On Friday, news reports started coming out to the effect that Hillary Clinton may be a member of a cell-church group run by the secretive "Family" nee "Fellowship" org; as the import of this is underappreciated by most (even by some researchers into dominionism), I posted a diagram of how cell groups work in "The Family".

There are actually a number of reasons--besides the obvious--why it should be a matter of concern that Hillary Clinton would appear to have been recruited into a religious pyramid scheme with strong political aspirations. One reason I am gravely concerned for her right now is info I've dug up on the *other* reported members of her "cell church"--almost all of whom have strong history with dominionists...and it doesn't help that Hillary has also made some statements that point to her possible involvement in something very dangerous.

(An aside: For those unfamiliar with "cell church" groups--religious pyramid schemes that also have a very unhealthy tendency towards "Big Brother" activities that are used as a major tool in both recruitment and setting up "cuckoo congregations" in mainstream churches and political groups--please see my previous article on "The Family" and articles I've done in past on cell churches in practice.)

Hillary's fellow travellers in "The Family"--something to be concerned about

A glimpse on just why the concept of Hillary Clinton being in an actual Family "cell" (rather than merely attending the National Prayer Breakfast) is deeply concerning can be had in an article Jeff Sharlet has written for Mother Jones which may have been the first to report on the cell group in question:

When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian "cell" whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the anti-union Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat.

Here's a brief dossier on each of the members:

Susan Baker

Susan Baker may not be all that familiar a name to modern audiences, but those of us following anti-censorship initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s remember her quite well--Susan Baker and Tipper Gore were the co-founders of the infamous Parent's Music Resource Council, a pro-censorship group that actively tried to get the entire musical libraries of certain artists banned. (Few people remember the PMRC wasn't originally pushing for the infamous "Tipper Stickers"--they wanted a ban, a complete ban, on distribution of certain artists and even after "Tipper Stickers" were widely adopted by the music industry attempted to have laws passed banning sales of "Tipper Stickered" albums to under-18s. "Tipper Stickers" actually came about as a compromise.)

Folks who are children of the 80s may well remember the PMRC ranting against Twisted Sister and 2 Live Crew. Less remembered, save among anti-censorship activists--and considerably less reported--is the fact that the PMRC was a major promoter of "Satanic Panic" and even funneled kids (who were unlucky enough to have censorious parents discover their collection of Metallica or Mötley Crüe albums) to one of the earlier and more infamous "Bible boot camps" in the dominionist "parallel economy" to legit mental health services (and in fact, the latter-day version of the infamous Love In Action/Refuge center recently shut down in Tennessee).

PMRC would often claim that "shock rock" artists such as Alice Cooper were active Satanists (amusing, since it's now widely known that Cooper is a Sunday school teacher at a Presbyterian church); as part of their promotion of "Satanic Panic", PMRC would actively promote a highly abusive "Bible boot camp" run by "deliverance ministry" promoter Bob Larson--the infamous "Back In Control Training Center"--in fact, rather extensively promoted, as documented in Dave Marsh's "Fifty Ways to Fight Censorship", documentation from the anti-censorship group Rock Out Censorship, and none less than Jello Biafra who was a very frequent target of the PMRC's wrath:

O for occult. Who is going to define what that is? In his first spoken word album, No More Cocoons, Eric Reed Boucher (who I will refer to by his stage name, Jello Biafra) notes one of the groups endorsed by the PMRC, called the Back in Control training center. This group was run by several Orange County based police officers, who among other things, published the Punk and Heavy Metal Handbook, which was sent out to police departments & parents alike. Among their list of occult related items and symbols were the following: black t-shirts, eagles (our national symbol), graffiti placed under bridges & in flood wash channels (in order to be closer to Hell and the devil), the Ozzy logo, the peace symbol (on the grounds that it is an upside down crucifix with arms broken to mock Christianity), and one of the most disturbing parts of this list, the Jewish Star of David. There is also a clip on Youtube titled "An Inconvenient Douche" from the early 90's when both Jello Biafra and Tipper Gore appeared on Oprah, where Biafra points these out as well.

"Back In Control" promised to "de-metal" and "de-rap" kids (just as "reparative therapy" groups promise to "de-gay" kids) and used almost identical tactics; Larson's facility promoted things like the claim that peace signs were "satanic symbols" and was a major promoter of the "Satanic Panic" which ended up ruining hundreds of people's lives due to false claims of "satanic abuse". An article from Kerr Cuhulain's "Witch Hunts" series (which is an expose of promoters of "Satanic Panic") details some of the FUD that "Back In Control" used to promote whilst in operation:

Another of the disturbing themes of America's Best Kept Secret is the idea that only Christian law enforcement personnel should be investigating "occult crime." "The law enforcement system in general is neither prepared nor equipped to handle the increasing amount of Satanic and occult-related crime in the US," Frattarola warns us, "Aside from Darlyne Pettinicchio, Sandi Gallanta (sic) in San Francisco, Dale Griffisss (sic) in Tiffin, Ohio, and an handful of other police officers around the country, law enforcement officials are frantically playing catch up."(47) Frattarola then quotes Sergeant Randy Emon extensively.

Frattarola's report was written before Emon re-examined the evidence and publicly recanted. Pettinichio, a deputy probation officer, is the founder of the Back In Control Training Center in Orange, California. She and her partner Greg Bodenhammer teach that heavy metal music turns juveniles into suicidal Satanists. Griffis is a retired police officer who set himself up as an "occult crime expert" and is a major disseminator of urban legends concerning Satanic crime. Sandy Gallant definitely has an interest in this subject but is well aware of the difference between Pagans and Satanists. Frattarola drops Gallant's name in America's Best Kept Secret but does not quote her or otherwise mention her. That Frattarola has misspelled Gallant's name is an indication that he doesn't know her very well. I have no concerns about Gallant or Emon.

Much of the rest of America's Best Kept Secret is a rant bemoaning the lack of evidence and support for Frattarola's beliefs.

The last two pages of the "Special Report" express the view of the Calvary Chapel that "The United States as a nation, has turned its back on God and as a result, has opened the door to, and even encourages Satanic activity by acting in bold defiance to the ways of God, dabbling in a practising things God's Word expressly forbids."(48) This is a common theme in works of this sort which exposes the purpose of such literature. It is intended to create the impression that Satanic cults are a widespread problem and responsible for many of the ills of society. At the same time it offers membership in the Church and persecution of non-Christian beliefs as viable solutions to this "problem".

(The latter is in reference to a "Special Report" given to police departments claiming that hundreds of secretive diabolist cabals have been found in the US and were operating large-scale murder and child-rape rings. No reliable evidence of this has ever been found; in fact, the only reliable evidence of any form of systematic, organised religiously motivated child abuse of any sort has to a whole been centered in the dominionist community.)

Another example of "Back In Control" FUD is here:

Some suggest that they should be "de-punked" and "de-metaled" before it's too late. More than 150 parents, teachers, probation officers, psychiatrists and police turned out for an all-day conference in Pasadena earlier this month to discuss the potentially evil effects of the punk and heavy metal culture. Punk and heavy metal paraphenalia was passed around. Chilling stories were told, like the one about the 15-year old "heavy metaler" who smashed all the furniture in his parents' house and beat his mother about the face. A videotape called "Spikes and Studs" was also played showing young women tearing away their clothes and offering theirbodies to the musicians. (Ed. note: As far as the women offering their bodies goes, remember, they did that to Frank Sinatra, too.)

Titled "Sound and Fury," the conference--one of the first to be held on the punk-metal phenomenon--was sponsored by the Back In Control Training Center in Fullerton, which was started up recently by two former Orange County probabation officers to teach parents what to look for and how to get tough with their children. For center directors Greg Bodenhamer and Darlyne Pettinicchio, punk and heavy metal--particularly metal--is public enemy number 1. They maintain there is a direct link between the aggressive music and lifestyle, and teenage suicide, homicide and self-inflected wounds. "These kids have been totally brainwashed by this stuff. They've got to be de-punked and de-metalized," Bodenhamer said.

He and Pettinicchio point to some well-publicized cases over the past year: Last October, 14 year-old Jennifer Newton was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stabbing and bludgeoning her mother to death in Fullerton. Prosecutors said Newton and her boyfriend were absorbed with heavy metal music. Last August, two teenage San Bernadino boys, described by authorities as "into the heavy metal scene," were accused of murdering a 15-year old boy who was shackled to a heavy milk crate near his home. In January, one 14 year-old boy was found by his parents bleeding in his Santa Monica bedroom after he sliced his knuckles and scrawled a giant "A" for anarchy on the wall. He survived.

Not everyone shares the somewhat alarming position that surfaced at the Pasadena conference. "I really don't think they're any big threat," Los Angeles Police Detective Harry Andrews said. "Sure, we arrest a few of them for dangerous weopons like attaching spikes on their hands. But, really, you know, people thought we were crazy too (in the 60's)."

(Yes, in certain households, it could actually be dangerous to be a metalhead--you risked being sent to a coercive center which practiced thought-reform tactics, a literal "Jesus gulag", if they found your music stash. I got very, very good at hiding my record and tape collection, needless to say!)

