Based on current events, Brainwashing and
Changing China:Communist Strategies Enforce Solidarity
From Josh: ' "The United States should apologize and respond appropriately. If they don't it's going to make things difficult," threatened foreign ministry official Zhu Bangzao. Why is an apology or confession so important to Communist? The submission implied by confession is a major part of Communist brainwashing.'
That is not entirely true guys...yes, this type of submission is often used in brainwashing, (some would say most effectively within cults or religions) but it is also an integral part of many Eastern cultures, especially in China and Japan.
Honor as well as high moral and ethical standards are held to much higher regards in these countries, whereas many of us in the US have let ourselves slip away from the good old-fashioned concept of courtesy.
Sorry about my little rant, but I recently had to write an essay for college on this topic, and found that the conclusion I had come to (yours as well), was not quite as correct as I originally thought. This may be the Dragon's Communist colors showing, but there is a decent chance that the people genuinely feel that an apology is necessary.
Just remember, China very well may be the Lord's next target for an explosion of faith, as can be seen in the wonderful works of the underground churches there. I pray everyday for them, as well as for the ability to take the same kind of stand in my own life if I was ever forced to.
Thanks, Josh, for sharing your insight into Chinese culture. We have been to the orient several times, and I know you are right about their emphasis on courtesy. Saving face seems to be part of that social ethic as well. Yet, I tend to believe there is more to it than simple oriental courtesy.
Links to useful
information
(Some may
expire and become unavailable):
Administration Collaborated With Cuba on Elian
Thousands of Bibles burned in Cuba
Elian's Next Stop. To better understand the re-learning program described in this article, you may want to read the first three chapters of Brave New Schools. Chapter three has been posted.
"State Department Report on Cuban Human Rights Abuses"
"Clinton acted nobly on this matter, affirms Fidel."
"Castro Decimated Jewish Community"
"Indict Reno for Kidnapping." This title may sound sensational, but the article points to a side of this issue worth considering. Perhaps the most ominous lesson to learn from our government's strong-armed tactics is not the fact that it chose to carry out such a raid, but that the masses rationalized or excused it as if "the ends justifies the means." Such an attitude of compromise fuels today's cultural slide from law and moral absolutes to lawlessness and amoral relativism. It also prepares the public to condone future assaults against citizens who refuse to compromise their politically incorrect convictions.
Chevy
Chase Says Socialism Works, Cuba is a prime example!
Shows the prevailing ignorance and complacent attitude
toward Communism
To better understand the heartless power of communism, you may want to read the summary of "Communist Psychological Warfare" and "Brainwashing and "Education Reform."
Comments
From Gina Dalfonzo: "My heart breaks for that child. We can only pray that God will protect and guide him despite the communist brainwashing he's sure to receive. But in the meantime, thank you for telling the truth.
From
NoCastro.com:
Why is there so much
contrast between the opinion of the American people
and that of Cuban exiles? The
difference lies in the lack of education
with respect to Cuba. The majority of the American people do not know
of the atrocities committed by
the communist state in Cuba during its 41-year
dictatorship.
No father or mother
has the right to submit his child to a state of slavery; it is inhumane and is
punishable in any part of the
civilized world. One who is
knowledgeable of the Cuban theme knows
that in Cuba children are property of the state and
not to their parents -- they are the prime material for the
communist state. The lives of children are regulated since their
birth and their parents are obligated to foster the communist doctrine
in their minds. Even at that, Elian’s family has expressed that
they will follow the orders of a family court if it decided that the
father has the right and capacity to raise his child.
In Cuba one who is
not communist is a criminal and is jailed. The totalitarian
state does not permit opposition. This
is one area that causes trouble
for individuals to believe or accept if they ho have not
suffered under communism. From the point of view of a democracy, the
crime lies in the person who obligates another to be a communist. Thus,
who ever believes that the father of Elian has the right to turn
Elian into a communist is in effect saying that he has the right to
turn Elian into a slave of the state.
Returning Elian would be the same as returning a Jewish child to his father in Nazi Germany or returning a child that escaped a plantation to his father who was still a slave....
Of course, compassion
towards the child would put in
danger negotiations between Washington and Cuba.
It is evident how they are
achieving accords by recently returning convicts
that were detained in a Louisiana prison to Cuba.
It is the first time in
the history between these two countries that this occurs. The sad part is that in the middle of this political
hypocrisy, blackmail from Cuba
and tacit negotiations on the part of the U.S.,
which should not exist for the protection of liberty, one finds a small
boy who has miraculously survived.
Elian symbolizes the drama that the Cuban people continue to suffer.
Little Elian, like the exile community, did not come to the U.S. based
on economical motivations. Elian
was brought to the United States by his
dear mother, Elizabet Bronton, in search of one thing- liberty.
