C’is a first in France. Under the aegis of the Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas is organizing meetings on sectarian aberrations on Thursday March 9 and Friday March 10 in Beauvau. The Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight once morest Sectarian Aberrations (Miviludes) recorded 4,020 referrals in 2021, an increase of 33.6% compared to 2020. A revival of activity strongly linked to the health crisis which saw proliferate many conspiracy theories and alternative treatments to Covid-19.
But beyond health, Miviludes is interested in other weak signals in society, in particular the success of masculinist theories which thrive in reaction to feminism and which have sometimes given rise to several attacks in the United States and the Canada in recent years. In its latest report, the organization pointed to the “sacred masculinity” courses reserved for men and organized by the Mankind Project, an association under the 1901 law which claims to have trained 4,000 men in France since 2002. Several testimonies mention in particular “brutal changes in behavior” at the end of the weekend. President of Miviludes since 2020, the prefect Christian Gravel returns to the questions concerning this movement and the evolution of sectarian excesses since the pandemic.
Point : Miviludes has registered around thirty referrals concerning the Mankind Project since 2018. What aspects do you have concerns regarding?
Christian Gravel : Taking advantage of a number of questions from our citizens, this association offers introductory courses, that is to say, it aims to bring you back to life, to make you leave your old status and make you a new man. We made it clear in the introduction to the report that these processes were likely to constitute sectarian aberrations. There is no caricatural will to consider everything that comes under this movement of sectarian excesses, but the methods used can be part of a phenomenon of mental influence. They take away your papers, your keys, they give you a number, with a de facto seizure of power since they take everything that makes up your identity, then they make you do exercises, your food is extremely limited, and you are confronted with nudity, which can be very humiliating for some. Finally, you talk regarding very personal situations in public to see precisely where your flaws are. Put at the service of an ill-intentioned individual, this can have very harmful consequences for the victims.
READ ALSONudity, fasting and the “magic circle”: 48 hours in search of my “sacred masculinity”
The Mankind Project internship is presented as a weekend of education, not therapy. How can it approach a sect?
Often the most dangerous structures are those that endorse the most suave and benevolent terminology. It’s all regarding communication, what matters is what’s going on behind it. In yoga, you have a multitude of teachers who do their work conscientiously, who have undergone rigorous training, and who are part of a benevolent approach with their students. And others use techniques to put them to the benefit of companies, objectives, interests that are very distant from the doctrine. Any movement that can potentially be part of a process of destabilization or amplification of messages of an ideological nature constitutes a concern for us. From the moment your methods deliberately push the participants to their limits with a rhythm that is part of physical exhaustion, a form of psychological submission aimed at breaking the individual in order to reshape him according to your values, they are part of a process of mental control over the participants. Psychological destabilization opens the door to mental control.
We observed sudden changes in behavior following these courses, which were characterized by withdrawal or even verbal or physical violence.
One of the testimonies published in the Miviludes report mentions a risk of psychotic decompensation following a weekend of MKP. Is the physical and emotional intensity of this course dangerous?
One of our witnesses specifically evokes the feeling of humiliation that a participant felt following the course and the very strong destabilization he suffered. It’s regarding confronting you with a shock situation that is supposed to make you switch to another state. Under cover of drawing on untapped resources, exercises aimed at pushing you to the limits, we can clearly see all the potential abuses that can affect people in a fragile psychological state. Someone who is perfectly balanced, ready to battle it out, aware of what he is going to face, will better understand this course than someone who will believe in a miracle recipe for his anxieties. We also observed sudden changes in behavior following these courses, which were characterized by withdrawal, even verbal or physical violence.
You categorized the Mankind Project as masculinism. Since when has this trend aroused the interest of Miviludes and why can it be dangerous for society?
We have been interested in this movement since 2020, given the magnitude of the theses of this type of organization. It is the profound reflection of the crisis that our society is going through with a loss of bearings concerning a certain number of men. Those who are faced with complicated personal situations may feel that the male salvation fits into these types of movements. These movements want to reposition men at the center of society, and regain a dominant position that would be undermined by the rise in power of women’s rights.
READ ALSOOlivia Gazalé: “The virile norm is an oppression for both sexes”
Personal development, which has enjoyed considerable success, is the third most numerous type of referral following health and the Christian movement. How do you explain it?
Sectarian aberrations are characterized by their plasticity. They adapt to changes in society, to the aspirations of our citizens. The bursting of landmarks and the impact of globalization that characterize our modern society have generated social and cultural insecurities. Beyond that, in the 1970s and 1980s we experienced a drop in membership of religious cults. This loss of sacred references has been compensated by the rather impressive growth of personal development techniques in recent decades. Sectarian entrepreneurs have therefore massively invested in this field, which is aimed at a vulnerable public.
If we manage to prove that you acted under mental influence, we can convict the person at the origin of this manipulation.
Miviludes recorded an 86% increase in referrals in 2021 compared to 2015. What impact has confinement had on sectarian aberrations?
The health crisis has created an anxiety-provoking climate in our society on the issue of illness and death. With the Covid-19, many people found themselves in a situation of great distress. We have seen an increase in the number of conspiracy theories aimed at discrediting the entire academic and scientific field on the issue of drug treatments, vaccines or the supposed control of governments through 5G chips. Quite often, this causes people to break their family ties to follow the precepts of supposedly more enlightened individuals, who can then sell them products that are supposed to make you stronger. Until the health crisis, these theses only concerned a certain age group, now all generations are confronted with them.
Beyond prevention, how does Miviludes intend to fight once morest these sectarian aberrations?
The digital revolution and the emergence of social networks have represented an important opportunity for sectarian predators since they have been able to build online communities and consider financial transactions. These new methods also make the work of the intelligence services difficult. If we are aware of our limits, it is up to us to wake up our fellow citizens in the face of these processes of sectarian influence. We do not want to fall into paranoia and we respect freedom of belief. On the other hand, the State must intervene as soon as there is a disturbance of public order or damage. The issue of physical harm is not the only one. If we manage to prove that you acted under mental influence, we can convict the person at the origin of this manipulation.
