Anyone know anyone who has been in a religious cult? I have a distant cousin who is in one that appears to be sort of a doomsday cult. There are exit support groups on it. It appears to be mostly a money grab on the part of the cult leaders. They are required to tithe up to 30% of gross income per year. The exit support group says if they've been in it more than a year or two, good luck trying to reason with them. This person seems happy, so I've decided to just let it go. She seems to be very much under the control of the "church" on all of her decision making.
Cults
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They focus primarily on end times, to the point that it affects their lives. They think there is no reason to save for their own retirement, because the world will end before then. That may be a little bit of an exaggeration, as far as my cousin, but she is headed that way. Their "prophets" have made several false predictions through the years, but it doesn't seem to matter. They do not consider any information that contradicts their leaders' interpretation of the Bible. Critical thinking skills are gone. Those are the types of things I see. It's very controlling.
Watch Wild, Wild Country on Netflix. It’s about this cult in the 80s in Oregon that took over a town and created their own police force and poisoned the town over.
Anyway, the film shows that cults disproportionately consists of people from middle- upper-middle-class households. Women are more likely to join as well.
I can assure you though that after speaking to Dion and sambowie on this forum, there’s no logic or reasoning that can be done to erase it.
Anyway, the film shows that cults disproportionately consists of people from middle- upper-middle-class households. Women are more likely to join as well.
I can assure you though that after speaking to Dion and sambowie on this forum, there’s no logic or reasoning that can be done to erase it.
I've personally witnessed half a country join a cult from 2020 -2024 and membership is still pretty high today.
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That sounds horrible. Where can my friend learn more about this sex cult?
I have family who were members of Leo Mercer's cult, The Park. I can recall hearing whispered stories about these weirdos when I was a kid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Mercer
https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/leo_mercier
All things considered, though, I guess they made the better choice by joining Mercer instead of the cult of Branham's other star pupil, Jim Jones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Mercer
https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/leo_mercier
All things considered, though, I guess they made the better choice by joining Mercer instead of the cult of Branham's other star pupil, Jim Jones.
You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader.
To be fair, both Republicans and Democrats are cultists. We're indoctrinated from birth to believe that our silly divisive system is not only normal, but righteous, and very few ever educate themselves out of the fishbowl that they're trapped in.
WildcatfaninOhio
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We have people in this country who believe the United States Government has a weather machine to create hurricanes to direct them at people to prevent them from voting for their preferred candidate.
These aren’t people wearing robes and cutting off their own balls to hop on a comet to see some sort of Alien God. These are people who go to work, go to Church, go to their kids soccer practices. People you’d have a beer with after work and buy Girl Scout cookies from in the office.
These aren’t people wearing robes and cutting off their own balls to hop on a comet to see some sort of Alien God. These are people who go to work, go to Church, go to their kids soccer practices. People you’d have a beer with after work and buy Girl Scout cookies from in the office.
You actually have difficulty believing that people whose lives revolve around stuff like creationism, Noah's Ark, and other fairy tale nonsense wouldn't have any trouble buying into silly conspiracies about weather machines?
In a way sure. I think that's more tribalism and human nature. We tend to pick sides. I'm speaking more to the Jim Jones type cult where the leader provides the solution and the followers are gaslighted, manipulated, threatened, intimidated, or coerced into taking it - even if that means they die.
Only way you try out and don’t get accepted is if ya shit yourself during, I heard from a friend.
Some sex cults give ya bonus points for it. Again… friend told me.
Fare thee well my princes, and may the afterlife have unlimited cowbell...
Tribalism has been going on forever, yes.
Personally, I hate the government and don't trust it and resent the politicians' desire to rule over everyone as they enrich themselves and sell us out. It should be basic human nature to question authority and to want to hold these people accountable. You'd think governments being responsible for the worst atrocities in human history would make people wise up but no, we have people who actually trust these people.
Yea it is what it is. A group of clowns split off from the circus and settled in Shepherdsville near the midget village. I like to think I’ll try anything once, but I just couldn’t take her seriously when she’s wearing a big yellow shoes and a red nose
On Monday, a friend of over 30 years reposted a "story" from a tinfoil hat FB page about Hurricane Helene being "engineered" and that there were "planned" food shortages coming. She's not uneducated but is extremely gullible and will fall for anything. Still, it made me incredibly sad to see her posting that and spreading that bullshit.