Much of the propoganda used for involuntary internment of metal fans to "Back In Control's" facility is almost, word-for-word, identical to the hate speech used nowadays against LGBT people. The book "Sound Of The Beast" (a history of heavy metal in the US, including the attempts to censor metal in the 80s), also has a few interesting details:

Through the feeding cycle of misinformation, heavy metal became targeted as a problem, and broadly inaccurate propoganda soon became probable cause to detain and search any high-schooler in a Ratt T-shirt. Companies like the Back In Control Training Center explicitly advertised their expertise in cult deprogramming techniques (not legit exit counseling--dogemperor) to "de-punk" or "de-metal" troubled teens and bring them in line with fundamentalist Christian beliefs. "Once kids become part of the heavy metal or punk culture," said Back In Control's founder in the book The Satan Hunter, "there is an attitude they frequently pass on to the parents: 'I'm going to do what I want, the hell with you, leave me alone,' and with the metallers, in particular, better than 90 percent are involved with drugs."

(Of note, the series "Witch Hunts" has an extensive debunking of "The Satan Hunter".)

As it turns out, I'm not the only one who sees the resemblance to "de-gaying" (and, for that matter, the entire coercive "Bible boot-camp" industry, which largely got its start with "de-metaling" and "de-punking" centers). No less than the book "Taboo Tunes" (a history of attempts at censorship of music due to "moral panics") also made that direct comparison:

...in an approach similar to that employed by those who have established treatment programs in order to "cure" homosexuals by retraining them, various organizations (like the Back In Control Training Center based in Orange, CA) were founded as "de-punking/de-metalizing" brainwashing centers in the 1980s.

In fact, Susan Baker was effectively the dominionist liason for PMRC in practice--and throughout Baker's term as PMRC co-leader (the group is now operated by Barbara Wyatt), the PMRC not only actively partnered with dominionist groups but became increasingly dominionist in and of itself:

Also disturbing are their connections with the Religious Right and other blatantly pro-censorship forces. For example, Susan Baker has said that "God calls me to be his instrument," and frequently arranges prayer meetings for the Washington power elite, commenting that her goal in life is to "live out the gospel." She also sits on the board of James Dobson's Focus On The Family, which openly favors censorship, going so far as to denounce Calvin Klein ads as "explicit and deviant."

It's also come out that Tipper Gore has, on at least one occasion, been invited to speak at an Eagle Forum dinner. The Eagle Forum, created by Phyllis Schlafly, is one of the largest anti-feminist, pro-life, anti-gay and ultimately anti-free speech organizations in America, which makes one wonder about Tipper's portrayal as a progressive, pro-choice feminist.

Oh, yes, there's that, too--Susan Baker was a known FotF board member as of 1992 (the date of the Rock Out Censorship article in question), though she isn't listed as of 2005. But during its period of maximum influence, the PMRC effectively operated as a frontgroup of none other than Focus On The Family--who did a lot of their early recruitment through PMRC newsletters.

Joanne Kemp

Joanne Kemp also tends to lean dominionist (subtly noting that the only people she really considers to be "Christian" are "born-again Christians"--code in dominionist circles for fellow dominionists):

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: How would you describe the role of religion in your lives now?

JOANNE KEMP: I would say our faith is very important to me and to all of our family, which is, you know, it's a great joy to see our grown children putting faith central in their lives as well. And so we have a very faith-based family.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Are you a born again Christian?

JOANNE KEMP: Well, I consider that to be like stuttering. I'm Christian. That's like if you say born again, that's a Christian.

(And you better believe this is code. Generally, dominionists--especially neopentecostal dominionists and members of steeplejacked churches--don't consider Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or even members of a lot of mainstream churches truly "born again". In fact, in neopente circles, "born again" has a very specific meaning--namely, someone who has received "baptism in the Holy Spirit" and is speaking in tongues or otherwise "manifesting".)

In fact, Mrs. Kemp "leans dominionist" so much that she is on the board of directors of one of the major promoters of "faith-based coercion" in our prison system--Chuck Colson's "Prison Fellowship Ministries", recently banned from use in state prisons throughout the state of Iowa.

And yes, there's a very specific reason the US District Court roughly 140 pages of "No, you can't set up a neopentecostal tent revival in the prison system with taxpayer funds. Not Yours", too.

Stunts like this:

While these universal, civic values can logically be separated from the biblical context in which they are presented, the intensive, indoctrinating Christian language and practice that makes up the InnerChange program effectively precludes non-Evangelical Christian inmates from participating.Plaintiff-inmate Jerry Dean Ashburn ("Ashburn"), a self-described Reorganized Latter Day Saint, testified that, based on the reading of some of InnerChange's materials, he would not be comfortable joining the program. Plaintiff-inmate Bilal Shukr (a.k.a. Bobby Shelton) ("Shukr"), a Sunni Muslim, also read portions of the InnerChange curriculum and visited with the ISP chaplain to investigate whether InnerChange would be appropriate for him. The chaplain, a Dept. of Corrections employee, informed Shukr that the curriculum was strictly Christian-based and there were no opportunities for interfaith study in the program because there was no interfaith curriculum. Shukr testified that, as a Muslim, the teaching of the Bible was very important. What he could not countenance, as a Muslim, was that he would be in groups in which prayers would be offered to Jesus Christ as a deity, as God's son--something the strictly monotheistic religion of Islam would abhor. Shukr put it this way:

[T]here was no possibility for me, as a Sunni Muslim, to partake in that program without desecrating my faith, without me blaspheming God. We believe there's only one God, and he doesn't have any sons or daughters or partners. He's the supreme ruler over all mankind, and we are all brothers and sisters under one God. For me to embrace any type of curriculum contrary to that, I would be desecrating my faith.

Trial Tr. at 163. There are no similar community-based programs like InnerChange based on an Islamic model. For instance, while the Dept. of Corrections allows individual Muslim inmates to observe aspects of the holy season of Ramadan, there are no communal observations of Ramadan.

This fact, along with his other post-9/11 experiences of racial prejudice, Shukr testified, "just added fuel to the fire, mak[ing] it appear as though the state of Iowa has a partiality toward Christian-based programs, and not faiths of different sorts." Trial Tr. at 166. Inmate Troy Dewayne Redd ("Redd"), also a Sunni Muslim, keeps his faith through praying five times a day, making regular fasts, and attending Friday evening prayer service. For Redd, the act of joining InnerChange would be blasphemy--to do so a person "would have committed a sin against Allah, God." Trial Tr. at 292. InnerChange's own materials cast aspersions on non-Evangelical Christian faith groups.31 The Court found very credible Kevin Watson's testimony when he stated that, as a member of the Nation of Islam, he could not join InnerChange without compromising his faith. Indeed, Watson's Dept. of Corrections counselor informed Watson that InnerChange would probably not be for him.32

Likewise, Dept. of Corrections inmate Glendale More, Jr. ("More"), a member of the Lubavitch Jewish faith, practices his faith by not shaving his beard, wearing a yarmulke (although not yet allowed at the Newton Facility), performing mitzvahs, and staying kosher during high holy days (he pays for all his own kosher meals), praying, and staying in contact with his rabbis. To join a group praying to and worshiping Jesus Christ, as required by InnerChange, would violate his religious faith. The Court found credible the testimony of witnesses who stated that non-religious persons were often characterized by InnerChange staff as "unsaved," "lost," "pagan," those "who served the flesh," "of Satan," "sinful," and "of darkness." Native American inmates who enroll in InnerChange face obstacles as well. Benjamin Burens, a Native American Dept. of Corrections inmate, characterized his religious life as living the sweat lodge ways everyday. He does not believe Jesus Christ is God and does not use the Bible. Like many Native American prisoners, Burens participates in the sweat lodge ceremony on a regular basis. The costs of the sweat lodge materials--rocks, wood, etc.--are paid by those inmates who participate. While InnerChange has provided permission to the few Native American participants in the program to practice the sweat lodge ceremony, InnerChange makes clear that a non-Christian religious observance is not considered part of the InnerChange treatment program and may only be done at InnerChange's discretion. The Court found credible Burens' testimony that, during one-onone sessions with an InnerChange teacher, Burens was asked whether he was saved, whether he was a Christian, and whether he believed in Jesus. Trial Tr. at 758-59. Burens was also asked "what was I doing going out there to the sweat lodge ceremony." Id. at 759. Burens was told the sweat lodge ceremony was basically a form of witchcraft, against the Bible, sorcery, and worship of false idols. The InnerChange Field Guide in use during the time Burens was in the program stated: "As you are transformed into the image of Christ, you have more and more integrity." Pls.' Ex. 74. Not surprisingly, Burens did not last in the InnerChange program. The listed reasons for Burens' expulsion from InnerChange were that, because Burens received a visitor on a Friday, he missed a Friday revival by twenty minutes; that Burens was not growing spiritually; and that he did not "step up" in the community meetings, i.e., he did not fully participate in the services, instead remaining seated while others shows their involvement by singing songs, standing, and raising hands. Trial Tr. at 762-63.

One factor was definitely the promotion of Scientology-esque deliverance ministry, up to and including distributing the "deliverance ministry" manual "Bondage Breaker" as required reading.

Another factor was the fact prisoners had to attend mandatory revival meetings in order to be considered "participating"--and could not only have privileges removed (Prison Fellowship Ministries participants were given preferential housing and privs) but subject to sanctions for failure to complete a drug treatment plan--and, alas, Prison Fellowship Ministries' "InnerChange" (which had been promoted falsely to the Department of Corrections as ecumenical) was the only "drug treatment plan" available (no Rational Recovery, no visits by imams or rebbes or Native American traditional religious authorities).

Oh, and another major factor why it was shut down--a study by the court found the program didn't work and actually had worse recidivism than no treatment at all.

Eileen Bakke

Eileen Bakke is not as familiar as a name to most folks--Bakke (and her husband) are best known now for "charter school" initiatives, but both parties are also the heads of a dominionist grant program known as the Mustard Seed Foundation.

