11 Sep 01

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

We do in fact need to be on guard, to guard our mind and heart.

Many people are " out there " who have a " hidden " agenda.

There are people who want you destroyed, whether it is because you are

white, black, brown, yellow, Christian, Moslem, Jew, nothing, something

else; it only matters that YOU ARE NOT THEM (how ever they define themselves

and you). That is enough to remove you from the face of the earth. There is

NOTHING you could do or have done that makes one iota of difference to a

terrorist. The fact that you exist is enough reason to eliminate you or use

you to make their point.

So move softly upon the earth and know why you are here - are you here to

make your point or theirs? What are you willing to die for? That's the easy

part. The hard part is what are you willing to live your life for day after

day.

It is easy to be a martyr - one choice, once for all time - it is hard to be

a living example, a light on the hill, being responsible for all that you

do, day in and day out, little things that a child notices

September 12, 2001

Greetings!

Holy Terror - Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holy Terror

Thought Reform based on Dr. Lifton

Over the past year or so I often cautioned people about getting in over

their heads in some kind of totalistic spiritual philosophy. In light of the

terrible tragedy that has unfolded in our country, I want to pause here

and briefly talk about Holy Terror. So many Americans wonder about

fundamentalist revolutionary groups that perhaps this small newsletter will

help clear up some of the mystery of how and why people join these groups.

And how and why there are so many quote philosophies running around the

world that have at their core the blatant disregard and disrespect for

anyone who does not share their beliefs.

How is it possible for people to step over the line and kill others is not

something I find personally mysterious. In a nutshell any philosophy that

demonizes other people, puts others down to support its beliefs, that has

at it core beliefs that preach that the group or religion is " with God " and

all others are " not with God, " has embedded in it a dangerous recipe for

trouble.

As soon as a group has insiders and outsiders and what I mean by that when

the outsiders are with Satan or with the Devil or when the group has ideas

that teach that someone is with the 'Light' and others are with the

'Darkness' there is a clear and present danger.

As soon as one group can define another group as not quite human or

against God, then it is not such a big step or sacrifice to kill in the name

of God and to see it as a ticket to heaven. Holy Terror feeds on offering a

ticket to heaven.

Years ago Dr. Lifton then at Yale University, outlined how people

get inducted into totalist thinking and totalist groups. He explained in his

8 steps to Thought Reform how any regular person can be transformed and

estranged from everything including their family.

Given the clear specter of terrorism that has assaulted our country and in

response to alot of emails from many of you. I have excerpt parts of his 8

steps of thought reform. It is not light reading. The steps though will

lead you to having a better handle on how people can kill in the name of

some nameless god. It will demystify things such as anti-Semitism and open

understanding to racist philosophy, etc. It will help clear up somewhat

the mystery of how people can inhale certain spiritual philosophies that so

obviously on first glance attack other people. Give it a read.

(NOTE THIS IS NOT AN EASY READ. DON'T BE PUT OFF THAT EVERY SENTENCE NEEDS

TO BE READ THREE OR FOUR TIMES. YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU TOOK THE TIME TO READ

THIS.)

And again in this time of renewed vigilance our hearts also must be turned

in prayer for those who have lost their loved ones in this brutal tragedy.

The following is adapted from Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism,

by Lifton.

1. MILIEU CONTROL:

Control of communication within the group environment resulting in

significant degree of isolation from the surrounding society. When

non-members are labeled as ignorant, unspiritual, satanic, etc., group

members conclude that outsiders have nothing worthwhile to teach them.

Thus members are unlikely to look outside the group for information,

especially spiritual information. Milieu control includes other techniques

to restrict members' contact with the outside world and to be able to make

critical, rational judgments about information: overwork, busy-ness,

multiple lengthy meetings, etc.

Lifton:

" The most basic feature of the thought reform environment, the psychological

current upon which all else depends, is the control of human communication.

[This includes] not only the individual's communication with the outside.,

but also his communication with himself.

Thought reform participants may be in doubt as to who is telling what to

whom, but the fact that extensive information about everyone is being

conveyed to the authorities is always known. Having experienced the impact

of what they consider to be an ultimate truth., they consider it their duty

to create an environment containing no more and no less than this 'truth.'

[The group member] is deprived of the combination of external information

and inner reflection which anyonerequires to test the realities of his

environment and to maintain a measure of identity separate from it. "

2. Interpert

Interpert events as he or she wishes, or make prophecies or pronouncements

at will, all for the purpose of controlling group members.

Lifton:

" The inevitable next step after milieu control is extensive personal

manipulation. Initiated from above, it seeks to provoke specific patterns

of behavior and emotion in such a way that these will appear to have arisen

spontaneously from within the environment. Ideological totalists are

impelled by a special kind of mystique which not only justifies such

manipulations, but makes them mandatory. They are the agents 'chosen' (by

history, by God, or by some other supernatural force) to carry out the

'mystical imperative,' the pursuit of which must supersede all

considerations of decency or of immediate human welfare. Similarly, any

thought or action which questions the higher purpose is considered to be

stimulated by a lower purpose, to be backward, selfish, and petty in the

face of the great overriding mission. At the level of the individual person,

the psychological responses top this manipulative approach revolve about the

basic polarity of trust and mistrust. One is asked to accept these

manipulations on a basis of trust (or faith). When trust gives way to

mistrust. the higher purpose cannot serve as adequate emotional sustenance.

The individual then responds to the manipulations through developing the

psychology of the pawn. Feeling unable to escape from forces more powerful

than themself, they subordinates everything to adapting themself to the

group. They becomes sensitive to all kinds of cues, expert at anticipating

environmental pressures, and skillful in riding them in such a way that

their psychological energies merge with the tide rather than turn painfully

against it. This requires that they participate actively in the manipulation

of others, as well as in the endless round of betrayals and self-betrayals

which are required. But whatever their response they have been deprived of

the opportunity to exercise their capacities for self-expression and

independent action. "

To be continued...

Be a light and fight the coming darkness,

Dr Bob Miko OMD, LAc