<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Cult characteristics - Nejat Society</title>
	<atom:link href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/tag/cult-characteristics/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/tag/cult-characteristics</link>
	<description>NejatNGO, Nejat Society</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 12 Jun 2021 07:01:01 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>
	hourly	</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>
	1	</sy:updateFrequency>
	

<image>
	<url>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/./cropped-Nejat-Society-Fav-4-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Cult characteristics - Nejat Society</title>
	<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/tag/cult-characteristics</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
	<item>
		<title>A letter for my daughter; Azade Sabour</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/12844</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/12844#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Jun 2021 06:57:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ashraf 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Azade Sabour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Families and Members]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Families of the MEK hostages denied of their rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nejat Families]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nejatngo.org/en/?p=12844</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>My dear daughter I wish you contact your siblings and me freely. Shima,Ehsan,Arash and me live with your memories. We long to see you again. My dear Azade I want&#8230;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/12844">A letter for my daughter; Azade Sabour</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My dear daughter I wish you contact your siblings and me freely. Shima,Ehsan,Arash and me live with your memories. We long to see you again.</p>
<p>My dear Azade I want you to decide your own fate and way of life without restrictions of cult affairs.<br />
As you have had no contact with us during all these twenty-one years, and even have had no activity in social media, it seems that you are living under dehumanizing condition.<br />
Your spouse; Kaveh, has separated the group and is living in Sweden. In his last call to his family, Kaveh said that he is still awaiting Azade’s return.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10841 size-full" src="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Saburi_Azade_Mom_2.jpg" alt="Azade Sabur Mom" width="700" height="570" srcset="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Saburi_Azade_Mom_2.jpg 700w, https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Saburi_Azade_Mom_2-300x244.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></p>
<p>I am totally unaware of you and your health conditions. As the MEK cult leaders do not allow us to have any contact, I publish this letter to the cyber space in the hope that one day you get access to the internet and be able to read my letter.<br />
Love,<br />
Your mother</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/12844">A letter for my daughter; Azade Sabour</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/12844/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Once you are in the MKO, you are no more self-sufficient</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/7923</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/7923#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 07:07:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Albania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Members of the MEK in Albania]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/?p=7923</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The resettlement of members of the mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ the Cult of Rajavi) in Albania was accomplished in 2016 following an agreement between the US administration&#8230;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/7923">Once you are in the MKO, you are no more self-sufficient</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The resettlement of members of the mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ the Cult of Rajavi) in Albania was accomplished in 2016 following an agreement between the US administration and the Albanian government in 2013. The relocation operation was managed by the UNHCR. [1] Therefore, members of the MKO should have been considered as the refugees under the international laws.</p>
<p>The U.S. assistance to the deal also included a donation of $20 million to the U.N. refugee agency to help resettle the MEK. The U.S. has also provided Albania with security and economic development assistance, to help the country build up its physical capacity to house the refugees. [2]</p>
<p><img width="700" height="509" class="aligncenter wp-image-7490 size-full"src="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Cult_threat.jpg"alt="Cults are destructive"width="700"height="509" srcset="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Cult_threat.jpg 700w, https://www.nejatngo.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Cult_threat-300x218.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></p>
<p>Based on the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees published on the UNHCR website, “Protecting refugees is the core mandate of UNHCR”. To protect refugees the UNHCR should work closely with the state that receives the refugees in its territory. [3]</p>
<p>“UNHCR’s main role in pursuing international protection is to ensure that states are aware of, and act on, their obligations to protect refugees and persons seeking asylum, ”according to the UNHCR website. “However, it is not a supranational organization and cannot be considered as a substitute for government responsibility.” [4]</p>
<p>Thus, in case of the MKO members, the Albanian government is supposed to have certain duties and the UNHCR is expected to ensure that the government is aware of its responsibility and acts properly to fulfill the rights of the MKO’s rank and file while they are required to respect the laws and regulations of the Albanian government in return. [5]</p>
<p>Under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Countries should ensure that refugees benefit from economic and social rights, at least to the same degree as other foreign residents of the country of asylum. The bottom line is that members of the Cult of Rajavi (the MKO) do not benefit from economic and social rights in Albanian territory because they do not enjoy a normal life on their own free will. MKO members are taken as hostages in the headquarters of the group.</p>
<p>“A refugee has the right to safe asylum,” reads the Convention. ”However, international protection comprises more than physical safety. Refugees should receive at least the same rights and basic help as any other foreigner who is a legal resident, including freedom of thought, of movement, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment.” [6]</p>
<p>“Freedom” is a precious gift which allows men to believe and live any way he chooses but it is unheard of in destructive cults such as the MKO. Meanwhile the UNHCR’s assistance “may include financial grants, food, tools and shelter and basic infrastructure such as schools and clinics. With projects such as income-generating activities and skill training programs, UNHCR makes every effort to ensure that refugees become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.”</p>
<p>Based on testimonies of defectors of the MKO in Tirana, the above mentioned facilities are limited to very basic needs such as food and shelter. The MKO’s rank and file have no access to the income-generating activities and skill training programs because they have to be dependent to the cult.</p>
<p>Once a person is stuck in a cult, he or she has to be totally dependent on the leader of the cult. Self-sufficiency is pointless to a cult member. In order to impose more isolation on their rank and file the MKO leaders took their recent action to relocate them to a remote headquarters in north of Tirana. The new base is surrounded by high walls and barbed wire to prevent the members from escaping.</p>
<p>The UNHCR and the Albanian government are highly responsible about the threat of 2500 radicalized cult members who are trained as robots in the Cult of Rajavi. They are potential ISIS-like forces that may turn back to trouble their housing society unless the MKO members are not considered as refugees under international laws. A Huffington Post article by Massoud Khodabandeh clarifies the vague status of the MKO hostages in Albania:</p>