As amazing as it sounds, the very name of the org is a codeword--specifically, the name comes from a very selective quoting of Mark 4 (the story in which Jesus exhorts people to listen, comparing good words of God to tiny mustard seeds that grow into big things), specifically Mark 4:30-32:

[30] And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?
[31] It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
[32] yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

(Revised Standard Version)

A much more common "selective quoting" involving mustard seeds--and one which is backhandedly referred to on the main website for Mustard Seed Foundation--is used in "name it and claim it" circles, where it's claimed that God's blessing is to be given to people who "have faith as a mustard seed" (and in fact it has been known, as a method of soliciting funds above and beyond normal tithes of ten percent, to distribute mustard seeds in neopentecostal dominionist churches--in fact, the actual term "seed faith offering" for "tithes" of thirty to fifty percent of pre-tax income comes directly from this misuse of the parable of the mustard seed).

Mustard Seed Foundation is almost entirely a grant program targeted at neopentecostal dominionist churches (including a "Messianic Jewish" congregation); there is also apparently a scholarship program in place for students attending dominionist colleges.

As for their finances, they do seem to be more open, but even their disclosure gives much reason to worry--a good portion of their efforts are primarily aimed at conversion of other "people of the book" (including not only Jewish and Moslem people, but mainstream Christians (especially Roman Catholics) as well), and practically all of the grants and grant programs they have participated in have been for neopente dominionist church programs (including multiple grants to Assemblies and "Assemblies daughter" churches worldwide, so much that "Mustard Seed Foundation" can be genuinely seen as a funding-front for the Assemblies in unusually blatant manner). Their "theological grants" are given entirely to international "ordination mills"--not one organisation in North America or Western Europe are grant recipients (probably because of strict legal requirements).

The Bakkes also promote dominionist "Christian business" schemes extensively, including at seminars; their fortune has been primarily in the energy market, as Dennis Bakke was a former CEO of major international energy company AES.

As for their charter schools, it would appear the owners have taken great pains to hide...well...*everything* of note that could point to a dominionist origin. The only state Imagine operates charter schools in is Arizona.

However...following the link to Dennis Bakke's homepage starts hitting paydirt. In a remarkably similar manner to how Bill Gothard uses "secularised" versions of his material to recruit folks to the religious (and highly coercive) core group, Bakke uses a somewhat sanitized book called "Joy At Work" to lead people to his religious page.

The excerpts from the "Joy At Work Bible Study Companion" are particularly telling. The excerpts (which are a little extensive for me to extensively quote here, so my apologies for referring you to the page) pretty much state that he actively sees the "Saved" as "God's stewards" or "God's regents"--terminology that has been used in both Christian Reconstructionism and "Joel's Army"/"Joshua Generation" theology; some of the phrasing indicates he may lean towards the "Joel's Army" version, with some subtle references to "fivefold ministry" (and not-so-subtle references to explicitly using the nonprofit sector as a bait-and-switch evangelism front).

The wedding of neoconservative hypercapitalism and dominion theology is so close, in fact, that Dennis Bakke pretty much stated in Christianity Today that God wants people to set up "cell" structures of "covering" in businesses:

A lot of Christians say to me, "This is just a management style." I think giving up power, sharing power, and allowing people to make decisions is just part of how God made us. Obviously, out in the secular world, it's an option. But I don't think we as Christians have an option. We do not have an option to control everybody's life. We do not have an option to take over all the important decisions. At least that's how I read the Parable of the Talents. And in Genesis I read that bosses were not supposed to be the ones making all the decisions. In fact, I don't think management is a really good thing. You manage systems and you manage money, but people ought to be led.

(He also explicitly refers to the Parable of the Talents elsewhere as apparently being a Biblical mandate for bosses to delegate duties; in truth, the Parable of the Talents was an admonition to not squander one's gifts but to grow them.)

In the same article, he advocates not only setting up front businesses for charity (rather than having them be run directly by a church) but also advocates having dominionist churches explicitly target CEOs and the like:

What should be the local church's relationship to the business world?

We prize lifestyle and workplace evangelism as being very important, which they are. But God cares just as much about the economics. When was the last time your church prayed to commission the carpenter or an executive?

I don't think churches should run social services or businesses. They shouldn't own clothing stores to serve the community or run food pantries. Churches are usually terrible at running them. They're not economically sustainable, and they don't really help the poor as much as if you just had a really good business. Churches should send their people out to start businesses to serve people's needs.

The church does not pay much attention to the mission we have to steward resources and to meet needs in the world and, along the way, meet our own needs. The pastor ought to be figuring out how we are going to equip somebody to go be the president of AES or the secretary at AES. And how you're equipping them is not teaching them the skills. Your mission is just like Daniel's mission and Joseph's mission, and you ought to be doing it as unto the Lord. This is not primarily for evangelism, but for delivering services to others. You are there to do the stewardship mission, the Genesis mission. As a church, we're all called to both discipleship and stewardship.

Of particular interest--the "sanitized" book is promoted both by Bill Clinton and by Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries, possibly giving a bit of a clue as to whom may be the "shepherd" in the cell.

Grace Nelson

Grace Nelson is probably the only notable cypher as far as dominionist connections go in that list--I expect she, like Hillary, may well be in the process of being "shepherded".

And quite interestingly, Mrs. Nelson was also the only person in the cell willing to give a statement regarding what goes on there.

Sharlet's article notes Mrs. Nelson's commentary:

We contacted all of Clinton's Fellowship cell mates, but only one agreed to speak—though she stressed that there's much she's not "at liberty" to reveal. Grace Nelson used to be the organizer of the Florida Governor's Prayer Breakfast, which makes her a piety broker in Florida politics—she would decide who could share the head table with Jeb Bush. Clinton's prayer cell was tight-knit, according to Nelson, who recalled that one of her conservative prayer partners was at first loath to pray for the first lady, but learned to "love Hillary as much as any of us love Hillary." Cells like these, Nelson added, exist in "parliaments all over the world," with all welcome so long as they submit to "the person of Jesus" as the source of their power.

Throughout her time at the White House, Clinton writes in Living History, she took solace from "daily scriptures" sent to her by her Fellowship prayer cell, along with Coe's assurances that she was right where God wanted her. (Clinton's sense of divine guidance has been noted by others: Bishop Richard Wilke, who presided over the United Methodist Church of Arkansas during her years in Little Rock, told us, "If I asked Hillary, 'What does the Lord want you to do?' she would say, 'I think I'm called by the Lord to be in public service at whatever level he wants me.'")

In other words, even Mrs. Nelson has (more subtle) dominionist connections--with the Florida equivalent of the "National Prayer Breakfast", specifically picking who'd get recruited on as "Family" state contacts.

And possible signs of influence--or why I'm worried about what Hillary's gotten into

Another thing notable in the Jeff Sharlet article is a particular bit of phrasing from Clinton that is ringing major alarm bells for me in regard to her potential level of involvement--and what may well be going on in her "cell group":

After a glancing shot at Republican "pharisees," Clinton explained that, of course, her "very serious" grounding in faith had helped her weather the affair. But she had also relied on the "extended faith family" that came to her aid, "people whom I knew who were literally praying for me in prayer chains, who were prayer warriors for me."

This could be bad. Very bad.

For one, I have *never*, never ever ever, heard the phrases "prayer warriors" or "prayer chains" outside of a neopentecostal dominionist context. You don't even hear that stuff in SBC churches unless they are under heavy neopente influence.

In fact, there's only one place I've *ever* heard the term "prayer warrior"--within Joel's Army/Joshua Generation circles.

Lest I be accused of paranoia, I did a Google search for "prayer warrior" as a reality check just to be sure the PTSD wasn't flaring.

I'm afraid it wasn't just the PTSD. Link after link after link after link in the Google search goes to various "Joel's Army" promoters--with one of the *very* few exceptions being a link to books published by the SBC's Lifeway; the SBC itself is becoming positively infested with "Joel's Army" promotion, sadly, so this doesn't really make it mainstream. The search for "Prayer chain" (which is just a linked network of "prayer warriors") was a little less worrying, but not by much.

One of the more disturbing links--and I think this should be a telling summary of the entire concept--is a link to the website of the infamous "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" game (a Starcraft-esque tactical RPG fictionalisation of Joel's Army/Joshua Generation endtime theology where you get points both for converting people--and for killing "sinners" who won't convert); apparently there is a "prayer warrior" class in the game that gives bonuses for conversion.

Another telling link as to the reality of "prayer warriors" is the story of a walkaway and survivor of involuntary exorcism who eventually had to break off almost all relations with his family (who are neopentecostal dominionists) after daring to come out as a gay man.

The very term "prayer warrior" seems to have been invented by Joel's Army promoter C. Peter Wagner (who publishes books on not only "prayer warrioring" but "prayer shields" as well)--it is a very specific terminology, and--in neopentecostal dominionist circles--it is explicitly and tactitly known that "prayer warrior" activities can include not only prayers to bless but to curse.

Yes, imprecatory prayer is alive and well in these circles. In fact, Ken Hutcherson--yes, the same one linked with the violent Joel's Army hategroup "Watchmen At The Walls", actually called up his network of "prayer chains" of "prayer warriors" to do imprecatory prayers against the participants in the Day of Silence. More examples of imprecatory prayers are presented in this online submission for "prayer warriors" to do "prayer chains"--including a request for imprecatory prayers against "occult enemies", multiple requests for imprecatory prayers against non-dominionist relatives including a particularly disturbing request for imprecatory prayer against a daughter who came out as gay, an imprecatory prayer request against someone named "Martha", a request for imprecatory prayer against all opponents of the coercive Assemblies frontgroup Teen Challenge--and that's just in the first few. (And yes, this sort of thing is so common as to be the norm in these groups.)

