"Stinkin' Thinkin'"

The in-house lexicons of high control groups

I’ve been reading a good book by Amanda Montell called Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. The book looks at one particular aspect of movements that have often been referred to as cults. In examining high control groups such as Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple, Marshall Applewhite’s Heaven’s Gate, and less extreme examples from Tupperware to Amway, Montell focuses on the part that language has played in such groups. This is the meaning of the title. Cultish is, for Montell, a kind of language. Rather than English, Cultish is the language spoken in groups often identified as cults.

There are myriad examples in the book of these kinds of languages, and, in virtually every case, the language brings at first a sense of positive belonging, but soon a strong sense of us and them, and finally a palpable fear of the perils of the world outside of the control of the leader or the cult.

“Stinkin’ Thinkin” is a term that Montell found in researching Amway, the famous and huge multi-level marketing company. The term acts as an accusation against anyone who doubts the promise of the company or against anyone who just can’t be positive enough to keep the good vibes flowing.

As Montell writes, “MLM’s gaslight you into believing that if you follow their flawless system and don’t succeed, there is simply something wrong with you.”

Montell is thoughtful enough to point out that exclusive language can work positively in creating a sense of belonging or in encouraging commitment to worthy causes. However, the book helpfully exposes one of the central tools in high control groups, including some religious institutions and churches. She points out that the hundreds of deaths in the Peoples Temple or the mass suicide by Heaven’s Gate were accomplished not by the power of weapons, but by the power of words. It is creepy and disturbing to read terms used by Jones about suicide before the 900 plus lives were taken. He called such action “revolutionary suicide” and in doing so gave the action a kind of heroic feel.

Here are some of Jones’ words to his followers before the mass suicide:

If we can’t live in peace, then let’s die in peace … We have been so terribly betrayed … I’ve never lied to you … The best testimony we can make is to leave this world … I’m speaking as a prophet today. I wouldn’t sit up in this seat and talk so serious if I did not know what I was talking about … I don’t want to see you go through this hell no more, no more, no more, no more. Let’s get gone … let’s get gone … let’s get gone … Hurry, my children … Good knowing you … No more pain now, no more pain… Free at last.

Jones spoke these words just before 909 people, including 304 children had died. Most of the adults died by drinking a toxic substance. Most of the children had the substance administered to them by a parent or caregiver.

In the case of Heaven’s Gate, Applewhite did not say that he and his followers were killing themselves, they were rather “graduating.” There are disturbing videos recorded by the followers before their deaths in which they almost gleefully speak of what is about to happen. It is language that made the path for such delusion.

I am not equating it in severity, but more mainstream religious communities and movements can rely upon language being somewhat exclusionary as well. Montell outlines, in one section of the book, her familiarity with charismatic Christian churches. She says that she learned to speak the language, and that doing so won her acceptability and brought a sense of belonging. Marketing professionals know the power of language, whether these professionals are promoting products or churches.

You might consider what the particular lexicon was of your religious background. Evangelical expression of Christian faith had its own familiar terms. These could be as innocuous as “quiet time” or as syrupy as “love on.” In some churches, programmes and groups are given distinct names not just for title sake, but to set the believers and participants apart. High control groups tend to have terms for levels of hierarchy that can be used to impose order and control, and to rule by fear and judgment. There are nicer versions of the same in many church settings.

Somehow we need to smile at the names that we give to things, to not take them seriously. It is taking them seriously that allows them to be used against us. We might ask what the difference is between faith and coercion, between trust and marketing. Where we are followers, we should exercise discernment to be able to spot when language is being used in an attempt to control us. Where we are leaders we should not dehumanize people by a willingness to exercise control by the method of insider language.

I recommend Montell’s book. If you read it, you might want to do so while considering how the places you shop, work, and worship use language. Are there insider terms? How might some of the language sound to someone outside of the group, or unfamiliar with the product?
As Montell points out, langauge of coercive control tends to work best on people who are generally optimistic, perhaps less than skeptical.
Maybe skepticism can be present in hope. There are times when absence of skepticism can actually be hopeless and potentially damaging.
That’s why someone trying to control you might call skepticism or even realism “stinkin’ thinkin’.