<p>“A report by an Albanian lawyer (acting for MEK members who managed to separate from the group) after meeting with the UNHCR in Tirana reveals that under a secret agreement struck between the Americans, the government of Albania and the MEK leader, the UNHCR supervised the transfer of approximately 3,000 MEK from Iraq to Albania not as refugees but on a ‘humanitarian basis’. In other words, they have no official status in the country.</p>
<p>“According to this agreement, all the expenses for the MEK members are to be doled out by the MEK itself. This means that members are totally dependent on the MEK leadership for their subsistence. Those who have expressed their desire to separate from the group, for whatever reason, must continue to obey MEK rules and restrictions, they must accept MEK imposed conditions so that they are given accommodation and food.” [7]</p>
<p>This unfounded status of some thousand members of a fringe cult may give Albania a slap in the face. This is what Ebi   Spahiu of Balkanalysis is concerned about. “Given Albania’s continued struggles with endemic corruption and organized crime, and the slow emergence of religious radicalization as a regional security threat, sectarian rifts may add to the list of challenges facing Albania’s political standing,” he writes. “One point of controversy that has already occurred domestically is that the agreement itself is very vague; there has thus been plenty of criticism domestically over a perceived lack of transparency on the terms agreed between Albania and the US.” [8]</p>
<p>Mazda Parsi</p>
<p>Sources:</p>
<p>[1] Dockins, Pamela, US Praises Albania for MEK Resettlement, <em>VOA</em>, February 14th, 2016</p>
<p>[2 ] ibid</p>
<p>[3] UNHCR website, Protecting Refugees: questions and answers, February 1st, 2002</p>
<p>[3] ibid</p>
<p>[5] ibid</p>
<p>[6] ibid</p>
<p>[7] Khodabendeh, Massoud, Albania’s Modern Slavery Problem Alienates Europe, <em>Huffington Post, </em>November 20th, 2017</p>
<p>[8] Spahiu, Ebi, The Iranian MEK in Albania: Implications and Possible Future Sectarian Divisions, Balkanalysis, January 29, 2017</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/7923">Once you are in the MKO, you are no more self-sufficient</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/7923/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ashraf Base in Iraq, from inside and from outside</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/2008</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/2008#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[MEK Camp Ashraf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf Inhabitants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/09/16/ashraf-base-in-iraq-from-inside-and-from-outside/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The PMOI /MKO is claiming that the Ashraf Base is its strategic vessel (armed struggle) which is based on the National Liberation Army (NLA). This is true, but prior to that the base is the organization's ideological vessel (or the mental methodology). .. this base is providing a good opportunity for the organization regarding the mental methods to control the minds of the followers since the connection of the individuals with the outside world is totally cut off. Such facility for a great number of people would certainly not be found anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/2008">Ashraf Base in Iraq, from inside and from outside</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">The Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) is a destructive cult according to all modern psychological and sociological definitions of cults. This cult is of course fully developed and has exposed all known cultic characteristics. All cults behave in a similar manner both from inside and from outside although they defer vastly in their publicized ideas. </p>
<p>All cults are known by three categories where they could be distinguished from other even undemocratic establishments. </p>
<p>1. Charismatic authoritarian leader who has control over every aspect of his followers and owns the lives and properties and chastity and even thoughts of individuals. The leader in a cult practically sits in the place of God and is not responsible against anyone. </p>
<p>2. Totalitarian pyramidal structure where the superior of every individual sits in the place of the leader and plays the same role. Followers are totally dependant to the organization and to their superiors. As they say breathing outside the organization and without the presence of the superior is impossible. </p>
<p>3. Psychological techniques are used to control the minds of the people under the tag of ideology. It is worth noticing that the philosophical or theological ideas of a cult have no significance and are just used as excuses. What keeps the followers attached to the cult and its leader is just utilizing mental methods of brainwashing. </p>
<p>But a cult needs particular facilities to impose those rational techniques to control the minds of the followers. The most important of course is a remote place isolated from the outside world since the cults need to disconnect the contact of their followers from the outside world, particularly from their families and fiends and even from their past, in order to impose their control over their lives and their minds. </p>
<p>Ashraf base in Iraq has provided a good opportunity for the MKO for two decades. The base of the MKO in Paris (Auvers-sur-Oise) and other safe houses of the organization round Western Europe and Northern America are serving the same purpose for the cult. </p>
<p>The MKO is claiming that the Ashraf Base is its strategic vessel (armed struggle) which is based on the National Liberation Army (NLA). This is true, but prior to that the base is the organization&#8217;s ideological vessel (or the mental methodology). </p>
<p>The Ashraf base facility has the following advantages for the MKO: </p>
<p>1. Ideologically and organizationally or better to say regarding the mental methods to control the minds of the followers, this base is providing a good opportunity for the organization since the connection of the individuals with the outside world is totally cut off. Such facility for a great number of people would certainly not be found anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>2. Strategically the NLA as an army has two elements from the three basic elements needed (military base, border with Iran, and weapons). The view that the third element (weapons) would be provided keeps the individuals hopeful and therefore fix them to the organization in that base. </p>
<p>3. Politically and regarding propaganda for the MKO the Ashraf base is known as the symbol of power for the organization which has its special effects on Iranian and non-Iranian supporters and western politicians. In fact this base is the major instrument in the organization&#8217;s political and propaganda work and also to recruit new members in the western countries. </p>
<p>Therefore the Ashraf base, which the MKO prefers to be on the boarder with Iran, provides a unique opportunity for the organization to sustain and control the followers, to keep the structure of an army although too small, and to show the power of the MKO in its political and propaganda activities. </p>
<p>The MKO is not considered a threat for the Islamic Republic of Iran when it is by itself. But if they can find a substitute for Saddam Hussein as an external backer, then it could be turned into a threat as far as security is concerned. It is worth mentioning that this threat is of course limited to espionage and terrorist activities and the MKO slogans to overthrow the Tehran regime is out of question. </p>
<p>Then the Ashraf base is an opportunity from inside to preserve and control the forces and is an opportunity from outside for propaganda. </p>
<p>But what would happen if the Ashraf base is dismantled? </p>
<p>Initially a place must be found for the 3400 inhabitants of the base. The westerners are striving to send these people towards Iran. Surely they do not welcome these people who are the outcomes of a terrorist cult into their country. But any number of people who can reach to the western countries would not have the same use for the organization and they would not have the same ideological dependency. Many of them after having free contact with the outside world and realizing that they have been subject to psychological methods of brainwashing would gain the potentiality of countering the MKO and revealing the cultic internal relationships (historically the cults are doomed to be dismantled by their defectors). </p>
<p>In the next step the MKO would loose a strategic facility which is the boarder and the military base, and the strategy of armed struggle which is now on the halt would be finished. </p>
<p>And finally the MKO would loose its political and propaganda and recruiting opportunity and would face political and manpower crises in the western countries. </p>
