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Deprogramming..Words of Terror


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NOTHING!!..NOTHING!!..NOTHING!! struck more fear in the hearts of us Way Bots. In the 70's and 80's, especially after Jonestown, we were always looking over our shoulder as we mindlessly ran to the beat of Atheletes of the Spirit, condenming anyone who still sang Onward Christian Soldiers. If a friend said he created [/b ]something, we self righteously jumped in his face proclaiming "only God can create".

For a while it seemed weekly some faithful wayfer was getting nabbed and hauled off to a hotel room. If your parents were wealthy and could afford the deprogrammers, it equalled double terror.

Now that you know we were "walking zombies for Jesus", if you were deprogrammed or knew of someone who was, have you been able to forgive the parents involved? Do you believe they had your best interests at heart? How is your relationship with them today? Do you know of any deprogramming still going on?

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A relative of mine got nabbed in the 70's. I think the parents figured out that the deprogramming was about as much of a scam as anything we were involved with.. I think they paid dearly, financially and otherwise. It took an invitation to their fiftieth (I think) anniversary for me to come back to them. Glad I did though. Their kid forgived them. The best I know, they have a good relationship.

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I recall, very well, the days of Ted Patrick and the many deprogrammings, my father (who thought I was crazier than a pet spider monkey for being involved with twi), was too cheap to ever consider hiring one of the deprogrammers. I was one of those who deprogrammed himself... icon_razz.gif:P--> confused.gifwave.gif:wave:-->...

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Not that there is any additional proof needed, but the fact that so many folks left twi of their own volition proves that deprogramming was never necessary to begin with.

You had a few parents who took matters into their own hands and violated the constitutional rights of their own children.

That simply stinks.

Deprogramming was/is the criminal act of kidnapping that was/is always wrong.

I love the stories told by Del Duncan in "The Cult That Snapped" about his rescue team.

36_1_11.gif

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I agree with Oldiesman icon_eek.gif

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okay, the world didn't end icon_biggrin.gif:D-->

Deprogramming was kidnapping

Deprogramming was wrongful imprisonment

Deprogramming was assault

The rationale behind deprogramming was that we were "in" against our will - the number of people who willingly walked away should have been enough of an indication that that was wrong.

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quote:
Originally posted by oldiesman:

Not that there is any additional proof needed, but the fact that so many folks left twi of their own volition proves that deprogramming was never necessary to begin with.

Exactly. I was told by my deprogrammers that the reason it had to be done that way...forceful grabbing and holding against my will...was that neither I or anyone else ever would or could leave on my/their own, because we were under complete mind control...a la Lifton...and were not capable of deciding to leave, no matter how bad things got.

I've always appreciated people like Oak, and back in Waydale days Groucho Marx Jr., people not shy (understatement) in their descriptions of wrongs in TWI, but knowing that the deprogramming "solution" was in the same nature of wrongs. They make up for another individual who, after saying that he'd love to hear fromthose who went through it, ignored me when I described the experience as, well, not beneficial.

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Deprogrammers were hot news back in the day and it was sensationalized to the extent that I'm certain that it happened far less than the media (and certainly TWI) made it out to be. Oh sure there were stories of kidnappings though I also know of cases where Way leaders deliberately prevented people from contacting family members because they though it might "distract" the Wayfer from their commitment.

I also know of situations wherein family members were desperately trying to get information to their son or daughter on the field though their messages were conveniently lost or relayed only long after theinformation was no longer relevant. If you think TWI didn't

play with people and their families then you need to take a check up from the neck up.

TWI made it seem like deprogramming was as common as the Sun rising each day. Some WOWs told us not to go witnesssing in certain neighborhoods and they would provide us with descriptions of alleged deprogramming teams. And they told us that if we were kidnapped then to SIT and say nothing. Such helpful instructions. They played us a tape of some Wayfer who had been deprogrammed though later returned to "the fold". They were saying how she had been out of fellowship for something like that to happen and how she had to be retaught sections of PFAL since the deprogrammers had "talked her out" of many of its truths.

Another problem was that at that time TWI called any hasty departure of someone from the field a "deprogramming" incident when I know of some people who were just fed up, had called home and had their dad meet them at night so they could split without anyone messing with them. TWI of course painted the situation much differently.

One angry father came and got hs daughter off he field because all his attempts at contacting here had failed (she never had a clue that he was trying because her coordinator wouldn't tell her). When she left the field TWI called it a deprogramming/kidnapping.

Deprogramming did happen (mostly Moonies, and Children of the Light) though it didnt' happen nearly as much as TWI said it did and not all those incidents were as TWI portrayed them. As usual they wanted to embellish the stories and strike fear into the hearts of anyone contemplating a departure.

