Faced with this high authority of "God's Word" there was really no place for argument or disagreement, so there was nothing to do but to dive in with wholehearted vigor. After all, no one wants to be "lukewarm" and have God spew him out of his mouth. (Revelations 3:16)
The memorization began. First, I memorized Bible verses and chapters at the rate of several verses each day. This is one of the core tenets of the group - daily memorization. In time, memorization also included passages from the Mo Letters. (At first, these were actually in the form of spiritually instructive letters, but very soon deteriorated to the depraved ravings of a madman.)
All the repetition required for memorization, as well as the consequent withdrawal from society at large, served to make the doctrines of the group more believable and easy to accept as normal. In-group social pressure, the apparent simplicity and purity of the group's beliefs, the desire to fit in and be accepted, and the basic human instinct to "belong" all worked together to overwhelm any critical thinking skills that I may have had.
The self-reinforcing cycle of belief was underway.
Wow, so scary as you start detailing the journey into losing yourself.
ReplyDelete