<p>Specifically if the Ashraf base is dismantled and the forces are driven towards the western countries, not only the capability of diplomatic and propaganda of the organization would not increase, it would add to the many problems of the MKO and would face it with a dead-end. </p>
<p>In one word the cult would loose its main vessel and without that no content of the MKO would exist. </p>
<p>But this does not mean that the cult would go down completely since the organization could live as a cult in a very limited form with the facility of Auvers-sur-Oise (the European base of the MKO in France) and other safe houses they have in the western countries, but it would not have the same function as a political force. </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/2008">Ashraf Base in Iraq, from inside and from outside</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/2008/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Cult Technique to Crush Antagonism</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1951</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1951#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manipulation Techniques of the MEK cult leaders]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/08/11/a-cult-technique-to-crush-antagonism/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Being a cult of personality and susceptible to schism especially after the coupe d’état-like internal ideological revolution, MKO, facing increasing internal challenges, concocted excuses mainly to confront dissidents that could possibly nurture schism....The technique of eliciting confessions was practiced in collective gatherings and the members were forced to admit to their antagonistic and contradictory outlook not only about the leadership but also about other organizational issues</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1951">A Cult Technique to Crush Antagonism</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There always exist among the members of a cult or political group ones that display high level of antagonism and threaten the life of the cult or occurrence of schism. Unless cults and groups take countermeasures, the schism is inevitable. Being a cult of personality and susceptible to schism especially after the coupe d&rsquo;&eacute;tat-like internal ideological revolution, MKO, facing increasing internal challenges, concocted excuses mainly to confront dissidents that could possibly nurture schism. </p>
<p>Massoud Rajavi&rsquo;s marriage with his commander&rsquo;s wife, Maryam Azodanloo, was considered by many to be a scandal and surfaced perversion. Being an undeniable truth, the organization developed a scenario to remodel the shaped mentality. The organization came up with the plan of organizing forced sessions of analyzing members&rsquo; political, moral and personal viewpoints about Rajavi. So complicated was the scenario that soon all antagonistic attitudes towards Rajavi floated up and the members tried to outmatch each other in demonizing and disparaging Rajavi and strongly condemned him of his eccentric deed. </p>
<p>Unknowingly, members were condemning themselves rather than Rajavi. The sessions meant to strongly condemn members of the guilt they had done in their past life and the way they tried to justify the vices. Explaining the process, Massoud Banisadr has stated:</p>
<p>This time as it was told by Masoud, we had to take him to negative infinity and accuse him of any thing which we could think of, and then judge him, if we reached to the verdict that he is not guilty, then we had to make him as mirror and this time judging ourselves. Meant accusing ourselves for the same crimes, which we accused him of. Following that we had to find our class tendencies. And our true nature, hidden under nice and gentle behaviour of ours. 1</p>
<p>Oddly enough, the process soon turned into a criterion to decide about qualified members for organizational promotions. The technique of eliciting confessions was practiced in collective gatherings and the members were forced to admit to their antagonistic and contradictory outlook not only about the leadership but also about other organizational issues; they had to &lsquo;vomit their thoughts&rsquo; as the organization called it.</p>
<p>The sessions were somehow as if the members were on trial. The members&rsquo; confessions were enough to accuse them to demand Rajavi&rsquo;s forgiveness. Feeling ashamed of accusing Rajavi, they would compose piles of recantation letters and urging Rajavi to forgive them. Ludicrous as it may seem, in many of these letters, members confessed to have been ignorant of Rajavi&rsquo;s infallibility all the time. But the outcome of these trial-like sessions was critically serious: </p>
<p>In these hearing sessions the defendants had no advocate and besides, it was not so appropriate an atmosphere to provoke any protest; they held heads down and others spat at them. But what requires further consideration is that so the Falangist element and cult characteristics had bulged in the course of these years that a sister volunteered to kill her sister. 2 </p>
<p>The interesting point is that such a process came to be justified under the philosophy of the ideological revolution. The dissenters and whoever repulsed the revolution had to pay a price. It was even much unbearable for a high ranking member:</p>
<p>High ranking members who couldn&rsquo;t have the revolution, were not allowed to leave the organisation so in some cases they had no alternative except killing themselves. While they were living among us, they were forbidden to do anything, even helping in the kitchen was denied to them. 3</p>
<p>And some committed suicide because they could not tolerate the so-called revolution that ended to disgrace for all the organization:</p>
<p>Nasser, one of our army commanders, has killed himself with a blade given to him for shaving. &hellip; Later in another meeting, I heard from Rajavi that Eshagh, who was working with me in New York, has gone to hunger strike because his revolution has not been accepted. Few years later, after I left the organisation, I heard he hanged himself about the same time, but we were not told then, so I presume there were some more suicides which we didn&rsquo;t hear about them. 4</p>
<p>Thus, a technique mainly developed to trace dissidents and disloyal to revolution turned into a lasting achievement with a multi-purpose function. Mojahedin&rsquo;s irreparable loss after the military operation Eternal Light needed scapegoats to justify Rajavi&rsquo;s insanity of masterminding such a mass suicide. Again the members were forced to confess that lack of total trust in Rajavi and their attachments to worldly attractions was a reason not to stand by their commitment to him. They had to devote themselves only to Rajavi and nothing else had to enter their hearts but his love. As Mohsen Rezai, a ranking cadre is quoted saying:</p>
<p>To follow him [Rajavi] ideologically, and not only politically, you have to see him and accept him not only in your mind, but in your heart. And you cannot do it unless you first open your heart to him. You should have no secret from him, no boundary should separate you from him. He should be the one and only, the closest person to you. To reach this close relationship, you have to work hard, beginning with the expression of all your contradictions and secrets, especially those concerning him. 5</p>
<p>So, a process formulated to detect and hamper attempts for schism and to accomplish a throughout internal purge becomes an integral part of a cult that practices deceptions, lies and exhibits murder in its heart under the disguise of a pro-democratic organization.</p>
<p>References:</p>
<p>1. Masoud Banisadr; Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel.</p>
<p>2. Shams-e Haeri, Hadi; The swamp, vol. II.</p>
<p>3. Masoud Banisadr; Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel.</p>
<p>4. Ibid.</p>
<p>5. Ibid.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1951">A Cult Technique to Crush Antagonism</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1951/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>London based Sky News airs MKO Terrorists show</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1929</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1929#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hot Topics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The MEK; the Hypocrites]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/07/28/london-based-sky-news-airs-mko-terrorists-show/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Azam Mollahassani Majdabadi Farahani Kohneh alias Leila Jazayeri appeared in a live program on Sky News television Sunday ...The MKO is listed as a terrorist group by much of the international community, including the US. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks against Iranian officials and civilians.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1929">London based Sky News airs MKO Terrorists show</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>London based Sky News airs Mojahedin Khalq Terrorists show as UK demands Iran halt activities for Israel </p>
