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Leah Remini Scientology Special & New Show
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Also about money, money, MONEY!!!!!!!!!!
250K minimum to find out you're being run by a bad alien. Who cares if you financially ruin your life and the life of your family. You'll be coming back for ever!
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
There's so much money in this shit. The FBI is really screwing the pooch.
(December 14, 2016 at 3:39 pm)Shell B Wrote: There's so much money in this shit. The FBI is really screwing the pooch. Fuck the FBI. IRS screwed this one. Time for a reversal.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
 (December 14, 2016 at 1:43 pm)mh.brewer Wrote: Also about money, money, MONEY!!!!!!!!!! And maybe next time you'll be the one getting rich off a religious pyramid scheme. (December 14, 2016 at 4:01 pm)mh.brewer Wrote:(December 14, 2016 at 3:39 pm)Shell B Wrote: There's so much money in this shit. The FBI is really screwing the pooch. I think we can agree they both did, but the FBI's issues with Scientology were very public. They could have this thing labeled as a dangerous cult, but they're too vested in their own interests, from what I gather. 
Is there specific criteria that qualifies something as a cult?
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh  (December 14, 2016 at 5:00 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Is there specific criteria that qualifies something as a cult? The main things that differentiate a cult from a religion, are: a cult usually has a single charismatic authoritarian leader. And there is usually some level of isolation of cult members from family and friends. Some cults also refuse to work within existing social structures of society. You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
There are several types of cults that may have different characteristics used to gain power/control. Doomsday cults are the most common or well-known from what I've read. Simon Moon pretty much nailed it on the head. There's one charismatic dude who convinces people to stay away from their families/threatens their families in subtle ways. The end goal is to be the main influence in their lives in order to get money, sexual gratification or whatever else it is this usually pretty psychopathic individual wants.
RE: Leah Remini Scientology Special & New Show
December 14, 2016 at 5:50 pm
(This post was last modified: December 14, 2016 at 5:56 pm by Catholic_Lady.)
I think cults are super interesting. I like watching Charles Manson documentaries too. And there's another really good one where this cult went to a retreat in the desert and someone died from all the crazy spiritual stuff they were doing. I'll have to look and see which one it was.
Oh, it was James Ray. The Dateline episode is called Deadly Retreat, though I'm not finding the full episode online.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh  RE: Leah Remini Scientology Special & New Show
December 14, 2016 at 6:04 pm
(This post was last modified: December 14, 2016 at 6:07 pm by Alex K.)
I compare religions and cults to viruses, I think it's an imperfect but interesting analogy: There are viruses such as the common cold or others that don't even cause symptoms, that are called well-adapted to humans. Those well-adapted ones are the ones that use us as hosts, but in a subtle fashion that allows them to spread widely efficiently without causing too much havok - killing off hosts is not beneficial to the virus and so there's some evolutionary pressure to be more benign. To me, established religions are like well-adapted mind viruses, they have evolved to spread widely in a population without causing so much immediate damage that it would hinder their success, so they have evolved to be compatible with their environment. To wit, being in one of the major religions allows you to still be a productive member of society. Cults are the opposite, like Ebola, contagious but destructive to members and society.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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