Hillary, Hillary, Hillary...just what the devil have you gotten yourself into? :(

Secondly, Hillary Clinton is in an unusually vulnerable area as far as recruitment into cell groups go--she's had a rather extensive history growing up under authoritarian groups. Her pastor when she was growing up (a pastor of a mainstream United Methodist Church) has noted she had interest in conservative theological writing even as a teen and that her high school history teacher was "to the right of the John Birchers"; Hillary's grandmother Hannah Jones Rodham (even by Mrs. Clinton's own acknowledgement in her autobiography) was also infamously authoritarian, being known locally in the Scranton area as more than a bit of a holy terror. At least one DailyKos writer has written rather extensively on Hillary's relationship with Hannah Jones Rodham--including notes that Hillary apparently quite admired her grandmother.

Even more disturbingly, it looks like Clinton may be in the process of being graduated to a formal "member" (which, in "Family"-speak, is actually closer to being an initiate into the "inner circle"), per Sharlet's article:

These days, Clinton has graduated from the political wives' group into what may be Coe's most elite cell, the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast. Though weighted Republican, the breakfast—regularly attended by about 40 members—is a bipartisan opportunity for politicians to burnish their reputations, giving Clinton the chance to profess her faith with men such as Brownback as well as the twin terrors of Oklahoma, James Inhofe and Tom Coburn, and, until recently, former Senator George Allen (R-Va.). Democrats in the group include Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor, who told us that the separation of church and state has gone too far; Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is also a regular.

There is also a note earlier in the article that also strongly indicates Hillary is being actively groomed towards "Membership", if she's not nearly there already:

Clinton, says Schenck, has become a regular visitor to Coe's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters, a former convent where Coe provides members of Congress with sex-segregated housing and spiritual guidance.

"Schenck" here is Robert Schenck, who is an Assemblies of God pastor (in fact, pastor of the National Community Church, a large Assemblies megachurch which John Ashcroft has been an attendee of) and who is a former head of the infamous anti-choice group Operation Rescue. Schenck promotes his Jewish origins and claims to have converted in Assemblies "missions" targeting the Jewish population; he is also an extremely well politically-connected preacher, not only running a national de facto political action committee of dominionist preachers (largely Assemblies of God) which can literally be said to comprise some of the "worst of the worst" in the Assemblies, but also is partnered with and/or runs numerous dominionist political initiatives nationwide (including a frontgroup of the largely-Assemblies-dominated "National Clergy Council" called "Faith and Action" which has been known to engage in illegal electioneering).

Schenck is rather infamous for, among other things, sneaking into the Senate chambers and "annointing" the seats in cooking oil to "name and claim" the Senators in an bizarre imprecatory prayer attempt to hex them into voting for Samuel Alito during the hearings on whether Alito should become a Supreme Court Justice; Schenck also quite explicitly cursed the families of the Sago, West Virginia mine disaster and claimed that "God would rebuke them" for a statement made by a family member of "...you wonder if there is such a thing as a God anymore" (for those who don't remember, initial reports had indicated only one of the 12 miners had died, and this was thought to be a miracle; sadly, reports were corrected and it turned out only one miner had survived).

To say that Schenck would know whether or not anyone is being inducted into the inner workings of "The Family" is an understatement--if there is a dominionist initiative in Washington, Schenck or an associate *certainly* has his finger in the pie at some level.

There's also some disturbing evidence that Clinton may have been initially recruited--and that other politicians are being targeted across both major parties--specifically for the opportunities involved in working with the Oval Office on things like legislation. "The Family" expressly considers itself "kingmakers for God", and the Sharlet article also notes this explicitly:

Coe has been an intimate of every president since Ford, but he rarely imposes on chief executives, who see him as a slightly mystical but apolitical figure. Rather, Coe uses his access to the Oval Office as currency with lesser leaders. "If Doug Coe can get you some face time with the President of the United States," one official told the author of a Princeton study of the National Prayer Breakfast last year, "then you will take his call and seek his friendship. That's power."

"If you're going to do religion in public life," concurs Schenck, a Jewish convert to fundamentalist Christianity who's retained his sense of irony, Coe's friendship is a kind of "kosher...seal of approval."

In other words...if she's not a "Member" yet, she is almost certainly being groomed towards that end, and by people who make the "Washington Wives" seem like a Sunday brunch in comparison. Even more disturbingly, she may have been recruited under pretences that may have seemed like a political necessity.

Based on this information, I think it is especially important that Hillary--and for that matter, all politicians--come clean regarding their relationships with "The Family".

Not just because we worry about "The Family", mind. We're worried about them, too.

A few days ago, I wrote a post expressing concern re Hillary Clinton's reported involvement in a cell-church group operated by the longest-running political dominionist group in existence--some folks considered this a wee bit controversial, in part because it was "OMG CANDIDATE DIARY" (to be honest, I'm worried about her) and partly because folks noted "there is no clear evidence this is coercive".

After some discussion with Jeff Sharlet over in Fred Clarkson's article on "The Family"--in which he's discussed info that will be included in his upcoming book--it would appear that not only does "The Family" use the same model as other coercive groups using pyramid-like structures, but may well have *originated* its use politically.

A history of cell-church groups, revised

In my initial history of cell-church groups, I had noted that the earliest use I had documented for the use of cell-groups in any manner was the late 40s-early 50s within the Assemblies of God (a group known for its promotion of neopentecostal dominionism--being quite possibly the originators of it from a very early period).

Recent research I've done regarding the history of the violent "Joel's Army"/"Joshua Generation" group "Watchmen At The Walls" has pushed back the use of cells in church steeplejacks probably to the late 1910s-early 1920s (again originating with the Assemblies)--and recent info from Sharlet which is to be published in his upcoming book "The Family" indicates that not only did "The Family" originate the practice but cell-church groups may have already been in semi-common use politically.

Specifically, Sharlet has traced the origin of political cell-church usage in "The Family" to one Frank N.D. Buchman, who may well have become acquainted with the practice via the use of cell-churches in China (later notable promoters of highly abusive cell-churches in China and among Chinese emigre communities include Watchman Nee and Witness Lee). In the 20s, he eventually was kicked out of China--in no small part because he accused other missionaries of being homosexuals.

Buchman well may have been one of the first dominionists in the US not affiliated with a neopentecostal church; he was a Lutheran, and in 1921 onward he founded an early dominionist group originally known as "The Oxford Group" and later becoming known as Moral Re-Armament (it has since gone through another reinvention and is known now as Initiatives of Change, and would superficially appear to have toned down some of its rhetoric).

Moral Re-Armament spawned not only Alcoholics Anonymous (a program that has come under criticism because of its reliance on a deity) but the program "Up With People"; its "Four Absolutes" (absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love) were seen to waffle in practice (there's some evidence that an early version of "bait and switch evangelism" or "heavenly deception" may have been used in that "absolute love" could require the telling of "white lies"), and the group became enough of a personality cult (around Buchman and--in a manner similar to that of neopente dominionist groups and what has been reported re "The Family"--the emphasis of "rhema" (personal revelation) along with and even over "logos" (the written Word)) that the conservative Catholic League itself warned Roman Catholics against association with the group as of 1951.

The Catholic League article actually does have some interesting info on the group:

The basic tenet of MRA is that the reformation of the world can only be achieved by creating a moral and spiritual force, by convincing all men of the necessity of absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love. As helps to the practice of these cardinal virtues and to the further development of their moral life, the members of MRA engage in the exercises of sharing, surrender, substitution, and guidance. It is the last practice in particular that is of interest in an evaluation of this group.

Many leaders, Buchman states, are convinced that the world needs a moral and spiritual awakening, and they put their case in striking phrases. But that is only words. The problem facing men is how to do it. To solve this difficulty Buchman turns to God:

Now I find when we don't know how, God will show us if we are willing. When man listens, God speaks. When man obeys, God acts. The secret is God-control. We are not out to tell God. We are out to let God tell us. And He will tell us.

The lesson the world most needs is the art of listening to God. [2]

Listening to God is the heart of MRA. As a program of spiritual reformation, it must be performed according to protocol. Everyone must set aside a "quiet time" of fifteen minutes a day to listen to the voice of God. Although "anyone can hear the words of the Lord," it is also necessary to obey certain rules:

The first rule is that we listen honestly for everything that may come—and if we are wise we write it down. The second rule is that we test the thoughts that come, to see which are from God.

One test is the Bible. It is steeped in the experience through the centuries of men who have dared, under Divine guidance, to live experimentally with God. There, culminating in the life of Jesus Christ, we find the highest moral and spiritual challenge—complete honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love.

