(February 18, 2021 at 12:13 am)Rev. Rye Wrote:Yeah, I have heard of all these cults, and several more.(February 17, 2021 at 10:35 pm)arewethereyet Wrote: The draw seems to be serving a god and having a sense of community only to find out that it's really about abuse...sexual and otherwise.
I am surprised by the people who fall for these leaders and what they are willing to do to remain a part of the cult.
You listen to enough episodes of Last Podcast on the Left, it starts to make more sense. One of the biggest running themes in the cult episodes is how charismatic leaders (who may or may not be presenting themselves as a God) prey on people who are often struggling in their lives and tell them exactly what they want to hear, even if it might not be in a way they were ever expecting. And, as for the crazy shit, you start with the thin end of the wedge if you expect to go anywhere.
I think I've mentioned the case of Ron Miscavige before. He was a struggling realtor with recurring headaches and an asthmatic son named David. Then, one day, he goes to a conference and hears someone talking about Scientology and he's intrigued. He uses some of their tricks in his job and he gets somewhere. When Scientology tells him that if he has a headache, he should look into the mirror and give it to that guy, it somehow works. They even cure his asthma. And 20 years later, he's in the Sea Org, and even though his son David grew up to be the head of the Church, he's living in poverty in the Sea Org (bear in mind, they get paid $50/week and they work long hours every day) and even the ties of family doesn't shield him from his son's wrath.
Why do they stay? I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with Drunk Lost Galaxy. To name one of the most notorious and literal examples: we all know about Xenu's role in Scientology, but they're careful to NEVER bring that up to new members. In fact, before they're allowed to talk about the Xenu story, the member has to take a shitton of expensive courses. How much will it cost before you learn about how Xenu brainwashed a shitton of aliens in volcanoes so they could possess cavemen? Tony Ortega gives a running price of $278,273.25. Why, yes, that is the cost of a decent-sized house.
And while the absolute scale isn't quite as drastic, odds are, with a cult that's doing its job properly, they get you invested enough in its teachings that you can't bear to leave. In the case of Ron Miscavige, even though the Co$' practices became intolerable enough that he had to leave, he still practices many of its teachings. This is not as uncommon as you might think for Scientology: just google "Scientology Free Zone." In many cases, the cult leader takes literally everything his members own. If done properly, this will eventually lead to a follower ready to die or potentially even kill for the Greater Good:
In one extreme instance, and I really wish I was making this up, (Hidden because the scenario is so fucked up it disturbs even ME)
As ghoulish as this scenario is, this isn't something I made up. It's something Roch Theriault of the Ant Hill Kids actually did. It's one of the things that put him in prison for life.
It also really helps that cult leaders tend to introduce the abuse and horrifying shit slowly. The Children of God started off as a relatively chaste group, then they were permitted some relatively sane heterosexual relationships, then they're allowed free love, and then they start to add children into the mix... Rest in Power, Ricky Rodriguez. Also, at some point, they decide that if you masturbate, you have to imagine yourself as a woman getting vaginally penetrated by Jesus (even if you're a man, you still have to imagine Jesus pounding the pussy you don't even have. Sexual orientation and gender identity are irrelevant in this case.)
TL;DR: Imagine why people end up staying in relationships they know to be abusive and bear in mind that they still hold even when the examples can be more bug-fuck insane than any relationship.
I follow several podcasts though LPOTT isn't one of them. It was strange listening to short shows back-to-back that summed up what I really already knew about these cults. One after the other showed how sexual abuse of all ages was used in nearly all of the cults covered.
I also thought about abusive relationships...and that does help it to make more sense as to the why, and how, people stay. Of course one aspect of these relationships be they between two people or a cult is taking away the resources to leave. Where do you go and what do you do if you have no money, no contacts, no nothing?
“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” — Confucius
