Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The language of Mercy

I have a few pieces in the pipeline about the words used at Mercy Ministries.

I was inspired by a recent blog post of a fellow Mercy survivor friend called "Loading the Language".  Loaded language can be found in cults and destructive groups.  As I read it this piece, I began to recall many words used at Mercy - their ambiguity, the unspoken messages they carried and the sometimes changing meanings.

For the disclaimer, I feel it pertinent to mention that these pieces are not intended as a critique of the beliefs or methods behind the Mercy Ministries program, as much as I may have to say about certain things.  Rather, my goal in these particular pieces is to explore how the loaded language used by Mercy Ministries contributes to and maintains the two contrasting images - that which is conveyed to the general public and hopeful applicants, and the wicca ("witchcraft", literally "to bend" or "to twist") that I and others experienced behind closed doors.

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