<p>Sky News airs Mojahedin Khalq Terrorists show after lifting ban </p>
<p>An MKO member has criticized the Islamic Republic in a televised interview in a first move since the reversal of the UK ban on the group. </p>
<p>Azam Mollahassani Majdabadi Farahani Kohneh alias Leila Jazayeri appeared in a live program on Sky News television Sunday and severely took to task the Iranian government. </p>
<p>She accused Iran of violating human rights and meddling in the internal affairs of its neighbors. </p>
<p>This has been the first appearance of a member of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) since a British court ruling ordered the reversal of the UK ban on the organization. </p>
<p>The MKO is listed as a terrorist group by much of the international community, including the US. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks against Iranian officials and civilians. </p>
<p>During the program, Jazayeri claimed the Iranian government executes and stones people on a daily basis. </p>
<p>She also said the country&#8217;s economy has collapsed, alleging that nearly 85 percent of the Iranian people live below the poverty line and demand a regime change. </p>
<p>The MKO member called on Western governments, in particular Britain, to support the overthrow of the Iranian government by Mariam Rajavi, a leader of the outlaw group. </p>
<p>Leila Jazayeri has been involved in several violent acts against the disaffected MKO members. </p>
<p>She has also disrupted several meetings wherein participants were believed to be critics of MKO policies. She is known to have several criminal court records in European countries for assault and injury, fraud and other charges. </p>
<p>Press TV, London, July 21, 2008</p>
<p>http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=64336&#038;sectionid=351020101</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1929">London based Sky News airs MKO Terrorists show</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1929/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Implementation of Violence in the Cult of Mojahedin</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1884</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1884#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manipulation Techniques of the MEK cult leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mujahedin Khalq and Human Rights]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/06/26/implementation-of-violence-in-the-cult-of-mojahedin/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Potential for violence exists in many cultic groups particularly if they are engaged in underground activities or follow a Machiavellian philosophy of ‘ends justify the means’. Obviously, there is no easy way to predict which group may become involved in terrorism, violence, or suicide operations unless there is a record of already perpetrated instances of violence by the cult even if such deeds might have been ceased temporarily for certain reasons</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1884">Implementation of Violence in the Cult of Mojahedin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Potential for violence exists in many cultic groups particularly if they are engaged in underground activities or follow a Machiavellian philosophy of &lsquo;ends justify the means&rsquo;. Obviously, there is no easy way to predict which group may become involved in terrorism, violence, or suicide operations unless there is a record of already perpetrated instances of violence by the cult even if such deeds might have been ceased temporarily for certain reasons. Horrifying testimonies of some arrested or ex-members of cultic groups to their connection in violent operations and self immolation activities or being witnesses to instances of violence against the groups&rsquo; own insiders signify that inborn terrorist and violent groups, if they make some temporal accommodation with the outside world, may resort to indirect application of violence, namely, utilizing outwardly peaceful and pro-democratic measures that promote direct violence. </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Cults and violence are commonly bound inextricably together in the public mind since much public understanding about cults is accounts of violence in a variety of forms. The shocking reports of sarin gas release into the Tokyo underground by Aum Shinriky&ouml; cult, the recent news of rescuing children from a polygamist remote compound Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and above all, the terrible and nightmarish terrorist attack of al-Qaeda are all instances of awful truth about the violent nature of some cults. Talking on the varying degrees of cults&rsquo; abusive and destructive nature Thaler Singer states: </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Cults are abusive and destructive to varying degrees. Some abuse only their own members; others project the violence outward. Still others have it both ways. Cult members, at the direction of their leaders, have shot at law enforcement officers, engaged in drug dealing and prostitution, stockpiled illegal weapons, practiced repeated sexual abuse, beaten child members to death, enforced a variety of punishments against their own, and murdered dissident members. 88 </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">It is hard to answer the question that why some cults, when facing with opposition and even outright persecution, react by resorting to violence. But one thing is for certain that their violent conducts towards the outside world is either direct or indirect: </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Not only have cultic groups engaged in openly violent behavior, but they have also engaged in other activities that have led to members&#8217; being convicted of crimes ranging from conspiracy to tax evasion, spying on governments, and fraud. 89 </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">If we come to believe, as Singer explains, that espionage activities of a political cult are considered as indirect activities of violence, then, MKO&rsquo;s claimed disclosures on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear activities that may lead to nothing but escalating global tension and even military conflict can be regarded as instances of inciting violence. Violence is interwoven in MKO and in spite of its claims to have abandoned terrorism, the group can only survive out of violence and engaging in direct and indirect violent activities regardless of the heavy cost imposed only on Iranian people. </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">MKO is an example of leftist political cults. In many political cults of the contemporary history violence in a variety of forms has dominated. During Stalin&rsquo;s reign over the Soviet Unions&rsquo; Communist Party, for instance, a new form of violence was formed in the course of harsh, internal purges. The purges, a combination of physical and psychological violence, are yet thought to have been the most unusual and eccentric techniques applied. It was only after Stalin&rsquo;s death that some instances of the applied violence was revealed for the public through a number of novels and made movies. </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Somehow it can be said that, among active political cults, it is only MKO that, as a leftist group, is charged with multitude instances of violence working against its own insiders as revealed by Human Rights Watch report and the memoirs of its detached members. In addition to application of physical violence as a method of internal punishment against dissatisfied and disobedient members, there are further indirect ruthless routines of regular self-criticism sessions, cultivating malevolence and spite amongst the members, separating the families and much more. A more detailed study of different forms of internal and external violence employed by MKO will give a broader understanding of the cult. </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">References: </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">1. Thaler Singer, Margaret; Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, p. 88. </p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">2. Ibid, 89. </p>