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No doubt that TWI did the things that diazbro described, and I'm sure that some incidents were blamed on deprogramming that were not.

That doesn't change the nature of deprogramming, nor make it right.

When I was a WOW, and indeed at any other time during my "innie" years, my family had no trouble contacting me; my parents visited me on the WOW field, and even attended fellowships when they visited in later years. I have a cousin who preceded me into TWI by a short time. We took PFAL and several other classes together, were at most functions together, hung out and witnessed together, yet she was out in less than a year, while I was still involved over twenty years later. What? The special brainwashing waves were selective? Maybe she fell asleep during the session where the hypnosis took place. icon_rolleyes.gif:rolleyes:-->

Funny how the peak of deprogramming was during TWI-1, which was a lot less abusive than TWI-2.

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quote:
Exactly. I was told by my deprogrammers that the reason it had to be done that way...forceful grabbing and holding against my will...was that neither I or anyone else ever would or could leave on my/their own, because we were under complete mind control...a la Lifton...and were not capable of deciding to leave, no matter how bad things got.

... which poses some serious questions ala the 'mind control' theory, and why it seemed to be not only conveniently 'revamped' over time (despite it being stated as so sound by its proponents), but also the fact that the A.P.A., and the A.S.A. wouldn't accept it as a whole, much to Margaret Singer's chagrin.

The abusive and intimidating incidents supposedly leading to it were valid. It was just that automatically likening what went on in the 'cults' to brainwashing incidents re: the Korean War vets was seriously flawed.

But you take terms like 'cult', 'brainwashing', 'mind control', ... and terms like those are effective at grabbing people's attention. Talk about your Madison Avenue tactic!

quote:
If you think TWI didn't play with people and their families then you need to take a check up from the neck up.

The playing with people and their families clearly was done on both sides of the fence, my good man. And many times for nothing more than not believing in either side's religious 'party line'.

Besides, wasn't 'take a check up from the neck up' a fav term in TWI?

wink2.gif;)-->

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quote:
Besides, wasn't 'take a check up from the neck up' a fav term in TWI?

Oh you bet. Pun intended.....

Kidnapping is wrong. Taking someone by force is wrong. That must be said and hopefully acknowledged by all and lets hope that "deprogramming" does not make a comeback in any aspect of our society. Also I'm sure that many DPs were in it for the money as I recall that it was not a cheap process to arrange.

So its a sure bet that some of those guys weren't in the DP business because they cared so much about religion or someone's child.

But DP wasn't aimed uniquely at TWI. The Moonies, Children of God, Children of the Light, and a few other groups whose names escape me at the moment were targeted. So at those times when TWI said that deprogrammers were agents of Satan attacking the "one true church" I found that to be most odd since other "churches" were being impacted also - so did this imply that they were "right on" also ? In TWI's mind they were the one stop shop for truth but DP's were dealing with other groups also. But TWI didn't want to deal with that question.

And , as mentioned in my previous post, I wonder just how many of those "deprogramming" incidents reported by TWI were real ? There was a time when TWI called most any hasty,unexpected departure a "deprogramming incident". My point is that TWI leaders ,rahter than dealing with problems in the field , saw an opportunity to dispose of such difficulties as the actions of those "horrible deprogrammers" who are "everywhere". And those who were

allegeldly kindapped (Some were) were always

portrayed as being out of fellowship. (Again

that Way hammer of you cause your own misfortune but TWI causes your good fortune).

For example I don't see how a WOW wanting to go home is a "deprogramming incident" especuially if she called her parents to come get her - yet I know if a case where this happened and it was painted totally as the work of deprogrammers..

They made it seem like for every Way person there was at least 1 DP waiting to "get" them. This got so bad that we used to make jokes in our Twig - "Man, If you don't go to Family night , Ted Patrick is gonna have one of his boys get you". (I didn't have to worry about DPs my folks didn't have the money to pay them).

did deprogramming happen ? Yes it did.

did it happen as much as TWI said it did ?

I strongly doubt ut.

Edited by diazbro
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quote:
Originally posted by Lifted Up:

I've always appreciated people like Oak, and back in Waydale days Groucho Marx Jr., people not shy (understatement) in their descriptions of wrongs in TWI, but knowing that the deprogramming "solution" was in the same nature of wrongs. They make up for another individual who, after saying that he'd love to hear fromthose who went through it, ignored me when I described the experience as, well, not beneficial.

I must include Garth in the above list of those appreciated.

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IMHO many of the deprogrammers took advantage of the fear that many parents had that their children would be drinking Kool-Aid in Guyana. Others had a sincere (although misguided) desire to free those that they saw as enslaved.

Long before anyone knew about Wierwille's sexual abuses, and years before Martindale turned TWI into a fortress of paranoia, people feared The Way because it was different. Because it wasn't what they thought religion should be.

