Hypnosis & Hysteria: The Foundation of Christian Worship
Thursday, November 19, 2015
I have engaged in dialogue with a number of Christians
concerning the nature of all things “Biblical” and typically the conversation
veers towards their beliefs and their sense of duty to try and compel me to
accept their beliefs as the infallible standard of Divine revelation. It’s
quite easy to demonstrate the error of Christian theology and their misapplication
of hermeneutical tools in the construction of a fanciful religious narrative
which uses the Bible to negate the meaning of the Bible itself. I refer to this
as “arrogant ignorance” as this is the sum total of the imperative which drives
the majority of these sincere believers. Whenever one of these devout individuals
realizes that debating the Biblical narrative is futile they have a predictable
reaction, either they attack me personally (even if they don’t know me) as the
demonization of an opponent gives the aggressor a sense of “higher ground,” and/or
they will simply denounce intellectual dialogue altogether and dispense with
logical discussion by asserting their own subjective experiences or personal
feelings as the final arbiter of “truth.” At this point there really is nothing
more that can be said because they have ejected from the discussion entirely
and have no intention of standing toe to toe upon the ground of rational
dialogue for to do so would only injure their own personal egos.
The retreat into personal subjectivity is problematic to the
extreme because it demonstrates a complete lack of emotional awareness. This
response is most typical among Christians who embrace a very hyper-sensational
version of religious ecstasy such as the Pentecostals and Charismatics. More
times than I can recall I have been challenged with facing the subjective “truth”
of others based upon perceived miraculous occurrences and signs supposedly
produced within the Houses of Worship of these devotees. It always amazes me to
hear just how often the verification of theological ideas is based upon the
manifestation of supernatural signs. Due to the prevalence of this subjective
experience and common confrantatioal tool I have decided to address this topic
by putting on my Hypnotherapist’s hat and explaining what is actually happening
in the context of these supposed supernatural worship services of Pentecostal
churches. I have thoroughly examined the charismatic Christian experience and
from an educated perspective of behavioral modification I will explain that
these services are essentially nothing more than a phenomena produced by basic
crowd psychology and hypnosis techniques.
In Hypnosis the most vital part of the session with a client
is not the actual hypnosis induction itself rather it is the initial building
of rapport with a client. Rapport sets the stage for what is to come and
without doing this effectively then the client will not necessarily be complicit
in the process of hypnosis and therefore the session will not be successful.
Building rapport is setting the stage through environmental design, the
hypnotist must present a professional and positive image, certain language
patterns are utilized when discussing the session and the client’s goals which
fertilizes the soil of their unconscious minds to become suggestible, etc.
Likewise, when an outsider visits a Pentecostal church, they are--merely by the
act of attendance--complicit in what is about to take place. They take note of
the friendly people, the family environment, and wonder "whether I am missing
something in my life..."
This complicity is encouraged by psychology as the music, the atmosphere of
energetic worship; create a powerful feeling of love and acceptance.
Participation is clearly expected, and shyness is characterized as Sinful
Pride, so the newly initiated join in until just playing along becomes genuine
excitement.
Psychological manipulation is then joined by physiology, as the congregation
stands and sings for up to forty-five emotional minutes; the music speeding up
and slowing down, rousing choruses being repeated again and again, beautiful
praise music being sung aloud by hundreds of people in communion together. One
might remain standing with knees locked and arms upraised for an extended
period; there are changes in blood pressure, pulse rate, and circulation to the
extremities, and breathing is shallow.
The subject is now highly "suggestible". An invitation is given to
all those who "want something from God" (be it salvation, healing,
The Holy Spirit, etc.) to come to the front. The person walks the aisle, feeling
numb and surreal, almost in a mild trance such as one who is in a hypnagogic
state. Everyone in the immediate area is babbling unintelligibly and loudly.
The subject is exhorted by a handler to "pray and worship God out loud but
not in English." Muttered sounds emerge from the lips, and soon the
individual feels no embarrassment but is confident (surrounded by the cover of
noise from others) to raise their own volume and essentially copy those around
him or her.
Up to this point this is basic crowd psychology as well as
common elementary tactics that are used in cognitive behavioral therapy to
induce a particular response from an individual. This is exactly the same as
one would witness in a stage hypnosis show wherein subjects are put in a
hypnagogic state via crowd psychology tools and are then willing to act out in
the most sensational manner regardless of the audience observing them.
This is when the preacher approaches. The person praying aloud has their eyes
closed and is feeling almost nothing, and therefore does not realize the
preacher has just placed a hand on their forehead and gently pushed them to the
floor where they are let down softly by "catchers". They open their
eyes and are staring at the ceiling. They remain convinced for decades that
they both "spoke in tongues" and were "slain in the
Spirit". However, in reality the preacher has simply done what hypnotists
do in some scenarios which is called “rapid induction.” Rapid induction is a
tool to induce a deeper hypnotic state by startling the subject with an
unsuspected action such as putting a hand on the forehead, waving one’s arm
suddenly or any other variety of methods which are immediately proceeded by a
command or catch word of some sort, the hypnotist may shout “sleep” loudly
which overrides the idio-motor response of the client and causes them to fall
over as being slain in the Spirit as seen in these Churches but in the case of
a preacher the buzz word could by “Jesus” as it presents an expected subsequent
behavior that the psyche of the devotee instinctually obeys.
This whole phenomena is not spiritual it is socio-psychological manipulation.
It has worked on millions of average people. As evidence for this assertion I would point
out that in the absence of these techniques I have described no one will
demonstrate so-called charismatic gifts and hyper-sensational activity
perceived as being the “Holy Spirit” (i.e. speaking in tongues, gyrations,
slaying in Spirit, etc.) and this is recognized by Pentecostals who assert that
a service which doesn’t include this emotional phenomena is one wherein “God”
didn’t move or the “Spirit was quenched” and other bizarre ideals.. So not only
does it seem to work when employed, but its influence is equally convincing in
the lack of results obtained in its absence.
In conclusion, the presence of sensationalism and perceived "moving’s
of the Spirit" in certain Christian denominations is nothing more than a form of
mass hysteria cultivated via simple psychological tools. We see these same phenomena
in other religions as well such as Voodoo and various forms of Animism cults. Therefore
these things cannot be seen as proof of anything other than the subjective
suggestibility of those devoted to their emotions over their intellect.
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