excessive guilt can lower members’ self-esteem, making them more pliable to accomplishing the group’s agenda. To use boxing terms, if guilt is the “left jab” of emotional control, then fear is its “right hook.” Mind control groups according to the BITE model feature an “excessive use of fear.” Hassan’s types of fear may be felt by ICC members: “fear of thinking independently, “fear of the outside world,” “fear of enemies,” “fear of leaving the group or being shunned by the group,” and “fear of disapproval.” Members in mind control groups experience extreme emotional highs and lows according to the BITE model. The juxtaposition of praise and punishment “fosters a feeling of dependency and helplessness.” (20) ICC members may find themselves sky-high one day, and depressed the next, as they are alternately praised or punished by the group. Hassan says mind control groups practice phobia indoctrination – actually instilling members with fears about leaving the group or questioning leaders: “the person under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group.” Hassan says members are taught to believe that there is “no happiness or fulfillment ‘outside’ of the group” (see When Publicity Becomes Propaganda) and that “terrible consequences will take place if you leave” (see Is God Preoccupied with the ICC?, Leaving the ICC is Leaving God?, Who’s the Dog?). Members may fear rejection if they leave, because they’ve seen the group shun other people who exit (see Influence and Use of Friendship). Above all, in the view of ICC leadership there is “never a legitimate reason to leave” (see Free to Leave?, A Spiritual Trap). Unfortunately, the same ingrained phobias that are so successful at keeping members entrapped can become unwanted baggage for the people who leave. Conquering these phobias is vital to recovery. Conclusion As shown by the evidence on this site, the International Churches of Christ (ICC) seem to be using thought reform or “mind control” techniques. Besides giving insight to the day-to-day dynamics of groups like the ICC, thought reform models can help us to understand some of the biggest events of our age. The horrors of the Nazi Germany, the mass cult suicides of recent decades, and the rise of ideologically-motivated terrorism can all be better understood when viewed through the prism of thought reform. Evidence from ICC-related Psychological Studies One study seeking to measure the psychological effects of membership in the ICC movement was conducted by Abilene Christian University church growth researcher Flavil Yeakley. In the 1980s in Boston, Yeakley administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – a personality assessment tool – to 835 members of the Boston Church of Christ. They were asked to answer each question three times, 1.) as they would have answered before their conversion, 2.) as they would answer the question currently, and 3.) as they would expect to answer after being discipled for five more years. The results surprised even Yeakley. He found that the entire sample group seemed to be converging toward a single personality type: ESFJ (Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging). Yeakley concluded: …the Boston Church of Christ is producing in its members the very same pattern of unhealthy personality change that is observed in studies of well-known manipulative sects. Whatever they are doing that produces this pattern needs to be changed. (21) The “manipulative sects” showing the same pattern as the Boston church were the Church of Scientology, the Hare Krishnas, Maranatha Ministries, the Children of God, the Unification Church (Moon organization), and The Way, in a comparative study by Yeakley. (22) [To read more about Yeakley's psychological study, click here.] [To see the statistical details from Yeakley's Appendix, click here.] A more recent study sought to measure psychological distress in former ICC members vs. two mainstream groups. Malinoski, Langone & Lynn gave a battery of clinical tests to former ICC, former InterVarsity, and former Roman Catholic members. They found that former ICC members scored higher than former members of these mainstream groups on measures of depression, anxiety, dissociation, etc. Specifically, they observed the following: “Forty percent of the former ICC members scored at or
above the clinical outpatient means for general psychological
distress on the SCL90-R [Symptom Checklist 90, Revised] compared
with 5% of the participants from the other groups, suggesting
that a large minority of the former ICC members were experiencing
significant psychological distress.” Notes: (1) Robert J. Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1989, p. 4. (2) Lifton’s themes have already been convincingly compared with the International Churches of Christ in Brian Ritt's article on the REVEAL Web site plus two books written about the ICC: [Carol Giambalvo, “An Examination of the Boston Movement in Relation to Thought-Reform Criteria,” in The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ, Carol Giambalvo & Herb Rosedale, Eds., American Family Foundation, Bonita Springs, FL, 1995, pp. 201-233] and [Rick Bauer, Toxic Christianity: The International Churches of Christ/Boston Movement Cult, Freedom House Ministries, Bowie, MD, 1994.] (3) Steven Hassan, Releasing The Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves, Freedom of Mind Press, Somerville, MA, 2000, pp. 42-55. (4) Although fasting has precedents in Judeo-Christian religion, ICC leadership may go beyond these precedents by asking specific members to fast at specific times. (5) Gordon Ferguson (Kingdom Teacher), Discipling: God’s Plan to Train and Transform His People, DPI, Woburn, MA, 1997, p. 114. (6) San Antonio Church of Christ Jesus, “The Coming of the Kingdom,” First Principles, no date. (7) Kip McKean (World Missions Evangelist), Follow-Up Study 3: Best Friends for All Time, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape #10078, recorded circa 1989. (8) Scott Green (World Sector Leader), Discipleship Partners, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 4007, 1987. (9) Steven Hassan, Combatting Cult Mind Control, Park Street Press, Rochester, VT, 1990, p. 61. (10) Kip McKean, First Principles: Follow-Up Study #2: Christ is Your Life, DPI, Tape # 10077, recorded circa 1989. (11) Hassan, Combatting…, p. 65. (12) Ibid. (13) Ibid., p. 66. (14) Carol Giambalvo & Herb Rosedale, Eds., The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ, American Family Foundation, Bonita Springs, FL, 1995, pp. 226-228. (15) Hassan, Combatting…, p. 62. (16) Lifton, Thought Reform…, p. 429. (17) Hassan, Combatting…, p. 61. (18) Ibid., p. 64. (19) Ibid., p. 63. (20) Ibid., p. 64. (21) Flavil Yeakley, Ed., The Discipling Dilemma, Gospel Advocate Co., Nashville, 1988, p. 37. (22) Ibid., p. 33-34. (23) Peter T. Malinoski, Michael D. Langone & Steven Jay Lynn, “Psychological Distress in former Members of the International Churches of Christ and Noncultic Groups,” Cultic Studies Journal, 16(1), 1999.
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