Soul Bruises
As a lifelong believer in Christ, I’ve grown weary of witnessing harm within spiritual settings. I’m tired of pretending it isn’t happening or convincing myself that spiritual abuse isn’t a serious issue—one that not only plagues the church but is also spreading beyond religious institutions.
This is why the Soul Bruises podcast was created. It’s dedicated to exposing, educating, and ultimately working toward the eradication of spiritual abuse in all its forms. Whether you can relate to my experiences or bring your own perspective to the table, I hope Soul Bruises offers a balanced and thorough exploration of the issue.
Whether you’re a spiritual leader, a member of a church, or someone with no connection to God or religion, I challenge you to reconsider your assumptions about spiritual abuse. I encourage you to tune in.
With each episode, I hope you gain a clearer understanding of what spiritual abuse is, how it manifests in religious and non-religious settings, who it affects, and why it’s crucial to address it with honesty and purpose.
Soul Bruises
Episode 13 - Breaking the Chains of Indoctrination & Thought Suppression - Spiritual Abuse Tactic & Behavior 5 of 12 (Part 1) - Indoctrination & Thought Suppression
This episode explores:
* The troubling dynamics of indoctrination, thought suppression, and mind control within spiritual communities.
* We emphasize the importance of nurturing critical thinking and personal autonomy to foster genuine spiritual growth.
* Analysis of emotional and logical aspects of faith
* The role of indoctrination in suppressing individual thought
* Discussion on moral vs. spiritual education and their impacts
* Examination of thought suppression tactics in faith settings
* Insights on reactance theory and spiritual bypassing
* Reflections on maintaining critical thinking in spirituality
This is a link to Marlene Winell's website & the diagram that she created on childhood indoctrination
https://www.journeyfree.org/author/marlene/
"Be Human, Be Kind, Be Both."
Episode 13 - Breaking the Chains of Indoctrination & Thought Suppression - Spiritual Abuse Tactic & Behavior 5 of 12 (Part 1) - Indoctrination & Thought Suppression
Introduction
Hello, my friends and fellow soul defenders. My name is Christie and this is Soul Bruises, a podcast devoted to taking a closer look at spiritual abuse. Whether you're a new listener or returning, I want to welcome you to a podcast that is addressing spiritual abuse out loud, If you are new, while each episode can be listened to individually.
You might find it helpful to explore past episodes for more context. To continue addressing and eradicating spiritual abuse will require a lot of consistent voices speaking up and refusing to tolerate or accept this abhorrent behavior in the name of God.
The Soul Bruises podcast is my personal contribution to being one of those voices. and I hope you will consider joining me. on this important journey. Whether it's speaking up in your social circles, in your personal family, or your spiritual family, on social media, or to your neighbor next door, combating this spiritual cancer is vital to building and maintaining a healthy faith community.
Regardless whether that community meets in a church building, in a home, with a group of people who have a shared desire to serve God and serve others. Together, we can make a difference.
Disclaimer
I understand the weightiness of this subject matter and realize that a podcast on this topic can be heavy and intense.
Spiritual abuse is a challenging topic to discuss, let alone exposing and discussing it openly. I acknowledge that this material might evoke some strong emotions and may elicit some traumatizing memories for some listeners. Because of this, I urge you to prioritize your mental health before you choose to listen.
Know that you are not alone and that I'm here to support you.
I'm always interested to see where listeners of the Soul Bruises podcast are tuning in from. Spiritual abuse, unfortunately, is a universal problem. None of us are immune to it. I did, however, want to personally acknowledge those of you who are listening from Frankfurt, Germany and Australia. It amazes me how the internet, whether through emails, Zoom calls or podcasts, has the power to connect us all across the globe.
It truly fascinates me. I hope wherever you are in the world that you feel seen, loved, and supported.
Overview of Content
In this episode of Soul Bruises, I will delve into the role of the fifth tactics and behaviors often used by spiritual abusers. Those being that of indoctrination, thought suppression, and mind control. and I will spend the next two episodes On these three concepts, these dynamics, though complex, play a significant role in spiritual abuse, shaping how people are not only influenced, but controlled the mind is a powerful thing. and while it can be used for great good, it can also be used for malevolence, especially how it can be manipulated in spiritual settings. I hope as you listen, you're able to gain new insights and a deeper understanding of these concepts.
