Heretical Mind Control: Cultist ‘Brainwashing’ Theories and Their Pre-Modern Parallels
Heretical Mind Control: Cultist ‘Brainwashing’ Theories and Their Pre-Modern Parallels
Author(s): František NovotnýSubject(s): Anthropology, Cultural history, Comparative history, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum
Keywords: sectarianism; mind control; middle ages; anti-cult movement; history; anthropology
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses parallels between the central medieval narratives about maleficent bewitchment in heretical sects and the late 20th century beliefs about “brainwashing” practices in the so-called destructive cults, which constituted an integral part of the anti-cult moral panic, emerging in the 1980 and 1990s. It emphasizes the importance of discerning between trans-temporal elements of sectarian mind control narratives, which seem to be anthropological constants, and situation-specific layers. The article further argues that the trans-temporal elements constitute non-trivial set of motifs, particularly related to sharing of community with the sectarians (namely, common meal in the medieval narratives), which cannot be reduced only to basic human fears and anxieties.
Journal: Central European Journal for Contemporary Religion
- Issue Year: 6/2022
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 43-55
- Page Count: 13
- Language: English
