Maintaining the paranoia

[Born Free]

I was selected for National (Military) Service when I was in my 20s, and during induction training was screened for Commissioned Service, and in the process subjected to my first psych test.

I remember clearly it being the first time I realised that I concurrently considered myself superiour and inferiour to other people. Years later I came to appreciate the special role Moism had in that mindstate.

Always being an outsider fuels the sense of being inferior, but then one goes to Church on Sunday or opens the Church mags, only to be told that IF you follow all the rules, you get to be the 'salt of the earth'. The result ......... concurrent inferiority and superiority complexes, and all of that semi-conscious, of course.

OK, enough warm up. I am interested to see others take is on the many and subtle ways in which a paraniod, anxiety ridden state was maintained within Mosim to maintain separation; to keep the wagons encircled.

Things that come to mind are:

Food storage (did anyone ever make it work, or did we all just end up wasting more than we used? One of the last conferences I attended, someone in the clothing industry was invited to speak about the great oncoming cotton shortage. 6 months later, when the predicted shortage, that was so conveniently used to whip up urgency failed to eventuate, all good little Mormons had developed amnesia, and all had moved onto the next urgency, ..... sorry, importance)

Millenial fever - (getting outside it was a great learning curve to see how other US based religions has predicted and messed up the 2nd Coming. At least the Mormons didn't make that mistake on as large a scale as the SDAs. Of course, that the perpetual state of hyper-vigilance has been maintained for 2000 years eludes them.)

The Insatiable Whore of Babylon - (I got outside and who do the SDA think she is, but (surprise, surprise) the Catholics, and to a lesser degree all other religions other than SDA)

Substances santioned in the Word of Wisdom - (I did not turn into a raging out of control drunk when I had a glass of wine. Most people don't. But I have sat and observed Mormons passing massive judgement over others consumption of coffee, whilst their kids were being screwed in the head by the Church regularly)

Temple Garments - (remember the fanciful stories about the fire insurance garb. Of course, these don't just separate one from the outside word; they make you at war with your own body; which technique is the best brainwashing technique known to man)

Crazy messages re Sex - (I recall a disaffected High Counsellor describing going to a Stake Dance to find out that an attractive girl had been excluded because of her dress length (measured with a tape measure of course). When asked why a far less attractive girl had been allowed in with a shorter dress, he got offered the reply that "She is not likely to provoke the boys". He said to me, "Little did she know what all young men interested in a "bit of skirt" know - that it is the unattractive girls that are the easier targets.)

What others have you identified? I am sure there are dozens, and I am a bit brain-dead at present. I think if we gathered all these up, they woudl make an interesting and informative picture.

[Jeff_Ricks]

Substances santioned in the Word of Wisdom - (I did not turn into a raging out of control drunk when I had a glass of wine. Most people don't. But I have sat and observed Mormons passing massive judgement over others consumption of coffee, whilst their kids were being screwed in the head by the Church regularly)



No more head screwing, wake up and get out! http://www.post-mormons.com/temp/arrow01.gif Now there's a Word of Wisdom for you. ;)

[nikki]

No more head screwing, wake up and get out! http://www.post-mormons.com/temp/arrow01.gif Now there's a Word of Wisdom for you. ;)


All Hands On Blessings It has been an observation, I have made, the hands on blessings have a great control on people in two ways, the person receiving the blessing their thoughts and beliefs are being controlled by the person giving the blessing, and the second way, is the person giving the blessing is feeling they have a special link to God and special insight.(scary, scary)

It is pretty frightening mind control stuff for both the giver of the blessing and the receiver.


Fast Meetings are a form of group indoctrination, where members indoctrinate themselves and others in the room by repetitive statements.

O.K. who's going to be next to add to the list, there is more!

[peter_mary]

The Royal Generation--Seems like every YM/YW fireside has to be punctuated with telling them that their generation is a Royal one, that they are the most valiant, saved for the last dispensation...YM/YW have been hearing that message for, oh, I don't know...generations?

