Convictions vs. Preferences vs. Brainwashed?

[QuietObserver]

The pure definition of "brainwashed" borders on hypnotism if not hypnotism itself: it involves complete lack of personal choice.

I'm going out on a limb here.... but at what point does a group, any group, become a cult? Cults would not allow for personal choice. You leave or run away, you're wrong and a bad person. I could go on.

If you leave, you’re making a choice to separate from the group. If you are forced to stay through some form of physical or hostage situation then you don’t have a choice. You said it correctly when you stated “Cults would not allow for personal choice.” I would add: as long as you remain with them. Once the threshold is crossed of physical restraint or blackmail, then it enters the realm of criminal activity.

Psychological abuse can hold a person hostage much more effectively than physical restraint.

[MaxPC]

I'm going out on a limb here.... but at what point does a group, any group, become a cult? Cults would not allow for personal choice. You leave or run away, you're wrong and a bad person. I could go on.

If you leave, you’re making a choice to separate from the group. If you are forced to stay through some form of physical or hostage situation then you don’t have a choice. You said it correctly when you stated “Cults would not allow for personal choice.” I would add: as long as you remain with them. Once the threshold is crossed of physical restraint or blackmail, then it enters the realm of criminal activity.

Psychological abuse can hold a person hostage much more effectively than physical restraint.

Most certainly and that type of restraint falls under the general heading of blackmail: specifically emotional blackmail.

[francis]

First off, I might be biased because my home congregation split over issues of dress and has not been the same since. Our numbers have dwindled to very few because some men wanted to wear neckties and the mission board did not allow it. (Just an example, that's not the whole long story.) This was in a town with lots of gun violence and the bishops were focused far more on the way people dressed than on how the community was faring. I'm not saying this is always what happens, but that young people who are fed up with strict dress codes might see it this way, and it's worth asking why. It's always a balancing act between tradition and flexibility but please, as someone whose community has withered, do not let this destroy your church, because if anger and bitterness comes out, bad things will follow.

[steve-in-kville]

It's always a balancing act between tradition and flexibility but please, as someone whose community has withered, do not let this destroy your church, because if anger and bitterness comes out, bad things will follow.

I mentioned this in another thread, but my opinion of the conservative circles is that the culture has become more about preserving our heritage and less about reaching out and helping.

I often wonder if God looks down on us with approval of what we've become.