Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 76
said, ―I need to be going.‖ And [Anne] said, ―Mary], what do you mean?‖ And
[Mary] said, ―I need to leave, I need to leave.‖ By this time [Anne] was totally
puzzled and [Mary] started walking out. There was this big argument between
them and finally I said, ―Have I sinned?‖ And [Mary] turned around and she said,
―Well, I take that being divisive is sin!‖ And I said, ―You mean, I have been divisive
tonight? I‘ve sinned tonight?‖ And [Mary] shot back at [Anne], ―You should be
obeying authority, you are not obeying authority, and I'm leaving.‖ [Mary] thought
that [Anne] was associating with a person who had been excommunicated.
Somehow it finally dawned on [Anne] that [Mary] didn't know that after I was said
to have been excommunicated and under church discipline for being divisive that
they had cleared me. [Mary] never found out. [Anne] said, ―[Mary], if you came to
the Friday night meeting you would find out these things.‖ And [Mary] said, ―Well,
no one ever told me. I thought you were under church discipline.‖
Then [Mary] turned to me and said, ―Well, I'm really sorry, do you forgive me?‖ I
said, ―Yes.‖ It was kind of a big joke to her and then [Mary] really loosened up. I
said to her that I wondered why she had acted so serious. I thought maybe her
personality had changed.
The important point to note in this particular story (which is the only case that I am aware of
where a person was labeled and shunned one day and exonerated the next, both times without
the target knowing what was going on), is in the powerful emotions the label generated in Mary's
relationship to the target. Mary had known the target for quite some time and yet she was totally
hardened in her opinions that this man was a deviant. During her whole time with Marcus, Mary
was suspicious, cold, serious, and finally, not able to contain herself any longer, burst into a
series of denunciations against Marcus and against her friend Anne for associating with a
confirmed deviant. However, after Mary discovers that Marcus has been ―cleared‖ by the elders,
her reaction toward him is totally different. Marcus again becomes a human being, someone with
rights that Mary had violated.
It is clear from this account that the deviant was not inherently deviant, either before or after
being labeled and/or cleared. What generated the shunning behavior was the declaration of
deviance. It was simply a matter of definition. Mary functioned under a definition that was
entirely real to her. All the target's actions were interpreted as faction, divisiveness, and deceit,
according to the definition Mary was believing. Once a new definition was accepted, that of a
cleared member, all of Marcus' subsequent actions and words were seen as innocent and normal
to Mary. While he was ―deviant,‖ Mary felt totally justified in railing accusations against him,
judging his motives, and in leaving him forever. As a confirmed deviant Marcus had no rights, and
could be discarded and hated and hit with verbal abuse.
Fear of Victimization as a Social Control Tactic
Shunning behavior is not transitory in this sect, as one might expect. It is not the same type of
behavior associated with childhood spats, marriage arguments, or friendship quarrels. Within this
sect there is most often no making up, no honeymoon period. Once targets are labeled factious
and denounced, they are cast aside. The definitions and label appear so powerful, and the
magnitude of the excommunication so all-encompassing, that its effects seem, for all practical
purposes, permanent In the remaining members' minds, the former members have, in reality,
assumed a totally new identity. They are no longer considered even to be ex-members, but
―wolves in sheep's clothing,‖ and become negative role models.
Such shunning practices are not only successful with less significant others. The following
testimony from a woman who was told that her fiancé was ―divisive and wicked‖ and that she was
to have nothing to do with him is the most illustrative:
said, ―I need to be going.‖ And [Anne] said, ―Mary], what do you mean?‖ And
[Mary] said, ―I need to leave, I need to leave.‖ By this time [Anne] was totally
puzzled and [Mary] started walking out. There was this big argument between
them and finally I said, ―Have I sinned?‖ And [Mary] turned around and she said,
―Well, I take that being divisive is sin!‖ And I said, ―You mean, I have been divisive
tonight? I‘ve sinned tonight?‖ And [Mary] shot back at [Anne], ―You should be
obeying authority, you are not obeying authority, and I'm leaving.‖ [Mary] thought
that [Anne] was associating with a person who had been excommunicated.
Somehow it finally dawned on [Anne] that [Mary] didn't know that after I was said
to have been excommunicated and under church discipline for being divisive that
they had cleared me. [Mary] never found out. [Anne] said, ―[Mary], if you came to
the Friday night meeting you would find out these things.‖ And [Mary] said, ―Well,
no one ever told me. I thought you were under church discipline.‖
Then [Mary] turned to me and said, ―Well, I'm really sorry, do you forgive me?‖ I
said, ―Yes.‖ It was kind of a big joke to her and then [Mary] really loosened up. I
said to her that I wondered why she had acted so serious. I thought maybe her
personality had changed.
The important point to note in this particular story (which is the only case that I am aware of
where a person was labeled and shunned one day and exonerated the next, both times without
the target knowing what was going on), is in the powerful emotions the label generated in Mary's
relationship to the target. Mary had known the target for quite some time and yet she was totally
hardened in her opinions that this man was a deviant. During her whole time with Marcus, Mary
was suspicious, cold, serious, and finally, not able to contain herself any longer, burst into a
series of denunciations against Marcus and against her friend Anne for associating with a
confirmed deviant. However, after Mary discovers that Marcus has been ―cleared‖ by the elders,
her reaction toward him is totally different. Marcus again becomes a human being, someone with
rights that Mary had violated.
It is clear from this account that the deviant was not inherently deviant, either before or after
being labeled and/or cleared. What generated the shunning behavior was the declaration of
deviance. It was simply a matter of definition. Mary functioned under a definition that was
entirely real to her. All the target's actions were interpreted as faction, divisiveness, and deceit,
according to the definition Mary was believing. Once a new definition was accepted, that of a
cleared member, all of Marcus' subsequent actions and words were seen as innocent and normal
to Mary. While he was ―deviant,‖ Mary felt totally justified in railing accusations against him,
judging his motives, and in leaving him forever. As a confirmed deviant Marcus had no rights, and
could be discarded and hated and hit with verbal abuse.
Fear of Victimization as a Social Control Tactic
Shunning behavior is not transitory in this sect, as one might expect. It is not the same type of
behavior associated with childhood spats, marriage arguments, or friendship quarrels. Within this
sect there is most often no making up, no honeymoon period. Once targets are labeled factious
and denounced, they are cast aside. The definitions and label appear so powerful, and the
magnitude of the excommunication so all-encompassing, that its effects seem, for all practical
purposes, permanent In the remaining members' minds, the former members have, in reality,
assumed a totally new identity. They are no longer considered even to be ex-members, but
―wolves in sheep's clothing,‖ and become negative role models.
Such shunning practices are not only successful with less significant others. The following
testimony from a woman who was told that her fiancé was ―divisive and wicked‖ and that she was
to have nothing to do with him is the most illustrative:
