Glossary of Terms, Part 2: Dispensing of Existence, Thought-Terminating Cliché, Loading the Language, and Milieu Control

This is the second installment in our four-part series covering terminology used to discuss high-control groups.

Dispensing of Existence 

The group decides who “really exists” (who counts as a full, valid, or worthy person). This is usually metaphorical. In everyday terms, the group creates an extreme “Us vs. Them” mindset where only insiders are seen as legitimate Christians. Everyone else, including former friends or family who leave, is written off as a lesser Christian, lost, malicious and angry, or bitter, which makes it very hard for members to question the group or to leave without huge emotional consequences and fear. This tactic helps keep people in the group by making the outside world feel empty, evil, or illegitimate, and by making leaving feel like social and spiritual death.

Outsiders, those who are not in the group, are viewed as not saved, spiritually inferior, or basically “incomplete” as Christians. Because of this belief, the group feels justified in dismissing anyone who is unwilling to join the church and come under the specific ideology of the leadership (you’re only “true believers” if you’re part of a “biblically sound” church, and we are the only one in the area). If a person refuses to join and conform, or if they criticize the group, members are trained to reject the non-conforming individual, to limit or cut contact, and to see them as malicious, foolish, or misguided. Using methods like these, everything outside the group is cast as non-credible. Outside ideas, news, family, science, other congregations, etc., are all dismissed as corrupted or outright false. Furthermore, if a member ever leaves the group, they lose their “right to exist” in the eyes of the remaining members. Current congregants now reject and shun that ex-congregant (limited contact, lost respect, treat them as nonexistent).

“We are the only Biblically-sound church in the greater Knoxville area.”

“We want to leave, but where else can we go?”

Others who claim to be Christians are probably not true believers.

The people who left the church have left the faith.

“There are no churches in Birmingham.”

Thought-Terminating Cliché 

This can also be called “thought-stopping phrases.”

A thought-terminating cliché is a short, easily-memorized, often-repeated phrase that people in the group use to quickly shut down doubts, questions, and critical thinking, especially when something in the group feels contradictory or wrong. The phrase may sound reasonable or even be true in normal situations, but it is used in context to block further analysis. Such phrases are often used to dismiss concerns or defend flawed logic without explanation. Complex issues are reduced to one simplistic, absolute slogan that ends discussion. For example, “God is sovereign” can be a comforting truth. In this church group’s context, however, it is often weaponized. God’s sovereignty is used to dismiss valid concerns, end debates, or justify bad logic/decisions without real explanation or evidence. Using this cliché stops further analysis immediately.

The main problem with the thought-terminating cliché is that complex, messy, human problems, such as personal suffering, leadership failures, abuse, contradictions in doctrine, or ethical issues get compressed into one ultra-simple, absolute-sounding slogan. Slogans are easy to memorize and repeat reflexively in situations that rightly cause inner turmoil and questioning. It is the beginning and the end of any “analysis.” Using these phrases is meant to end the conversation or internal questioning, and in many cases it succeeds. Further thought feels unnecessary, rebellious, or sinful. The thinking stops, discomfort eases, and loyalty to the group stays intact. Instead of wrestling with a tough, complicated problem like, “Why did the leader do/say that hurtful thing?” or “This rule doesn’t make sense given the evidence,” someone drops the cliché. This tactic protects the ideology and leaders from scrutiny. It makes it hard to voice legitimate concerns without seeming unfaithful, disloyal, or worldly.

Some examples that are common within the general Christian community are, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it” which ends debate by appealing to ultimate authority without engaging the actual issue, “The Lord works in mysterious ways,” “God never gives you more than you can handle,” “It’s God’s will,” “You’re thinking too much. Just have faith.” Thought-terminating clichés reduce members’ critical thinking over time. It is sneaky because the phrases feel wise or spiritual and can be true statements, but when overused to block real inquiry, they become tools of control rather than genuine wisdom.

“God is sovereign” can be used to shut down questions about why unnecessary risks are taken or bad things happen under the leader’s watch.

“It’s good for your sanctification” can justify suffering, mistreatment, or demands as spiritually beneficial. There is no need to complain or question.

“Trust the leadership” or “Trust the elders” trains people to avoid questioning or thinking critically about the decisions of the elders.

“We don’t gossip here” prevents people from talking about their own true, negative experiences and concerns.

“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable” trains people to see giving up Christian liberties as a mandate for the sake of community cohesion.

“You have been given a satisfactory explanation” prompts people to stop asking for clarification, facts, and explanations for cognitive dissonance.

“Don’t be divisive” tells people to stop questioning or speaking out.

Loading the Language

The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that the outside world often does not understand, or so that people do not register the change to the definition. This jargon includes thought-stopping clichés that reshape members’ thought processes to conform to the group’s way of thinking.

Believer/True Believer - meaning those who were in good standing with the GCC congregation, particularly the leadership, or some rare individuals outside of the congregation judged to be similar enough in ideology, temperament, and spiritual practice that they would likely be a part of GCC were it not for acceptably extenuating circumstances.

Worship - reinterpreted to remove any emotional connotation, to instead focus on the intellectual satisfaction of aligning one’s thought processes with what is ostensibly the will of God, as interpreted by the church leadership.

Biblical/Biblically-sound - reinterpreted to mean “aligning with elder-approved interpretations of biblical doctrine in speech, behavior, lifestyle, philosophy, appearance, thought, choice of media, and patterns of reasoning.”

Gossip - meaning any negative statement about another person, even talking about your own true experiences, if it does not reflect favorably upon the church, unless approved or elicited by questions from a person of authority within the church who has the implicitly-understood right to override the taboo.

Gentleness - reinterpreted to mean whatever amount of forcefulness the spiritual authorities in leadership “discerned” as appropriate for an individual or situation, “exerting the proper amount of force for any given situation,” which could include harsh penalties as they see fit.

Hermeneutics - reinterpreted to mean the pastor’s ability to expound on the meaning of each individual word and phrase in a text while giving lip-service to doing “literal, historical, grammatical” analysis of the Scriptures.

(Editor’s note: I, as a rather invested, intelligent teen, came away from a “hermeneutics” training program taught by Riser with the distinct impression that this was some arcane art that only individuals of superior intellect and spirituality far beyond my own had any hope of performing sufficiently well as to not fall into heresy, so I should leave it to the church leaders and not trust my own judgement in the slightest. Riser has a noteworthy habit in his teaching of explicitly denying that he is going to teach something, and then going on at length to explain the thing he said he was explicitly not trying to teach. In this case, to paraphrase, “anyone can do hermeneutics, and you should not think it is just for your pastors and elders,” immediately followed by a lengthy explanation of why it is dangerous to try to do hermeneutics without having the depth of training and experience only achieved by pastors and elders.

…but I digress.)

Discipleship - meaning the elders, or those directly approved by them, taking a close interest in the lives of select individuals who are deeply invested in the GCC congregation for the purpose of instructing them one-on-one in how to better live life “biblically” (see above).

Elder-Led - church governance is, in practice, elder-ruled, but called elder-led.

Love - purely a system of “biblical” (see above) choices and not an emotion as identified by the outside world.

Milieu Control 

The group or leaders control communication and information both within the environment and, ultimately, what is permitted within the individual’s mind, leading to a great deal of isolation from society at large.

Invest all available time, money, and other resources into your local church body instead of spending them outside of GCC.

You should really be careful about making commitments to activities and people outside of the church community that might take up time and energy you could otherwise invest in this church body.

“Look around the room; your spouse will most likely come from within this youth group.”

Did the Pastor approve that book you’re reading?

Did the Pastor approve the music you listen to?

Don’t gossip.

There are many good teachers in the world, but we want you to focus on the work of the excellent teachers within our local church body.