[Videos] Women in Cults....#30 in the series "How to get a Loved one Out of the Regnum Christi

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Women in Cults

The 2 Sides of the Legion of Christ Regnum Christi Debate....#29 in the series "How to get a Loved one out..."

Dear Parent, friend of an Active Legionary of Regnum Christier, or Concerned Catholic or Truth Seeker,

Have you ever wondered why active LC and RC won't or can't listen to reasons or doubt Fr. Maciel, the Legion or the Regnum? Have you ever suspected that you yourself are getting carried away in the arguments. I present the following article to you for your consideration?

The idea is that very often all of us may let our emotionally laden convictions get in the way of logic. As you read, it will be hard for you to hear the message because it is wrapped in the issues of the present Health Care debate and even the War in Iraq. Here again you may be carried away by your strong feelings about theses issues depending on your political affiliation. In a nutshell: our logic and reason are often blurred by how much we care about a person or thing and how much energy and love we have put into the cause.

Back to our case in Question:

THE FACTS:
Fr. Maciel sexually abused his seminarians, lived a double life, used large quantitities of money for his own pleasure and probably to make payments to his lover and their child, etc.

LC INTERPRETATION:
Fr. Maciel, despite his weakenesses, was God's chosen instrument to found the Legion of Christ religious congregation and Regnum Christi lay Movement; Fr. Maciel's later aberrations were caused by a head injury and subsequent brain surgery which impaired his judgment. Fr. Maciel's works were preserved free from corruption by the Grace of God who used this imperfect instrument for a greater good. Judge the tree by its fruits, which are many and approved by the Vatican, the Pope and the Catholic Church. The present Apostolic Visitation is aimed are correcting and fine tuning the Legion so that it can serve the people of God better

But try to listen to the sociologists. I believe that what they say can help us understand why it is so hard to "get through" to our loved ones about the true nature of the Legion and Regnum
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Health Care Debate Based on Total Lack of Logic

Jeanna Bryner
Senior Writer
LiveScience.com jeanna Bryner
senior Writer
livescience.com

Heated partisan debate over President Obama's health care plan, erupting at town hall meetings and in the blogosphere, has more to do with our illogical thought processes than reality, sociologists are finding.

The problem: People on both sides of the political aisle often work backward from a firm conclusion to find supporting facts, rather than letting evidence inform their views.

The result: A survey out this week finds voters split strongly along party lines regarding their beliefs about key parts of the plan. Example: About 91 percent of Republicans think the proposal would increase wait times for surgeries and other health services, while only 37 percent of Democrats think so.


Irrational thinking

A totally rational person would lay out - and evaluate objectively - the pros and cons of a health care overhaul before choosing to support or oppose a plan. But we humans are not so rational, according to Steve Hoffman, a visiting professor of sociology at the University of Buffalo.

"People get deeply attached to their beliefs," Hoffman said. "We form emotional attachments that get wrapped up in our personal identity and sense of morality, irrespective of the facts of the matter."

And to keep our sense of personal and social identity, Hoffman said, we tend to use a backward type of reasoning in order to justify such beliefs.

Similarly, past research by Dolores Albarracin, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has shown in particular that people who are less confident in their beliefs are more reluctant than others to seek out opposing perspectives. So these people avoid counter evidence all together. The same could apply to the health care debate, Albarracin said.

"Even if you have free press, freedom of speech, it doesn't make people listen to all points of view," she said.

Just about everybody is vulnerable to the phenomenon of holding onto our beliefs even in the face of iron-clad evidence to the contrary, Hoffman said. Why? Because it's hard to do otherwise. "It's an amazing challenge to constantly break out the Nietzschean hammer and destroy your world view and belief system and evaluate others," Hoffman said.


Just the facts you need

Hoffman's idea is based on a study he and colleagues did of nearly 50 participants, who were all Republican and reported believing in the link between the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Saddam Hussein. Participants were given the mounting evidence that no link existed and then asked to justify their belief.

(The findings should apply to any political bent. "We're not making the claim that Democratic or liberal partisans don't do the same thing. They do," Hoffman said.)

All but one held onto the belief, using a variety of so-called motivated reasoning strategies. "Motivated reasoning is essentially starting with a conclusion you hope to reach and then selectively evaluating evidence in order to reach that conclusion," explained Hoffman's colleague, sociologist Andrew Perrin of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

For instance, some participants used a backward chain of reasoning in which the individual supported the decision to go to war and so assumed any evidence necessary to support that decision, including the link between 9/11 and Hussein.

