From Christian Bernard Monographs

“Unlike the official monographs, the Manifestos are not strictly confidential and private. You may lend them to persons interested in scientific, literary, or artistic pursuits. In this way, you will respond to their desire to learn, while also permitting them to appreciate the interest that Rosicrucians have always devoted to the evolution of human knowledge.”

Over the years, the recruitment techniques of Rosicrucian Order AMORC have been sharpened and evolved to service the preoccupations of modern day readers. In the past, Rosicrucian Order AMORC relied on the dissemination of pamphlets such as the “Mastery of Life” to attract potential recruits. These publications sold the society’s teachings on the basis of its historical provenance, established through the Rosicrucian Order’s apparently close association with revered scientists and philosophers such as Sir Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin.

Today, alternative facts rule the airwaves, boldfaced lies cloaked in the visage of real news, or in this case real science. Where charlatans and conmen once borrowed their credibility from our mystics and spiritualists, modern day soothsayers lure in their victims by appealing to manipulated facts and scientific-sounding lingo.

With the wealth of information available on the internet today, one would think that any prospective cult initiate would be able to double-check demonstrably incorrect information, before pledging their allegiance wholeheartedly to a cause. Unfortunately, any efforts at verification are stymied by five fundamental factors.

The Flood of Information

Firstly, with the explosion of information that’s taken place in recent years, there has been a similarly massive influx of misinformation. Cults have taken advantage of this by adopting the lexicon of trusted sources. In this very manifesto, we find references to phenomena such as electromagnetism and particle motion; these are proven concepts that have been co-opted for Rosicrucian Order AMORC’s own use.

Lack of Scientific Literacy

Unfortunately, most people can’t tell the difference. According to Scott Lilienfeld, an assistant professor of psychology at Emory, the level of scientific literacy is startlingly low, even amongst comparatively well-educated Western populations. Consider the fact that only 7% of people surveyed in a recent scientific poll could answer basic questions such as “What is DNA?” and “What is a molecule?”

Now, consider what happens when a trusted colleague or family member asks these questions and follows them up with the presentation of an authentic-seeming document that promises to answer all scientific and spiritual concerns in one fell swoop. How do you imagine the desperate truth seeker would respond?

Pattern Seeking Behavior

Human beings are trained to seek relationships. It’s a defining element of our cognitive functions that allows us to find meaning in the often chaotic circumstances that take place around us on a daily basis, and find a way forward. Unfortunately, this adaptive instinct can become hyperactive and backfire, leading us to find links where none exist.

“No particle of matter, whether mineral, vegetable, animal, or human, is ever still. Spirit vibrations are present in the smallest atom as well as the most complex cell. It is partially the effect of these vibrations that living matter transforms itself, grows, reproduces, and changes. “Every change of condition in matter,”

The kinetic theory of matter is a proven scientific principle that has driven physics research for thousands of years. As early as 50 BCE, Roman philosophers like Lucretius was making bold claims about how all bodies were made up on the smallest scale of rapidly moving atoms that were constantly bouncing against one another.

Over time, these ideas were expanded and refined by noted scientists such as Daniel Bernoulli who pioneered the idea that pressure and heat were both simply a result of the increased motion of particles. Later on physicists such as James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann would create statistical models on velocity and range of movement of these particles.

By the turn of the 20^th century, technology had advanced to a sufficient level to allow pioneering researchers like Einstein to prove these quantitative methods through observable experiments.

At no point amongst these much vaunted experiments is mention ever made to the motion of spirits within these particles. Although James Clerk Maxwell did reference “demons” in an effort to describe the unpredictable dynamic movement of atoms, this was simply used as a shorthand method to explain a yet unstudied phenomenon.

The manifesto does an excellent job of incorporating real scientific thought into its arguments; however, when these rational insights are used to prove a completely unfounded phenomenon then one does wonder what the ultimate aim is.  For the open, non-skeptical truth-seeker, these claims can easily form patterns that become very hard to shake.

Contradictions Strengthen Belief

Once someone has drunk the Kool-Aid so to speak, it becomes increasingly difficult to challenge their ingrained beliefs. True believers will simply reinterpret conflicting information to make it fit into their existing world views. In other words, when science and rationality doesn’t work, there’s always mysticism and magical thought to fall back on.

Few people want to be challenged. Most of us are looking for outside evidence that strengthens and protects our sense of self. If that sense of self is built on the basis of Rosicrucian Order AMORC’s teachings, every piece of external data simply becomes another question that the Rosicrucian Order can answer.

In the postscript of this manifesto, Christian Bernard makes mention of the following:

“We wish to stress that the manifestos do not express the official position of our Order on the subjects discussed, but are solely views of their authors. This explains why certain topics may be approached from certain perspectives which differ from the explanations found in the monographs”

It’s an explanation that poses several questions.

First of all, if Rosicrucian Order AMORC doesn’t support the views of these manifestos then why publish them under their banner in the first place?

Secondly, who are the authors of these manifestos? Are they, as Imperator (Emperor)says, simply keen members of the Order, or is this a clever ploy to create a sense of objectivity in the teachings?

If it’s the former, then how aware are these authors of the manipulations they’re selling?