The Power of the Mind
The mind is a powerful tool. It is responsible for shaping how we perceive, experience, and respond to the world around us. The mind plays a distinct and profound role in religion and spirituality also by shaping our beliefs, our practices, and our experiences.
Emotional Part of Our Mind
There are two significant parts of our mind that are actively involved in the belief and faith journey of many who espouse a belief in God. and they're often part of a church family or community with spiritual brothers and sisters. The emotional part of our mind is governed by the limbic system, which processes feelings and creates meanings and spiritual experiences.
The “this feels good” kind of feeling. This part of our brain can lead us to a feeling of connection with a higher power and kinship with like-minded believers. These feelings give us a sense of security and comfort. Spiritual words and songs can also give us a feeling of love toward God and one another.
Conversely, the emotional parts of our mind also process feelings of guilt, shame, and fear of being judged by God and others. These feelings, have guided people toward repentance, encouraged conformity, and often a desire toward moral behavior driven by fear of punitive consequences.
This emotional part of our mind often serves as the catalyst to forming connections beyond ourselves, drawing us into something emotionally deep and meaningful. It inspires feelings of reverence and wonder that strengthen our faith. Allowing us to experience a depth of emotion far greater than what intellectual belief can provide the emotional parts of our brain play such a pivotal role in our faith journey. However, they can also be exploited by those who choose to abuse.
As I've often said regarding power, it's not that power is inherently harmful, but damaging in the hands of someone seeking to harm. In that respect, it becomes a destructive tool in the wrong hands. The same can be said about those who take advantage of the limbic system of others to benefit their own self interest.
We've been given an incredible gift in our capacity for wonder and awe and reverence, but when exploited in situations of spiritual abuse, we'veThis gift is twisted into a source of profound harm. The same emotions that can deepen our family can also be the source of our greatest betrayal and manipulation.
The Cerebral Part of Our Mind
Another significant aspect of the mind often at play in our spiritual journey is the cerebral mind. That involvesThat involves the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is responsible for logic, rational thought.
Reasoning and the formulation and reflection of our personal and sometimes collective spiritual beliefs. Many times this part of our brain is activated when engaging with the scriptures, the doctrines, and philosophical questions about the divine, our existence, and about life in general.
Within this space we often frame our religious principles that shape our ethics and decision making processes. for listening.This part of our mind plays a role in the memorization of scripture and in depth biblical study by applying critical thinking skills. By engaging this part of our brain, we can bolster our personal faith, reinforce our convictions, and affirm our belief systems through thoughtful reflection and study. This part of our brain can also be exploited by spiritual abusers who wish to gaslight our own personal spiritual journey with their own personal convictions. Many times the keys to this parts of our brainare handed over to the persons who wish to exchange your thoughts.
with theirs. I believe this is done because we develop a strong belief that the person telling us how to think is right or more correct than ourselves or that we don't feel like doing the intellectual dive and rather co op that process through someone else. I don't believe we were given a brain to just sit in a pew and say amen.
Speaking of pews in churches, Frank Viola, in the book, Pagan Christianity, that he co authored with George Barna. he described the pew to be, (quote) "Perhaps the greatest inhibitor of face to face fellowship.
It is a symbol of lethargy and passivity in the contemporary church and has made corporate worship a spectator sport" (end quote). We simply don't have to think, we just show up and spectate.
The cerebral and emotional parts of our brain can and do co exist. A good balance between the two does create a more dynamic and deeper faith journey.
The emotional experiences often drive our need and longing for something greater. While the cerebral brain seeks answers to life's most profound questions, the emotional part and the cerebral parts seem to lead us to feel and dig deep into something greater than ourselves. Together, these two aspects of our brain guide us to connect and explore. beyond ourselves. Both parts of our brain are vital to a deeper and richer spiritual or faith walk.
So What Does This Have to Do With Spiritual Abuse?
So what does this have to do with spiritual abuse? How can our brain's emotional and cerebral aspects be vulnerable to the act of spiritual abuse? Does the concept of undue influence that we learned during the podcast episode on control play a part?
How rampant is this in our churches and spiritual communities? Is our group or denomination creating a vacuum for a cult or a form of brainwashing to take hold? Where do we even start on a topic like this?
Two Part Episode & What's Ahead?
These questions and more are what this current and the following episode will explore. In addition to examining the concepts of indoctrination. Thought suppression and mind control. I will be doing a later bonus episode that delves into concepts of heavy shepherding and a more in-depth dive into what constitutes a high control group or church. These topics are incredibly vast and complex and will only be able to scratch the surface, but let's get started.
