You Know you're in a Cult When......!

[sparkie]

Remember Jeff Foxworth's Redneck Jokes? You know you're a redneck...well, change it to......... in a cult.

You know you're in a cult when...............


.......when you are banned from their website because you dare to question the leader.

.......when all you see the leader doing is "parading around" to look important.


.......when the only work you see the leader do is stand in front of a news camera.


.......When ___________________(please fill in)

[Franklin]

Hi Sparkie,

I can get behind this one...

...Everyone in the group uses the same terminology, which has a different meaning than the one in the dictionary

...Before you voice your opinion, you must stop and think how it fits in with the group's dogma

...You're over thrity, but you still think you're part of a small group who are the first ever ti realize such-and-such (It's common for adolescents to feel this way, but if you're over 30, you're likely in a cult)

...Your head hurts from constantly trying to fit square pegs into round holes - i.e. trying to reconcile logic with the group's dogma. Some are extraordinarily creative at this task

...You believe that every problem has the same source and therfore the same solution

...You think, "I got it - now if only everyone else would get it...".

Cheers, Franklin

[sparkie]

Hey Franklin,

What would Ben Franklin & the Junto Society say about cults......


Maybe this, I quote from About Us page .........."Our (Junto) debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory; and to prevent warmth, all expressions of positive opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties."

That's alittle brainy for me...can you translate? Maybe you did already w/ this, also from the About Us page...

"They fostered self-improvement through discussions on topics related to philosophy, morals, economics, and politics."

Link: http://www.livewire.fm/about.html

[Franklin]

I guess I'm taking on the role of Ben Franklin expert :) Most of my knowledge of Franklin comes from the superb book, Ben Franklin, An American Life by Walter Issacson.

I will attempt to translate:
Our (Junto) debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory
I thnk that's self-explanatory. I would think means that the goal is to get to the truth without regard for whether you win the debate and without competitiveness (fondness for dispute). Lots of people enjoy sparring - I'll admit to being one of them. But there's a time and place for honing your debating skills versus finding the truth.

...and to prevent warmth, all expressions of positive opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties
I would guess this is to prevent cronyism, declaring that the idaes expressed by those you like are superior to the idaes expressed by those you like less, or not at all. In other words, keep the discussion objective. Those with charm are not necessarily more in sync with the truth than those who are less charming. More likely the opposite would be true - time spent honing charm may be better spent finding the truth. Which is certainly not to say that charm and wisdom do not often co-exist.

I'm quite sure that BF would not approve of cultism, since virtually every aspect of his life indicates a respect for the abilities and goodness of people and the desire for all to be as free as reasonably possible. On the contrary, cultism is cynical, disrespectful and enslaving - not only of the followers, but also of the "leader" who feels so incapable of providing a good life for themselves that they feel the need to control others.

Cheers, Franklin

[NicoMoon]

There are recognized formulas for recognizing cultified behaviors and situations.

The "cult" word is off-putting to some, because for most people it denotes a group of crazy people with shaved heads, or bleary eyed zombies marching in lock-step behind some Svengali like nutcase. Most people do not, and will not admit to themselves that they are in a cult, yet if we really understand the dynamic, the fact is that we've all been in or are in one, that meets the criteria.

Cults are formed around dogmas and beliefs. We all have some, so somewhere lurking in our midst is someone seeking to, or succeeding in exploiting our passions and beliefs to suit their own needs for power, status and privilege, if not always the big one CASH.

The two criteria I like the most are Steve Hassan's BITE method.

BITE stands for control over Behavior, Information, Thoughts and Emotions.

It's an easy checklist to go through when involved in any relationship, group, or movement, but the symptoms and manifestations of those controls do range from the blatent to the subtle, so they do require some serious pondering.

The other I like is Robert Lifton's criteria for a destructive group, or system of thought reform: http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studymindctr/study_mindctr_lifton.htm

[sparkie]

Cult leaders and bully bosses have alot in commmon.