Another excellent test is, "What do others say who also listen to God?" This is an unwritten law of fellowship. It is also an acid test of one's commitment to God's plan. No one can be wholly God-controlled who works alone. [3]

Buchman is sure that he has this direct guidance from on high:

In a revolution I went through not long ago, God gave me direct orders to stay in a place which the authorities had said was the most dangerous of all. I stayed. Others, who fled in search of safety, nearly lost their lives. My friend and I were perfectly safe. [4]

The results of his listening are clear. He finds that God's thoughts become his thoughts. In fact, "direct messages come from the Mind of God to the mind of man—definite, direct, decisive. God speaks." [5]

This gift is not limited to himself. Everyone can, in fact, must, receive his instruction directly from God:

We accept as a commonplace a man's voice carried by radio to the uttermost parts of the earth. Why not the voice of the living God as an active, creative force in every home, every business, every parliament? Men listen to a king when he speaks to his people over the air. Why not the King of Kings? He is alive, and constantly broadcasting. [6]

Thus divine guidance must become the normal experience of ordinary men and women. "Any man," says Buchman, "can pick up divine messages if he will put his receiving set in order. Definite, accurate, adequate information can come from the Mind of God to the minds of men." [7]

Receiving this communication from God to begin a life governed by absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love is only the first step. It is the reform of self which must come before anything else can be accomplished. But the aim of MRA is more comprehensive. Buchman envisages the change not only of individuals, but, through them, of the entire human race:

Wherever I go people say one thing: "If only so-and-so would be changed!" You probably thought of the very person. Or you probably thought of five persons. Well, think of five persons changed. Think of nations changed. Is that the answer? The world is looking for an answer, and, by the Grace of God, there is an answer. But be clear on this point, the answer is not in any man or any group of men. The answer rests in the living God. It rests in a God-controlled person. It rests in a God-controlled nation. It rests in God-controlled supernationalism. [8]

Individual change of hearts leading to the reformation of the world is the plan and purpose of MRA. Moral Rearmament, therefore, is not a new organization which prescribes allegiance to a system of truths or precepts, but avowedly is only a means of deepening the truths which every man must hold. It is neither a church nor a religious sect. There are no dogmas to profess; no rites to practice. MRA exists only to change the lives of men, to make zealous reformers out of sinners, who still remain members of their individual churches. "Catholic, Jew and Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Confucianists—all find they can change, where needed, and travel along this good road together." [9]

(Footnotes: [2] Buchman, Frank N.D., Remaking the World (London, 1955), p. 35.
[3] Ibid., p. 36.
[4] Ibid., p. 40.
[5] Ibid., p. 72.
[6] Ibid., p. 13.
[7] Ibid., p. 14.
[8] Ibid., p. 25.
[9] Ibid., p 166.)

In a move that eerily mirrored the use of cells in "The Family"--and in better-known coercive groups such as Campus Crusade and (most infamously) Maranatha, the use of cell-churches to promote official dogma was rampant--and even at this embryonic state, warning signs abounded:

Frank N.D. Buchman, founder of MRA, was born in 1878 of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. He studied for the Lutheran ministry at Philadelphia, also travelling abroad to England and Germany. Assigned to a poor parish at his own request, he soon brought it to a flourishing condition by his zealous activity. In 1904 he turned to work with youth, and took up a position as chaplain in a youth center. But a disagreement arose between him and the administration over the use of funds for the institution, and Buchman left to travel in Europe. Here, in the English village of Keswick, as he attended a Sunday afternoon session of the village church where a woman evangelist preached about the cross and how Christ had taken on Himself the sins of the world, Buchman had a "spiritual experience." He suddenly saw that all his knowledge of Christianity was only theoretical. His duty was to put it into actual practice. Since personal sin was the cause of the world's evil, there was need for personal repentance. The very first step of his conversion was to write the six members of the committee in Pennsylvania and ask their forgiveness for his part in the argument.

Returning to America, he carried out his intention of imparting to others his own grasp of the religious truth he had seen by converting the atheist son of the family with whom he was boarding. Through his connection with the YMCA, and then Harvard University as a lecturer in personal evangelism, Buchman began to form followers in the ivy league colleges of the East. Soon the practice of house parties, at which students and often prominent men and women gathered to seek the "change," became prevalent throughout the country. One of the principal techniques for this metanoia was a public confession of one's fault's, a device that caused trouble, particularly on college campuses, where the confessions were largely sexual.

(Of note: One of the most frequent warning signs of a potentially coercive group is the unethical use of confessions, especially public confessions. This is an issue that is in fact one of the most frequently forms of systemic religious abuse within cell-church groups.)

The Catholic League was not the only mainstream church at the time to warn about potential abuses in Moral Re-Armament; the Church of England also specifically condemned the group, and the TIME Magazine article is especially enlightening as to the degree of abuse that was occuring--and some *other* disturbing statements by Buchman that would be mirrored by the present-day leader of "The Family":

Imported to America, the Oxford Group went well for a time among Ivy League undergraduates, who responded to the shiny-eyed intensity of the group's weekend "house parties" in well-staffed mansions, with their morning "quiet times" and their public confessions of sins. The four tenets of Frank Buchman's version of Oxford Group Christianity were "absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love," and so much absolutism was bound occasionally to end in tears; at Princeton, for instance, President John Hibben summarily banned Frank Buchman from the campus.
. . .
God-Guided Elite. Buchman meant M.R.A. to be a "God-guided campaign to prevent war by moral and spiritual awakening." It failed to prevent war, and it earned considerable censure for seeming to rely heavily on "changing" dictators; Buchman had the misfortune to exclaim publicly: "I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler." After World War II, M.R.A. turned to attacking Communism.

Another article detailing potential abusive practices in many of Buchman's groups including some specific concerns re Alcoholics Anonymous also notes other practices of concern that point to Moral Re-Armament having been coercive in practice--among others:

Although one can find parallels between AA and the Craigie Foundation, AA really owes its existence to the Oxford Movement, founded by Lutheran minister Nathan Buchman. Buchman, in response to what he believed to have been a personal mystical religious experience, started the First Century Christian Fellowship in 1921. The goal of this group was to establish a world culture based on what Buchman considered to be the beliefs and practices of the early Christian church. Buchman tended to see everything in the context of a battle between good and evil. His vision was messianic and he equated his work and goals with God. He believed that any philosophy or ideology, particularly Communism, which disagreed with his vision of a world-wide theocracy, was inspired by Satan. He established the Four Absolutes: absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love. He referred to himself as "soul surgeon." New members of his group were expected to undergo rigorous self-examination, openly confess their sins and weaknesses, surrender themselves to God, and make restitution to anyone they had harmed in the past. Additionally, they were expected to promote the organization for no fee and fund raising was a key activity of members of the fellowship.

Buchman also promoted the Four Cs: confidence in Buchman the soul surgeon, confession of sins, conviction (or acknowledgement) of one's sins, conversion to the principles of the First Century Christian Fellowship, and continuance of practice of the Fellowship rules. Besides the Four Absolutes and the Four Cs, members were also encouraged to live by specific fellowship slogans, which included "give news, not views," "win your argument, lose your man," and "J.E.S.U.S. just exactly suits us sinners." Buchman's explicitly stated goal was mass conversion that ultimately would lead to humanity being ruled by "God-Control."

The First Century Christian Fellowship grew rapidly in the 1920s. Buchman targeted recruitment activities towards men of power and influence and towards college students. He fully expected his followers to adhere to his dictates totally and to accept the veracity of his mystical experiences without question. Not surprisingly, a considerable amount of negative publicity resulted from his methods of recruitment and his group was often called both a cult and "Buchmanism."

In 1929, following a series of revivals he held in England, Buchman changed the name of his group to the Oxford Group and the organization continued to flourish under the new name. His hatred of communism allowed him to see fascism as a reasonable alternative and in 1936, he was quoted as saying "I thank heaven for a man like Adolph Hitler, who built a front line of defense against the anti-Christ of Communism. Think what it would mean to the world if Hitler surrendered to the control of God? The world needs the dictatorship of the living spirit of God. Hitler is Christianity's defender against Communism." Although he later admitted that he had been duped by Hitler, he did not issue a retraction. Understandably, that interview did irreparable harm to the Oxford Movement and in 1939, Buchman again changed the name of his movement, this time calling it "Moral Rearmament." The influence of Moral Rearmament peaked in the 1940s and its membership declined greatly following Buchman's death in 1961.

In other words, dominionist orgs were hitting on the concept of cell-churches widely as early as the 1920s.

Based on Sharlet's research--to be published in his book next month--"The Family" apparently directly adopted the tactics used by Moral Re-Armament (presumably also including the coercive tactics that got the group banned from Princeton in a remarkably similar manner to how Maranatha was banned from multiple state universities and Campus Crusade has also found itself occasionally banned) full-scale when the group was founded in 1935, integrating the use of cell-church groups in 1942--and already at that time using the specific term "cell group". In fact, much of the statements by Buchman (and Moral Re-Armament during his leadership of the group) *and* by "The Family" seem frighteningly similar enough--in particular the explicit targeting of world leaders for recruitment and the promotion of Jesus Christ as a cult of personality--one could legitimately make the argument that "The Family" may be the standard-bearers for what was known as "Buchmanism" in the Fifties.

Sharlet is supposedly going to be publishing a full history of this in his upcoming book--it is going to be *very* interesting, IMHO, what comes out once "The Family" hits the bookstores.

Recruitment, as it works in "The Family"

Many folks in the various threads re "The Family" have had many questions to the effect of "I heard Barack Obama and John McCain were also involved in this--can you clarify?". Much of the confusion is in part because of the specific terminology that "The Family" uses to describe its various levels of involvement--terms that not only don't exactly have the same meaning as their plain-English equivalents (another danger sign of coerciveness, by the way) but also refer to specific levels common in "pyramid-based" coercive groups.

Again, my descriptions are in part based on confirmation Jeff Sharlet has provided in regards to how the cell structure in "The Family" operates, combined with my own research and experiences.

Level 0: Recruitment via the National Prayer Breakfast

What I will refer to as "Level 0" is, to my knowledge, not named internally in "The Family" but is the level at which people are invited to the National Prayer Breakfast; Level 0 is the "recruitment level", where people are invited to a seminar and the group scouts likely folks out for potential further recruitment. Attendees don't necessarily agree with the ideology.