Indoctrination Explained
Indoctrination, as defined by Snook,Funk, and Wagnalls in their book, According to the Concepts of Indoctrination, was (quote) "The process of teaching a set of beliefs, ideas, or attitudes to a group or individual, Without allowing them to question or challenge it, it can occur when teachers get students to believe things without allowing them to rationally evaluate those beliefs.
Indoctrination is often based on opinions that have been passed down and can be fear-based or formed from a lack of interest in broadening the mind. Some features of intense indoctrination include physical and social separation changes in diet. Sleep deprivation, peer pressure, and emotional manipulations." (end quote).
Indoctrination is the process by which a person or group is taught something and expected to accept it and not question it. Many times the information is so ingrained in them due to constant repetition and repeat exposure to a preferred mindset. While discouraging independent thought, or considering different perspectives. Indoctrination often reflects the desires of the one indoctrinating. their values, their ideas, their goals. Their behaviors, their thoughts, not a free exchange of ideas, but discouraging questions or critical analysis.
Is Indoctrination Good or Bad?
So is indoctrination inherently positive or negative? While it is mostly viewed in a negative light, the context and intent play a critical role in answering that question.
Indoctrination is criticized because it suppresses freedom of thought, teaching people to accept belief systems without questioning them or analyzing them critically. However, the true test lies in the purpose of the instruction and the outcome of that education. Frequently it is associated with suppressing those that wish to dissent from the given agenda and narrative by leaving little room for personal exploration, or autonomy of thought or expression.
Education or Indoctrination?
One might ask, well, what about religious instruction? Can that be done without the negatives that I mentioned before? I want to introduce you to two different terms that might answer these questions. Those are moral education. and spiritual education. How is an organization that wants to educate their members on biblical things able to do that without indoctrinating?
I believe these terms and their meanings clarify the difference from indoctrination. moral education focuses on developing ethical principles. values and behaviors, helping individuals understand right from wrong and act accordingly.
Spiritual education, on the other hand, delves into the realm of meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater than oneself. Exploring questions of faith, values, and the nature of reality. Personally, I believe both of these are important and are far more positive approach to instruction. Both focus on critical thinking, personal autonomy, and the development of ethics. They are significantly different from indoctrination in their methods, goals, underlying philosophies, and intent. Both seek to encourage growth and reflection.
Moral Education vs. Spiritual Education
Yet even these two terms have contrasting approaches. Moral education is tied to a more humanistic approach, while spiritual education is more faith based approach.
and connection to a higher power approach moral education is directed at good ethical behavior while spiritual education addresses deeper questions about the soul and meaning of one's life moral education is more philosophical and based on principles of evidence while spiritual education relies on sacred texts and religious leaders as holding authority.
Moral education derives its authority from philosophical reasoning, societal values, and evidence based principles.
Spiritual education does focus on the acceptance of some foundational beliefs, which can discourage the questioning of those beliefs. While moral education encourages critical thinking, debate and questioning as tools to understand.
Moral education wants to establish a universal set of principles and spiritual education is often more specific to a spiritual path which may or may not apply to all individuals. Regardless of these differences, both serve to retain the agency of the person being educated. Rather than creating a yes sirReligious soldier. Both the moral and spiritual education's purpose is to expand freedom of thought, encourage critical thinking, and reasoning while indoctrination discourages all of the above.
Comparing Spiritual & Moral Education with Indoctrination
A breakdown of why moral education and spiritual education is seen as more beneficial than indoctrination is that spiritual education seeks to inspire and guide individuals toward deeper understanding and personal growth. Indoctrination aims to control thought, and enforce conformity.
Spiritual education focuses on an open dialogue, reflection, and the development of our own personal belief system. It encourages the learners to draw their own conclusions. while there seems to be a fixed set of beliefs with indoctrination, spiritual education promotes freedom and growth.
Whereas indoctrination restricts it. Moral education allows flexibility in thinking, whereas indoctrination focuses on dogma and a rigid way of teaching these ideas. Moral education helps to develop a strong moral compass in an individual, while indoctrination is about seeking conformity to a specific
Moral education is about promoting open mindedness, where there is a respect for others ideas. Indoctrination encourages closed mindedness dangerous. Moral education engages students in an ongoing learning process, while indoctrination involves the imposing of ideas on you and your ideas on others. Moral education is about cultivating critical thinking, personal responsibility, and cultivating ethical Awareness, on the other hand, indoctrination, seeks to impose a particular ideology, without room for debate independent thought, or creativity.
