Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a cult according to the BITE model?
The author of the BITE model, Steven Hassan, defines a cult as an organization that practices mind control in four areas, behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotion control. Far from scientific, it seems to be a list of vague or highly subjective criticisms, that could be and are found in all organizations, governments, and even families, to some degree. Here is a breakdown of the various attributes of Steven Hassan's Mind Control, and how they might relate to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
| Classification | Practice | LDS Church | Score |
| BEHAVIOR CONTROL | Promote dependence and obedience. | Promotes dependence on God, and obedience to his commandments. I don't see these as negatives. | 0 |
| Modify behavior with rewards and punishments. | Is there another way to modify behavior? Still, the involvement of the LDS church in such matters rarely goes beyond severe sins. No one ever got excommunicated for watching an R rated movie. | 1 | |
| Dictate where and with whom you live. |
The LDS church doesn't do that. But it has in the past. It brought members together, where they could escape the severe persecution from governments and other churches. Members of the LDS church actually escaped involvement in the US Civil War by following a modern prophet. If I could give this a negative score, I would. |
0 | |
| Restrict or control sexuality. | Defining cultural norms for the expression of sexuality and sexual intimacy is necessary for living in a civilized society. Not having cultural norms or expectations would be harmful to women, and to children, who often find themselves the victims of brutish men. As soon as a man tries to intimidate a women or a child into a sexual relationship, he has trespassed on their agency. In the case of children, seduction alone trespasses on their agency. I have to give the church high marks on this one, although it may seem counterintuitive to do so. In my estimation the church would get a zero, but according to Steven's criteria, it probably is closer to an 8. | 8 | |
| Control clothing and hairstyle. | This would be a minor consideration if our society was more civilized. As it is, clothing and hairstyle can cause unwanted advances by uncivilized men. It is right to discourage trespass, by controlling our dress and hairstyle. I happily admit guilty, on this one. | 7 | |
| Regulate what and how much you eat and drink. | The LDS church doesn't care what we eat or drink with the exception of addictive substances. People who are addicted to drugs aren't just a hazard to themselves; they trespass on the rights of others. | 1 | |
| Deprive you of seven to nine hours of sleep. | The LDS church recommends seven to nine hours of sleep. | 0 | |
| Exploit you financially. | "Exploit" means to make full use of a resource. They'd be foolish not to. They should make full use of all their resources. I'd like to give this a ten, but the church isn't currently living the United Order. | 5 | |
| Restrict leisure time and activities. | The church actually encourages us to include recreation as an important part of family life. | 1 | |
| Require you to seek permission for major decisions. | The church only requires one to seek permission for decisions that involve the church, and rightly so. | 0 | |
|
Subtotal (Out of 100) |
23 | ||
| INFORMATION CONTROL | Deliberately withhold and distort information. |
One of the major objectives of the LDS church is to remedy the deliberate omission and distortion of the teachings of Christ. There is a perception that the church hides things from its members, and maybe that is true to a small degree, but it isn't to keep people ignorant, but to prevent them from being victims, either from persecution or from the false accusations of bitter and hateful men. |
1 |
| Forbid you from speaking with ex-members and critics. | The church encourages us to reach out to inactive members, who are often in their own mind critical of the church, having left the church. | 0 | |
| Discourage access to non-cult sources of information. | We do discourage people from reading disinformation that comes from cults. There are several cults that publish anti-Mormon tracts, websites, etc. We don't consider ourselves a cult. We really help people escape the cults. We want people to think for themselves. | 0 | |
| Divide information into Insider vs. Outsider doctrine. | I don't see how this relates to the church. | 0 | |
| Generate and use propaganda extensively. | Just the opposite. The church constantly fights propaganda. | 0 | |
| Use information gained in confession sessions against you. | Just the opposite. The information is used to help that member. | 0 | |
| Gaslight to make you doubt your own memory. | Gaslighting is the deliberate distortion of one's own personal history. I don't see how this relates to the church. | 0 | |
| Require you to report thoughts, feelings, & activities to superiors. | The LDS church doesn't do that. | 0 | |
| Encourage you to spy and report on others’ “misconduct”. | If anything, that is discouraged. | 0 | |
| Subtotal
(Out of 90) |
1 | ||
| THOUGHT CONTROL | Instill Black and White thinking. | That describes every other church more so than ours. We see the good in all churches, and seldom if ever threaten anyone with hell. Nor do we view all commandments as having equal gravity. Some sins are very minor. And we don't expect anyone to be sinless. The LDS church is the very opposite of mind control. It is the antidote for mind control. | 0 |
| Change your identity, possibly even your name. | We certainly don't change our name. Sure we identify as Christians, and Saints, but using language to classify is necessary in all conversation. We certainly don't think ill of those who aren't Christians or Saints. A Christian is a follower of Christ. A saint is someone who has been sanctified through baptism. Thus we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. | 0 | |
| Use loaded language and cliches to stop complex thought. | Again the opposite is true. Our Sunday School lessons encourage thought by asking thought provoking questions. The church wants us to think for ourselves. Nor does it try to manipulate us emotionally, with accusations and demonizing, like what occurs in so many churches today. | 0 | |
| Induce hypnotic or trance states to indoctrinate. | They don't do that, unless falling asleep with a boring talk is a trance state. | 0 | |
| Teach thought-stopping techniques to prevent critical thoughts. | They don't do that either. They do the opposite. They teach us to doubt even our doubts. | 0 | |
| Allow only positive thoughts. | This is a rather vague criteria. No bell goes off when someone has a negative thought. No one ever got kicked out of church for having a negative thought. | 0 | |
| Use excessive meditation, singing, prayer, & chanting to block thoughts. | Thought selection - where we actively choose our thoughts, is a positive tool for self control. We aren't being controlled by a "cult", we are initiating self control. Mind control is good, when we control our own minds. Steven Hassan agrees: "If mind control techniques are used to empower an individual to have more choice, and authority for their life remains within themselves, the effects can be beneficial." | 0 | |
| Reject rational analysis, critical thinking, & doubt. | This is highly subjective, but from my point of view, the church rejects irrational doubt, faulty analysis and uncritical thinking. We save people from cults. | 0 | |
| Subtotal
(Out of 80) |
0 | ||
|
EMOTIONAL CONTROL |
Instill irrational fears (phobias) of questioning or leaving the group. | I haven't seen this, although I have yet to see a rational reason to leave the church. | 0 |
| Label some emotions as evil, worldly, sinful, or wrong. | The church doesn't do this. Emotions are natural, and part of mortal life. Even God has emotions. | 0 | |
| Teach emotion-stopping techniques to prevent anger, homesickness. | The church doesn't do this. The healthy response to anger is grieving, and sometimes to take action, but never repression. | 0 | |
| Promote feelings of guilt, shame, & unworthiness. | Again, just the opposite. We try to help people have confidence, happiness, and gratitude and know the love of God. | 0 | |
| Shower you with praise and attention (“love bombing”). | I hate fake praise, AKA flattery. Thank goodness the LDS church doesn't do that. | 0 | |
| Threaten your friends and family. | Again, the church doesn't do that. It saves people from cults like that. | 0 | |
| Shun you if you disobey or disbelieve. | Just the opposite. The church encourages us to minister to those who lack faith.0 | 0 | |
| Teach that there is no happiness or peace outside the group. |
I've never heard anyone teach such a ridiculous thing. Happiness isn't something that you can buy from a church, let alone one specific church. 0 |
0 | |
| Subtotal
(Out of 80) |
0 |
My conclusion: The church gets a score of 24 out of a possible 350. It is definitely not a cult.