Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 58
Within this sect, public compliance is not so much based upon the rightness of the judgments or
the superiority of leadership ideas, but upon the superiority of their power and apparently
unimpeachable position:
Commonly held norms and values are ignored by powerholders when such norms
and values appear to threaten or restrict the powerholder's use of his resources.
Basically, the norms that are changed are those that interfere with the exercise of
power. (Kipnis, 1976:176)
Here, Kipnis argues that in a crisis a normative system is modified if it restricts the social control
agents, and, after the crisis, reverts back to acceptable levels. In essence, the control system
moves from martial law to business as usual In this sect, quasi-totalitarian norms do not change,
but fluctuate in emphasis.
Public compliance is influenced by the concept of spiritual ―experts.‖ The sect teaches that when a
man is recognized as an elder, God bestows upon him a supernatural wisdom that can direct him
in even the most difficult of decisions. Members attain eldership by being effective communicators
or preachers, or unwavering displays of loyalty to the cause and the leadership. External displays
are rewarded, while inner development is, by and large, suspect until the individual begins to
display confirmed behavior patterns already defined as growth by the classification priesthood.
The Loyalty and Betrayal Funnels
Once gathered together in a secret excommunication meeting in which the initial definition and
purpose are laid out by the leadership, all the participants are placed in a Catch-22 situation:
either they publicly express loyalty to the leaders by betraying one of their members, or they
express loyalty to a member by betraying the leadership. The catch is in the definition. The target
has been accused of disobeying authority or undermining the leadership. He has not submitted to
the decrees of the leadership and has made his insubordination public. AU these participants have
been hand-picked by the leadership to decide the target's fate. The double-bind is that if one of
these members disagrees, he is actually doing the very thing that the meeting was called to judge
in the first place. In this regard, Leniert (1962) points out that such ―exclusionist group[s]
demand loyalty, solidarity and secrecy from their members they act in accord with a common
scheme and in varying degrees utilize techniques of manipulation and misrepresentation‖ (p.
137).
At a national leadership conference for sect members and their guests held in Washington, DC, in
the summer of 1986, one of the sects national leaders explains his involvement in a secret
meeting with four other men. The topic of discussion was the fate of another leader who had
committed ―crimes‖ of such a nature that excommunication proceedings were initiated against
him. This double-bind is clearly illustrated below:
As an elder, I've been through our black years. After some of us were appointed as
elders in Ames [Iowa], we had to put a brother out of the church.
There were five of us ...We deliberated day and night over putting this one brother
out of the church who was in sin. It was au coming together except for one
dissenting vote. If you don't know this, the elders in your church and the elders in
this church across the country have a very high standard. We do not operate on
majority rules. We only operate on unanimous decisions. And unless we get
unanimous decisions we don't make any moves. This is why sometimes we have
long elders' meetings. [laughter]
I remember during that time this brother definitely was in sin and definitely needed
to be put out of the church, but there was one dissenting vote -me. I could not
say, ―put that guy out of the church.‖ I knew he was in sin and I knew he was
Within this sect, public compliance is not so much based upon the rightness of the judgments or
the superiority of leadership ideas, but upon the superiority of their power and apparently
unimpeachable position:
Commonly held norms and values are ignored by powerholders when such norms
and values appear to threaten or restrict the powerholder's use of his resources.
Basically, the norms that are changed are those that interfere with the exercise of
power. (Kipnis, 1976:176)
Here, Kipnis argues that in a crisis a normative system is modified if it restricts the social control
agents, and, after the crisis, reverts back to acceptable levels. In essence, the control system
moves from martial law to business as usual In this sect, quasi-totalitarian norms do not change,
but fluctuate in emphasis.
Public compliance is influenced by the concept of spiritual ―experts.‖ The sect teaches that when a
man is recognized as an elder, God bestows upon him a supernatural wisdom that can direct him
in even the most difficult of decisions. Members attain eldership by being effective communicators
or preachers, or unwavering displays of loyalty to the cause and the leadership. External displays
are rewarded, while inner development is, by and large, suspect until the individual begins to
display confirmed behavior patterns already defined as growth by the classification priesthood.
The Loyalty and Betrayal Funnels
Once gathered together in a secret excommunication meeting in which the initial definition and
purpose are laid out by the leadership, all the participants are placed in a Catch-22 situation:
either they publicly express loyalty to the leaders by betraying one of their members, or they
express loyalty to a member by betraying the leadership. The catch is in the definition. The target
has been accused of disobeying authority or undermining the leadership. He has not submitted to
the decrees of the leadership and has made his insubordination public. AU these participants have
been hand-picked by the leadership to decide the target's fate. The double-bind is that if one of
these members disagrees, he is actually doing the very thing that the meeting was called to judge
in the first place. In this regard, Leniert (1962) points out that such ―exclusionist group[s]
demand loyalty, solidarity and secrecy from their members they act in accord with a common
scheme and in varying degrees utilize techniques of manipulation and misrepresentation‖ (p.
137).
At a national leadership conference for sect members and their guests held in Washington, DC, in
the summer of 1986, one of the sects national leaders explains his involvement in a secret
meeting with four other men. The topic of discussion was the fate of another leader who had
committed ―crimes‖ of such a nature that excommunication proceedings were initiated against
him. This double-bind is clearly illustrated below:
As an elder, I've been through our black years. After some of us were appointed as
elders in Ames [Iowa], we had to put a brother out of the church.
There were five of us ...We deliberated day and night over putting this one brother
out of the church who was in sin. It was au coming together except for one
dissenting vote. If you don't know this, the elders in your church and the elders in
this church across the country have a very high standard. We do not operate on
majority rules. We only operate on unanimous decisions. And unless we get
unanimous decisions we don't make any moves. This is why sometimes we have
long elders' meetings. [laughter]
I remember during that time this brother definitely was in sin and definitely needed
to be put out of the church, but there was one dissenting vote -me. I could not
say, ―put that guy out of the church.‖ I knew he was in sin and I knew he was
