FAITH HEALERS
ocelotofdoom and I were discussing various aspects of 'faith healing' cults in all their forms (we started off talking about gay camps and I think that's where we ended, too) and this video is apropos to the discussion so I figured I would SHARE IT WITH EVERYWANNNN
That's Benny Hinn, he's an evangelist leader. As you can see, he engages in a laying-on-of-hands (or not, as it may be...I think he might be trying to avoid lawsuits, or just enjoys the impressiveness of force-shoving people to the floor) faith healing.
If you are wondering how this works...he's inducing a deep state of submission in his audience. This is the same state you see in people who have been hypnotized, 'regressed to infancy', etc. The interesting thing about this state is that it must be entered consensually (thus why these tricks do not work on true non-believers) but once you're there, it is very difficult to get back out on your own, nigh impossible for many people.
But anyways - here are the signs to look for if you are wondering if something like this is a product of an induced submissive state:
Of course, please keep in mind that I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I have nothing against hypnotists, or in general inducing a submissive state for the fun and profit of everybody involved. It's not harmful and it's a normal function of the human psyche, for whatever reason. It's just good to be aware that that is what's going on, I think. If somebody's lying to you about what they're attempting to do to you or other people, that's when you should maybe start being wary. Submissive state induction has no place in real therapeutic practices and is in fact the primary way in which false memories are manufactured (see: the Satanic Panic, which used these tactics under the 'regression' misnomer that has been popularized).
Click to viewThat's Benny Hinn, he's an evangelist leader. As you can see, he engages in a laying-on-of-hands (or not, as it may be...I think he might be trying to avoid lawsuits, or just enjoys the impressiveness of force-shoving people to the floor) faith healing.
If you are wondering how this works...he's inducing a deep state of submission in his audience. This is the same state you see in people who have been hypnotized, 'regressed to infancy', etc. The interesting thing about this state is that it must be entered consensually (thus why these tricks do not work on true non-believers) but once you're there, it is very difficult to get back out on your own, nigh impossible for many people.
But anyways - here are the signs to look for if you are wondering if something like this is a product of an induced submissive state:
- the leader has a set of commands that he makes sure the people he is working with will understand; either by outlining what they mean ahead of time, or immediately before giving the command; or by only targetting people they know are big enough fans of them to be able to anticipate what they should do when he does certain things (as is probably the case with Mr. Hinn - the people he is healing know that 'when he pushes at me, I fall down').
- there is some way of priming the audience, and then in particular the targets; a hypnotist show is the easiest example for this as they are well-structured - the performer will start off by joking, 'getting to know' the audience, etc. to make himself appear more charismatic and get attention focused on him. Then he will have a short routine to put people under (the one I see used most frequently is something like counting backwards from 5) that he will tell you ahead of time is supposed to hypnotize you. Faith healers are more likely to start off with lots of prayer, chanting, etc. which is even more effective.
- they only pick voluntary targets. I'm sure there are situations in which an involuntary person can be put into a submissive state, but it would probably require a lot of mental wearing-down first, and probably an inclination to slip into the state as a defense mechanism.
Of course, please keep in mind that I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I have nothing against hypnotists, or in general inducing a submissive state for the fun and profit of everybody involved. It's not harmful and it's a normal function of the human psyche, for whatever reason. It's just good to be aware that that is what's going on, I think. If somebody's lying to you about what they're attempting to do to you or other people, that's when you should maybe start being wary. Submissive state induction has no place in real therapeutic practices and is in fact the primary way in which false memories are manufactured (see: the Satanic Panic, which used these tactics under the 'regression' misnomer that has been popularized).