 Mind Control LDS Mormon ChurchMind Control within the Mormon Latter-Day Saints Church is written about in further detail in the scholarly book The Mormon ConspiracyIn another book: Combatting Cult Mind Control, Steven Hassan list four components of Mind Control, control of behavior, control of thoughts, control of emotions and control of information. This is accomplished by unfreezing, changing and refreezing. The mind control of members by the use of these four components is accomplished in many ways, including the large number of social activities promoted by the church, the testimonials at church meetings, the teaching visits in the homes, satellite programs beamed into local ward houses by higher authorities of the church, periodicals such as the Ensign, faith-promoting books from the Church’s publishing house and television programs from church-owned stations. What is it with mind control that causes people to believe in magical and mystical organizations such as the Mormon Church, an organization basing its beliefs on a fairy-like story of Joseph Smith’s golden plates and his translation of these plates (with God’s help) in writing the Book of Mormon? How is it that an organization is able to attract and keep members whose donations allow it to build a 50 billion dollar empire? I believe that Larry and Tammy Braithwaite, former members of the church, have put forth a credible answer to this question in their book, Journey to the Center of My Soul. This is a mind control concept of The The Pattern, (a method of fear and control that the Mormon Church uses to keep members) The Binder, (Church leadership binds “us heart and soul to the perpetual requirements of being a good Mormon”) and The Bound (“We gradually give up questioning the doctrine and history of the Church that seemed vague and troublesome and try to concentrate on doing all we could to be worthy of the larger, eternal blessings.”) The Double-Bind is then employed that confuses and denies the Bound the ability to “think or feel rationally.” For example, whereas church doctrine (D&C 93:36) teaches The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth, church leaders say You will remain silent on those [doctrines] where differences exist between you and the Brethren. (Bruce McConkie’s Letter, Feb. 19, 1981) “What The Pattern does, in effect, is turn the independent rational mind around so that the Bound reflects only the mind of the Binder, as a mirror. It creates a whole new orientation of the world, a conversion from the logical to the illogical-- the real to the unreal -- the truth to lies.” This concept of controlling thought is explained further: “In the real world, nature provides us with an open system of trial and error, awareness and learning. Exercising our own bodies, senses, minds and self-direction allows us to reach for the stars, to see a greater range of possibilities and fulfill ourselves by being true to ourselves. In contrast, The Pattern, or upside-down world of Mormonism, took away our individuality. We became part of the mass known as the Latter-day Saints. We were instructed several times a week about what to think, what to believe, how to behave, what to read, how to dress and how to spend our money.” Joseph Smith was a master at using The Pattern in sidestepping any questions or problems that he faced in his leadership of the Church. One example of Smith’s applying The Pattern is when he told Oliver Cowdery and Hiram Page that he had a revelation from God that they should go to Toronto, Canada and sell the copyright of his Book of Mormon. After returning in failure, these men asked Smith why their mission had failed since it was a revelation from God. Smith went into another room for a few minutes and returned saying that the whole thing had merely been a test to see if they would do all things whatsoever the Lord commanded them. (It’s not God or Joseph that messed up, it was Hiram and Oliver, who needed to be tested, who failed.) |