Back in my Road Freak years when I lived years on end out of a pack, mostly broke, hitch hiking from one end of the continent to the other and back again, just living rough, I had a lot of exposure to various cults, a few of them were always close to the road, or road people…the way some groups would get members was a process called ‘Love Bombing’ – most of the street dropouts are damaged people and a good many never had any affection, or security, in their lives, and this could be dazzling to them. (Love Bombing, not in a sexual way, but just that the group showed they valued you as a person, that you were worth their affection, they cared about you)
A number of the cults, like say Moonies, gave some messed up people a bit of relief for a wile, not all cults are destructive… I have some good stories of those days, but that was long ago, another world. But I am replying to this part of the article,
“Yet Falun Gong are an interesting case, in that they do have a single charismatic leader,”
That is actually the definition of a cult really. They have a Leader who is the focus of the group (not a Head, like the Pope, but venerated as The Leader whose words are law and true). A religion has history, hierarchy, dogma, ceremony (cultus), texts, philosophy, and looks to a power above the person.
I wonder why someone who has not been in a cult, or around them, wishes to write of them? But my favorite historical cult/religion was the Millerites, 1800s, a big movement, the ones who all met on a hill to experience the Rapture when God ended the mortal world – some having given away all their worldly possessions, and it failed to happen. They called it ‘The Great Disappointment’ and toughed it out, getting on with life, some becoming Shakers, Seventh Day Advent Church, even the Bahai fallowed him., My favorite cult I knew was (Children of God? Children of Christ? I forget now, but I liked them – all male, lived mostly on the road in the robes and sandals of Christ, celibate, vow of poverty, a very hard way indeed, but good people trying their best to be good). There were a couple scary groups though, dangerous if messed with.
I guess I just want to say that cults as presented today are seen as ridiculous and corrupt, but that is not always the case. A Good number were pretty OK, and helped the followers, and did good and were positive, the founders and members were trying to fallow a decent god, to be better people, and to help others. Most meant well. Most members came from troubled situations, and those could use some community.
Good response – it’s a shame that the word “cult” is redefined by the wokerati as something others support that they deem to be awful – that also has a figure-head.
e.g. If you supported Trump you were part of a cult.
The biggest and most dangerous cults of all are the political parties.
Dan Gleeballs
2 years ago
The Mormons visited me a few times – very friendly and better teeth than I’d seen before. I went for a few walks with them and considered going further, but the truth was, I wasn’t vulnerable. I wasn’t lonely or grieving or traumatised. If I had been, I’d have gone along, discovered some nice Mormon girl and had a different life.
I don’t even mean all that as a criticism. Generally, faiths collect up the damaged and offer them companionship and belonging. Christian ones do more good than harm, I think.
Hostile ones like NXIVM are beneath contempt for their manipulation of the vulnerable. The clue is always revealed in the treatment of women. I was amazed to discover David Koresh of Waco not only slept with his female followers, but *forbade their husbands from sleeping with them*! They all went along with it, which probably says something extraordinary about humanity and charismatic leaders.
The clues are always there. More than one wife allowed? Women treated as less than men? It’s a sex cult.
Last edited 2 years ago by Dan Gleeballs
James Chater
2 years ago
Thankfully my cult-alert radar has served me well. (So I’m not the only one who thought the Steve Jobs Apple Mac thing was creepily cultish – a reason to avoid buying one of their products, even though their hardware was superior – PCs did catch up of course.) ”And as our present ‘hands-face-space’ era has illustrated, many quietly yearn to be told what to do”.
No, I disagree. The normally correct anti-control, anti-cult mentality is often misplaced with the Covid pandemic crisis.
We don’t ‘yearn to be told what to do’, we just expect governments to do what they can to help us to protect ourselves by outlining temporary ‘norms’.
Official advice and/or restrictions are not part of a sinister plot, to control us – in the case of vaccines, to insert micro-barcodes into us or something.
Indeed that anti-control mentality itself becomes cultish – deluded. (Tell me Piers Corbyn is not an archetypical cult leader.)