As for "cults", The grandson of one of my neighbors was a proud Q-a-Nut member, with his WWG1WGA sticker proudly displayed in the back window of his car. I say "was" because she died after a 2 week battle with COVID in 2020, and I haven't seen him since his mom sold his mamaw's place. I think I'd classify Q-a-Nuts as being in a cult.
Apparently Axl Rose was a follower of this cult.
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Funny things about the cult followers and leaders is they tend to trap each other. The followers enjoy the feeling of belonging and being told what to do.
But the leaders get addicted to the praise. The bs they spouted for power earlier, the followers have made him believe it. Next thing you know, the leader becomes obsessed by quantity of followers. That every part of his followers life and health is under his control. He doesn't want just a lot of money, he wants all their money. He's never wrong anymore, and starts thinking the government and news and other successful people are the reasons reality doesn't match his delusions.
Eventually, enough promises fall through and the ones who were only stupid break off. The psychotic ones stick around, move off in to solitude and drink the flavor aid one day after you forgot about them. Or the leader goes first and you get scientology.
But the leaders get addicted to the praise. The bs they spouted for power earlier, the followers have made him believe it. Next thing you know, the leader becomes obsessed by quantity of followers. That every part of his followers life and health is under his control. He doesn't want just a lot of money, he wants all their money. He's never wrong anymore, and starts thinking the government and news and other successful people are the reasons reality doesn't match his delusions.
Eventually, enough promises fall through and the ones who were only stupid break off. The psychotic ones stick around, move off in to solitude and drink the flavor aid one day after you forgot about them. Or the leader goes first and you get scientology.
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I heard a podcaster describe Qanon as a cult and it led to some interesting videos. My favorite was this guy describing his own experience as a member and how he got out.
Steve Hassan's a bit of a contradiction. He's quick to call Moonies, Mormons, and others cultists, yet he practices religion himself.
The insecure have used this thread to bait and bash those with whom they disagree. Not surprising. By their own definition, atheism is a cult.
I refused to believe Qanon was real for a while. Couldn't believe grown adults could be such easy marks but then a goober went into a pizza place in DC with a gun because he wanted to save kids who were being held captive in the basement (spoiler: there was no basement and no captive children to save). Then not too long ago a group of folks were waiting on a sidewalk for JFK Jr.'s return (he in fact did not return). These dimwits call themselves patriots and believe they're the best America has to offer.
Current political cults are the weirdest to me, maybe because we're seeing it in real time. I'm probably opening a can of worms but Jan 6. We saw what happened and know how it began. We know what transpired because we were watching it escalate. But some felt a duty to spin it so it became the fault of Antifa. Now some see it not as an insurrection but a false flag by the FBI. One of the current candidates has even embraced these insurrectionists as if they're misunderstood heroes. School shootings are another one. A false flag and those high schoolers running out of the building, some in tears, others with blood on their clothes are just crisis actors. It's all theater apparently.
We like to worry about "the kids", but it's the bored adults in this country I'm worried about the most.
Current political cults are the weirdest to me, maybe because we're seeing it in real time. I'm probably opening a can of worms but Jan 6. We saw what happened and know how it began. We know what transpired because we were watching it escalate. But some felt a duty to spin it so it became the fault of Antifa. Now some see it not as an insurrection but a false flag by the FBI. One of the current candidates has even embraced these insurrectionists as if they're misunderstood heroes. School shootings are another one. A false flag and those high schoolers running out of the building, some in tears, others with blood on their clothes are just crisis actors. It's all theater apparently.
We like to worry about "the kids", but it's the bored adults in this country I'm worried about the most.
Yeah, the school shootings are fake one is the weirdest to me. Like, come on. You know how many people would need to keep secrets? And in the day and age of national security violations occurring on a military vehicular simulator not once but twice, it's a bit of a stretch to think it wouldn't get out.
I have ZERO respect for people who complain about "both sides". ZERO.
I don't agree with everything the Republican Party / Trump wants to do, but I damn sure am not in a cult. The moment I believe the left offers something better for the country I'll switch over there.
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Yeah, that's where people forget the line between cult, religion, and party.
When you are part of a religion/faith or party, you can be open to other ideas or respectful of other positions. If someone says something to you, you don't react with rage and anger.
When you are part of a cult, you have no room for other views or beliefs. Not even in a thought experiment. You will react violently (more than likely) to an opposing or different view point. And will often seek to eliminate that view point. And that's not a euphemism nor a metaphor. By eliminate I mean kill.
Now, that being said, some cults are peaceful on first glance and at its base. However, almost all cult leaders are psychopaths and will lie, cheat, steal and rape/murder to preserve their cult and power.
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