Joe: re your comment at 2.12 "Brainwashing, if such a thing ever existed, is not commonly practised in the major churches nowadays outside of certain cults"

The week before last I attended a wedding held in a catholic establishment. Throughout the wedding the Dominican brother who conducted the service made constant and repetitive references to God and his (note: HIS) role in the marriage of the couple and in the lives of the assembled company.

If that is not brainwashing I do not know what is. If something is repeated often enough people will start to absorb what is being said without giving it due consideration.

I should add the Dominican brother is a passing acquaintance and I occasionally have a pint with him and I should also say that as a child I was educated in catholic infant, junior and Grammar schools.

I rejected the church at an early age because the priest who used the visit our house (and drink my Dad's whisky) made frequent unsavoury comments about the "black sheep", my father, who like most young boys I hero worshipped.