(September 20, 2010 at 8:20 am)Zen Badger Wrote: I'm always astounded at the way otherwise intelligent people fall for the crap these halfwits spout.
They've fallen for a sales pitch just the same as anyone else who purchases an item they wouldn't have
otherwise bought on the basis of what they are told by a salesman. It's possibly or probably more than
that, like cutting them off from their prior life, giving a new name, giving them a grueling initiatory
rite that often deprives them of things needed for life, such as food or water. Physical damage of some
kind may be involved.
It's just that they are "buying" something intangible without evidence for its existence. They are (sadly)
buying "belonging" in some cult or other. Cults of all kinds shower a new member or potential
member with "love" - albeit a counterfeit for love. And, the leader(s) of such cults are believed to have
great wisdom and/or a special means of talking to God and getting directions and answers from that God
- which are to be obeyed and believed unquestioningly.
Depending on the degree of the cult, they may demand control over the way you live, where you live,
what you eat or drink or when, whether and who you can have sex with, when and how you can have
children, and how they are to be reared.
They huddle together closely and don't venture out too far because of some real or imagined
persecution. Group paranoia is a major component. This is isolation, since they fear talking to others,
even those they've known for years and well, they fear that outsiders will somehow steal them away
from the cult (deprogram, deconvert). It's one reason that the strong CHRISTIAN types will not have
friends who are of different or no religions, or if they do, their "mission" is to convert them - a fast way
to drive people away. Some cults actively teach this as a rule, others imply it.
These things may not all apply to every cult, and they apply to various cults to various degrees. Some
cults are more dangerous to society than others, and some cults pose more physical dangers to their
believers than others. In general, I have observed that the more extreme their beliefs, control, and
wisdom or divine mandates are, the more dangerous they are for both the individual and for society -
and, paradoxically, more difficult to get someone out of a dangerous, abusive cult than otherwise.
BethK.