Level 0 in other groups (in these examples, I'll be using Scientology's internal structure as well as AmWay's; both are pyramidal coercive groups familiar to most--Maranatha and other abusive "discipling and shepherding" groups also have similar internal setups) would be the "personality tests" given by Scientologists (or the purchase of the book "Dianetics") or "business development seminars" held by AmWay or Scientology frontgroups.

Typically at Level 0 in recruitment, almost no practical info is given re the group save that it's a great way to improve yourself (or to network)--it's pretty much only once folks have joined (and, most of the time, not even then) that they realise the level of mire they have just gotten themselves into.

Inside the Beltway, things are complicated by the fact that the National Prayer Breakfast essentially operates as a semi-mandatory attendance event--at least if a politician wants votes. (In part, we can thank groups like "The Family" for this situation.) It's not a dissimilar situation from a person working for a business who is told by his boss to attend "business development seminars" (which turn out to be AmWay or Scientology recruitment events) and who is at risk for either being fired, demoted, or not being eligible for job advancement if he *doesn't* attend these seminars.

Fortunately, this would also appear to be the maximum extent of involvement of Obama and McCain, according to Sharlet.

Level 1: Indoctrination of "Friends" via cell-groups

Level 1 is probably the initial level at which true involvement occurs with "The Family"; this level is internally referred to as "Friends of The Family" and is the first level we start seeing things of real concern. (The following description should, I hope, explain why I am now gravely worried for Mrs. Clinton and what she's gotten herself into.)

Level 1 in "The Family"--and in most other pyramid-style groups (as we'll get into)--is the level of initial indoctrination and "shepherding". In "The Family", there's evidence (which, again, Sharlet will be discussing in full in his book) that indicate the same coercive practices common across pyramidal cell-groups may be occuring.

In particular, at least one comment by Sharlet has indicated that quite a bit more than innocent "Bible study" goes on in these cells, and that other potentially more coercive activities may go on in the inner circle:

I've never accused them of "conspiratorial mind control" but I do document that this is about a lot more than worship and Bible study, which are just fine. In fact, the inner circle of the Family does very little of either -- Doug Coe rejects church, and elite believers are encouraged to seek the advice of Jesus by direct consultation in a cell group, with scripture rarely consulted.

This is more than a little dangerous. In fact (we'll need to wait for Sharlet's book to come out to document more of it, alas), this is a rather strong hint that potentially abusive tactics may be in use (the use of unethical confession tactics by "Family" predecessor/model Moral Re-Armament are already a concern, and disallowing people to read the Bible for themselves (and requiring specific, leader-inspired interpretations) removes a powerful form of "reality testing" for persons in Bible-based groups). In addition, the specific advise to not participate in mainstream churches is very, very worrisome--it's a classic method to isolate people from communities that might threaten the dogma of what is promoted by Coe and by "shepherds".

The fact that group leaders promote authoritarianism in general also does not exactly relax one--it is extremely common in abusive "cell church" groups for leaders to claim direct personal revelation from God, and opposition to the group leaders to be opposition to God.

Level 1 initiates in pyramidal groups are generally not trusted to leadership positions within the group, are privy to only some of the info, and are essentially seen as "infants in need of instruction" internally--so they do tend to be shepherded and shadowed, in part because the group doesn't yet see them as "loyal faithful" and doesn't trust them not to leave or to bugger up.

There are equivalents to this elsewhere. Level 1 in AmWay is typically the level where people have joined the group, are not yet Diamonds, but are trying to peddle Quixtar merchandise to their relatives et al. (This is also where they are encouraged to join the AmWay "business motivational organisations" where quite a bit of the reports of coercive practices come from.) In Scientology, this is the level where people are in the group, aren't yet privy to the secrets about Xenu et al, are running up their credit cards with "auditing" sessions, and often join the Sea Orgs (a paramilitary/missionary group within Scientology) as a method of alternate payment for their E-Meter sessions.)

In addition, there's a potential *second* form of coercion that "The Family" has in their deck that is rarely available to "level 1" in abusive pyramidal groups (other than groups using org-owned living and working arrangements)--namely, "The Family" really can threaten to derail a political career if their mark gets too out of line. The only comparable *common* level of potential coercion over someone's career and livelihood that I'm personally aware of is with Scientology *after* someone has signed themselves into the Sea Orgs (and that's in part because, at that point, they do often end up in employment with Scientology as well as in Scientology-provided housing as well as force their members to sign coercive (and, likely, illegal) "contracts" where members forfeit their right to sue for damages); generally pyramidal groups do *not* get this sort of ammo until the "Level 2" recruitment stage.

This is the level at which Hillary Clinton is presently a member (and why I have concerns for her at this point).

Level 2: Leaders--what "The Family" sees as its "membership"

Level 2 are the shepherds and "faithful leadership" of pyramidal-style groups--those who've been in it long enough, and indoctrinated enough, to be seen as the "true faithful" and thus privy to the truth of what *really* goes on in the org.

In "The Family", Level 2 is what the group terms "members" (this is, as an aside, how "The Family" can legitimately claim that Hillary Clinton is not a "Member" of the group--"Member" refers to the leadership circles). Most of the skunk-works goes on here; people at this stage are pretty much isolated from religious observances outside of "The Family" (and religious groups approved by the org).

Level 2 in AmWay is roughly equivalent to the Diamond level; Level 2 in Scientology would be the OT VIIs and above who've paid out $400,000 US to hear the "Super Secret of Mankind" (namely, that all of humanity's troubles are the direct result of "enturbulation" (oppression and even frank possession) by "body thetans"--alien ghosts which were the result of a mass genocide by Evil Alien Overlord Xenu when he chucked millions of other aliens in the volcanoes at Kilahuea and Las Palmas some 73 million years ago--and most religions/theologies/etc. outside of Scientology are the result of "engrams" (implanted images) shown to these unfortunates before they were dumped in volcanoes to such a level as to give poor Lady Pele a permanent case of indigestion).

Most of Sharlet's writing (before his book) where he's mentioned politicians by name have involved presumed Level 2 members of "The Family". The Level 2 members have the private Family-owned apartments et al; they also toe the line *very* carefully because it could explode messily if they were to escape.

Fairly confirmable Level 2 initiates (or, as "The Family" terms them, "members") include U.S. Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and U.S. Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev.; and Sam Brownback, R-Kan. (All six of these lived in Family-provided apartments.)

Other members (present and past) of Congress that may either be "Friends" or "Members" (not much documentation besides Sharlet's writing exists on this) include Senators Don Nickles and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, John Ensign of Nevada, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Conrad Burns of Montana; House members that may be either "Members" or "Friends" include Frank Wolf of Virginia and Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania.

Level 3: The men behind the curtain

Level 3 are essentially the true leaders of the org--the DeVos clan and the heads of AmWay IBOs would count in the case of AmWay, whilst L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavaige would count as examples in Scientology.

In the case of "The Family", the "Level 3" candidate would be Douglas Coe, who is considered one of the 25 most influential "evangelicals" in the US (in large part due to his leadership in "The Family"). There are potentially other leaders as well that would qualify as "Level 3" management; the group decentralised much of its internal structure in 1972.

Interestingly, "The Family" uses front-groups, but does not use the "church loophole" to avoid filing a form 990 (501(c)3 groups--of which "The Fellowship Foundation", the "core group" of "The Family", is one--are generally required to file a form 990 in lieu of business tax forms, but there is a specific exemption applying only to churches that allows many coercive religious groups to hide their finances almost entirely--Scientology has hidden much of the worth of its assets via this exemption, and so have many of the televangelists now being investigated by Congress).

Because of this, form 990s for the org are available online; Richard E. Carver can thus be added to the list of "Level 3" leaders as can Marty Sherman, Stan Holmes Jr., Frank J. Sizemore III, John May, and Charles McCleod--all of whom are listed as being in upper management of the org. Charles Mendies of New Delhi, India is also listed as a "ministry coordinator"; Douglas Coe is also specifically listed.

An additional listing includes Eric Sanson as VP of "The Family"; Kirk Mitchell as secretary; Leroy Rooker as treasurer; Rod McAllister, Ronnie Cameron, David Parks, David Laux, Denny Pierce, Doug Crane, Robert Perry, Larry Franklin, and Mike Foster as "directors"; and Doug Coe as an "associate". However, this organisational table is more than a little misleading; literally everyone on "The Fellowship Foundation's" board of directors serves all of an hour a week without compensation, with Coe doing most of the running (as the only 40 hour/week board member), and thus can be said to be the true brains of the operation. (He is also the sole paid board member, earning over $51,000/yr based on the 2005 form 990.)

At the end of the form, practically the entire Coe family are listed as employees and "associates" (which may be the term that "The Family" uses in practice for its leadership)--Timothy S. Coe (Doug Coe's son and "associate", $110,000 yearly salary); Janice Coe (Doug Coe's wife and "associate", $2,400 yearly salary); David Coe (another son of Doug Coe and "associate", $110,000 yearly salary); Paula Corder (a married daughter of Doug Coe and "associate", $21,000 yearly salary); Alden Coe (son-in-law of Doug Coe and "associate", $12,500 yearly salary); and finally Elena Cole (daughter-in-law of Doug Coe and "associate", $12,500 yearly salary).

