An
interesting statement from Marquette concerning a group called "Disciples Today."
Dear Marquette Community:
Campus Ministry and Student Affairs has become aware that a group called “Disciples Today,” known to have used proselytization techniques in the past to recruit students, has recently been active on campus. While no complaints have been filed, if you, friends, or peers ever feel pressured by any group, Marquette sanctioned or not, we encourage you to consult with your parents, Campus Ministry staff, Student Affairs staff or Residence Life staff.
As a Catholic, Jesuit university[whoa! Notice the order of those words!], we firmly believe in the importance of religious faith along with doing all for the greater glory of God. In addition to numerous student organizations dedicated to faith promotion, Campus Ministry and Student Affairs support a diversity of organizations and programs to support students of all faith backgrounds.
As part of those efforts, Campus Ministry works with a group of affiliated ministers from different faith backgrounds to provide and review faith offerings and groups on campus. The focus of this group is to promote ecumenical work between Christian believers and support interfaith engagement and dialogue.
Key criteria for activities and programs are that they promote and affirm human dignity and respect the dignity of each person. Of particular concern are groups who proselytize, or attempt to influence a person’s faith convictions or commitments in ways that de-personalize or deprive them of their inherent value as person.
Some practices or techniques of proselytization:
- “Love bombing” or intense affirmation activities intended to bond you to a group.
- Invitations to reveal, document, and/or record personal information, particularly about past decision making that could be later be shared with others to induce remaining with the group.
- Invitations to retreats whose duration continue hours and days longer than the originally planned experience.
- Re-prioritizing relationships so that the group comes first and time with family and other friends becomes rare.
- Play on psychological or other weaknesses.
- Use physical coercion, moral compulsion, psychological pressure, inducements for conversion.
- Stalking.
For more information on Campus Ministry programs, visit their website. Additionally, UCLA offers a helpful website with information and reflection questions dealing with high-pressure engagement by religious groups.
Please contact us or a member of our staff at any time with any questions or concerns.
Mary Sue Callan-Farley
Director, Campus Ministry
Dr. L. Christopher Miller
Vice President for Student Affairs
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1 comment:
Badger Catholic, you are right to describe this letter as "interesting" there are some good and bad aspects to it, and some odd ones, all in all they break even.
Without knowing much about "Disciples Today" we can surmise it is a Protestant group and so I guess Marquette being wary of their influence spreading is following in the best traditions of the great Jesuits of the counter-Reformation.
That said, one thing that did have me scratching my head a bit, not to besmirch the work Mrs. Callan-Farley or Dr. Miller do (frankly I don't know anything about either of them) but I am surprised that at a Jesuit university neither the student affairs office or even the Campus Ministry is headed up by a Priest, circa year 2000 there were still like 50 Jesuits in residence on campus, that was already some time ago though I suppose.
Another thought while reading this letter, and this isn't really a "Catholic" issue moreso a cultural one, I don't know anything about "Disciples Today" however during my college years I encountered all sorts of people and groups (ranging from Marxists to Mormons to PETA to Pentecostals etc.) who were all pretty keen on proselytizing their views. I never would have thought to run to any kind of authority figure to shield me from being exposed to things I disagreed with. If people were polite, I would politely hear them out. If people were jerks, I would ignore them. If people wanted to challenge me based on what I believed in, I would confidently explain myself as best I could. If people asked me "Don't you want to be 100% sure you're going to Heaven?" I would tell them I'd be glad just to get to Purgatory, etc.
If I were the director of Marquette Campus Ministry (oh wow, that would be a sign of the end of the world) if non-Catholic groups were beginning to aggressively use psychological pressure to target people on campus for conversion I'd set up a type of "catechism 101: everything they forgot to teach you in confirmation class" sort of thing and personally arm the students with the knowledge they would need to withstand any pressures to leave the Church, and further I would coordinate a cordial public debate between the highest ranking person in the outside organization and a young, orthodox, Dominican friar.
Problem solved.
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