Why does CBMW secretly delete inconvenient articles?
via Rachel Miller and the Missing CBMW Posts on the Eternal Subordination of the Son —
Tag: Spiritual Abuse
Why 1 Timothy 2:8-15 Does Not Ban Women from Teaching & Having Authority in the Church — The Junia Project
From the mailbox: “Just wanted to say thank you for your article on 1 Timothy 2. It was a great reference for me as my 13 yr old daughter asked me about it when she read it during her devotions. I was not sure how to respond to her until I found your article. Thank…
When People Show You Who They Are
Thinking Fellows interview: Eternal Subordination of the Son controversy
http://www.thinkingfellows.com/blog/2016/8/4/episode-28-eternal-subordination-of-the-son
This week the Thinking Fellows are joined by Elyse Fitzpatrick and her son Joel Fitzpatrick to talk about a controversy revolving around the idea of the eternal subordination of the Son. The Fellows aren’t here to join the fight but instead talk about the misapplication of the Trinity happening within the controversy. Sit back, relax, and grab a drink as the Fellows cover this special listener requested show.
Changing My Mind on Women in Ministry, Part 1 – Missio Alliance
It’s Not Easy to Change When those of us on the Missio Alliance writing team were given this month’s topic—Gender and the Kingdom of God—I knew that it would be a difficult topic for me to write about. Truth be told, it has been an extremely difficult topic for me to write about. Yes, I’m … Continued
Source: Changing My Mind on Women in Ministry, Part 1 – Missio Alliance
Why do Christians insist that Abuse Victims Return to Egypt? — Speakingtruthinlove’s Blog
Originally posted on A Cry For Justice: Right on through Scripture, any desire to return to bondage and slavery is treated as foolish and even sinful. And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD…
via Why do Christians insist that Abuse Victims Return to Egypt? — Speakingtruthinlove’s Blog
Christians Around World Critique Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley Pastors/Elders’ “Stranglehold” of Members
Cartoon used with permission by David Hayward. The Naked Pastor blog. Canada.
Christians around the world are critiquing Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley’s ByLaws, Membership Covenant, Statement of Faith and other documents on The Wartburg Watch blog. GBFSV is my former church and excommunicates any church members for being Bereans and having critical thinking skills. A middle-aged woman in finance, a doctor in his 70’s, and then me.
Todd Wilhelm, a U.S. citizen who is a Christian and lives and works in the United Arab Emirates, blogged about the problems at Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley and their use of the authoritarian, heavy-Shepherding 9 Marks model of running a church. (The ONE Biblical mark of a ‘healthy church’ in the Bible – LOVE – didn’t make the list of 9 Marks.)
Todd Wilhelm’s Thou Art The Man blog article was also republished on The Wartburg Watch, here:
Darlene posted this on The Wartburg Watch about Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley’s Membership Covenant, ByLaws, Statement of Faith and other documents.
“By the way…reading the By Laws from your former church [Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley] alone (not even getting through the entire document) reminds me of being put in a stranglehold. Rigid power structure is what comes to mind. And what is it with not wanting people to attend often without committing to signing the membership covenant/contract? Something to the effect of….maybe you should just find another church to attend if all you want to do is come to our services. Very strange.”
Muff Potter commenting on The Wartburg Watch blog about Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley’s Membership Covenant and other authoritarian documents. “Holy you know what! That’s quite the manifesto they require you to sign onto. Tell me though, do they recruit many of the kids fresh out of Stanford [University]? Or are they just a lot of wind on their growth projections?”
Mind Control Techniques Used by Authoritarian Groups, Including Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley’s Pastors/Elders
by Velour/Mtn. Shepherdess
After being excommunicated and shunned from the abusive, authoritarian Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley on trumped up charges, like the doctor and the woman in finance before me and the people who will dissent and be punished after me, I have had to deprogram from the toxic, abusive environment. GBFSV practices the 1970’s un-Biblical heavy-Shepherding techniques/controls over adult Christians’ lives. It is NOT Biblical, no matter how many times they slap those words on their authoritarianism and try to justify it.
Many older Christians and other people have provided support and information that has been useful to my healing. Here is one expert whose work is very helpful, Steve Hassan, and who was mentored by psychiatrist/Yale University/researcher/author Dr. Robert Jay Lifton.
Grace Bible Fellowship of Silicon Valley pastors/elders’ meet many of the mind control techniques in the BITE model below.
“Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Cult Mind Control
Many people think of mind control as an ambiguous, mystical process that cannot be defined in concrete terms. In reality, mind control refers to a specific set of methods and techniques, such as hypnosis or thought- stopping, that influence how a person thinks, feels, and acts. Like many bodies of knowledge, it is not inherently good or evil. If mind control techniques are used to empower an individual to have more choice, and authority for his life remains within himself, the effects can be beneficial. For example, benevolent mind control can be used to help people quit smoking without affecting any other behavior. Mind control becomes destructive when the locus of control is external and it is used to undermine a person’s ability to think and act independently.
As employed by the most destructive cults, mind control seeks nothing less than to disrupt an individual’s authentic identity and reconstruct it in the image of the cult leader. I developed the BITE model to help people determine whether or not a group is practicing destructive mind control. The BITE model helps people understand how cults suppress individual member’s uniqueness and creativity. BITE stands for the cult’s control of an individual’s Behavior, Intellect, Thoughts, and Emotions.