Interestingly, a second frontgroup of "The Family" (listed in the form 990 for "The Fellowship Foundation") is Wilberforce Foundation--it, too, does not use the "church loophole", is apparently a "Young Christian Leader's" training facility (think like Campus Crusade's "Leadership U"), and *is* directly run by David Coe (Doug Coe's son). The group is listed as being in "common management" with "The Fellowship Foundation", and (in addition to Tim Coe and David Coe, who are listed as vice-president and treasurer respectively) Jerry Jonker is listed as president and Marty Sherman as secretary (Sherman is also listed as being associated with "The Fellowship Foundation). All leaders save for Jonker also are substantially paid--Tim and David Coe to the tune of $110,000 yearly, with Sherman being paid $121,200 yearly.

The lack of the use of the "church loophole" is surprising, especially since "The Family" did use this loophole for "C Street Center", the frontgroup that actually manages the apartment housing.

For that matter, the form 990s are turning out to be quite interesting reading in and of themselves--more on that in another post.

There has been quite a lot of writing recently on Talk to Action (and today in regards to a secretive political dominionist group known as "The Fellowship" or "The Family"--especially in relation to an upcoming book by Jeff Sharlet (titled The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power--you can pre-order here) which threatens to blow the "Family Secret" wide open.

Frederick Clarkson here on DailyKos has recently reported on an NBC News report--along with a recent Mother Jones article re Sherlet's book--which give disturbing confirmation to something I've suspected for a time: Namely, that "The Family" uses a particularly abusive "discipling and shepherding" model common in neopentecostal dominionist cell churches.

The abusive tactics could have major implications politically--especially as Sharlet's book has noted that no less than Hillary Clinton is a member of one of the cell-churches linked to "The Family".

A brief history of cell churches and "discipling and shepherding" within neopente dominionist groups

The "discipling and shepherding" tactic known as the "cell church" has a fairly long history within neopentecostal dominionism. According to research I've done informally on the history of "cell churches", the earliest reference to their use has been with the "Watchmen Nee" and "Witness Lee" groups in China (and Chinese emigre communities) in the early to mid-40s (of note, both these leaders were heads of particularly coercive splits from the Church of God), and the tactic seems to have been especially popularised by Campus Crusade (and other "parachurch" quasi-denominations and recruitment fronts run by neopente dominionist orgs and denominations) and the Assemblies of God (starting with Paul Yonggi Cho in the 50's).

There is some preliminary evidence that cell churches may well have been used in the Assemblies *prior* to Cho's popularising of them; this includes the use of "cell-church"-like tactics to infiltrate and steeplejack Reformed Baptist churches throughout Eastern Europe in the 1910s and 1920s (and essentially planting the seed for what would become the especially violent "Joel's Army" group "Watchmen At The Walls").

If the use of "cell churches" is confirmed from early on in "The Family" (which has a history dating back to the early 30s--and some rather disturbing and persistent rumours of possible collaboration with American Nazi groups in that period which I hope Sharlet's book can either confirm or deny), that would lend credence to the neopente dominionist movement having invented it early on--possibly initially as a tactic for the steeplejacking of church and state alike.

Cell churches and "The Fellowship"

As I noted in an expose I've done in past on coercive tactics in cell-churches, the neopente dominionist model of "discipling and shepherding"--the very model which appears to be in use by "The Fellowship" nee "The Family"--may be one of the most singularly coercive and harmful tactics ever devised by spiritually abusive groups.

How cell-churches work is actually rather simple--the best model to look at, in fact, is probably the plethora of "affinity schemes" and similar pyramid schemes promoted throughout the dominionist community.

At top, you have the pastor. Below him, he is "shepherd" over the assistant pastors; these are in turn "shepherds" over the deacons; the deacons are in turn "shepherds" over the small-group managers, these in turn are "shepherds" over smaller groups, and so on until you get down to "home churches" or "cell churches" of around six people, including a "shepherd".

Those of you who are familiar with pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing have seen this before. Namely, everyone reports to or gives money to the "upstream", and they report to the "upstream", and so on and so on till you hit the very head of the organisation. (Yes, there's a reason why pyramid-related affinity fraud is so common--not only is it similar to "discipling and shepherding" models, it's not uncommon for pyramid schemes to be promoted *within* cell churches.)

Though "The Fellowship" doesn't have a pastor per se, there are indications things work pretty similarly. From a recent Mother Jones article on the upcoming book by Sharlet:

Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian "cell" whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the anti-union Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat. Clinton's prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or "the Family"), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to "spiritual war" on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship's only public event, the annual National Prayer Breakfast. (Aside from the breakfast, the group has "made a fetish of being invisible," former Republican Senator William Armstrong has said.)

Of note, this is almost *identical* to how cell-churches operate in the Assemblies of God; often "cells" are segregated by sex, the use of the cell church is explicitly promoted as a "spiritual warfare" tactic, and cell-churches are explicitly promoted as a method of recruitment of people going to seemingly-innocuous affairs.

It's quite possible to herd surprisingly large numbers of people via what amounts to a religious pyramid scheme/"Big Brother Network". An example is given with Yoido Full Gospel Church--Paul Yonggi Cho's church, which has a claimed membership of over 3/4ths of a *million* people and which effectively operates as the Assemblies of God in South Korea.

In the case of Yoido Full Gospel, the level of layering is very apparent in the first three layers--Cho at top, and 171 associate pastors and 356 lay pastors (who are themselves supervised by associate pastors). The number of potential "big brothers" only gets more numerous from there.

And, as it turns out, the primary problem IS with these "big brothers"--just as it is with other kinds of pyramids.

"Big Brother"--not just a TV show anymore

Where this gets especially worrying--in particular in regards to Hillary Clinton's known involvement in a cell-church group linked to the Fellowship--is with the abusive tactics common in these groups.

In fact, the tactic is so abusive that even a number of premillenial-dispensationalist churches otherwise sympathetic to dominionism have commented on how the tactic is harmful if used as directed:

As we shall see, the cell churches are all pyramid structures where apprentice leaders are carefully trained and monitored but under the headship of another leader and the staff of the church. Although they claim to be "New Testament" forms, they are more rigid and authoritarian than the traditional structures we have today. Well known "church growth" consultant, Carl F. George describes his "Jethro I and II" systems (named after a system Moses established of 'lay judges'). It starts with the individual followed by the apprentice leaders, cell group leaders leader of ten, the leader of five groups of ten, of a hundred and five hundred. The flaw here is that the Old Testament form of organization, including the temple and the priesthood were done away with by the New Covenant.

The Pastors develop a hierarchy clergy and lay leaders into an organization which can be drawn on a chart called a "Meta-Map". "Skillful use of a Meta-Map helps staff and boards understand how their churches are configured so they can track such critical important factors as where leaders and potential leaders are, where new people are, how visitors are being handled, and where long-term members are relative to more recent members. A Meta-Map enables leaders to see what happens after everyone has gathered for corporate worship: Where do they go? What tasks to they take with them? What stations in life are they occupying?...Every visual symbol on a Meta-Map represents a leader to be supervised, a training site for producing an apprentice...) (Carl F. George, "The Coming Church Revolution", p. 246) Far from being loosely organized and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, cell groups are tightly controlled within the church hierarchy.

Proponents feel that "the traditional, program-based church cannot contain the coming revival." (Larry Stocksill, "The Cell Church," p. 17) The following describes an ideal cell meeting: "Sometimes, in a home setting, everyone will move into the living area and begin the 'icebreaker' as naturally as any other topic of conversation. The group leader poses a simple question (written into each lesson) to which anyone can have a quick or humorous response. An 'icebreaker' is indispensable because it promotes group community as well as opens up the members to sharing...The next component is a discussion of four questions based around a passage of Scripture. Our groups generally discuss the topic from the previous Sunday's sermon...The lesson closes with an 'application'...After the lesson, the group focuses again on prayer and 'vision.' (ibid., pp.135-136) This is hardly a description of a spontaneous "early church" meeting where everyone is free to share what the Lord is doing in their life. Sharing is okay as long as it relates to the previous Sunday's sermon.

Again, there is evidence of an almost identical setup in "The Fellowship". From the Mother Jones article:

The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God's plan. The Fellowship isn't out to turn liberals into conservatives; rather, it convinces politicians they can transcend left and right with an ecumenical faith that rises above politics. Only the faith is always evangelical, and the politics always move rightward. This is in line with the Christian right's long-term strategy.

From a recent NBC Nightly News broadcast relating to Sharlet's book:

MITCHELL: Jeff Sharlet lived among Coe's followers six years ago and came out troubled by their secrecy and rhetoric.

Mr. JEFF SHARLET: We were being taught the leadership lessons of Hitler, Lenin and Mao. And I'd say, `Aren't--isn't there a problem with that?' And they would even seem perplexed by the question. Hitler's genocide wasn't really an issue for them. It was the strength that he emulated.
. . .
Mr. DOUGLAS COE: (1989) I've seen pictures of the young men in the Red Guard. They would bring in this young man's mother. He would take an ax and cut her head off. They have to put the purposes of the Red Guard ahead of their father, mother, brother, sister and their own life. That was a covenant, a pledge. That's what Jesus said.

[Andrea] MITCHELL: In his preaching, he repeatedly urges a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, a commitment Coe compares to the blind devotion Hitler demanded, a rhetorical technique that draws sharp criticism.

Mr. COE: (1989) Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler were three men. Think of the immense power these three men had, these nobodies from nowhere.

(Yes, you are reading this correctly; one of the present leaders of "The Fellowship" literally is invoking the totalitarian models of both the Cultural Revolution (in China) *and* Nazi Germany as an appropriate model of devotion. He is literally promoting Jesus Christ--and those in the Fellowship who claim to speak for Him--as a cult of personality.)