Liberty to grow and develop like a man of good will and not as slave
full of hate; liberty to grow and fight against the system that
maintains our brothers under a communist grip.
From
David K. Schumann: "Rights" don't exist in a communist
state because the communists have the guns.
Guns are necessary to protect our God-given rights against tyrannical
governments. THAT IS THE SOLE
REASON FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT. It was not put there to please Ducks Unlimited.
The family in Miami had
rights which our Consitution protects. It
doesn NOT grant those rights.
This regime is dividing us and softening us up with such raids to accept ever more dictatorial moves. The number of people who object to Reno's raid on Waco and the resulting 80 deaths is downright frightening. Most Americans approved of government action to squash a religious "sect."
Our main reasons for posting these comments are: 1) to awaken Americans to the changes ahead and 2) to encourage Christian parents to prepare their children for the growing hostility toward Biblical Christianity and the very real threat that dissent will be met with oppression.
Click here for more information: http://www.nocastro.com
or
write to: cuba@nocastro.com
From
F.E.Gutierrez, Weston, FL: I've just linked to your site via The
Cuban Free Press home page and have read your article regarding the Elian's
indoctrination. Thanks for this well documented information. Sad part about all
of this is that what's going on in this country is being dismissed as alarming
paranoia. It's about time that the great majority of the American people, who
subscribe to this theory of indifference, realize that the doctrine of (subtle)
socialism, disguised as "compassionate liberalism," is nothing more
than a form of "capitalistic communism" (It seems like a contradiction
of terms).
As Christians, we need not to continue to apologize for our faith and to submit ourselves to the blatant paganism that they're trying to force us into. This is very obvious, when in some of our public schools, we can't even call the birth of our Lord and Savior by what has always been called: "Christmas".
From
Alba Canero, Florida: Thank you… I knew about you because of Cuba Free
Press. I immediately wanted to
know who were those Americans who strongly believe in freedom, in democracy,
and mainly in the foundations of this country: God.
I'm
a Christian Cuban-American grandmother, proud mother of two young
professionals (one lawyer, one physician). I came to this country 19 years ago
just with two little boys, a husband and the knowledge of what terrible
experiences is to live under the communism.
I
know what parental right is in Cuba. I had experiences of my own about that.
My older son, the one who is a physician now, was sent to "Tarara"
when he was 7 years old (a campament were the school is moved away from where
you live once a year). It doesn't matter were you live. If you live in the
city they take your child to the country. If you live in the country they take
your child to the city or to another place. If you resist to that action you
are depriving your child of receive education in the future.
There
is not private education or alternatives. Besides, the rest of the family is
recorded as "no cooperative with the system" in the black pages of
the CDR (CDR are posts to spy citizens in the same street were they live. Each
block street in Cuba has one). Those reports could be crucial for your family
survival because every time that you need to apply for a job, the new
placement of job ask you for a political report of your CDR.
The
father of my son is a dentist and I was a student of Biological Science at
that point. I know how important is to be educated, I didn't want my children
to be without education. So, I told to my son that if he resisted it I would
go every single night to see him. That was an internal pact between my son and
I.
Visitors
are not allowed in those campament except on the weekend. I talked to my
professor's last class in university to leave earlier for that period.
I had to travel a distance from 40 miles each way depending on public
transportation that is scarce and dangerous overcrowded every single
afternoon. I used to get the "campament" at the sundown.
I
had to try to pass the guards posted in the front of the campament, hidden
myself in the darkness to get in and see my own son. When I got the house
where he was assigned to sleep I couldn't come in through the front door. I
had to throw little rocks in the window were my son had his bed. Then, he will
go out and we could see each other. He always was crying at the end and he
wanted to go with me. I had to calm him down and promise him I would be there
the next night.
One
night I was caught in the bedroom with my son and the school principal came
in. We were ridiculed in front of the group as a soft mother raising a soft
kid.
The
conditions of these places are completely unsafe.
Usually there is no current water. There are lice epidemics, food is
very bad and if is winter there is no conditions to warm the water. Children
have to use cold water. The school staff, teachers and principal say that
these practices are done to "build up the personality of a
revolutionary."
We
are talking about children between 7 or 8 years old. Really what they are
doing is building up the habit of separating children from parents and
diminishing the importance of parental right to the child.
When
my second son had to go through this it was not so bad because my mother at
that point was already retired from her job. She offered to volunteer at that
campament. He had a break in the middle of so much disgrace because he was
with my mother the full time. But, my mother told me later the stories of the
under-fair conditions that the children were exposed to. When my mother
returned home she was exhausted from trying to protect as many children as
possible from those conditions.