As a church, distinguishing between these two methods of education is significantly important. If your spiritual gathering leans toward indoctrination rather than moral or spiritual education, you are probably treading on harmful ground or have the makings of a congregation moving in the wrong direction.
Dick Gregory an American civil rights activist, writer, entrepreneur, and comedian, once said (quote) Education means to bring out wisdom. Indoctrination means to push in knowledge. (End quote).
When a church or spiritual gathering are given an opportunity to educate that which they feel is most important, helpful, and healing, will they choose to push knowledge or teach wisdom? I dare say most would say they want the latter. Yet is that what we are doing as a church body? Is our intention to educate rather than indoctrinate?
Indoctrination Is.......
Author Andrea L'Artiste was a bit more bold in her assessment when she stated, (quote) "Indoctrination is premeditated murder of the mind". (end quote) Premeditated murder of the mind that is a powerful metaphor used to describe a systematic effort to suppress control or destroy an individual's ability to To think critically, independently, or freely.
Our minds matter.How we use our minds matter. Deep harm is done when someone is stripped of their intellectual freedom, which decreases their capability to question, reason, and self reflect, essentially nullifying or murdering their individual mind. As a believer in Christ and a believer in the church body, I resonate with the concept that involves freedom of thought, freedom to question, freedom to be curious, freedom To critically analyze.
The church, I believe, has a huge responsibility to educate, not to indoctrinate. Education empowers individuals. Indoctrination constrains with rigid rules and imposed beliefs. As a person's mind grows and matures, the ability of that person to think abstractly and critically increases. With those changes, a church that responds with more indoctrination stunts that growth. Indoctrination by its nature creates conformity of thought rarely generating freedom of thought.
Myth of Indoctrination
Indoctrination will lead to what seems to be a pseudo connection and fragile unity based on whether all. agree. But the downside is that the connection, while it seems real, will be contingent on thinking the same way. While it might create an appearance of unity, the perception being reality will be dependent on conformity of thought.
True unity involves diversity of thought with mutual respect for those differences. Indoctrination is a gateway to the coercion of the mind, yet there are more extreme and overt versions. Mind control is one of them. To avoid these issues, churches must prioritize teaching that encourages critical thinking, questioning, personal responsibility, accountability.
Accountability and authentic spiritual connection. Otherwise, you're asking members to check their brains at the door until further notice.
American professor Noam Chomsky, articulated it so well when he said, (quote) "The indoctrination is so deep. That educated people think they're being objective." (end quote) That deep indoctrination often starts in childhood and as one gets older, those ingrained thoughts can often turn someone from a critical thinker to a spiritual robot. It's a challenge for a parent or spiritual leader to fight the urge to control the thinking processes of a young person. But if we don't, they feel the pressure of mimicking us rather than being influenced by us.
Childhood Indoctrination
Psychologist Marlene Winnell is known for her work on religious indoctrination, particularly in high demand or authoritarian religious groups. While discussing childhood religious indoctrination in particular, she drew a diagram that includes the concepts she felt played a part. In the process of childhood indoctrination, I will leave a link to this diagram in the show notes.
Some points Winnell stressed on childhood religious indoctrination were these, and you'll be able to see them in the diagram. The religious environment around the child is a closed system created and intended to be that way, to protect the child and keep them safe from the bad world out there.
Often information is withheld from worldviews in relation to science, sex, politics, culture, history, and psychology. If outside views are introduced that conflict with the preferred view of the church body, This creates the possibility of diversity of thought, toxic forms of doctrine that produce feelings of fear, shame, guilt, a sense of idealism or perfection these types of unrealistic feelings lead to nowhere good.
The repression of critical thinking done to maintain control, suppress doubt and enforce conformity of thought, The existence of a punitive behavior management and feelings of you are never good enough and potential developmental delays in social, sexual, intellectual, and emotional ways.
Often we overlook the concept of childhood religious indoctrination, dismissing it as simply teaching the young people about God. However, as children's minds grow, an adjustment in the way that they are taught must evolve.
Consider this illustration. When a two year old wants to cross a busy street, a responsible parent doesn't offer them a choice about holding their hand, knowing it's in the child's best interest for their safety. Yet as they get older, a parent slowly educates them about crossing the street safely.