Temple Recommends--Nothing divides the "ins" from the "outs" more than the temple, and that little ticket in your wallet or purse is heady stuff. And yet, as "worthy" as I must have been 'cause I had the ticket, I never felt "worthy" enough.

Leadership Callings--This also messes with your head. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I was about 75% out of the Church when I was called to be the First Counselor in our Bishopric...and I accepted! There were lots of reasons to rationalize that, but the biggest one was simply that it made me feel important. Gag... (Jeff, we SO need a barfing smilie...!)

Paul

[silverfox]

PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS - When I asked how it was determined which "blood" flows through my veins I was told that God had the power to change it to be where I was destined to be and that change would be communicated through the patriarch.

I find these blessings to be somewhat threatening. "IF" you do this, that, blah blah blah then you will be blessed, blah blah blah.

What is surprising is the impact these blessings have had on some members. It's like ready your horoscope and believing it will happen. And when it doesn't again, the member feels it is THEIR fault, they aren't worthy enough, etc, etc, etc. Just another mind game because as members we would NEVER question the patriarch blessing.

I'll have to get mine out again for a good laugh.

[nate]

Elect Women of God: "Women are elect because the were elected to a certain work. How glorious is the knowledge that you are dignified by the God of heaven to be wives and mothers in Zion!" (Ezra Taft Benson). Not to mention (multiple) Wives and Baby-Makers for all eternity.

My Mom had 10 children (would have had 5 more if she hadn't had signs of uterine cancer)...ALL because (in my humble opinion) it gave her the only status that was available to women in the church. She did not love children (she still doesn't...and she gets 25+ grandchildren to tear through her house on a regular basis! :D She had all of those children out of DUTY

More Fire Insurance: Tithing: Need I say more?

Yes, My mother had a full baker's dozen! 13!! Driven out of her duty to multiply and replinish the earth, because we all know there are not enough of us and too much space!

And I was actually told by my Seminary President that "tithing is fire insurance" (exact words).

Overprotecting the Children: If you haven't recently, read through the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet. I had a huge problem with this when I was a teenager. Every week at church I was told over and over again to love my neighbor, then told to live my life by this pamphlet. In it, it instructs the youth to be elitists. It tells not to be friends with people that have different morals.

And we all know that the unknown incites either one of two things: fear or curiosity. The parents only help to perpetuate this. Has anybody seen the movie The Village? Excellent dramatization of the extreme and often harmful lengths parents will go to in order to protect and hide their children from things they themselves have deemed bad.

This is also why, in small mormon communities like Cache Valley, you see an abundance of either one extreme or the other, especially in the teens. The obedient children will have elitist attitudes, and the rebelious children will be extremely rebelious, being attracted to the things their parents have attempted to hide from them (i.e. drugs and alcohol). And these rebelious teens, having been taught nothing other than abstinence and that "Drugs are bad, mmkay", will have no idea how to control or limit their intake of these potentially harmful things.

[silverfox]

Elect Women of God: "Women are elect because the were elected to a certain work. How glorious is the knowledge that you are dignified by the God of heaven to be wives and mothers in Zion!" (Ezra Taft Benson). Not to mention (multiple) Wives and Baby-Makers for all eternity.

I LOVE and ADORE my children... I must say, though, that there is a TON of mind control placed by the church on parents (fathers included, of course). My Mom had 10 children (would have had 5 more if she hadn't had signs of uterine cancer)...ALL because (in my humble opinion) it gave her the only status that was available to women in the church. She did not love children (she still doesn't...and she gets 25+ grandchildren to tear through her house on a regular basis! :D She had all of those children out of DUTY, and it has always been clear that her motives were such (because her DUTY officially ended when we moved out to go to BYU...of course!).

More Fire Insurance: Tithing: Need I say more?

