"Give them bread and circus!" (Julius Caesar)
Steubenville
CCR in Italy - Rimini 2006
What makes them go and stay for long hours, listening to the endless speeches, applauding the most mundane of testimonies? The religious fervor that is generated at these sessions keeps them going for awhile. In between conferences, the mass provides them a certain solace, but what they really crave are charismatic venues. Charismatics are on a religious trip. I am not one to look for a demon under every rock, but if there is a false spirit of religiousness, charismatics got a big dose of it. When induced with skill, religious emotionalism will produce a sensory overload in most people. With the senses overloaded the rational faculty will shut down. One ex-Pentecostal compared the emotional overload and the subsequent release at charismatic settings to psychosexual orgasm. Well no wonder charismatics are hooked on conferencing for days without end.
Amway or Renewal what's the difference? All these folk respond to is CIRCUS!
Amway Malaysia Power Up 2007 Convention
Dr. Robert J. Lifton explores the AMWAY method in “Thought Reform And The Psychology Of Totalism”; According to Lifton the AMWAY method employs: milieu control - the cult of confession - sacred science - loading of the language - doctrine over person - offering a unique form of salvation - lovebombing - cognitive dissonance - charismatic leadership - the use of deception in recruiting - involuntary service or exploitation - separation from friends and family -- suppression of critical thinking - the discrediting of outside information - loss of independent judgment - phobias/ fears about leaving - sleep deprivation, disorientation, and sensory overload.
But perhaps the most frightening observation Lifton makes is this: “Many controversial groups could meet some of these criteria, but any group that meets all of the criteria is a group to be concerned about.” Especially, since the Charismatic Renewal applies the same psychological pressures as AMWAY does: milieu control - the cult of confession - sacred science - loading of the language - doctrine over person - offering a unique form of salvation - lovebombing - cognitive dissonance - charismatic leadership - the use of deception in recruiting - involuntary service or exploitation - suppression of critical thinking - the discrediting of outside information - loss of independent judgment - fears about leaving - disorientation, and sensory overload... Too close for comfort? You bet!
“Make the music weave a spell
Whirl away your worry
Things look almost twice as well
When you're slightly blurry
As around and around you go
Your spirits will hit the top
Dolly, Cornelius, & Mrs. Molloy
And now that we're dancing"
Fr Dan with nun
Bishop Kevin M. Britt dances at the National Catholic Youth Conference. December 7, 2001
Didn’t King David dance praising God? Yes he did. Except that David was “God’s anointed king” and as such he was a layperson and not a priest. Christ never danced. Christ ordered his successors, the Apostles to imitate him. As imitators of Christ bishops and priests should not be dancing. Not even to praise God.
