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brainwashing

Brainwashing the Brainwashed (More on Scientology Recruitment)

This booklet is called Brainwashing – A Synthesis of the Russain Textbook on Psychopolitics and it has a long and fascinating history both in and out of the Church of Scientology. Researcher and historian Chris Owen has published a two-part history of this book on Tony Ortega’s Underground Bunker blog and links to that article are in the description section below. He describes how it was not only written anonymously by L. Ron Hubbard in 1955 with the specific intent of deceiving the FBI and Scientologists, but also how it became the tool of unwitting far right political groups Read More »Brainwashing the Brainwashed (More on Scientology Recruitment)

What is Mind Control?

Hey everyone. I’ve been talking about Scientology and destructive cults for some time now and we have discussed the concepts of undue influence, coercive persuasion and mind control or brainwashing, but I’ve never really dived deep into this and talked about what this is and isn’t. As Justice Potter Stewart famously said about hard core pornography, it’s hard to define but you know it when you see it and the same might be said for brainwashing. But is it really so easy to see and understand? Are there pitfalls in talking about it vs free will and an individual’s rights to decide and choose what is best for his or her own life? What is the dividing line between personal choice and mind control?Read More »What is Mind Control?