Andrew Sullivan has an interesting post on his website entitled "The 'Myth' of Bush Loyalty." (See
http://time.blogs.com/...). In it he talks about the fear Bushies have about going against the party, and how this fear seems to have foundations that are more religious than political. The following is an expansion of a letter I wrote to Sullivan in response to this thought-provoking post.
I have often wondered why Bush's allies seem downright afraid of offering even the mildest criticism of him and his administration. In fact, it seems that being against Bush ironically gives a person much more freedom than being for him. It's almost Mafia-esque. But since I didn't see many dead bodies of apostate officials lying around, I was puzzled by how it all worked.
Bush adherents often say that they're part of "the team." We often describe this loyalty with the phrase "drinking the kool-aid," referring, of course, to the massive cult suicide in Jonestown in the late 1970s. I think that the explanation for Bushies' fear of criticizing is found at the heart of these phrases. Bushies are no more or no less than cult followers.
The following website, created by the Freedom of Mind Center (a group I found by googling and that seems involved in counseling current and former cult members), outlines methods of control used by cults here:
http://www.freedomofmind.com/... .
Certain descriptions of cult behavior found on the site are striking if applied to tactics used by this Administration. I quote:
"I. Behavior Control
1. Regulation of individual's physical reality
a. Where, how and with whom the member lives and associates with
b. What clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears
c. What food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects
....
6. Individualism discouraged; group think prevails
....
8. Need for obedience and dependency
II. Information Control
1. Use of deception
a. Deliberately holding back information
b. Distorting information to make it acceptable
c. Outright lying
2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
a. Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
b. Critical information
c. Former members
....
3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Information is not freely accessible
b. Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
c. Leadership decides who "needs to know" what
4. Spying on other members is encouraged
....
b. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership
5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.
b. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
....
III. Thought Control
1. Need to internalize the group's doctrine as "Truth"
a. Map = Reality
b. Black and White thinking
c. Good vs. evil
d. Us vs. them (inside vs. outside)
2. Adopt "loaded" language (characterized by "thought-terminating clichés"). Words are the tools we use to think with. These "special" words constrict rather than expand understanding. They function to reduce complexities of experience into trite, platitudinous "buzz words".
....
4. Thought-stopping techniques (to shut down "reality testing" by stopping "negative" thoughts and allowing only "good" thoughts); rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism.
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
....
- No critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as legitimate
- No alternative belief systems viewed as legitimate, good, or useful
IV. Emotional Control
....
2. Make the person feel like if there are ever any problems it is always their fault, never the leader's or the group's.
....
4. Excessive use of fear
a. Fear of thinking independently
b. Fear of the "outside" world
c. Fear of enemies
d. Fear of losing one's "salvation"
e. Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by group
f. Fear of disapproval
....
7. Phobia indoctrination : programming of irrational fears of ever leaving the group or even questioning the leader's authority. The person under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group.
a. No happiness or fulfillment "outside"of the group
b. Terrible consequences will take place if you leave: "hell"; "demon possession"; "incurable diseases"; "accidents"; "suicide"; "insanity"; "10,000 reincarnations"; etc.
c. Shunning of leave takers. Fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family.
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave. From the group's perspective, people who leave are: "weak;" "undisciplined;" "unspiritual;" "worldly;" "brainwashed by family, counselors;" seduced by money, sex, rock and roll."
See if you don't notice the similarities between Bush tactics and those of religious cults: the closed rallies that appear to be love-fests, the secret language, the group think, the attempt to control information, the deliberate distortion of informaton, the spying, the paranoia, the black/white, good v. evil, us v. them mindset, the excessive use of fear of shadowy terrorists--who are spoken of as the earthly embodiment of Satan, the conflation of terrorists with those who offer legitimate criticism and the "shunning of leave takers."
My point here, I guess, is that perhaps in thinking of how to defeat this mindset, we need to seek answers in addition to political strategy. Maybe we need to learn about and use techniques used by counselors who deal with cult members, battered wives, abused children and other psychologically controlled people?
Any ideas?