Religious indoctrination causes physical and emotional issues. Many people need healing from spiritual conditioning exercises but don’t realize it. Could this be you? See if you are a victim of religious brainwashing tactics.
Some religious beliefs contain harmful beliefs and values which can taint your worldview. It’s critical to understand the programming of your worldview. Your worldview is the template that guides your decision-making processes. Recognizing cognitive distortions in recovery from spiritual indoctrination is the first step.
The term spiritual conditioning exercises is another way of saying religious indoctrination. It’s a process that uses groupthink manipulation tactics. These tactics include an array of mind control strategies, including self-hypnosis.
Most people think they have common sense, but common sense is not so common. Half of the population bases their thinking on unhealthy beliefs and values. These ideological positions are derived from organized religion and its associated political counterparts.
Healing from Spiritual Conditioning Exercises
Those who need recovery from spiritual indoctrination often deny they need it. That’s the way the slippery slope works. It triggers the same chemicals in the brain as any addiction. The “not so common sense” of religious and political fanatics is a problem for society.
An intellectual understanding of religious indoctrination is only the first step in recovery. The steps for recovery from religious indoctrination are easy to understand. However, the inner work necessary can be difficult to implement. You must remove the sources of the programming. It breaks the psychological links to the cognitive distortions. Recognizing cognitive distortions in recovery is not always easy. Religious believers accept them as part of their identity.
This kind of psychological recovery from religious trauma is called deprogramming. It was used in the 1960s and 70s by parents whose children joined cults. Since they were minors, it wasn’t a crime to kidnap and hold them captive for deprogramming. This kind of forced deprogramming has gone out of favor. But the need for spiritual conditioning recovery from spiritual indoctrination continues.
That’s right; religious beliefs cause trauma. The trauma is intentional. Religious trauma is based on irrational fears or greed.
The “Not So Common Sense” Logic of Religion
About half of the population uses make-believe to rationalize their beliefs and values. (1) This is the wholesale substitution of religious fiction for facts and evidence. When people accept fiction as fact, it creates a dangerous precedent.
The downward slope of cognitive distortion starts with the belief in an imaginary entity called God. People accept this concept out of fear, not with rational thinking. They accept this premise to avoid another fiction called hell. And, if fear isn’t enough to get you on board, then greed is another tool. Whatever you need, God can provide. All you need to do is give enough money.
Why Common Sense is Not So Common
Religious indoctrination is an accepted part of modern society that we should question. If someone claims to have an imaginary friend or fears an imaginary enemy, we recognize this as a cognitive distortion. This unhealthy thinking requires psychological counseling.
However, if the imaginary friend’s name is God and the enemy is the Devil, then this is an acceptable belief. How is one a cognitive distortion and the other an acceptable belief? Now you see why common sense is not so common. It’s this mindset that thwarts spiritual conditioning recovery.
Psychological Recovery from Religious Trauma
Some people claim they have their own set of facts, but this is a fallacy. What they mean is they have different opinions about something. Generally, they are people who are otherwise not qualified to make these kinds of assertions.
You’re entitled to your own opinions. You’re not entitled to your own facts. — Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Fact-checking all social media is necessary. We must be especially mindful of the propaganda fueled by religious fervor. Some so-called news broadcasts distort events and scientific data to fit ridiculous accusations. (2) The level of falsehoods increases in social media with the loss of the Fairness Doctrine. (3) Those who use propaganda to promote extremist views oppose healing from spiritual conditioning. They oppose it because they profit from it.
The Journey to Recovery from Religious Trauma
Cognitive distortions are often concealed in false logic. False logic is any flawed, deceptive, or false argument that does not stand up to the test of accuracy. In all cases, the conclusions reached are inaccurate. The not-so-common sense of religion causes an array of cognitive distortions.
The Enemies of Spiritual Conditioning Recovery
There are several sources of right-wing conservative propaganda that portray themselves as news. In reality, they are proponents of sectarian ideologies. These organizations skew narratives to support extremist agendas. This kind of radical programming makes psychological recovery from religious trauma difficult. People are constantly exposed to this unhealthy thinking.
You are taught to fear God and fear eternal punishment in hell because you are born with sin. It means you are bound for hell unless you are in good standing. You maintain good standing by following what they tell you, what to value, who to hate, and making regular financial contributions. This is spiritual extortion. The same God that promises you heaven also promises you hell if you don’t comply. It makes psychological recovery from religious trauma an arduous journey.
Greed is the other method used in religious programming. Preachers tell you the way to get rich is by giving them your money. Then, when God doesn’t reciprocate and make you wealthy, it’s your fault. You either didn’t give enough, or you didn’t have enough faith to go along with indulgence.
Prejudice and bias are also part of the mix. If you are in good standing, you are one of those chosen by God. That gives you the right to mistreat others who don’t believe as you do. When you have a scapegoat, it gives you someone or some group on which to focus your hate. Hate is the force behind religious superiority.