Tricia Tillian has written a book called "The Transforming Church" which includes a section on the use of cell-churches--and which warns of their coercive potential:

Up to now we have looked at the Church Growth model for change, and the house churches. But now we turn our attention to a different kind of enterprise - the cell church system.

At first glance, there seems little to distinguish cell churches from house churches, and the rhetoric appears to be identical. Both would denigrate the ecclesiastical structures of the old denominations; both would point out the small informal structure of the Early Church and urge Christians to transform their thinking about the way the Church is organised.

But there the similarities end. Christians could be forgiven for believing that cell churches are another method - a commendable method - of avoiding heavy shepherding and making sure that elders do not take on too much authority leaving the church members nothing to do but submit and obey like sheep.

Unfortunately the very opposite is true, for as we shall see, the cell church system is actually designed to enforce stricter obedience to the new order of apostolic government, and to ensure that this obedience is spread to local communities and eventually the entire world.

The purpose of cell churches is to transition the Church as a whole into a new order, to create a radical and ground-breaking reformation that will overthrow the established order and bring into being a pattern of apostolic government and prophetic revelation that will change the thinking of all Christians.

Especially in conjunction with the fact that "The Fellowship" already shows praise for leaders who constructed cults of personality and used tactics of thought reform against their own countrymen, this is especially worrisome.

As Tilliman documents, tactics that would be considered coercive and spiritually abusive are part of the game plan with these groups:

The method being used to change the entire thinking and value system of Christians today (the "paradigm shift" so sought by the leadership) is the Hegelian Dialectic which removes a person's confidence in what he previously believed so that he is open to accept another way of thinking.

As the cell church leadership have realised, this can best be done in a group setting providing love and support, but more importantly to ensure that each person is pressured to compromise his/her established rules or standards in order to be accepted as part of the group and to properly submit to the mentors and trainers set over them.

The aim is not to establish objective truth, on the basis of God's word and the nature of God, whether people like it or not, but to ACHIEVE CONSENSUS.

Group meetings in an informal context are the best place to do this, and that's where the change in thinking is taking place, as well as in the arena of seeker-sensitive megachurches and the revival churches where study is abandoned in favour of music, worship and experiencing God. What little teaching takes place emphsises over and over the need to conform, unite, love everybody, despise rational and critical thinking of all kinds, and agree as one for the good of the whole.

One commentator interviewed for a radio show comments:

"...what the Hegelian Dialectic is – most simply stated as – a synthesising of two opposites and so in a 'seeker friendly' church what you would see, is believers admixed with unbelievers and they would synthesise – that is coming to consensus where truth becomes somewhat in the middle; and so basically what happens is the believer ends up moved very slightly away from his original position of moral absolute – the seeker or the unbeliever is moved slightly more towards faith and the people who are doing this movement think that is good enough and eventually they will come to faith through this process. But the thing that ends up sacrificed really is the truth of the Word of God... [Jesus] always taught it factually and it would either convict people or it would not convict people. It was never watered down or softened ..."

["The Purpose Driven Nightmare"]

On the website of Berit Kjos, there is an excellent explanation of this process:

"When the Word of God is dialogued (as opposed to being taught didactically) between believers and unbelievers, with multiple Bible versions utilized (with King James usage discouraged) and consensus is reached – agreement that all are comfortable with – then the message of the Word of God has been watered down ever so slightly, and the participants have been conditioned to accept (and even celebrate) their compromise (synthesis). The new synthesis becomes the starting point (thesis) for the next meeting, and the process of continual change (innovation) continues. The fear of alienation from the group is the pressure that prevents an individual from standing firm for the truth of the Word of God, and such a one usually remains silent (self-editing). The fear of man (rejection) overrides the fear of God. The end result is a "paradigm shift" in how one processes factual information."

[What's Wrong With The 21st Century Church?" by Dr Robert Klenck]

Studies of this concept of the Hegelian Dialectic, and what Dean Gotcher has called DIAPRAXSIS have been undertaken, and you should not be put off by the scholarly nature of this discussion for at its heart is the basic building block of the New World Order. See for example this article on another website: Dean Gotcher's booklet and an overview and summary here: How Diapraxis manifests itself in the Church Growth Movement.

What is wanted by the cell church leaders is experiential knowledge of God in spiritual intimacy, the miraculous, group hugs, laying on of hands, singing and dancing, food, fun and thrills. Bible study, teaching and preaching the Word are downplayed and in some cases derided, and the main focus is on meeting people's "felt needs", relating to one another, "sharing", social activities, psychology, counselling and using spiritual powers to effect changes in the people who attend or who are being drawn to the group. Developing community life is deemed much more important than establishing objective truth in the heart of the individual.

Uh-oh. To anyone familiar with research on coercive religious groups and other groups practicing thought-reform tactics, this should be throwing up danger signals a-plenty.

Steven Hassan's BITE Model, a generally-accepted map of potentially abusive tactics in religious and business groups, notes some of these tactics rather specifically. In fact, the tactics used in cell-churches practically cover almost the entire BITE Model list of "red flags", including covering almost the entire Behaviour and Emotional Control sections (this is extremely unusual unless one is dealing with an incredibly abusive group; it is very, very rare that a group will hit each and every single category in the BITE model even if the group IS known to be abusive). Of note, the tactics described above would also qualify as abusive in lists of thought-reform tactics devised by Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer and Dr. Michael Langone, two of the original researchers on coercive tactics; I've used the BITE model precisely because it is probably the most in-depth model available of coercive tactics used in spiritually abusive groups.

Tilliman goes on to describe the level of coercion in Yoido Full Gospel; she makes a very persuasive case that essentially Cho has an iron fist over his congregation via the use of the extensive cell-church network.

And there's a very good reason why it works, sadly enough.

Evidence of psychological harm in cell churches

Possibly one of the most damning bits of evidence to ever come out re the effectiveness of cell-church groups to essentially breed a hivemind in their members (and that is pretty much the purpose of them) is a psychological study published in the book "The Discipling Dilemma" (which covered abusive "discipling and sheperding" tactics within the Boston Church of Christ, now the International Church of Christ--a group now, along with Maranatha, considered a model of how abusive "Bible-based" coercive groups tend to operate).

In this study, seven groups widely considered to be coercive (Scientology, the Hare Krishnas, the Moonies, The Way International (an abusive neopente group which has had some links with Bill Gothard promoters as of late), the ICC, Maranatha (now Every Nation) and the Children of God (an odd "Bible-based" cult which has had aspects of neopentecostalism and which has had notable issues with sex abuse) were compared with a control group of Churches of Christ not employing cell churches as well as members of mainstream Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.

In literally all the cases of known coercive religious groups--including the two groups (Maranatha and ICC) known to use coercive "cell church" models and Scientology (which has used similar models)--there were documented personality type changes based on the MBTI in past, present, and future axes (usually converging on ESFJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ). In the case of the "Bible-based" groups using abusive cell church models, the evidence was particularly disturbing:

Among the 835 individuals who took all three forms of the MBTI, less than five percent showed no change at all and less than seven percent had the same past and future type. Among the rest, a comparison of past and future types showed that almost 20 percent changed on one MBTI scale, 35 percent changed on two, over 26 percent changed on three, and over 12 percent changed on all four scales, thus experiencing a total reversal of type.
. . .
A second result of this study that must be noticed is that the observed changes in psychological type scores were not random since there was a clear convergence in a single type. Ten of the 16 types show a steady decline in the percentage who came out as that type in the past, present, and future versions of the MBTI. Three transitional types show an increase from past to present and then a sharp decline in the future outcomes. There were three popular types in this study: ESFJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ. There was a steady increase in the percentage who came out with these three type indications in the past, present, and future results Percentages are figured separately for males and females since male and female distributions differ on the thinking-feeling scale. In the past, present, and future results, the percentage of males who came out ESFJ went from 2.58 to 26.37 to
to 54.23 while the percentages for females went from 5.10 to 34.31 to 53.48. ESTJs differ from ESFJs only on the thinking-feeling scale. The percentage of males who scored as ESTJ went from 7.73 to 15.92 to 20.37 while the percentages for females went from 4.67 to 13.81 to 23.04. ENFJs differ from ESFJs only on the sensing-intuition scale. The percentages of males who came out ENFJ went from 1.29 to 4.73 to 14.81, while the percentages for females went from 0.64 to 3.97 to 12.17.

There was a clear pattern of changing from introversion to extraversion, from intuition to sensing, from thinking to feeling, and from perceiving to judging.

(Emphasis mine.)

Generally, someone either has to be *very* good at faking answers or has to be involved in a group that practices pretty severe thought reform tactics to have a *total* reversal from INTP to ESFJ.

None of the controls showed this longterm personality change--thus indicating that the practice of "discipling and shepherding", as typically applied in cell-churches, is inherently harmful. This is the sort of thing that can trigger literal mental breakdowns (and has been well documented to do so in the case of Scientology and groups into "deliverance ministry").

Needless to say, this is very worrying--especially with Hillary Clinton's involvement in the group. (I would especially like commentary from Mr. Sharlet, if it's not been published in the book, in regards to tactics used within Fellowship "cell churches".)

This is especially worrying, too, not just on a personal level (I am a survivor of a group that did, and does, use abusive cell-church tactics--which is part of why I'm sort of a subject matter expert in that field). Other reports re David Coe, the leader of "The Family", don't really rest my mind, either.

We hope Hillary Clinton decides to be forthcoming regarding her relationship with "The Family" and in particular the cell-church group linked with "The Family" she is apparently a member of. It would be good for her to be open about this, or to better yet, disavow the group; secrets regarding "The Family"...are, pretty soon, no longer going to stay "in The Family".