This is a highly subjective method. If the question of "brainwashing" allegations were a matter of wholly private opinion, that would be fine. But brainwashing allegations are generally introduced to bolster a public policy. In fashioning public policies I feel it is very important to avoid arbitrary and highly subjective criteria. What peson A might applaud as a "good call" on a particular instance of deciding if someone was "brainwashed" person B might, with EXCELLENT justification, see as an instance that SOME people in society being so special that when THEY decide another person is not to be regarded as an equal in some respect (they've been non-personed by being labelled "brainwashed") it threatens EVERYONE's right to consider they hold inherent rights and dignity as a person. << If you compare the projection mechanisms discussed in [I don't know how to do italics on Netscape] "The Adjusted American: Normal Neuroses in American Society" by Putney and Putney with my description of negative selling as it was described by the sales manager, you will find that the intent was to hook into a particular neurosis or neuroses, and that these neuroses are considered normal in our society. >> Neuroses refer to the behaviors that result from anxiety considered excessive, and the behaviors are considered to be less than ideal by the evaluator. We are arriving at the problem of subjectivity again. "Fear appeal" might be condemned by some as an unfair or devious rhetorical device, but the name of "fear appeal" when we approve of use of the device is "common sense". Appealing to a persons anxieties is not in itself an ethical or unethical practice. It is a completely neutral one, if that is all the facts of the matter given. If I persuade someone to buy flood insurance by appealing to their fears and anxieties, I am doing what is proper (79% of American buildings lie on a flood plain), but if this does tie into their neuroses somehow I'm still in the wrong? What is the correct behavior: to buy flood insurance or to not buy it? There is great subjectivity in these questions. When great subjectivity is used to solve issues of social policy you lay the groundwork for great deal of rage and alienation by the people who find themselves somehow disfavored, despite [4 lines left ... full text available at <url:http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/go?choice=message&table=04_1997&mid=4159217&hilit=BRAINWASHED+BRAINWASHING> ] -------------------------------- Article-ID: 04_1997&4299919 Score: 86 Subject: Re: fourth grade christian