Jan 12, 2009

PURITY CULTS: Selfproclaimed ¨Godliness¨ and ¨Sexual Purity¨ at The Anglican Communion and beyond. Part Three, a Demand for an Anglican Covenant?


Purity Cult horror in Zimbabwe, read it all, click here:

Iranian HIV Doctors Victims of Purity Cult Witch Hunt, read it all, click here:

Cult Formation
Robert J. Lifton, M.D.

¨Cults represent one aspect of a worldwide epidemic of ideological totalism, or fundamentalism. They tend to be associated with a charismatic leader, thought reform, and exploitation of members. Among the methods of thought reform commonly used by cults are milieu control, mystical manipulation, the demand for purity, a cult of confession, sacred science, loading the language, doctrine over person, and dispensing of existence. The current historical context of dislocation from organizing symbolic structures, decaying belief systems concerning religion, authority, marriage, family, and death, and a "protean style" of continuous psychological experimentation with the self is conducive to the growth of cults.

Purity Cult cleansing of two Gay men in Iran

The use of coercion, as in certain forms of "deprogramming," to deal with the restrictions of individual liberty associated with cults is inconsistent with the civil rights tradition. Yet legal intervention may be indicated when specific laws are broken.¨


Is Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Chairperson of The Anglican Communion ¨Covenant Design Group¨ and Primate of the Church of The West Indies (where brutal/deadly crimes of hate in Jamaica are the most numerous in The Western Hemisphere) authoring The Anglican Covenant as part of a Purity Cult effort?

Purity and Confession

¨Two other features of totalism are a demand for purity and a cult of confession. The demand for purity is a call for radical separation of good and evil within the environment and within oneself. Purification is a continuing process, often institutionalized in the cult of confession, which enforces conformity through guilt and shame evoked by mutual criticism and self-criticism in small groups.

Confessions contain varying mixtures of revelation and concealment. As Albert Camus observed, "Authors of confessions write especially to avoid confession, to tell nothing of what they know." Young cult members confessing the sins of their precultic lives may leave out ideas and feelings that they are not aware of or reluctant to discuss, including a continuing identification with their prior existence. Repetitious confession, especially in required meetings, often expresses an arrogance in the name of humility. As Camus wrote: "I practice the profession of penitence to be able to end up as a judge," and, "The more I accuse myself, the more I have a right to judge you."

Three further aspects of ideological totalism are "sacred science," "loading of the language," and the principle of "doctrine over person." Sacred science is important because a claim of being scientific is often needed to gain plausibility and influence in the modern age. The Unification Church is one example of a contemporary tendency to combine dogmatic religious principles with a claim to special scientific knowledge of human behavior and psychology. The term loading the language' refers to literalism and a tendency to deify words or images. A simplified, cliche-ridden language can exert enormous psychological force reducing every issue in a complicated life to a single set of slogans that are said to embody the truth as a totality. The principle of doctrine over person' is invoked when cult members sense a conflict between what they are experiencing and what dogma says they should experience. The internalized message of the totalistic environment is that one must negate that personal experience on behalf of the truth of the dogma. Contradictions become associated with guilt: doubt indicates one's own deficiency or evil.

Perhaps the most significant characteristic of totalistic movements is what I call "dispensing of existence." Those who have not seen the light and embraced the truth are wedded to evil, tainted, and therefore in some sense, usually metaphorical, lack the right to exist. That is one reason why a cult member threatened with being cast into outer darkness may experience a fear of extinction or collapse. Under particularly malignant conditions, the dispensing of existence is taken literally; in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and elsewhere, people were put to death for alleged doctrinal shortcomings. In the People's Temple mass suicide-murder in Guyana, a cult leader presided over the literal dispensing of existence by means of a suicidal mystique he himself had made a central theme in the group's ideology. The totalistic impulse to draw a sharp line between those who have the right to live and those who do not is especially dangerous in the nuclear age.¨


Cult Formation, Collaboration, Purity, Confession and more, read it all, click here:

Former Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion Bishops and Purity Cult collaborators, David Schofield, Leo Jack Iker and Bob Duncan

Amongst The Anglican Global South Purity Cult collaborators are Bishops Akinola/Nigeria, Orombi/Uganda