Ever so gradually. Letting go of their hand, and at one point, the child crosses the street independently and eventually crosses the streetwithout even the parent present.
Now consider this. Is the church treating the young person like that two year old and constantly holding their hand and telling them what to do or think? Or are they fostering a teaching process to encourage continual learning? Staying curious, critically thinking, and asking questions.
Free Thinking vs. Thought Suppression
There seems to be a reluctance to encourage free thinking within religious settings, and all for seemingly good reasons. Free thinking involves an individual's ability to independently explore, analyze, and evaluate ideas, beliefs, and thoughts without external coercion or self imposed limitations. These thought processes are based on reason rather thanunquestioningly accepting authority. It involves either a rejection or a skepticism of religious dogma that can be perceived as threatening to existing and established beliefs or traditions.
If an organization or church feels threatened, they may implement thought suppressive tactics. This involves a deliberate attempt to avoid or eliminate altogether specific and unwanted thoughts, feelings, doubts, or beliefs to maintain conformity and avoid discomfort. These thoughts are often considered undesirable or deemed sinful within a religious framework. This attempt at thought suppression can psychologically impact an individual,causing an increase in anxiety, guilt and shame.
An adverse effect to this religious institution attempting to suppress the thoughts of individuals can backfire on them, leading to an increase in intensity and frequency of negative outcomes.
How does a religious organization or institution go about implementing these thought suppressive acts? Many start by implementing stricter doctrines that serve to control the thoughts and actions of their members, or incorporate emotional responses of shame and guilt to differing thoughts, hoping those ideas will change through their emotional manipulation.
This, however, can create the opposite reaction they intended for those wishing to suppress thought. What do I mean? Well, have you ever been told not to do something or told not to think about something? This can lead to a psychological phenomenon called reactance,
Which essentially is when someone tells you not to think or do something. It can trigger a strong impulse to do and think just that very thing. as a way of asserting our autonomy and freedom.
So oftentimes. These attempts at controlling these individuals will backfire. Individuals often perceived as rebellious strongly advocate for maintaining their personal autonomy and individuality.
Why Do We Do Things We Are Told Not To Do?
In a 2017 article entitled, "The Science Behind Why We Do Things We're Told Not to Do", Written by Anthony Beauchard, he explains why this might happen and how the reactance theory works. He suggested (quote) "That we had a natural drive to feel in control of our choices and actions. When someone attempts to restrict those choices, we experience a psychological discomfort, leading us to want to reassert our freedom by doing the forbidden thing." (End quote). I'm not sure organizations understand that while they may feel threatened by someone thinking freely, the individual is also feeling their own freedom being threatened.
When that freedom is threatened, it is also very natural for humans to develop a rebellious desire to do the opposite of what they're being told. It can also challenge human curiosity as well, which doesn't necessarily lead to good decisions being made. From a church organization or spiritual institution's perspective, This doesn't mean that the preferred thoughts they introduce or the actions they recommend are bad or nefarious, just the process by which they try to coerce their members or followers to adhere to them. The Bible teaches that God gave people the free will to choose between good or evil. As a Christ follower. If that is what God has done, Would it not be in our best interest to follow that example?
Spiritual Bypassing & Spiritual Rationalization
There is another type of thought suppression that religious or spiritual individuals incorporate into their own way of thinking, often response to uncomfortable, negative, and unwanted thoughts and feelings. These manifest through the practices and processes of spiritual bypassing and spiritual rationalization. Environments may stifle unwanted thoughts or negative thoughts, leaving no room to process or oxygen to exist or to be expressed.
Instead of addressing them or sitting in the discomfort and often difficult process of processing these thoughts and feelings, they are met with silence, minimization, and a sugar coating of spiritual jargon. These flowery words often gloss over, bypass, or rationalize away deeper emotional or intellectual work that is needed. This approach sharply contrasts with free thinking and expression, which encourage not only the exploration of thoughts, but processed feelings. Even the uncomfortable ones, while rationalizing or bypassing uncomfortable thoughts and feelings seems the correct path in the short term, in the long run, it just covers upa lot of unprocessed thoughts and feelings that no doubt will arise further down the road. These suppressed thoughts may eventually come out in the form of rebellion, undermining all the preferred thought processes you were hoping to spiritually educate the members of your spiritual community with.