Back in my Road Freak years when I lived years on end out of a pack, mostly broke, hitch hiking from one end of the continent to the other and back again, just living rough, I had a lot of exposure to various cults, a few of them were always close to the road, or road people…the way some groups would get members was a process called ‘Love Bombing’ – most of the street dropouts are damaged people and a good many never had any affection, or security, in their lives, and this could be dazzling to them. (Love Bombing, not in a sexual way, but just that the group showed they valued you as a person, that you were worth their affection, they cared about you)
A number of the cults, like say Moonies, gave some messed up people a bit of relief for a wile, not all cults are destructive… I have some good stories of those days, but that was long ago, another world. But I am replying to this part of the article,
“Yet Falun Gong are an interesting case, in that they do have a single charismatic leader,”
That is actually the definition of a cult really. They have a Leader who is the focus of the group (not a Head, like the Pope, but venerated as The Leader whose words are law and true). A religion has history, hierarchy, dogma, ceremony (cultus), texts, philosophy, and looks to a power above the person.
I wonder why someone who has not been in a cult, or around them, wishes to write of them? But my favorite historical cult/religion was the Millerites, 1800s, a big movement, the ones who all met on a hill to experience the Rapture when God ended the mortal world – some having given away all their worldly possessions, and it failed to happen. They called it ‘The Great Disappointment’ and toughed it out, getting on with life, some becoming Shakers, Seventh Day Advent Church, even the Bahai fallowed him., My favorite cult I knew was (Children of God? Children of Christ? I forget now, but I liked them – all male, lived mostly on the road in the robes and sandals of Christ, celibate, vow of poverty, a very hard way indeed, but good people trying their best to be good). There were a couple scary groups though, dangerous if messed with.
I guess I just want to say that cults as presented today are seen as ridiculous and corrupt, but that is not always the case. A Good number were pretty OK, and helped the followers, and did good and were positive, the founders and members were trying to fallow a decent god, to be better people, and to help others. Most meant well. Most members came from troubled situations, and those could use some community.
Good response – it’s a shame that the word “cult” is redefined by the wokerati as something others support that they deem to be awful – that also has a figure-head.
e.g. If you supported Trump you were part of a cult.
WWG1WGA
I hope that’s ironic
The biggest and most dangerous cults of all are the political parties.
The Mormons visited me a few times – very friendly and better teeth than I’d seen before. I went for a few walks with them and considered going further, but the truth was, I wasn’t vulnerable. I wasn’t lonely or grieving or traumatised. If I had been, I’d have gone along, discovered some nice Mormon girl and had a different life.
I don’t even mean all that as a criticism. Generally, faiths collect up the damaged and offer them companionship and belonging. Christian ones do more good than harm, I think.
Hostile ones like NXIVM are beneath contempt for their manipulation of the vulnerable. The clue is always revealed in the treatment of women. I was amazed to discover David Koresh of Waco not only slept with his female followers, but *forbade their husbands from sleeping with them*! They all went along with it, which probably says something extraordinary about humanity and charismatic leaders.
The clues are always there. More than one wife allowed? Women treated as less than men? It’s a sex cult.
Thankfully my cult-alert radar has served me well. (So I’m not the only one who thought the Steve Jobs Apple Mac thing was creepily cultish – a reason to avoid buying one of their products, even though their hardware was superior – PCs did catch up of course.)
”And as our present ‘hands-face-space’ era has illustrated, many quietly yearn to be told what to do”.
No, I disagree. The normally correct anti-control, anti-cult mentality is often misplaced with the Covid pandemic crisis.
We don’t ‘yearn to be told what to do’, we just expect governments to do what they can to help us to protect ourselves by outlining temporary ‘norms’.
Official advice and/or restrictions are not part of a sinister plot, to control us – in the case of vaccines, to insert micro-barcodes into us or something.
Indeed that anti-control mentality itself becomes cultish – deluded. (Tell me Piers Corbyn is not an archetypical cult leader.)
Great article, thank you.