Maria Peregolise<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c6. Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clich\u00e9s, which serve to alter members’ thought processes to conform to the group’s way of thinking.\u201d (Lifton 1961) [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust trust me.\u201d This was Dad\u2019s go-to \u2018thought-stopping clich\u00e9.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n I hated those words from My Father, along with the abrupt three-fingered hand gesture of impatience which made me flinch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was impossible to disrespect him. You didn\u2019t talk back or ask a question to clarify that you understood his request correctly. Ultimately the way would be made clear. And, you never needed the whole story, just your own part in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on with this right now, but it\u2019ll all make sense in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was another \u2018thought-stopping clich\u00e9,\u2019 because that was how God worked. In any situation, your thoughts would be \u2018Adjusted\u2019 by the Sentient Heavenly Being sharing your mind, listening to your every thought, and watching your every move. If you could determine the highest concept of Truth, Beauty and Goodness, this Thought Adjuster of <\/p>\n\n\n\n God would help you recognize the answer that was His.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, that relationship of \u2018Father to Will-Creature\u2019 (on URANTIA, known as humans) was what My Father\u2019s instructions exemplified in giving His orders and my following them to a fault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dad\u2019s was the \u2018suggestion\u2019 you were expected to follow beyond all doubt. He was so well-practiced in this communion with \u2018The Small Piece of God\u2019 in His mind that, even if you were perpetually immature in your own practice of listening for the Heavenly Father\u2019s suggestions, you knew Dad\u2019s ability was unequivocal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven when you dream, you should practice listening for His word, and practice following it,\u201d Dad would often reiterate. \u201cPractice asking, \u2018Father, if you were living my life right now, what would you have me do?\u2019 Then listen for that Voice of God inside you, your Thought Adjuster. Search in your mind for the highest concept of Truth, Beauty and Goodness, and practice following His suggestion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The URANTIA Book teaches, \u201c…God the Supreme is truth, beauty, and goodness, for these concepts of divinity represent finite maximums of ideational experience. \u2026 [Sponsored by a Mighty Messenger temporarily sojourning on Urantia.]<\/strong>\u201d * [2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I could never ascertain what ideas were mine versus God\u2019s, or whether His were ever in my mind at all. Though, as My Father so often reminded me, I hadn\u2019t read the entire book cover-to-cover, as Dad had done numerous times. It was true that this was my own fault. God would have more to work with if, as a ten-year-old, twelve-year-old, thirteen-year-old\u2026 I had all His Word in my mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Omniscience gave God the advantage of knowing the heart and perspective of everyone involved in the big picture of any situation. Those involved were the puzzle pieces that would fall into place, if only everyone were aware of His clandestine workings and would listen for his ideal suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis personal circuit<\/strong> encompasses all personalities,<\/strong> and his knowledge of even the lowly creatures is supplemented<\/strong> indirectly through the descending series of divine Sons and directly through the indwelling Thought Adjusters<\/strong>.\u201d [Being the Divine Counselor assigned to the presentation of the revelation of the Universal Father, I have continued with this statement of the attributes of Deity.]<\/strong> * [3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This links \u2018Will Creatures\u2019 with Universes of other Beings on a Spiritual Circuit of Awareness, in which only Father-Enlightened minds can participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Firstly, one prays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Secondly, the Thought Adjuster suggests the highest concept of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Guilt is bread exponentially from not stopping to beg long enough for clarity and listen carefully enough for an answer. One can waste much time waiting for Divine answers that never materialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Thirdly, as one acts on the Thought Adjuster\u2019s suggestion, Unseen Friends work in the background to cause outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n i) \u201c… there is an unbroken chain of rulers ending with the Planetary Princes (Jesus or Michael of Nebadon is URANTIA\u2019s Planetary Prince), who direct the destinies of the evolutionary spheres<\/strong> … \u201cHe removes kings and sets up kings<\/strong>.\u201d \u201cThe Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men<\/strong>.