I became a member in the mid 70's when "Saturday Night's Warrior" was a big thing. We were taught that our children were chosen in the spirit world...that we made pacts with our children that we would give them bodies so they could continue their journey to the celestial kingdom.

I am embarrassed to admit that this had a profound impact on me. I have 5 children. My first two are 14 months apart. After the birth of my first child there was a lot of focus and news on the starving Ethiopian children. In a conversation with our bishop about this he told me that to keep children from going to these countries and to build up the kingdom of God LDS women were commanded to have as many children as possible. That we would be blessed and taken care of financially and otherwise as long as we were building the Lord's kingdom.

It's almost as though this bishop knew where my weak point was....my emotions regarding children. I remember watching the news and seeing these starving children and really believing that my children who were destined to be with me would end up there if I didn't hurry and have them.

How embarrassing. (Jeff, I may ask you to delete this after I post it. I may be ashamed to have admitted this publicly.)

I love my kids but I should have never have had them so close. The first two are 14 months apart, then 18 months, then 7 years (but not for lack of trying, miscarriages in between) and then again, 7 years (from my second marriage) And I probably would have kept on going but I ran out of eggs. (thank GOODNESS!!!!)

And guess what? No one was there in dire times and no big miracles ever happened financially or otherwise. But of course it was MY fault because I am sure I was ot worthy enough. :p

[Born Free]

It's almost as though this bishop knew where my weak point was....my emotions regarding children. I remember watching the news and seeing these starving children and really believing that my children who were destined to be with me would end up there if I didn't hurry and have them.

How embarrassing. (Jeff, I may ask you to delete this after I post it. I may be ashamed to have admitted this publicly.)

:p

Silverfox,

Thanks for sharing, and please, please, have the faith to continue being real and vulnerable. What I love about this community is the healing that comes as we reown our humanity: to feel the pain we had suppressed when the original abuse occurred, bring it up for scrutiny, and let it go with a laugh (and a tear if necessary)

On a lighter and more irreverent note, I can imaging few things more likely to promote a feeling of erotic arousal that "thinking about the starving kids in Ethopia". God, what a turn on! :o Another Mormom boundary violation - You are supposed to think of the starving in Africa, when you leave food on your plate.

It all reminds me of one of the wives in the Woody Allen movie, Wives and Husbands, who when she sleeps with another man after separating from her husband, and is rationalising after why she didn't achieve orgasm, explains that she was dividing the people in relationships she knew up according to whether she perceived them as 'Foxes or Hedgehogs'.

I am sure it just gets the endorphines a'pumpin every time.

[silverfox]

Silverfox,

On a lighter and more irreverent note, I can imaging few things more likely to promote a feeling of erotic arousal that "thinking about the starving kids in Ethopia". God, what a turn on! :o Another Mormom boundary violation - You are supposed to think of the starving in Africa, when you leave food on your plate.


LOL LOL LOL :D

[Born Free]

Paul noted elsewhere the phenomena of gun ownership.

I had forgotten the nutters who loved that fringe. We had one guy who was picked up in full combat camoflage fatigues, with this elaborate bunker he had created. I have forgotten the other dimensions, but the law were sufficiently impressed to take him away to a mental institution for a spell.

Daryl

[lsands]

And second coming does NOT mean multiple orgasms here! ;)
The recent tsunami in Southeast Asia is one example of this. I have heard that there was a LOT of talk in church about how no missionaries or members died. (God doesn't love THOSE people like he loves US!) Of course, there are so few members in those areas that the statistical chances were very low.

A friend of mine who is semi-active overheard a woman talking about how the tsunamis are among the disasters predicted in the Bible before Christ comes again, so we "know" the time is near, and anyone who is not ready will die like the people in the tsunami. My friend, who is prone to anxiety disorder, felt the old familiar fear grip her---and stay with her, even though she doesn't really believe any more. Good ol' guilt and conditioning, the gift that keeps on giving!

