The world is sharply divided between the pure and the im- pure. Pure things are those which conform to or are included in group policy. All impurity must be eliminated. Of course, no one can actually acheive absolute purity, so shame and guilt result. Guilt comes from contact with the impure world, so one withdraws more and more into the group exclusively.
Confession is the method used to get rid of impurity.
Personal history becomes reworked in light of group doc- trine. Everyone must fit the doctrinal mode. If some human experience seems to contradict the doctrine an elaborate ra- tionalization will explain the discrepancy and prove that the doctrine is right and the experience wrong. An excellent ex- ample of this comes from 1844. William Miller had convinced thousands that Christ would return on October 22.