"For these voters, the sheer fact that we were engaged in war led to a post-hoc search for a justification for that war," Hoffman said. "People were basically making up justifications for the fact that we were at war."

Their research is published in the most recent issue of the journal Sociological Inquiry.

Hot health care debate

The proposed health care plan has all the right ingredients for such wonky reasoning, the researchers say.

The issue is both complex (no single correct answer), emotionally charged and potentially history-changing, while debates often occur with like-minded peers in town hall settings. The result is staunch supporters and just-as-staunch critics who are sticking to their guns.

"The health care debate would be vulnerable to motivated reasoning, because it is, and has become, so highly emotionally and symbolically charged," Perrin said during a telephone interview, adding that images equating the plan with Nazi Germany illustrate the symbolic nature of the arguments.

In addition, the town hall settings make for even more rigid beliefs. That's because changing one's mind about a complex issue can rattle a person's sense of identity and sense of belonging within a community. If everyone around you is a neighbor or friend, you'd be less likely to change your opinion, the researchers say.

"In these one-shot town hall meetings, where you have an emotionally laden complex issue like health care, it's very likely you're going to get these ramped up emotionally laden debates. They're going to be hot debates," Hoffman told LiveScience.

Two-sided discussion

To bring the facts from both sides to the table, Hoffman suggests venues where a heterogeneous group of people can meet, those for and against the proposed health care system overhaul. And at least some of these gatherings should include just a handful of people. In groups of more than about six people, one or two members will tend to dominate the discussion, he said.

For either side, logical arguments might not be the key.

"I think strategically it's important that the Obama administration and advocates of a health care plan really pay attention to how people feel and the symbolism they are seeing, and not just the nuts and bolts of the policy," Perrin said. "People don't reason with pure facts and logic alone."

Former Member of Legion and Regnum, please seek Help....#28 in the series "How to get a loved one Out..."

Dear Friends,
in the previous post I added a personal PS which may have gone unnoticed. It has to do with getting "professional" help, something that many of us are loath to do because....we think no one will understand, or it was our fault, or they will blame us, or ours was a one of a kind experience, or it was spiritual and not psychological or.... So I wrote the following for you and your loved ones:

CRY FROM MY HEART

There is no substitute for good individual and group therapy, IMHO.

Personally, my path to Recovery passed through Pastoral Therapy, Psychotherapy, Freely chosen Retreats, Involvement with International Cultic Studies Association, Communication with other former members of Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, and the support of friends and family. It also helped me to help others.

See a fuller description in my memoir.

Dear Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Cult Survivor don't try to go it alone.
My "mentor" Fr John Powell says: If you bury a problem alive, it doesn't die; it stays alive. Please have the courage to reach out for help. The sooner the better. Life is too short. Do not expect or wait for the Legion/Regnum to do anything for you.

Seek Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Therapy or Psychotherapy from a trained therapist, with a degree, with a clinical license, and free from LC/RC toxicity. Preferably someone who has experience with Cult survivors. The latter will understand.
************

Archbishop Chaput asks for BREVITY in emails and communications

Archbishop of Denver
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

shepherd@archden.org


His Grace has requested that we all be very brief in our emails and communications; otherwise it will be impossible for him to pull all the information together and have it in Rome by the first deadline.

We suggest a maximum 2-3 pages, preferably one, and better still a paragraph detailing the information/testimony. Use numbers or bullets for brevity and concision. Please be aware that His Grace has already personally received and answered hundreds of emails, and dozens keep pouring in daily. Write private in the subject space.

You may want to post a longer version of your testimony on your preferred blog or webpage.

Don't forget to communicate with your local bishop, chancellor, or vicar for clergy.

Thank you

PS

CRY FROM MY HEART

There is no substitute for good individual and group therapy, IMHO. Personally, my path to Recovery passed through Pastoral Therapy, Psychotherapy, Freely chosen Retreats, Involvement with International Cultic Studies Association, Communication with other former members of Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, and the support of friends and family. It also helped me to help others.

See a fuller description in my memoir.

Dear Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi Cult Survivor don't try to go it alone.
My "mentor" Fr John Powell says: If you bury a problem alive, it doesn't die; it stays alive. Please have the courage to reach out for help. The sooner the better. Life is too short. Do not expect or wait for the Legion/Regnum to do anything for you.