Laraine

[Born Free]

And second coming does NOT mean multiple orgasms here! ;)
The recent tsunami in Southeast Asia is one example of this. I have heard that there was a LOT of talk in church about how no missionaries or members died. (God doesn't love THOSE people like he loves US!) Of course, there are so few members in those areas that the statistical chances were very low.

Laraine

Tsamazing how Mormons don't see how they are out of step with the mainstream of Christianity, which they so desire (now) to be accepted by.

Few areas of Christianity embrace the notion of acts of nature, as punitive acts of God. Which by my mind, proves that Mormonism has an Old Testament mindset - as in pre-Christian & most certainly pre-science.

The Church leadership leads the charge in initiating and maintaining the high-anxiety state you discuss, because that makes more maleable putty-like zombees. What they fail to see, is that anyone with half a brain rejects that stuff and leaves, leaving a Church full of cretins.

Daryl

PS: Time they got beyond a 2nd Coming! How about, 3rd, 10th, 11th? :cool: That would have my interest!

[stuckasamo]

And second coming does NOT mean multiple orgasms here! ;)
The recent tsunami in Southeast Asia is one example of this. I have heard that there was a LOT of talk in church about how no missionaries or members died. (God doesn't love THOSE people like he loves US!) Of course, there are so few members in those areas that the statistical chances were very low.

A friend of mine who is semi-active overheard a woman talking about how the tsunamis are among the disasters predicted in the Bible before Christ comes again, so we "know" the time is near, and anyone who is not ready will die like the people in the tsunami. My friend, who is prone to anxiety disorder, felt the old familiar fear grip her---and stay with her, even though she doesn't really believe any more. Good ol' guilt and conditioning, the gift that keeps on giving!

Laraine

This is another thing I HATE about the Morg. They act like they're frickin' invincible because they are the CHOSEN and the SPECIAL. No, you're not, losers! And 9-11 did NOT happen because God was trying to tell Americans that they were becoming too evil!

If there is a God (which I personally have serious doubts concerning that at this time), He can't be like that and be merciful as well. Crap happens, and you can't blame accident victims for the accident. In church I'd hear about an inactive member who had died in a car crash or something, and no one actually came out and SAID it was because the individual was inactive, but they certainly IMPLIED it. I just wish they would shut the hell UP!

(Please excuse the frequent passion in my posts - I have to deal with these people for about ten hours a day and pretend to be all meek and humble and it is driving me crazy!)

[nate]

They act like they're frickin' invincible because they are the CHOSEN and the SPECIAL. No, you're not, losers! And 9-11 did NOT happen because God was trying to tell Americans that they were becoming too evil!



...but hey, if he DID, then he was telling the Church they have become too evil when he set down a damn tornado blocks away from the heart of the church!

oh wait, that was a blessing too, cause it didn't actually hit the temple. See how protected they are! Barf!

[Jeff_Ricks]

This is another thing I HATE about the Morg. They act like they're frickin' invincible because they are the CHOSEN and the SPECIAL. No, you're not, losers! And 9-11 did NOT happen because God was trying to tell Americans that they were becoming too evil!

If there is a God (which I personally have serious doubts concerning that at this time), He can't be like that and be merciful as well. Crap happens, and you can't blame accident victims for the accident. In church I'd hear about an inactive member who had died in a car crash or something, and no one actually came out and SAID it was because the individual was inactive, but they certainly IMPLIED it. I just wish they would shut the hell UP!

(Please excuse the frequent passion in my posts - I have to deal with these people for about ten hours a day and pretend to be all meek and humble and it is driving me crazy!)


Oh that God. He's such a character, what with being an egotistical tyrant and all.... but ya gotta love him!

(Because you're going to hell if you don't! )

Jeff :D

[wescape]

I have to agree stuckasmo, if there is a God it would be tragic if he were like that. We know that the Mormon god is definitely like that due to the whole "pre-existence conduct determines skin color on earth" teaching that is appalling. Learning about this as a teenager was one of the things that finalized my decision that Mormonism could not be true.