\u201d\u201d * [4]<\/a> [5]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ii) Dad always said, \u201cFor it is true that \u2018The Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men,\u2019\u201d and he would add an anecdote of espionage and interception behind the supernaturally guided outcome of World War II. He possessed privileged information from His connections with his Thought Adjuster and with the surviving URANTIA Founder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Fourth, now that one has desperately trained to pray for recognition of God\u2019s Word, so to enact the most perfect plan possible, your mind is not your own. Stepping aside to recognize the constant begging, is a big \u2018Aha Moment.\u2019 However, it calls to question the dilemma of \u2018what is normal prayer and what is chanting?\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Experience with a \u2018Thought Adjuster\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Firstly, one trains to interrupt his own thought-processes with a chanted prayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf Secondly, one trains to stop and listen for an outside answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s exhausting and distracting when you\u2019re trying to make a decision. Coupled with the knowledge that in any case one should ultimately seek Dad\u2019s answer, regardless of what you \u2018think\u2019 your Thought Adjuster told you \u2014 it is debilitating when faced with a choice \u2014 any simple choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018Thought Adjuster\u2019 manifests as an insidious infiltration one must battle, daily. Realizing the inner voice is your own, means actively counteracting the myriad ingrained thought-processes involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the incessant chanting of prayer in one\u2019s mind that you must catch yourself doing, and then demand it remain silent. Certainly, you don\u2019t want to replace the praying with a new chant of any kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how do you eradicate the \u2018chanting\u2019 mantra of your inner voice, when you\u2019ve been trained to thank God or beg God for every little thing that happens in every waking and sleeping moment? \u2014 From making the correct decision in a crucial life and death moment in a nightmare, to making critical financial decisions, to finding something you\u2019ve lost, or for the traffic light turning green… Your mind Never Rests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This process is also an example of \u201cMilieu Control\u201d which describes \u201ccontrol of information and communication… ultimately, within the individual…\u201d (Lifton 1961) [6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n What remains is the guilt of having lost faith \u2014 the superstitious fear that comes with turning your back on God. What if He does exist? Perhaps, \u2018He\u2019 is not a personal God, but an impersonal entity which knows nothing of its lowly creatures\u2019 life moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lois Kendall\u2019s, Born and Raised in a [Sect], pg. 91-94 describes the difference between first and second-generation post cult members\u2019 desire to maintain a faith in God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026more of the first generation than the second generation maintained a faith in God. Both\u2026 reported confusion about their religious beliefs, spirituality and faith in God after leaving. Those who did not maintain a faith may understandably be alienated from any religion or religious belief\u2026\u201d (Kendall, 2016) [7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I catch myself assuming everything is a sign from God to go in a particular direction \u2014 As though there is an answer to everything, by watching for signs or listening to an inner voice… which is just your first reaction. Not a good thing to follow every time it pops into your head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I was never guided in how to scrutinize a situation to form a reasonable decision. I eventually learned this process through watching people I admired making similar decisions and by following their lead. That is, \u201cWhat would Aunt Sheila do?\u201d vs WWJD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More productive studies might have occupied my mind, if not for the many years of nothingness I practiced. However, the need to describe my inner thought-processes and how they were developed has led to a greater understanding of Lifton\u2019s \u201cLoading the Language\u201d and “Milieu Control.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.csj.org\/studyindex\/studymindctr\/study_mindctr_lifton.htm<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert J. Lifton, Eight Psychological Themes of a Thought Reform Program, 1961, 1989<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> 117:7.18 (1293.2)The Urantia Book. Chicago: Urantia Foundation, 1955 <\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/a> 3:3:3 (49.2), 3:6.9 (53.7)The Urantia Book. Chicago: Urantia Foundation, 1955<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/a> 3:6.9 (53.7) [Being the Divine Counselor assigned to the presentation of the revelation of the Universal Father, I have continued with this statement of the attributes of Deity.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/a> 3:5.2 (51.1) The Urantia Book. Chicago: Urantia Foundation, 1955 <\/p>\n\n\n\n