<p><strong><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">Research Bureau,Mojahedin.ws, June 25, 2008</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:">http://www.mojahedin.ws/article/show_en.php?id=2777</p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-fareast-font-family:"><o_p>&nbsp;</o_p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1884">Implementation of Violence in the Cult of Mojahedin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1884/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Legal Measures to Combat Cult Violence</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1809</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1809#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Threat of Cults]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/04/28/legal-measures-to-combat-cult-violence-2/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Mojahedin began their military operations in August 1971. Their first operations were designed to disrupt the extravagant celebrations of the 25-century anniversary of the monarchy. SAVAK [the Monarchy’s security-information apparatus] through one of the old member of Tudeh party, who was recruited by them, could infiltrate into Mojahedin and soon was able to arrest another sixty-six members</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1809">Legal Measures to Combat Cult Violence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Infiltrating the cults &amp; Building a public awareness to resist influence and unethical abuse of cults There are cults in our midst, more than the average citizen realizes, and these powerful groups infiltrate many areas of our lives. (Margaret Thaler Singer; Cults in Our Midst)</p>
<p>Public&rsquo;s peripheral and private life is always susceptible to being infiltrated by a variety of cults that might threaten the social health through psychological damages or appalling cult-oriented operations. In the same way, infiltrating cults can to a great extent decrease their threats and stop whatever deliberate violence, criminal activities and other anti-social behavior plotted by the cults. Furthermore, majority of cult recruits are deceived by what cults falsely advertize and is totally different with what is actually practiced within the cults.</p>
<p>Cult-defined values and standards are usually kept concealed from the new <img height="286"alt="Cult Violence"width="250"align="right"src="https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/CEn/noktebin_h/RED_ BOUNDARY.jpg"/>recruits so as not to make a free approval and disapproval of the cult they are invited to join. If the targets are to join and exist in the cult, they must conform to the rules even if they are not privately accepted. Once joined, the targets have to conform to the cult&rsquo;s standards regardless of having developed an awareness of the existing discrepancy between personal and social standards and those of the cult&rsquo;s.</p>
<p>A well informed infiltrated agent may secretly help targets to develop awareness for a timely decision. But the greater jeopardy seems to be when cults plan to threaten the society with their menacing activities. It is even worse when the cult reveals to have an infrastructural terrorist nature. The Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK/PMOI), for instance, is a terrorist cult that had proved to be a big threat for Pahlavi&rsquo;s monarch before its fall following Iranian Islamic revolution. In one instance, infiltration into the organization not only stopped its terrorist operations but also led to the apprehension of almost all leading members and thus, immunizing the regime against the group&rsquo;s threats for a while. Explaining on the event, Masoud Banisadr, a MKO&rsquo;s ex-member, has said: </p>
<p><img height="150"alt="Masud Banisadr"width="150"align="left"src="https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/Defectors/Banisadr_masud.jpg"/>Mojahedin began their military operations in August 1971. Their first operations were designed to disrupt the extravagant celebrations of the 25-century anniversary of the monarchy. SAVAK [the Monarchy&rsquo;s security-information apparatus] through one of the old member of Tudeh party, who was recruited by them, could infiltrate into Mojahedin and soon was able to arrest another sixty-six members. In the subsequent months, the group lost the whole of its original leadership through executions or street battles. 1</p>
<p>In spite of infiltrations into the organization to decrease the risk of its terrorist operations, it was a heavy cost for Iran&rsquo;s revolutionary regime and the people as well. However, it has not been an unproductive preventive measure as another ex-member explains: </p>
<p>Another problem for the Mojahedin has been infiltration. The military attempts are failing due to the desperation of their recruitment policy, which has led to heavy infiltration of their ranks. The organisation is now so thoroughly infiltrated, that out of four recent terrorist attempts, three teams were immediately arrested at the border and the other one before they were able to undertake any action, because of intelligence that reached the regime via these infiltrators. 2</p>
<p>As cults have indeed influenced all types of people and infiltrated different aspects and contexts of social life, a public awareness deems necessary as another preventive measure against the spread of cults&rsquo; threats.</p>
<p>Considering it a duty, many established NGOs and groups, mainly formed by those who have suffered, that is to say, ex-members, parents and families, perceive themselves as caring and experienced in the suffering that cults inflict upon members. They are much more concerned about the dangers threatening society at large, as evidenced by the violence, criminal activities and other anti-social behavior in which cults have indulged. These groups can be of a great help in collaboration with legislative and judicial bodies to control cult activities and minimize their threats.</p>
<p>The relative balance of influence that these key groups play varies from country to country and is constantly changing according to the number of active cults and the degree of their threat. It has been suggested that these groups are primarily concerned about the dangers that cults pose for individuals and society, but they play an influential role for a widespread public awareness against destructive cults. Generally, the society blames the victims themselves who have been entrapped by the cults. As best explained by Singer: </p>
<p>We all are being influenced all the time. And we all are potentially vulnerable to a cult&#8217;s pitch, especially as our society becomes more and more commercialized, violent and alienating, dishonest and corrupt, polarized and without structure. To counter the blaming mentality, we must, as a society, seek educational and informational preventive programs to teach about open versus deceptive recruitment and to expose the manipulative and unethical techniques used by various cults to keep members guiltily bound to the group. If you buy a pair of shoes that don&#8217;t fit, you can usually return them. But once you join a cult, it may be years before you get out. 3</p>
<p>The established NGOs can draw on the stories of worried, anxious relatives and even the unconventional ethical ideological practices within the cults to attract the attention of the media. If the media accept and reinforce the image of the reported cults and let the public picture them as intrinsically and typically sinister, bizarre, and a dangerous threat, such an image will become accepted as part of the conventional, taken for granted wisdom of the general population. This can lead to encouraging the public opinion to react in an increasingly negative fashion which can fan the flames of escalating antagonisms on the cults. The public need to be concerned about the threats of cults and as Singer concludes:</p>
<p>The psychotechnology of thought reform is not going away. It is also not harmless, as the apologists and cult spokespeople would have us believe. We have, in fact, seen cult techniques of persuasion and control become more skillful, more subtle, and damaging during the past two decades. Education, information, and vigilance are constantly needed to keep us, and our minds, free. 4 </p>
<p>Unfortunately, sometimes the number of active cults and the propaganda machine run by them exceed the counter-cult associations and NGOs and the mass media show little interest to cover the related reports and news as it is a generally adopted policy not to talk of the cults. It is only when a cult has indulged in a task of unconventional nature or immolation for some religious or political end that the media dash to cover it. It was only early this month that the news came out with the reports of the removal of a total number of about 416 children, mostly teens, from a polygamist remote compound Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect. Hardly had anybody heard of the cult endangering the life of many innocent children abused in different ways by the cult. </p>
<p>It is not the first and will not be the last report of the children being abused by a cult. Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization also has long abused children and has separated them from their parents sending them away to countries far from their parents. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of these children and their names have almost sunk into the oblivion since rarely anywhere they are talked about.</p>
