Liftons Milieu Control and the Jehovahs Witnesses
Personally, I find Liftons 8 criteria of cultic manipulation, or brainwashing somewhat hard to pin down and categorize clearly. His mystical manipulation criteria, for example, seems to flow over into the next criteria , that of confession. It is hard, for me, to clearly identify the difference between the two, as he describes them.
However that might be, his Milieu Control criteria (the first listed by him in the list at the end of his book) is clear cut enough and worth considering by any person interested in what happened to them within the Jehovahs Witness church. To read Liftons Milieu Control criteria, as he describes it, is enough to make any former Witness go Yes! That is what it was like!
All Quotes of Lifton are from his book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism(1961) The final chapter Ideological Totalism
Page 420. MILIEU CONTROL:
. The most basic feature of the environment is the control of human communication. Through this milieu control the totalist environment seeks to establish domain over the individuals communication with the outside, all that he sees and hears, reads and writes, experiences, expresses..
Lifton says that the controllers of the Milieu operate from:
An assumption of omniscienceHaving 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 . In order to become the engineers of the human soul they must first bring it under full observational control.
The consequences of this belief (on the part of the masters) that they have the truth and have a duty to inflict it on everyone so as to save them from damnation, has consequences upon those who they deem as being under their protection . The average sheep :
.. He is deprived of the combination of external information and inner reflection which anyone requires to test the reality of his environmentInstead he is called upon to make and absolute polarization between the real (The prevailing Truth).and the unreal (everything else).
Related to this, on page 423 Lifton states:
In the thought reform milieu, the experiential world is sharply divided into the pure and the impure, into the absolutely good and the absolutely evil . The good and pure are those ideas, feelings, and actions which are consistent with the Totalist ideology and policy, anything else is apt to be relegated to the bad and impure. Nothing human is immune from the flood of stern moral judgements .
But the question: Does this description of the application of the Totalist doctrine adequately fit to the practises and stated views of the Watchtower organization? I think it does.
I will now seek to demonstrate that the Watchtower organization has sought to generate a sealed environment, one of extreme polarization, within which the membership are sealed off from alternate/external information and association.
And that these external influences are polarized into the position of being evil and wicked. Nothing in the external world is worthwhile. All is deathdealing.
By the opposite calculation, everything in the totalist environment of the Watchtower is painted as good and pure. It is portrayed as a perfect organization, structured upon perfect principles, and thus it is impossible that anything bad can possibly occur within the organizational Utopia.
By polarization/ opposition with this position, nothing good can ever, at all, come forth out of the wicked external system..
The Watchtower. May 15 th , 1972. Article Appreciating Jehovahs Deliverance
I think there are a couple of paragraphs in this article worth quoting in their entirety. Page304:
. BREAKING OFF BAD ASSOCIATIONS
7 Another vital way to show appreciation for Jehovah's deliverance is by breaking off bad associations. People of this old system of things are bad associates. They do not love Jehovah, otherwise they would be serving him too. We find that most people of the old system love money, material things, all that this system can give them. And there are many who delight in immoral, wicked things. They are not at all interested in Jehovah and the principles of his new system. Perhaps some of Jehovah's servants have friends like that. They may maintain friendship with such worldly people for business reasons, but this is indeed a very dangerous course of action.
8 Why should a Christian witness of Jehovah associate with people who do not love Jehovah? He will soon begin thinking as they do, putting material things ahead of spiritual interests. We cannot deny the truthfulness of Paul's words at 1 Corinthians 15:33, where he wrote: "Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits." If we maintain worldly associations for business reasons, certainly these bad worldly associations will eventually spoil our useful habits in the Christian ministry. Good habits of personal study and meeting attendance will be forgotten. Paul's counsel at 2 Corinthians 6:14 is also apropos: "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness?" If we really appreciate the deliverance Jehovah has provided us, then we do not want to get ourselves yoked up with unbelievers in any way, whether through marriage mates or so-called "friends" in business. Breaking off bad associations is urgent right now before it is too late! If we do so, then we can take full advantage of Jehovah's deliverance and the spiritual freedom it provides...
Clearly then, from this quote, there is nothing beneficial to be gained from associating with people who are not members of the organization. The subheading is breaking off bad associations, notice that it says:
Perhaps some of Jehovah's servants have friends like that. They may maintain friendship with such worldly people for business reasons, but this is indeed a very dangerous course of action..
Clearly then, associating with worldlings as friends even on a business basis is dangerous. Can there be any doubt then, that ALL external association with non church members is dangerous?
Consider this, from the Watchtower of September 1, 1971. Article Fortify yourself so as to maintain integrity. The quotes pertaining to association are scattered from various locations throughout the article, note the negative or Black terminology referring to external association. That Outside the organization:
.Even among political leaders and governments of the world we regularly hear of lying and fraudulent practices being carried on. In the commercial world, claims are made in advertising that are deceiving, misleading and often untrue.. From the leaders on down, a lack of integrity is the norm in this wicked system..
or this one :
It is sad to say, but there are examples of individuals who have followed a Christian course up to a point but who weaken their integrity by giving in to the ways of Satan's system. Rebellious youths are found throughout the world, even in countries where juvenile delinquency was practically unheard of in times past. And this rebellious attitude of schoolmates rubs off on youngsters who may know the Bible truth but who associate with such individuals. Running away from home is viewed by many of the young worldlings as a way to solve problems...
Surely one wouldnt want to be labelled as giving in to Satans System, would one?
Consider this, in paragraph 13 of the same article, pertaining to external sources of information:
.Then, too, we have the written material provided through Jehovah's organization from which we can derive benefit. Many say they have more to read than they possibly can. But do we fail to read the publications of the Society because we really have no time? Or is it because we spend considerable time reading newspapers, worldly magazines and novels? Do these publications encourage us to pursue a course of faithfulness to Jehovah God? Why, even the advertising in newspapers and magazines nowadays can arouse immoral thoughts and desires. How much better it is to spend any time we can to reading information that will serve to strengthen us, build us up spiritually..
This paragraph is accompanied by a picture of a foolish young man sat in the library surrounded by science fiction books and detective magazines, reading. The message is clear.
The concern, in this particular article, about spiritual welfare and being lured away from meeting attendance even extends to familial relationships:
.16 We cannot afford to let things interfere unnecessarily with our meeting attendance. Why take on secular work to earn extra money for luxuries when the working hours will keep you from the meetings or when the extra work will make you too tired to leave your home to get to the meetings? Or why arrange to have relatives visit you or arrange to visit them at times when the Christian congregation is assembling together? We do not want to miss any of these God-given opportunities to fortify ourselves so as to maintain integrity..
Thus all external, none organizational association and information sources are frowned upon, if not openly condemned. In Liftonian terms this is because these are all external sources of influence, they can shape your thinking, and the totalistic cult wants only 1 thing to shape your thinking.
THEMSELVES