{"id":5881,"date":"2016-08-29T08:31:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T13:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=5881"},"modified":"2016-08-29T09:47:41","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:47:41","slug":"5881-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/5881-2\/","title":{"rendered":"September, 4, 2016–All In"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Baglyos, St. Paul, MN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Is Jesus dangerous and scary?<\/p>\n

All In
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victor Barnard was extradited from Brazil by U. S. authorities earlier this summer and returned to Minnesota where he will stand trial for alleged abuses against members of Shepherd\u2019s Camp, a cult-like commune he founded in Minnesota\u2019s Pine County.\u00a0 For the story of the commune and the alleged abuses perpetrated by Barnard, including the attribution for this photograph, see: http:\/\/nymag.com\/thecut\/2016\/06\/pine-county-minnesota-sex-offender-victor-barnard.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_391206166\"<\/a>Barnard\u2019s story is similar to that of countless other predators who manage to gather a group of committed followers by using familiar methods of brainwashing.\u00a0 Such predators appeal to the ideals, values, and good intentions of people who are motivated to seek and to build a better world, convincing them that they \u2013 the predators \u2013 have special insight and knowledge about how to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

Once a group of followers begins to form around the persuasive teaching of a predatory leader, the leader then isolates the group by physical relocation to a remote place.\u00a0 Social isolation accompanies physical isolation as followers are persuaded to break all former ties and relationships, especially with family members outside the group.\u00a0 Everyone and everything outside the group is identified as corrupt and evil; followers are taught to renounce and abandon all aspects of their former lives in favor of the new life they are building together under the direction of the leader.<\/p>\n

Physical deprivations affecting diet and sleep are commonly used to erode any resistance on the part of the group, and punishments are commonly used to ensure compliance and conformity with the will of the leader.\u00a0 The true predatory intentions of the leader are shielded by claims of divinity: the leader promotes himself or herself as God or Messiah to the group, demanding unquestioned and unhesitating obedience to his or her will.<\/p>\n

Stories like that of Victor Barnard and Shepherd\u2019s Camp are frighteningly common, involving not only such infamous figures as Charles Manson, Jim Jones and David Koresh but many other predators far less known to the general public.\u00a0 Accounts of predatory leaders who form a group of followers to satisfy their own perverse ambitions are widespread in print and online media.\u00a0 Here are links to two examples that seek to explain this phenomenon:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/lisa-kerr\/how-cults-gain-power-over_b_3998553.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/celebritynews\/9061694\/How-Igot-sucked-into-a-cult.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n