<p>It is not enough to bring general public awareness of cults through news reports of numerous bizarre crimes and acts of terrorism committed by members of some notorious cults and organizations. Although through these reports the public become somewhat educated as to the extraordinary social organization, practices, and techniques of influence employed by the cults and the groups associated with the crimes, much more has to be done to prevent outburst of such cult events.</p>
<p>1- Masoud Banisadr; Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel.</p>
<p>2- Anne Singleton; Saddam&#8217;s Private Army, Iran-Interlink, 2003</p>
<p>3- Thaler Singer, Margaret; Cults in Our Midst, p. 28.</p>
<p>4- Ibid, p.103.</p>
<p><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</p>
<p>Research Bureau<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>&#8211; Mojahedin.ws &#8211; April 28, 2008</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1809">Legal Measures to Combat Cult Violence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1809/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>What is a Destructive Cults?</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1761</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1761#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manipulation Techniques of the MEK cult leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mujahedin Khalq as a Destructive Cult]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/04/13/what-is-a-destructive-cults/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>By learning to identify the these patterns you will be better qualified to determine if someone you care about is actually involved with a cult. A group should not be considered a “cult” merely because of its unorthodox belief or practices. Instead, destructive cults are distinguished by their use of deception and mind control techniques to determine a person’s free will and make him dependent on the group’s leader.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1761">What is a Destructive Cults?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p  style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: inter-ideograph;  TEXT-ALIGN: justify"align="center"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">There are many different types of destructive cults, and the diversity of cult beliefs and practices sometimes makes it hard for family members and friends to decide whether their loved one is in trouble or not. Although there are still groups whose followers cut their hair short and wear identical clothing, like the member of Heaven&rsquo;s Gate, this is by no mean the case with most modern-day cults group. Today, for example, many cults require their members to wear business suits so that they blend in with their environment. All cult members may not look alike, but I have found that destructive cults follow specific behavior patterns that set them apart from other groups. By learning to identify the these patterns you will be better qualified to determine if someone you care about is actually involved with a cult. A group should not be considered a &ldquo;cult&rdquo; merely because of its unorthodox belief or practices. Instead, destructive cults are distinguished by their use of deception and mind control techniques to determine a person&rsquo;s free will and make him dependent on the group&rsquo;s leader. </span><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Authoritarian Leadership&nbsp; </span></strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">In essence a destructive cult is an authoritarian group that is headed by a<img alt="Authoritarian Leadership"width="250"align="right"src="https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/CEn/Present_leader.jpg"/> person or group of people that has near-complete control. Charismatic cult leaders often make extreme claims of divine or &ldquo;otherworldly&rdquo; power to exercise influence over their members. Many legitimate religions have had powerful figures who have inspired enormous dedication in people. Being a powerful leader is not inherently wrong , though it carries a high potential for abuse. A group becomes destructive when its leader actively uses such power to deceive members and to rob them of their individuality and free will. For example, I was told to surrender my free will (viewed as Satanic) to God&rsquo;s representative, Moon, and his subleaders. Marshall Applewhite told followers that an alien entity was speaking through him, and used his message to justify his absolute control over their lives.&nbsp; </span><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Deception&nbsp; </span></strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Destructive cults also use deception to recruit new members. When I was first approached by Moonie recruiters, they told me they were part f the &ldquo;One World Crusade,&rdquo; which I later learned was one of many front groups for the Unification Church . They claimed to be students who were involved with a small community of young people struggling to overcome cultural barriers. It was not until much later that I found what its members really believed, and what would be expected of me. What makes this all so insidious is that members often speak and act with the greatest sincerity because they have been subjected to the same mind control techniques that they used to recruit others. <img height="285"alt="Destructive Cult"width="250"align="left"src="https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/CEn/ideo_train.jpg"/>  </span><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Destructive Mind Control&nbsp; </span></strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Finally, destructive cults use mind control techniques to keep members dependent and obedient. You will learn the specific criteria that define mind control in later but, generally, speaking, cult mind control can be understood as a system of influence that is designed to disrupt a person&rsquo;s authentic identity and replace it with a new identity. By immersing people in a tightly controlled, high pressure social environment, destructive cults gain control of their members&rsquo; behavior, thoughts, emotions and access to information. They take over their mind.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1761">What is a Destructive Cults?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1761/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Are the Cults at War with the Media 1</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1746</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1746#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manipulation Techniques of the MEK cult leaders]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2008/03/30/why-are-the-cults-at-war-with-the-media-1/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>For sure so important, versatile phenomena of the modernity never escape the attention of the cults. In the same way that the media can give warning against the threat and the evil nature of the cults, they can also be at their service, depending on the amount of revenue and how influentially they can master them, to instil noxious ideas into a society.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1746">Why Are the Cults at War with the Media 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma">Cults are complex phenomenon in the modern world because of their dubious positions towards the media and the sophisticated communication technology. They, based on their natural potentiality, misuse the media and modern means <img height="149"alt="Why are the cults at war with the Media"hspace="10"width="220"align="right"vspace="10"src="https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/News/Cultism/Cult_Idea.jpg"/>for censure, persuasion, distortion, brainwashing and mind-control activities against their insiders and sympathizers. Cults show diverse and double reactions in their dealing with the media that draw substantial public attention to accomplish a variety of objectives. Besides, the media in any form play a key role in the formation of public opinion and thought, life-style, and even the depiction of a nation&rsquo;s destiny.  For sure so important, versatile phenomena of the modernity never escape the attention of the cults. In the same way that the media can give warning against the threat and the evil nature of the cults, they can also be at their service, depending on the amount of revenue and how influentially they can master them, to instil noxious ideas into a society. However, since the media can hardly be an exclusive medium for the cults and in many occasions it is too expensive a means for propagation with the least expected outcome, and sometimes inflicts irreparable damages, the cults prefer not to invest much trust in the media. The case is sometimes different with the political cults.  