Seek Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Therapy or Psychotherapy from a trained therapist, with a degree, with a clinical license, and free from LC/RC toxicity. Preferably someone with experience with Cult survivors. The latter will understand.
------

Ugly Truths about "Saintly Founder" Maciel....#27 in the series "How to get a Loved one Out..."

The Children of Father Maciel are hitting the blogs for the past few days...
See American Papist today: Not Your Average Catholic!: Claim: Legion founder Maciel had multiple children; other details emerging;

Ugly Truths Come Out-------#26 in the series "How to get a Loved one out of the Legion/Regnum

For some years ugly truths have been coming out about the Legion of Christ & Regnum Christi, many of them in the form of testimonies on the REGAIN page.

Right now, former members of Scientology, a group eerily like the Regnum Christi, are coming out and their revelations are shocking. LINK

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Scientology's ugly truths revealed


Published Monday, August 3, 2009


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Scientology calls itself a religion and claims to offer purpose and meaning to its members. Yet for some who worked in the church's militaristic Sea Organization, Scientology provided something different: physical punishment, humiliation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and long and ruinous separation from loved ones.

The stories of 11 former staffers, reported in a St. Petersburg Times special report Sunday, are told with such detail and emotional heft that the church's official denials of abuse ring hollow.

It takes courage to challenge the Church of Scientology, which has long pursued and attempted to destroy its critics. Yet now 15 former Sea Org members have gone on the record with their stories of abuse during years of working at or near the church's top management. Four of those, whose stories were related in the Times' first special report in June, are the highest ranking officials ever to defect from Scientology.

Some remain proponents of the church's mission, but they say that since Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986, current chairman David Miscavige has taken the church in a new and dehumanizing direction. They describe Miscavige as a brilliant yet brutal man who delights in assaulting and subjugating employees.

Fear of Miscavige apparently permeated the church's 500-acre international base in the desert outside Los Angeles. Former Sea Org members reported being subjected to or witnessing Miscavige slapping or pummeling staff members. For punishment, they said Sea Org members working at the base were thrown into a lake, had to jog for hours around a dirt track in the desert heat, were assigned to do manual labor — sometimes for years — or were forced to spend weeks in a guarded tent camp where they had to bathe and use a makeshift latrine in full view of others. Sea Org members who did not meet expectations were forced to confess in front of a jeering crowd of hundreds.

Emerging from the Times reports is a possible answer to the pervasive question of why Sea Org members stay and endure such treatment. Most of those interviewed by the Times became members of Scientology as young children or impressionable teenagers. When they later joined the Sea Org, they signed billion-year contracts, promising to serve the church throughout eternity. The church took a controlling, paternalistic role, becoming the sole source of food, housing and medical care for staffers. Sea Org members were paid only about $75 a week, which left them impoverished. The church kept on file "confessionals" members were required to write in which they admitted shortcomings and freed the church of liability. And if they married another church staffer and later wanted to defect, they faced leaving their spouse behind.

As more people who have escaped the grip of the Church of Scientology come forward to tell their stories, the secrecy that has been a hallmark of the church's internal operations is being stripped away. The truth is that this organization abuses people to advance its quest to become a global force, and even the church's ever-present public relations machine cannot put a pretty face on that.

Recovery Workshops, Denver, October, 2009 --- # 25 in the series "How to..."

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Official link

ICSA Conference in Denver , Colorado October 2-3, 2009 - Information on New Discussion Tables

We have set up a schedule for discussion meal tables at our upcoming Denver conference. Meal tables will be led by experts in the field on topics such as recovery issues for ex-members, exit counseling, discussion for families, post-cult spiritual issues, writing your story, and other subjects.

Go here to see the complete schedule.

ICSA has extended the early registration discount deadline for its special two-day conference for ex-members, families, and helping professionals at the Sheraton Lakewood Denver October 2-3, 2009. Register now for this exciting conference.

The Denver conference includes four tracks: ex-members, families, mental health professionals, and miscellaneous.

A special rate is available from the Sheraton Lakewood, and attendees may take the special rate two days before and after the conference in order to append a few days of vacation to the conference. The Sheraton's guaranteed conference rate of $85/night will expire soon, so register now.

Go here to register for the conference - copy and paste this URL into your browser, if the link does not work for you: http://icsahome.com/infoserv_conferences/conference_registration_denver.asp

Go here to reserve your room at the Sheraton - copy and paste this URL into your browser, if the link does not work for you:

http://icsahome.com/infoserv_conferences/conference_lodging_denver.asp

Book sleeping rooms soon, for the Sheraton will only guarantee the conference rate until September 1st.