Controversy FAQ Interview Question 18

Are the trainings manipulative?

Yes in the sense that, like a church service is manipulative, we're asking people to consider certain things, and so we want certain moods to be set up so that they can reflect in certain ways. In church, you go and they put worship music on because they want to elevate God. We do the same thing; we turn on music. It's sometimes worship music, or in the beginning it's thematic to what is about to be discussed, be it authenticity, getting in the light, speaking the truth in love. We're setting those moods, and it's manipulative to a certain degree. It's not a bad thing. It assists in getting into a mood.

But are we manipulative in the sense of lying to people? No. We don't lie to people. We don't try to do things behind their back or unknowingly. We're not trying to set people up to fail. In fact, we're doing just the opposite; everything in the training is very achievable, and oftentimes people do achieve some of the most difficult challenges we lay out in the training. But that's usually because they are willing to look and believe that they're being given everything they need to do it.

It's understandable that people could be concerned about manipulation, because if somebody's lying or withholding information or manipulating in a way that's deceitful, that's a different scenario, and we don't do that.

Back to Controversy FAQ