I briefly mentioned the practices of spiritual bypassing and spiritual rationalization. These concepts will be discussed with my very first guest host, of Soul Bruises So stay tuned for that . However, spiritual bypassing means the tendency to use spiritual practices and ideas to avoid dealing with unresolved emotional issues psychological wounds or unfinished developmental tasks and spiritual rationalization is using logical or intellectual justifications To explain or excuse behaviors or beliefs that are driven by spiritual or religious motivations, often in a way that avoids confronting deeper emotional or psychological reasons.
I hope you can join my guest and I on that upcoming episode
Comparing Free Thinking to Thought Suppression
In conclusion, regarding the concept of thought suppression, we learned that thought suppression is about eliminating and avoiding unwanted thoughts, while thinking freely is about examining all thoughts, even the uncomfortable ones. Thought suppression limits autonomy through the restriction of self expression in favor of conforming thought, while thinking freely leads to independent decision making and critical analysis.
for this. thought suppression can reinforce conformity and dependence on an external authority. But thinking freely promotes self confidence and learning how to navigate complex thoughts, ideas, and issues. Thought suppression serves as a roadblock to intellectual and emotional freedom.
Outcomes of Thinking Freely
While thinking freely can empower an individual to explore ideas, and grow authentically. Simply put, thought suppression silences the mind while free thinking sets it free. Setting our minds free doesn't necessarily mean we will make the correct or best decisions for ourselves or for others. It doesn't mean that we will automatically find truth. It may even lead to a place of isolation in your thinking because you refuse to conform to the correct way of thinking. you will have responsibility and need to take accountability of what you do with your mind. But it will be your decision, your thoughts, your feelings, and no one else's.
That will frighten anyone or entity. or entity wanting to use your mind for their pleasure. It's yours, not theirs. You get to make that decision.
Before moving into the most dangerous stage of the process, that of controlling the mind, I've decided to split this episode in two parts. So please check out the next episode on mind control.
Review of Indoctrination & Thought Suppression
What we have learned thus far is that the mind plays an active role in religion, and spirituality. It can do harm in the form of the abuse and manipulation of the mind in religious and spiritual settings.
We learned that the mind has a dual role, one of those being that of emotions, which involves the limbic system of the brain. It drives our deep feelings of connection, wonder, and reverence. We learn that these sections of our brain can be exploited and abused through forms of fear, guilt, shame, and can lead to the manipulation and control of this part of our mind.
The second part is that of our cerebral thoughts, which occur in the prefrontal cortex of our brain. These are the areas of our mind that are responsible for logic, reason and critical thinking. They help us understand doctrines, engage with scripture, and help form our belief system.
The dangers of indoctrination were proposed as others seeking to impose beliefs without the ability to question or critically analyze those outside beliefs. The methods of moral and spiritual education were outlined to show how education is different from indoctrination and how that can be done through emphasizing critical thinking, enhancing spiritual growth, and retaining autonomy of thought.
In contrast, indoctrination stifles not only intellectual growth, freedom of thought, but also creates a dependency on an external human authority.
Lastly, we learned that thought suppression works to eliminate unwanted thoughts through fear, guilt, and shame. Free thinking encourages the exploration of all thoughts, including the uncomfortable ones, which allows for individual analysis and personal growth.
While free thinking doesn't necessarily guarantee correct choices and decisions are made, it does empower the person to make their own choices and develop their individual understanding.
The Mind Is A POWERFUL Tool
The mind is a powerful tool to accompany us on our own personal spiritual journey. But we can be vulnerable to manipulation, churches, spiritual organizations, even parents have a responsibility to cultivate critical thinking, encourage personal growth, and avoid indoctrination.
True spiritual growth requires a balance between the dual modes of our minds, that being the emotional and intellectual entities. and what they absorb and process. Creating and cultivating a free and independent mind may be threatening to an entity or person that wants to control it, but it is crucial to the authentic spiritual development of an individual. This attempt advocates the importance of our mental and spiritual freedom and the dangers of allowing our minds to be manipulated and controlled. It emphasizes the need for critical thinking. Self reflection and a healthy skepticism toward a highly controlled religion or group that seeks to suppress the individuality of that individual. Beware of the premeditated murders of the mind.
Soul Bruises will return to explore the subject of mind control. The ultimate manipulatory attempt of seizing control of our minds by way of our thoughts and perceptions.
Until then, this is Christie Hodson, and you've been listening to the
Soul Bruises podcast. Remember how important it is to
Be Human, Be Kind, Be Both.
