Why do good people do bad things?
In the 1950's Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist in Connecticut, tried to answer that question.
He set up an experiment where two people would participate in a learning experiment. A researcher took the two participants into a room where a big, imposing shock machine was mounted next to a booth. One participant would enter the room as the "learner" and the other would sit at the shock machine as the "teacher".
The "teacher" would give some simple quizzes to the "learner". If the answer was correct, the next quiz was given. If the answer was wrong, the "teacher" would apply an electric shock. Each wrong answer would bring a more powerful shock - from 40 volts up to 750 volts.
Ouch.
The upshot was that the "learner" was an actor and the shock machine was a prop. No actual shock was applied.
The actor would make a few correct answers, then would deliberately blow the rest. Each time, the "teacher" applied a shock.
To the horror of Milgram, most people kept applying more and more powerful shocks. One actor said he had a heart condition. He would start to scream from the pain of the shock then showed obvious distress. The "teachers" kept shocking him anyway, even after the actor appeared to have passed out.
What the hell?
It turned out that when the "teacher" showed some hesitation to apply a shock, the researcher told him to continue. The "teacher" was also told that the researcher would assume responsibility for anything that happened, including the apparent unconsciousness from electric shock.
Milgram finally figured out that if a person can point to an authority figure for responsibility, he can justify any kind of action - even one that clearly causes harm.
He even tried to use two "teachers". He found that that one would frequently tell the other to keep going, even if the shocks were becoming dangerous because they were told to do so by a man in a lab coat. And strangely, women were actually more likely to keep giving more and more dangerous shocks than men.
Are things different now? That experiment was repeated at Santa Clara University just a few years ago. The results were exactly the same. Some people (men and women) even kept shocking even after the learner appeared to pass out.
So what the hell does this have to do with the Spiritual Rights Foundation?
Think about all the crazy behavior between genders there. Think about the mental torture, abuse and exploitation that went on there. Now think about why no one spoke out against that behavior.
Fear maybe? Nope. More like: get along by going along. Peer pressure and the fact that insane, abusive and even dangerous behavior was sanctioned by the church leadership should be enough to tell you why.
Steve Sanchez's story is just one of the many horrors that occurred there. Many other men and women were subjected to disdain, verbal punishment, isolation, and abuse at the hands of SRF. I remember clearly watching men being insulted, threatened and deceived in the name of "healing". Some of these "healing" sessions were so intense with anger and hate that I got scared just watching. I was relieved that I was not the target and like everyone else, somehow perversely delighted to see someone else take a turn as the SRF punching bag.
The members would certainly avoid and talk poorly about those at a "lower vibration" and would do anything to those persons that was sanctioned by the church. They did it to please the leadership and show their devotion to the church to other members. What was strange and incongruent was your past loyalty and devotion to the leaders provided no relief or mercy when the leader's anger and frustration inevitably turned to you.
When the leaders turned on you, the rest of the membership turned on you like a pack of wolves. No men in white coats were required to guide you into abuse - these authorities wore minister's robes.
It's a common theme from ex-members of SRF: when they were on the outs with the leadership, they were on the outs with the membership. Of course, the leaders never acted to temper any wrath the members applied to a wayward colleague. If a lynching were the order or the day, I believe it would be conducted. Several male members of SRF expressed their skill at getting "rid of the body where it would never be found".
And I'm sure that if there was a real shock machine, those same people will hand out real shocks.
In the name of Jesus, of course.