It is important to understand that destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause. It is not necessary for every single item on the list to be present. Mindcontrolled cult members can live in their own apartments, have nine-to-five jobs, be married with children, and still be unable to think for themselves and act independently.
Destructive mind control is not just used by cults. Learn about the Human Trafficking BITE Model and the Terrorism BITE Model
The BITE Model
I. Behavior Control II. Information Control
III. Thought Control IV. Emotional Control
Behavior Control
1. Regulate individual’s physical reality
2. Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates
3. When, how and with whom the member has sex
4. Control types of clothing and hairstyles
5. Regulate diet – food and drink, hunger and/or fasting
6. Manipulation and deprivation of sleep
7. Financial exploitation, manipulation or dependence
8. Restrict leisure, entertainment, vacation time
9. Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self indoctrination including the Internet
10. Permission required for major decisions
11. Thoughts, feelings, and activities (of self and others) reported to superiors
12. Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative
13. Discourage individualism, encourage group-think
14. Impose rigid rules and regulations
15. Instill dependency and obedience
Information Control
1. Deception:
a. Deliberately withhold information
b. Distort information to make it more acceptable
c. Systematically lie to the cult member
2. Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including:
a. Internet, TV, radio, books, articles, newspapers, magazines, other media
b.Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate
e. Control through cell phone with texting, calls, internet tracking
3. Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Ensure that information is not freely accessible
b.Control information at different levels and missions within group
c. Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when
4. Encourage spying on other members
a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member
b.Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership
c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group
5. Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda, including:
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audiotapes, videotapes, YouTube, movies and other media
b.Misquoting statements or using them out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
a. Information about sins used to disrupt and/or dissolve identity boundaries
b. Withholding forgiveness or absolution
c. Manipulation of memory, possible false memories
Thought Control
1. Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth
a. Adopting the group’s ‘map of reality’ as reality
b. Instill black and white thinking
c. Decide between good vs. evil
d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders)
2.Change person’s name and identity
3. Use of loaded language and clichés which constrict knowledge, stop critical thoughts and reduce complexities into platitudinous buzz words
4. Encourage only ‘good and proper’ thoughts
5. Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member
6. Memories are manipulated and false memories are created
7. Teaching thought-stopping techniques which shut down reality testing by stopping negative thoughts and allowing only positive thoughts, including:
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
b. Chanting
c. Meditating
d. Praying
e. Speaking in tongues
f. Singing or humming
8. Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism
9. Forbid critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy allowed
10. Labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate, evil, or not useful
Emotional Control
1. Manipulate and narrow the range of feelings – some emotions and/or needs are deemed as evil, wrong or selfish
2. Teach emotion-stopping techniques to block feelings of homesickness, anger, doubt
3. Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault
4. Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as
a. Identity guilt
b. You are not living up to your potential
c. Your family is deficient
d. Your past is suspect
e. Your affiliations are unwise
f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish
g. Social guilt
h. Historical guilt
5. Instill fear, such as fear of:
a. Thinking independently
b. The outside world
c. Enemies
d. Losing one’s salvation
e. Leaving or being shunned by the group
f. Other’s disapproval
6. Extremes of emotional highs and lows – love bombing and praise one moment and then declaring you are horrible sinner
7. Ritualistic and sometimes public confession of sins
8. Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority
a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group
b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc.
c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll
e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family”
–©Steve Hassan
Pastor Performed A Miracle by David Hayward, cartoonist
Spiritual Abuse Masked as Spiritual Authority by Wade Burleson
by Velour/MtnShepherdess
*reblogged with permission from Wade Burleson ©, pastor in Enid, Oklahoma, author, Istoria Ministries blog http://www.wadeburleson.org/2009/03/spiritual-abuse-masked-as-spiritual.html
Today is part one of a seven part series on identifying the characteristics of spiritually abusive systems of religion. Future posts on the subject will be linked with this one to form a complete series when finished over the next several weeks. This subject is an important one in our day.
Spiritual abuse can be found in churches, non-profits, and denominational organizations. It is not limited to fundamentalists or liberals, Christians or cults, but may run the spectrum of theological ideologies. My friend, Jeff VanVonderen, has come up with a definition of spiritual abuse in his bestselling book, co-authored by David Johnson, entitled The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. Using the book as a guide, the following is a descriptivedefinition of spiritual abuse.
Spiritual abuse is when a leader uses his or her religious position of authority to control, intimidate or dominate another person. It also occurs when a person in need of answers, help or support is denigrated for either questioning the “Lord’s anointed” or not being “spiritual” enough to submit to the decisions of the religious authority.
The First Characteristic of a Spiritually Abusive Religious System:
There is a preoccupation with the leader’s authority and the constant need to remind others of that authority.
Leaders will spend a great deal of time talking about their “authority” and reminding others of it. This posturing appears most frequently in ridiculing or shaming remarks toward those in the congregation, including demanding total attention and allegience to the leaders’ words.
The difference between real spiritual authority and abusive spiritual authority is that the former actually possesses it, the latter only postures it. When Jesus taught he possessed spiritual authority because his life and his character backed up what he was saying.
One of the best ways to identify abusive authority is to pay attention to how much time and effort is expended by the religious leader in reminding others of his authority and how everyone else is supposed to submit to it. Abusive leaders are eager to place people under them – under their word, under their “authority” – and it is the clearest indication that they are operating under their own authority and not the Spirit of God’s authority.
GBFSV SPIRITUAL ABUSE VICTIMS' RECOVERY 