UPDATE: Cult Myths Biography Posts Cancelled
A whole lot has been written on Stephen Hassan for the Cult Myths Biography series, but as I was approaching wrap-up, suddenly other things kept getting in the way that were considerably more important. Even other material to publish seemed more important over the past two years. The “what the ‘Faithful and Discreet Slave’ is Not” article was Herculean in its effort, but I was able to get it done in a few weeks. Whereas the biography of Stephen Hassan has been holding up my ability to address anti-cult arguments for the past two years, despite my being just short of the finish line almost the whole time.
Then, when I sat down and analyzed the importance of biologies of anti-cult personalities, I realized that Jehovah does not make anything about the entire history of any one person unless it teaches a lesson. Every word in the Bible has purpose. So the lesson, I realized, is that knowing about the people who came up with the ideas countered or supported in this series is wholely unimportant to the ideas themselves.
I must therefore apologize to those to whom I promised that article, but this is a promise that I cannot fulfill. I would rather can it than fight against Jehovah’s spirit. Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for any disappointment this announcement may cause.
I will also be discontinuing the “Upcoming Articles” list as I obviously cannot guarantee they will get published, nor done in a timely manner.
Thank you.
Comments
No. I will just be addressing the individual anti-cult and counter-cult claims about what qualifies groups as cults with fair analysis and give no attention to the authors or their publications.
I too have difficulty in finding interest in biographies. This, though, was about understanding their biases and motivations. For example, Hassan has certain quirks of personality that become evident by the things he borrows, fudges or misrepresents and are connected to his upbringing. It, though, is not too relevant to the claims he makes, which is the actual point of this series.
I had also planned to break down the evidence that he lifted his "strategic interactive approach" that he uses for ethical (non-cultic) deprogramming almost verbatim from our publications. But that too is not necessary since it does not resolve anything except to show that he actually agrees with our methods, which belies his claim that our methods are cultic.