This
is what free education in Cuba means. This is what parental rights in Cuba
means. You have to consider that my sons or our family were not really marked
at that point although we were consider "apathics." So, you can
imagine how I have felt about Elian. He is certainly marked. So, what could be
for him if he doesn't obey Castro's expectations? I have revived all those
nightmares that I had sepulted to be able to go ahead with our lives.
I
have more sad stories of living under a communist (or socialist) society, but
I think that mine are nothing compared to what others have suffered. I'm
terribly in pain for what I'm seeing in this country lately. My son the lawyer
tells me that this is going to last just until November, that there are many
good Americans (40%) out there that, in spite of the news manipulation, can
see the truth. My son, the physician, tells me that I shouldn't trust in any
government -- that I should trust
just in God.
The
truth is that at this date I don't see anything getting better. The lifting of
the Cuba embargo is a validation of enslavism, of an anti-Christian society,
of anti-Semitism, of destruction of human rights and, in one word, a
validation of an anti-God society. My
big concern is with the indifference, and with the blindness of some
Americans. They can't see. Most of them are honest good people used to trust
their government. They are too busy in their lives and don't see the danger of
the changes that lately have been happening in US.
I'm really grateful that people like you spread the real word. I really
thank you from the bottom of my heart. God
Bless you.
From LordCow: First and foremost ELian will be welcomed back to Cuba as a prince where he will welcomed into open arms. He will probably be a celebrity for the rest of life. Cominism is not evil it just doesn't work out. ... Really you should focus on bigger issues. Why are Christans so insecure?
From Siberio: I applaud your stance on the Elian case. As a Cuban American I feel ashamed that our "Free" and "Just" society has let a boy just get tossed into hell because, like some foolish Americans say, "It's not our problem." I don't think that his family here is the greatest but at least he HAS a chance here, where in Cuba he would have nothing, not even hope.
Sent by Eugene Malone: Excerpts from "Cuban
Children Combine Studies, Work" (The Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1976)"The door to the side room of an old cigar factory had been left ajar, and a small knot of children could be seen preparing boxes of cigars for
export. 'It's part of our education system,' a Cuban tobacco official explained. 'They are helping and learning.'""The children, elementary school pupils about 9 to 11 years old were examples of the unique Cuban educational system of combining studies with physical work. The system started in 1967, applies to all schools, including the island's four universities."
"The Cubans say the idea is to produce well-rounded citizens capable of manual labor. But the system also provides extra hands for an economy that urgently needs more production."
"Says Prime Minister Fidel Castro, 'This helps to temper them from early childhood in the habits of creative work, without running the risk of possible deformation through the exclusive exercise of intellectual activity.'"
"The study-work idea in Cuba started with Jose Marti, the 1895 war-of-independence revolutionary, revered as a national hero. He proposed that all students work one half of each day in school and the other half in fields or factories so they could understand the life of a worker. "
"The USSR-Cuba technical school is such an example where the Soviet Union equipped the school and trained the instructors. ..."This commitment to working for the good of the country remains after graduation. Graduates must serve anywhere in Cuba for three years, then are allowed to return home to continue their careers". (who chose their careers?)
Summary by Gene Malone: Elian's fate in a systems education process managed for the good of the state is exactly where the O.B.E.(y) process in our Republic is headed-for ALL. Elian is a symbol that could be your child in that freedoms are being lost without protest. Wake up!
From Jimmy: Well, first off, those are very unofficial lines of information you got there. Actually, religion isn't discouraged there, I think you MAY (or may not) have made that up to further demonise castro -- an old man, about 70, who is holding on to a dying system (remind you of something in the light of my last e-mail?) and is stubbornly refusing to change due to circumstances. First off, the tyranny isn't as bad as you claim it is, although it is bad.
Children arn't discouraged to worship god. Spirituality is much higher in Cuba than in the US-percentage wise, not in numbers. Children are worked from an early age as well as taught in schools the communist veiws-the latter what we here in the states do. If thats brainwashing, go complain to the president that he's brainwashing out children into thinking capitelism is good. The working-Cuba's work force is so small that they absolutly NEED the children, just to curb off the national debt! Thats right, don't worry, cuba will soon be under our (the US's) thumb in a matter of a few years. As soon as castro dies, everything's gonna be hunky dory, unless someone else with Castro's charisma comes along shouting facism.
Your respective disagreer, Jimmy
Believe it or not, Jimmy, I trust the refugees from Cuba who shared their stories with me far more than I trust the "official" lines of information from either the US or Cuban government. One day, if I have the time, I hope to post some quotes from a book by Tom White, head of Voice of the Martyrs, telling about persecution of Christians and his own imprisonment for speading the gospel in Cuba.