Gafcon General Secretary, Bishop Peter Jensen, Sydney, speaks for Purity Cult collaborators of The Global South

Does it look as if a cult has formed at Gafcon and amongst some bishops/collaborators at The Anglican Communion? Click here and see, read it all:

Read it all, ¨CULTS vs. Public Perceptions of them,¨ click here:

Read it all, Eruptions, Part One/Purity Cults/Collaborators, click here:

Read it all, Eruptions, Part Two/Purity Cults/Collaborators, click here:

·Thanks to Flickr Photosharing
·Thanks to Robert J. Lifton, Cult Formation

·Thanks to REAL ANGLICANS (at the right sidebar)

11 comments:

Fran said...

This is an extraordinary post- wow Leonardo, just wow.

Outstanding work.

SGL Café.com said...

Ditto what Fran said...
most informative, and a must read. Thanks for this.

Frank Remkiewicz aka “Tree” said...

James has raised the issue of "there is no single leader" and therefore there is probably no cult. I would disagree in that what you have written about and what you have described is a cult forming simultaneously as a leader emerges. There are several "leaders" with deference to Bob Duncan. This is new twist on an old theme but there is no question it is a cult. Talk with those who left. In San Joaquin there is an undying loyalty to JDS. Within that group there are several parishes that have the same undying loyalty to the rector, one in Modesto in particular. The upshot is that htere is great fear perpetrated by JDS that this "schism" had to happen now because otherwise he would retire and TEC would "force" a liberal bishop on the diocese.
I agree with you Leonardo and I strongly disagree with James, no question, this is a cult.

Leonard said...

Dear Fred, I think so too...the underlying theme is Purity and in this case it´s part of a international Anglican thrust at some PROVINCES...The nature of the Anglican Communion is individual Churches (or sometimes dioceses)...look at the Cult leaders at EACH ONE...then, in order to perpetuate their various schemes (money, power, prestige) they have banded together...however, their purity plots do vary a bit, so now, there is some ¨readjusting¨ to be made...the hysterically funny part is that they will end up whistling in the dark as Venables is running away with the goodies yet, the courts won´t let him get very far...of course it´s a purist cult, they will not allow heterosexual women to be Bishops in some cases and all cases refuse the humanity of LGBT people (with some trying to persecute simply for being)...very sick stuff, but, I´m glad they are temporarily lumping together...we can keep better track of their dangerous antics (to others) that way.

Leonard said...

These are PURITY COLLABORATORS...Think of Tojo, Mussolini and Hitler.

Bonnie said...

Hi Leonardo--Yes, I agree with all of the comments above. It's just amazing how unquestioning and uninformed people can be. An "Are we like sheep?" mentality definitely at work there.

I also want to add this from an email I received today and am assuming it is EST:

In case you did not know, Bishop Gene Robinson will appear on the Rachel Maddow show tonight (Wednesday) at 9 p.m. on MSNBC. He will discuss his upcoming role in Barack's inauguration.

Bonnie said...

Hi Leonardo--If you haven't seen this from Episcopal Cafe, it's great.

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/sexuality/being_gay_is_a_gift_from_god_1.html

Leonard said...

Bonnie,

Now, I´m really confused...you don´t think that Rick Warren is actually befuddled by the bigoted African cooks he hangs out with do you? Could it be that Warren is so hungry for purblicity and power that he actually doesn´t know the true character of these fellas he hangs with (while they keep all patting themselves on the back for being orthodox...or somethu´n)?

Really, a very shifty crew. Can´t wait to hear what Orombi has to rationalize about Los Angeles Diocese and the California Supreme Court and then, Akinola does need to make a statement about his fondeling of Armstrong at Grace and St. Stephens...these guys need PR people not behind the scene cranky bankers who want to STONE aledged heathens to death!

Bonnie said...

Hi Leonardo--The "Cafe" post I thought I linked was the Rev. Dr. Ed Bacon's, "Being Gay Is a Gift from God." It's about two previous from the Rick Warren thing.

Sorry.

Leonard said...

Dear Bonnie, I saw that...thanks, I also understand that 80%+ of the responses have been friendly, happy and many religious people/or not are overjoyed!

Doorman-Priest said...

What a great post. I'm with Fran!