Recovery From Spiritual Indoctrination
Healing from spiritual conditioning exercises makes you less susceptible to manipulation. It helps you engage in your rational thinking processes. Logic and common sense help you overcome bias and prejudice.
The journey to recovery from religious trauma is an emotionally challenging process. Those with this mindset often immerse themselves in religious programming. You can’t repair your worldview when harmful programming is always being reinforced. You must remove the sources of harmful thinking for spiritual conditioning recovery to be successful. Then, you can conduct inner work to repair your worldview.
Recognizing Cognitive Distortions in Recovery
An important step in recovery from spiritual indoctrination is learning to spot the effects of this thinking. These thinking patterns have harmful cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects. See if these signs are familiar.
Cognitive Symptoms and Effects
The cognitive symptoms of religious indoctrination include:
Cognitive Dissonance results from the inability to reconcile data that contradicts your worldview. This conflict brings about a state of confusion. It is accompanied by a range of physical symptoms, like headaches, and negative emotions, like anger or fear.
Black-and-White Thinking is seeing things as either all good or all bad without nuance. An extremist interpretation of religious doctrine is used to justify this thinking. It’s this “not so common sense” logic of religion that creates suicide bombers.
Unworthiness or perfectionism stems from unrealistic expectations of oneself. This self-deprecating state leads to a lack of self-worth, which makes us more susceptible to suggestion.
We can experience difficulty making decisions when there is a conflict between our beliefs and our natural moral compass.
Negative beliefs about Self-Worth. Western religions begin with the assertion that we are flawed and unworthy. This causes us to abandon our personal identity and identify solely with the religion for a sense of self. If you ask a believer who they are, they will say, I am a Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
Emotional Symptoms and Effects
Depression is a common symptom of living under the pressure of spiritual conditioning exercises. Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness make you more susceptible to groupthink manipulation. Keeping you depressed makes you do things that violate your moral compass.
Anxiety and hypervigilance are used to keep you obedient. This prevents you from entertaining ideas that conflict with the beliefs of the cult. You develop an irrational fear of imaginary things like demons and devils. It prevents you from spotting the manipulation tactics of the religious cult leader.
Irrational fear is driven by the teachings of divine judgment and eternal torture in hell. This constant threat of punishment heightens your sense of impending doom.
You live in a constant state of anger, frustration, and resentment driven by the constant assault on your beliefs by the modern world. Some people isolate themselves from contact with anything that contradicts their illogical worldview. Others become violent activists to vent their feelings.
You harbor feelings of guilt when you reflect on the harmful consequences of your misguided beliefs and actions. You may have been happy to see Roe Vs Wade overturned until you or a family member has pregnancy complications. Then, you face the fact that you cannot exercise lifesaving medical treatment.
Your core religious beliefs promote the idea that you are fundamentally flawed and you should be ashamed. This makes you susceptible to other mind-control tactics.
Emotional numbness results from living in the fight, flight or fear survival mode. It erodes your ability to feel empathy, making it difficult to experience pleasure or connection with others.
Behavioral Symptoms Warning Signs
All-or-nothing thinking stems from rigid and often illogical beliefs. There is no room for gray areas.
You develop a reluctance to question the actions of cult authority figures. This reluctance allows people like Donald Trump to avoid critical examination of their actions.
Irrational fear of punishment is a tool to keep you emotionally unstable so that you can be manipulated by propaganda. You develop intense anxiety about violating religious rules.
Lack of empathy for non-believers is a major sign of cult involvement. You may even have feelings of joy when you see others suffering.
Summary of Symptoms of Cognitive Distortions
Recognizing cognitive distortions in recovery is only the first step. Once you identify them, you can then replace harmful thought scripts.
Professional counselors or spiritual healers can help in healing from spiritual conditioning exercises. If you or someone you know is struggling, seeking professional support can be beneficial.
Confusing Make-Believe with Facts
We know indulging in cognitive distortions is unhealthy, and mistaking fiction for facts is at the heart of the problem. Adults use make-believe to override rational thinking. The belief and faith in fiction cause a conflict between what they believe and reality. Religious believers often confuse make-believe with facts. How does this happen? It is an intentional deception perpetrated by religious and political leaders. They undermine any attempts any healing from spiritual conditioning because they benefit from it.
The journey to recovery from religious trauma can be difficult because the belief in fiction is an accepted part of the culture. It helps to solidify and justify them to the subconscious mind. Western religion uses powerful “group and self-hypnosis” as tools to program thinking. So, mythology and superstition become substitutes for common or good sense and logic.
In Conclusion
We must expose the “not so common sense” of religion with its false logic and fallacies. The culture needs spiritual conditioning recovery. Right-wing religious and political rhetoric is fueling culture fracture. They are struggling to return civilization to The Dark Ages.
References
(1) The Process of Intuitive Thought and Insight.
(2) You are not entitled to your own facts. Pressthink.org
(3) Fairness Doctrine, Wikipedia.