Before there ever was a Waydale or a Greasespot Cafe, anti-Way literature focussed mainly on the doctrine, as if there couldn't be more than one view of what the bible was saying in the nation that gave us the First Ammendment. There was criticism of Wierwille's power and lifestyle, as if the heads of many denominations, most notably the Catholics didn't have power and a lavish lifestyle. People were horrified over the tithe, as if no other church in America received tithes. Parents worried about children who changed their behavior and put what they saw as their committment to God above family, community and other ties, as if committment was a bad thing, as if athletes, performers, and others didn't put their chosen path first; and as if constant criticism of what seemed to be the answer to their prayers wouldn't cause resentment and estrangement.

Some folks can't see that not everything is the same as their own standards. They fear, they strike out. They send paid thugs to kidnap their children and attempt to brainwash them.

What is the percentage of people who were "deprogrammed" compared to the total number of people who just walked out on their own? I'm guessing an insignificantly small one.

The "brainwashing" couldn't have been too very effective, could it have?

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quote:
The "brainwashing" couldn't have been too very effective, could it have?

I'm not so sure about that, Oak. redface.gif:o-->

GAWD! I can't believe I'm about to disagree with YOU!

I think we're all different and we were all susceptible to different levels of influence and manipulation. I do think that some people could be genuinely, clinically considered brainwashed whereas others were just plain stupid. (I think I'm in the stupid category, fyi) How someone would determine which is which, I have no clue and obviously the "deprogramming" attempts as they were carried out in the past were terribly wrong.

I do know of a few "interventions" that have been successfully carried out with college kids getting involved with cults other than TWI. The family and a trained professional, like Steve Hassan, and perhaps some former upper ups sat down with the kid (with HIS permission) and discussed the cult, beliefs, the family, the "authentic self" of the kid, etc. and helped the kid see what was going on in a bigger picture sort of way. Not deprogramming but something that grew from deprogramming.

Again, we're all different and this technique works with some but not with others. I honestly don't know if it would have worked with me when I was getting sucked in. *shrug*

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quote:
I'm not so sure about that, Oak.

GAWD! I can't believe I'm about to disagree with YOU!

Obviously you've been deprogrammed from that insidious Oakspear cult confused.gif

I agree with the susceptibility to different levels of influence. People stayed or left for a variety of different reasons. People who stayed operated at varying levels of involvement and committment. They responded to pressure in a variety of ways.

In my observation, wayfers weren't brainwashed, but their options were steadily narrowed. If you didn't believe the premise that the bible was the word of God, then nothing that was said made much sense, but if accepted that, you neded to be convinced that The Way had the correct interpretation of the bible. If you accepted that, and wanted to do God's will, then you limited yourself to either The Way, or being isolated from God.

Once you were no longer convinced of any of the basic premises, then the hold was loosened. For instance, after Wierwille died, many folks decided that The Way was no longer following what the bible said, so the hold was loosened for those people. When the news of the lawsuits, and evidense that Way doctrine didn't hold up to close scutiny was made public, the a new group of people no longer were constrained by their belief that The Way was the sole source of bible truth.

For some folks the personal relationships, the fellowship, was much more important than the teachings, for those people abusive behavior drove them out the door.

I don't think that The Way had any absolute control over anyone, just that they stacked the deck and we didn't check the cards.

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quote:
Originally posted by Oakspear:

IMHO many of the deprogrammers took advantage of the fear that many parents had that their children would be drinking Kool-Aid in Guyana.

Before there ever was a Waydale or a Greasespot Cafe, anti-Way literature focussed mainly on the doctrine, as if there couldn't be more than one view of what the bible was saying in the nation that gave us the First Ammendment.

These two factors were direct reasons for my deprogramming, which took place in December 1979, in the shadown of Jim Jones. As for the doctrine thing, the "Jesus Christ is not God" thing had its own share of the fear factor.

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...and to answer a question posed in the initial post of this thread, yes, I think they had my best interests at heart. That is a great thing to have, but it is also what the fear that Oak mentioned plays on. The problem is that he fear installed is so great, they are convinced that your bests interests cannot be served by letting you decide.

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My parents suggested contacting Steve Hassan and getting him involved in helping get my ex-husband to see TWI for what it is. They were willing to pay the astronomical fees he charges because they wanted to help in any way they could, regardless of what the outcome of our marriage.

I know Steve doesn't operate in the old deprogramming style and that for his techniques to work the person has to at least be willing to sit down and listen and consider another side of the situation. The only reason we didn't follow through was because I seriously doubted whether my ex would even be willing to listen. It's a shame since he's a cop and notorious for saying there's 3 sides to every story - his, hers and what really happened. When it comes to TWI, in his opinion, there's only one side to the story.

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