If we consider deliberate isolation tactic as one of the cults&#8217; most common mechanisms of control and enforced dependency, then the social persuasion is the identical definition of the mechanism. The recruits are encouraged to disrupt their common lifestyle and leave whatever they are attached to behind to adapt themselves to the cult&rsquo;s milieu in isolation. In this process, what is considered to be a threat in neutralizing the effects of the social persuasion will be the media which the cults favour to avoid. That is mostly because cults&rsquo; prompt of black-and-white thinking fails to be functional and productive in the media which has to be repelled.  However, cults are not so powerful as the governments that can have total control over the media for social persuasion and people&rsquo;s mind-control if they will. Quoting Orwell reasoning the effectiveness of the media coming under the complete control of the governments, Singer states: Orwell reasoned that if a government could control all media and interpersonal communication while simultaneously forcing citizens to speak in a politically controlled jargon, it could blunt independent thinking. If thought could be controlled, then rebellious actions against a regime could be pre- vented. 1 Milieu control, that is total control of members&rsquo; communication in the cults, is a mechanism to keep members from communicating anything other than what the cults approve and often involves discouraging members from contacting relatives or friends outside the cult and from reading, watching and listening to anything unapproved by the cult or the organization. Consequently, the effectiveness of the media in illuminating facts about the cults and active organizations is actually neutralized and the insiders are told not to believe and trust in anything they see or hear reported by the media that has to be accounted as an agent in the enemy&rsquo;s front. In this way, the cults&rsquo; leaders blindfold members about historical facts: Milieu control also often involves discouraging members from contacting relatives or friends outside the group and from reading anything not approved by the organization. They are sometimes told not to believe anything they see or hear reported by the media. One left-wing political cult, for example, maintains that the Berlin Wall is still standing and that the &quot;bourgeois capitalist&quot; press war people to think otherwise in order to discredit communism. 2  As a result, cults&rsquo; hostile position against the media decreases the influence of the media on the members to a zero degree. Furthermore, cults exploit a variety of approaches and legal levers in the war against the media. Sometimes they use violent tactics such as threatening, intimidation and harassment to frighten away the critics, reporters, journalists and authors and to compel them cease anti-cult productions and programs: A metropolitan newspaper&#8217;s desk editor was harassed after he ran a piece critical of a local cult. He and his family had to move out of their home after receiving seventy-two hours of continuous phone calls from cult members. 3  As mentioned earlier, if possible, cults will set up complex networks of public relations and radio-TV stations to make a direct channel of communication and contact with the sympathizers rather than letting them refer to public media for information. Such a biased medium works as sufficient to hold the followers hooked onto the cult. As Singer explains: Cults have found many ways to restrict and control public information about them. Some groups have brochures, handouts for the press, and written overviews and endorsements of the group, often prepared by sophisticated public relations firms. In essence, these materials imply that &quot;you need go no further. Here is who we are. Here is all you need to know to understand us perfectly. Take this material and use it. Everything is fine.&quot; The implication is that the material is objectively represented and relatively comprehensive. 4  As a leftist cult, Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has adopted various tactics to muzzle and beat the media. It will be discussed in the following article.   <strong>References:</strong> 1. Margaret Thaler Singer; Cults in Our Midst, JOSSEY-BASS, 2003, introduction. 2. Ibid, p. 70. 3. Ibid, p. 224. 4. Ibid, p. 226.</p>
<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o_p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ' mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma"><strong>Mojahedin.ws &#8211; Research Bureau &#8211; March 26, 2008</strong></span></o_p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1746">Why Are the Cults at War with the Media 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1746/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cult Parameters within MKO’s Internal Ideological Revolution</title>
		<link>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1547</link>
					<comments>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1547#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nejat Society]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[The cult of Rajavi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cult characteristics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manipulation Techniques of the MEK cult leaders]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nejatngo.org/en/2007/10/16/cult-parameters-within-mkos-internal-ideological-revolution/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>the insiders, regardless of their ranks and potentialities, must feel indebted to the leader for their success and spiritual felicity. To reach this stage, the insider has to be first purged of his wholly sinful past lived in the absence of the leader; it is impossible unless he is full of remorse and is dissolved in the teachings of the sphere he has joined. ..</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1547">Cult Parameters within MKO’s Internal Ideological Revolution</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Of the key terms to develop an understanding of MKO’s internal revolution is the notion of ‘being in the leader’s debt’. That is the principle that requires all the individuals to deny their personal qualifications and potentialities and completely rely on the leader for the legitimacy of any value. In other words, any goodness is attributed to the leader and the vices are all on the part of the individuals. Through this mechanism, the personality of the insiders crystallizes under the absolute submission to the leader and no claim of any significance, theoretically and practically, or encouragement are validated unless by the leader’s approbation. In general, the insiders, regardless of their ranks and potentialities, must feel indebted to the leader for their success and spiritual felicity. To reach this stage, the insider has to be first purged of his wholly sinful past lived in the absence of the leader; it is impossible unless he is full of remorse and is dissolved in the teachings of the sphere he has joined. Expounding on the process that the insider has to undergo, Maryam Rajavi has said:</p>
<p>In anybody’s career can be found flaws and individual-class ill-indoctrinations engulfing him which deprive him of the blessings of an outward leader. Anybody who believes to be his own leader is left in the sepulchre of his own thoughts. You must push aside the tombstone and reach for a handhold outside. Attach yourself to the source of leadership to gain energy. [1]</p>
<p>According to such a vision, of course the insider must consider himself in somebody’s debt who has unbounded him from a dark, sinful past lived wholly devoid of a leader. Whatever he has committed in the past, even if they were acts of virtues, are worthless in the presence of the newly adopted leader. From here on, the past being completely denied, the individual’s qualifications and personality is conditioned to the absolute submission to the leadership. As Bijan Niyabati admits:</p>
<p>He [who is absorbed by the revolution] is a no one that represents no individual value. His gained prestige is neither an award of his imprisonment inside the prisons of Shah and clerics nor his presence in the fronts of fire and blood. He is neither an eloquent orator nor a highly educated man. He is not even a man. In a word, he carries none of his past merits. [2]</p>
<p>Simply said, a person’s badge of courage and the valor of his revolutionary combats as well as his gained social prestige and all the other merits are volatilized. Now, unquestionable self-surrender is the mechanism that generates his promotion and grants him personality and legitimacy:</p>
