Dangerous Persuaders
M. Irons discusses the book, Dangerous Persuaders by Louise Samways, which shows how people's beliefs can be changed without their conscious agreement. It happens when they are subjected to techniques that suspend their critical thinking. This article draws connections with the Assembly ministry of George and Betty Geftakys. Louise Samways is a Melbourne psychologist who is a recognized expert in the fields of psychological healing and health. Her book is the result of thousands of personal stories told to her in the course of her work. She says that there at least a hundred known cults in Australia. Tellingly, the Exclusive Brethren are a major presence there, even involved in politics.
Who Is Vulnerable
The question still churns and burns among former Assembly members, "Why did people fall for the Geftakys ministry when, we now know, George was a hypocrite who preached holiness but lived lechery and lies?" Why did we not perceive what sort of man he was? The question burns even hotter as it pertains to leaders under George who saw more of the underbelly and yet remained fiercely loyal. Part of the answer lies in a consideration of vulnerability - who was vulnerable to the appeal of this ministry? Not everyone was. There were many who visited a time or two, maybe even stayed awhile, but eventually walked away.
Louise Samways begins her discussion of vulnerabilities (p 61), "...the most vulnerable people are those discontented with some aspect of their life, or going through a life crisis (such as job loss, bereavement or ill health), who have above-average intelligence and/or good concentration".
Discontent - George and Betty Geftakys were canny to target students. Young adults are discontent. They're hardwired to strive to reach farther and higher than their parents. They're primed for action, they need it, they have the energy and enthusiasm to create something new instead of discontentedly settling for the status quo. New believers are also discontent, in the sense that they have a spiritual thirst. "Outreach", witnessing, was not only Biblical, but produced converts born with the thirst.
Bereavement - Sister Harrison was bereft, not only of her husband, but of an avenue for their calling to influence people with the Honor Oak vision. Westmoreland Chapel was floundering after the death of C. J. B. Harrison and she had no power personally to make a difference. She had contacts all over the world, but no ministry.
Ill health - Gay Mau almost died of an autoimmune malfunction right about the time she met George. Others became ill as a result of their involvement in the Assembly, and were made worse, at least temporarily, by Betty's administration of the Gerson therapy. Jim Hayman and Dan Notti come to mind, as well as Beth A., Karen Krusich, myself and many others.
Samwise continues the list of who might be most vulnerable: people who are idealistic and disappointed, people who have a strong need for intimacy (a warm ready-made "family" is hard to resist), and those who were not able to assert their needs as children.
Samwise says about the unassertive (p 61), "...for such a [person] the group can offer a way of asserting their independence. Unfortunately their lack of assertion skills means they make very compliant members of the group whom they are often desperate to please." Becoming a leader in the Assembly also bestowed the opportunity to become strongly assertive. This can be an aspect of the search for a father figure that Dave Sable wrote about.
In the Assembly there are probably others: the ambitious and controlling, to whom the elitism exerts a strong appeal; the socially inept, who are met with instant "friends"; the dependent, who see everything pre-arranged for them. And wives who come with their husbands.
Other groups target vulnerabilities ignored by the Assembly, such as poverty and prejudice.
The catalogue of vulnerabilities is not a particularly new concept to readers of this website. Some articles emphasize them, and others minimize them in view of the cultic manipulation. But Samwise introduces an aspect of these vulnerabilities that has not been mentioned: Some folks who have one or more of these vulnerabilities experience them intensely, to the point that they become needs. These folks are operating at a higher-than-normal state of emotional arousal.
"High arousal dampens the ability to think clearly or critically; for instance, if you panic in an exam you can't think straight and your mind goes blank. Such people are predisposed by their arousal to be susceptible to the mind-control techniques discussed in this book" (p 61).
Mind Control
Before anyone clicks the mouse out of disbelief that this phenomena operated in the Assembly, look at Samway's explanation of what it actually is and is not.
Brainwashing and mind control should not be confused. Brainwashing can occur when a person knows they are in a captive situation. It is commonly done by extreme physical and emotional abuse, and can usually be quickly undone once the person is freed...Mind control is far more sophisticated. The victim does not see themselves as denied either physical or emotional freedom, and there does not need to be any physical abuse for it to be successful....[M]ind control can be extremely difficult to undo, even when the person has left the group and wants to change.Mind control works on the pre-existing condition of the aforementioned emotional arousal, when the persons critical thinking is dulled.
