Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 72
For repentant deviants, treatment seems to be on the order of ―70 times 7 forgiveness.‖ They are
looked on as a ―Peter,‖ (who lapsed in his denial of Christ but was restored). Enemy deviants
seem to be a ―Judas,‖ who was ―never one of us in the first place.‖
From sect teaching, only divisive people can become true sect enemies. Then, by using
excommunication as generally one of two possible alternatives (the other being mass deception),
the congregation, en masse, assents to the strict communication controls that are brought up in
the meeting as the only acceptable out. Thus, it can be argued that a powerful behavior
reconstruction program has been implemented. ―Division‖ becomes the catchphrase for an
endless list of possible communicational and attitudinal ―sins.‖
[Jack, an elder and a ―witness‖ in an excommunication] When I talked with [the
present excommunicant]. I had a feeling that there was a seed of doubt in his
mind, even before I knew that he had talked to [a past excommunicant]. He
admitted that he was questioning motives and things. It was not even that specifics
had been laid out, but that he had gotten a seed of doubt from someone who was
negative. Let‘s face it. [The present target] is disobeying the Lord right now. [The
present target] is in sin. He is disobeying scriptural principles. So his walk is not
right with God. And the influence that he has overall is not going to be proper until
he gets back in line with what God says and does what God says. He knows what
he is supposed to do but he is refusing so he's rebelling against a very strong
principle which if all of us started doing there would be disunity. Disunity would be
rampant in every work... Nobody could work like that. You'd be mistrusting of
everybody. And we want to eliminate that. So, if they call up and it comes to
anything about questioning the authority of the elders or the church just say,
―Look, I don't want to listen to that. You've gone a different direction, fine. You
disagree, fine. But, I don't want to listen to your gripes against the church. This is
my home. These are people I love.‖
Of key importance here is the strong exhortation to mass conformity, couched in the combined
sentence that ―if all of us ...had gotten a seed of doubt from someone who was negative ...
disunity would be rampant in every work. You'd be mistrusting of everybody and we want to
eliminate that.‖ What the elders are attempting to eliminate is mistrust of themselves through
the elimination of those with ―seeds of doubt.‖
The Functions of External “Enemies”
The leadership successfully turns the eyes of the congregation outward. If the members stray
from the umbrella of the elders, they can be victimized. If they talk negatively about the group,
they can be irreparably deceived. If they listen to the world, they can be tricked. All suspicion is
focused outside the boundaries of the group by warning of powerful, external enemies. As a
result, one could hypothesize that the leaders are given free reign to define, instruct, exhort and
direct a totally unsuspecting congregation. Members are suspecting of non-members and
unsuspecting of their leaders. By teaching that there are ―wolves‖ that want to devour them, the
congregation will beg for wolf-killers --guards who have all the authority to protect the weak and
helpless flock. Since the ―wolves‖ are often disguised as common sheep, the congregation is told
that they may not even know that the person they communicate with is a ―wolf.‖ Thus, the
congregation is made to believe that their own powers of discernment are seriously flawed or
underdeveloped and that the elders are the only ones with the maturity and ability to discern a
―wolf‖ from a ―sheep.‖ This succeeds in creating not only a sanctified police force within the
group, but also an external conscience and a near total dependence upon external definitions.
[Elders] [Our enemies are] telling people that only if you get out of the group will
your eyes be opened up to see what‘s going on. But look, don't be naive, that's
their tactic. Don't worry about it.
For repentant deviants, treatment seems to be on the order of ―70 times 7 forgiveness.‖ They are
looked on as a ―Peter,‖ (who lapsed in his denial of Christ but was restored). Enemy deviants
seem to be a ―Judas,‖ who was ―never one of us in the first place.‖
From sect teaching, only divisive people can become true sect enemies. Then, by using
excommunication as generally one of two possible alternatives (the other being mass deception),
the congregation, en masse, assents to the strict communication controls that are brought up in
the meeting as the only acceptable out. Thus, it can be argued that a powerful behavior
reconstruction program has been implemented. ―Division‖ becomes the catchphrase for an
endless list of possible communicational and attitudinal ―sins.‖
[Jack, an elder and a ―witness‖ in an excommunication] When I talked with [the
present excommunicant]. I had a feeling that there was a seed of doubt in his
mind, even before I knew that he had talked to [a past excommunicant]. He
admitted that he was questioning motives and things. It was not even that specifics
had been laid out, but that he had gotten a seed of doubt from someone who was
negative. Let‘s face it. [The present target] is disobeying the Lord right now. [The
present target] is in sin. He is disobeying scriptural principles. So his walk is not
right with God. And the influence that he has overall is not going to be proper until
he gets back in line with what God says and does what God says. He knows what
he is supposed to do but he is refusing so he's rebelling against a very strong
principle which if all of us started doing there would be disunity. Disunity would be
rampant in every work... Nobody could work like that. You'd be mistrusting of
everybody. And we want to eliminate that. So, if they call up and it comes to
anything about questioning the authority of the elders or the church just say,
―Look, I don't want to listen to that. You've gone a different direction, fine. You
disagree, fine. But, I don't want to listen to your gripes against the church. This is
my home. These are people I love.‖
Of key importance here is the strong exhortation to mass conformity, couched in the combined
sentence that ―if all of us ...had gotten a seed of doubt from someone who was negative ...
disunity would be rampant in every work. You'd be mistrusting of everybody and we want to
eliminate that.‖ What the elders are attempting to eliminate is mistrust of themselves through
the elimination of those with ―seeds of doubt.‖
The Functions of External “Enemies”
The leadership successfully turns the eyes of the congregation outward. If the members stray
from the umbrella of the elders, they can be victimized. If they talk negatively about the group,
they can be irreparably deceived. If they listen to the world, they can be tricked. All suspicion is
focused outside the boundaries of the group by warning of powerful, external enemies. As a
result, one could hypothesize that the leaders are given free reign to define, instruct, exhort and
direct a totally unsuspecting congregation. Members are suspecting of non-members and
unsuspecting of their leaders. By teaching that there are ―wolves‖ that want to devour them, the
congregation will beg for wolf-killers --guards who have all the authority to protect the weak and
helpless flock. Since the ―wolves‖ are often disguised as common sheep, the congregation is told
that they may not even know that the person they communicate with is a ―wolf.‖ Thus, the
congregation is made to believe that their own powers of discernment are seriously flawed or
underdeveloped and that the elders are the only ones with the maturity and ability to discern a
―wolf‖ from a ―sheep.‖ This succeeds in creating not only a sanctified police force within the
group, but also an external conscience and a near total dependence upon external definitions.
[Elders] [Our enemies are] telling people that only if you get out of the group will
your eyes be opened up to see what‘s going on. But look, don't be naive, that's
their tactic. Don't worry about it.
