guy sajer wrote:
I think you will find that many who have left or who are questioning Mormonism have had to overcome a variety of emotional, psychological, intellectual, etc. obstacles implanted through years of Mormon indoctrination.
I was one of them. It was not until I was nearly 40 (and with a Ph.D. even) that I was able to overcome the guilt and inadequacy I felt because of my inability to swallow the whole kid and kaboodle. This was in part my doing, but also in part the result of, literally, decades of indoctrination and conditioning.
Yes...I will agree that the LDS culture does not physically coerce the members to remain, or perform anything; but I can make a (somewhat unrelated) comparison that involves the psychology of human beings.
I had a female employee that I had heard was being abused by her husband. I didn't see it, but was aware from other co-workers. One morning she came to the office early with many bruises and cuts...and I caught her in tears. I took her to a doctor upstairs who convinced her to go to the YWCA where they have a woman's shelter and program. I was her sponsor (she had no family in Utah), and attended some meetings with her that evening. I felt good about helping her, and assumed she finally had been able to escape from such an abusive jerk.
After the meeting, the counselor told each us sponsors that most of the women would not stay the night. Most would leave the program and return to their abusive partners.
We were stunned. I learned that the guilt they felt for "not being good enough for their husbands -- thus needing to be punished," was more powerful than the pain they experienced from the abuse.
It was a fascinating lesson for me. And I believe there is overlap with staunchly dogmatic, emotionally controlling religions. I think there are many religions worse than Mormonism in this regard, but I am certain this emotional process is prevalent in Mormonism. The very teaching about guilt and shame is completely man-made (under the guise of scripture and charismatic leaders).
When one learns about the logical possibility that the Mormon claims may be false, many can't leave because they feel a guilt that keeps them attending. They assume that this is God's way of telling them what is right. in my opinion, it is a very effective control mechanism, and hard to argue against if you believe in the infallibility of "scripture."
So, does the church use cult tactics? Absolutely...maybe without even knowing it.