<p>From then on, promotion in rank and status is attained not by the virtue of political and organizational qualifications, but through prostrating before a woman. A woman who, for the first time in the history of Shiism, is promoted to the status of an imam. [3]</p>
<p>Denial of the past and absolute submission to the leader leaves the door open for anyone who wishes to join. These two factors demarcate between the old and the new worlds and they are the infrastructures of Mojahedin’s ideological revolution. Is it, as Mojahedin claim, the discovered missing-link in the world of creation that is exclusively possessed by Mojahedin and inserted in their revolutionary methodology? They insist to say that the issue of the ideological leadership and solemnizing mutual relations are tokens of ingenuity and creativeness owned by Mojahedin and which comply with the laws of existence. As Mehdi Abrishamchi admits:</p>
<p>Nowhere in a context out of our mind can we legislate. We must discover laws. We make success if our discovery is proper, otherwise we fail. Social development and evolution have their own set of rules, too. We make advance if we discover their rules, otherwise, we cannot. [4]</p>
<p>Then he asserts that Mojahedin’s leadership has developed a better comprehension of these issues and, thus, has proved to be much qualified for the leadership:</p>
<p>As the human society is part of the created world which is superior to our society and world, the one who has a deeper vision of the general laws dominating the motion of the world and society, which in its simplest definition is termed as ideology, can revolutionize the society. [5]</p>
<p>Is that really the missing-link Mojahedin claim to have discovered? In fact, the claims are the most commonly techniques practiced by the majority of movements’ leaders at least in the past century. Eric Hoffer in his social and psychological autopsy of the believers in the contemporary mass movements, being reactionary or revolutionary, and the exploited techniques to transmute their believers observes that all of them end in cults. More interestingly, the presented evidences are from among the capitalism and socialism camps as well as fascist and pseudo-fascist movements. Tracing the factors in the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, Hoffer has said:</p>
<p>The total surrender of a distinct self is a prerequisite for the attainment of both unity and self-sacrifice; and there is probably no more direct way of realizing this surrender than by inculcating and extolling the habit of blind obedience. When Stalin forces scientists, writers and artists to crawl on their bellies and deny their individual intelligence, sense of beauty and moral sense, he is not indulging a sadistic impulse but is solemnizing, in a most impressive way, the supreme virtue of blind obedience. All mass movements rank obedience with the highest virtues and put it on a level with faith:&#8221;union I of minds requires not only a perfect accord in the one Faith, but complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and the Roman Pontiff as to God Him- self.&#8221;Obedience is not only the first law of God, but also the first tenet of a revolutionary party and of fervent nationalism.&#8221;Not to reason why&#8221;is considered by all mass movements the mark of a strong and generous spirit. [6]</p>
<p>What happens in MKO in respect to inspire in insiders the feeling of regret for the past is surprisingly identical with what Stalin did in his purges of the old Bolshevik leaders when he deprived them of any possibility of identification with the past which consequently led to their unbounded contempt for the past and for history:</p>
<p>It is somewhat terrifying to realize that the totalitarian leaders of our day, in recognizing this source of desperate courage, made use of it not only to steel the spirit of their followers but also to break the spirit of their opponents. In his purges of the old Bolshevik leaders, Stalin succeeded in turning proud and brave men into cringing cowards by depriving them of any possibility of identification with the party they had served all their lives and with the Russian masses. These old Bolsheviks had long ago cut themselves off from humanity outside Russia. They had an unbounded contempt for the past and for history which could still be made by capitalistic humanity. They had renounced God. There was for them neither past nor future, neither memory nor glory outside the confines of holy Russia and the Communist party and both these were now wholly and irrevocably in Stalin&#8217;s hands. They felt themselves, in the words of I Bukharin.&#8221;isolated from everything that constitutes the essence of life.&#8221;So they confessed. By humbling themselves before the congregation of the faithful they broke out of their isolation. They renewed their communion with the eternal whole by reviling the self, accusing it of monstrous and spectacular crimes, and sloughing it off in public. [7]</p>
<p>To stabilize the authority of Nazi Party, as Hoffer points out, the devout are always urged to seek the absolute truth with their hearts rather than their minds:</p>
<p>The devout are always urged to seek the absolute truth with their hearts and not their minds.&#8221;It is the heart which is conscious of God, not the reason.&#8221;Rudolph Hess, when swearing in the entire Nazi party in 1934, exhorted his hearers:&#8221;Do not seek Adolph Hitler with your brains; all of you will find him with the strength of your hearts.&#8221;[8]</p>
<p>As Hoffer discusses, insiders’ self-surrender is blazoned as atonement for the past sins which the groups themselves cultivate in the insiders:</p>
<p>Self-surrender which is the source of a mass movement&#8217;s unity and vigor, is a sacrifice, an atonement, and clearly no atonement is called for there is a poignant sense of sin. Here, as elsewhere, the technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure. An effective mass movement cultivates lea of sin. It depicts the autonomous self not only as barren and helpless but also as vile. To confess and repent is to slough off one&#8217;s individual distinctness and separateness, and salvation is found by losing oneself in, the holy oneness of the congregation. [9]</p>
<p>The meeting point to comprehend bilateral cult relations is that in the paradoxical converge of the two factors the person comes to recognize the new identity he is led into. Rajavi has always reiterated that he bears the responsibility for the sins the members have done. Rajavi is promoted as the theophany that forgives his followers’ sins and warrantees their salvation. That is what Hoffer terms as ‘a tender spot’. To achieve salvation, Rajavi requires insiders’ total devotion which is accomplished through undergoing a certain process. Explaining on the tender spot, Hoffer states:</p>
<p>There is a tender spot for the criminal and an ardent wooing of him in all mass movements. St. Bernard, the moving spirit of the Second Crusade, thus appealed for recruits:&#8221;For what is it but an exquisite and priceless chance of salvation due to God alone, that the omnipotent should deign to summon to His service, as though they were innocent, murderers, ravishers, adulterers, perjurers, and those guilty of every crime?&#8221;Revolutionary Russia too has a tender spot for the common criminal, though it is ruthless with the heretic-the ideological&#8221;deviationist.&#8221;It is perhaps true that the criminal who&#8221;embraces a holy cause is more ready to risk his life and go to extremes in its defence than people who are awed by the sanctity of life and property. [10]</p>
<p>A scrutiny into MKO’s teachings of the ideological revolution well approves that, in contrast to the organization’s claims, its parameters are nothing more than emulating commonly practiced cult techniques. It is a historically proven fact that most cults apply these techniques since they work the best in the recruitment and enslavement of the new members. MKO is not an exception.</p>
<p>Sources:</p>
<p>[1]. Shams-e Haeri, Hdi; Mordab [Swamp] (originally in Persian), vol. II, p. 101.</p>
<p>[2]. Niyabati, Bijan; A Different Look at the Ideological Revolution within MKO, Khavaran Publication, p. 102.</p>
<p>[3]. Ibid.</p>
<p>[4]. Mehdi Abrishamch’ lectures on MKO’s ideological revolution.</p>
<p>[5]. Ibid.</p>
<p>[6]. HOffER, ERIC; The True Believer, Harper &amp;. Row Publishers, New York, 1966, p. 108</p>
<p>[7]. Ibid, pp. 62-63.</p>
<p>[8]. Ibid, p. 77.</p>
<p>[9]. Ibid, pp. 55-56.</p>
<p>[10]. Ibid, p. 56.</p>
<p>Bahar Irani &#8211; Mojahedin.ws -October 14, 2007</p>
<p>&nbsp;  &nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1547">Cult Parameters within MKO’s Internal Ideological Revolution</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.nejatngo.org/en">Nejat Society</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
					<wfw:commentRss>https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/1547/feed</wfw:commentRss>
			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
