Concern About Cult-Like Tendencies
wilkyjr printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Thu Mar 10, 2016 at 10:08:08 AM EST
During the seventies I was a seminary student and national attention turned to the growing menace of cult groups.  It was a cultural trend that wealthy adolescent debutantes were joining cult groups.  The most noted was the Unification Church led by notorious Rev. Moon.  Baptists in the South organized research studies and the word "deprogrammer" became part of the modern culture.  Walter Martin was a noted expert on cults and produced many videos identifying the groups and came up with common links that identified cult groups.  One item used to designate cult groups was the fact they did not receive any information that did not come from the official version of reality that came from the group's founder or his selected understudies.
     I recently saw a documentary on the LDS Fundamentalist cult group that has over 10,000 members around the nation.  The group is frequently monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Its leader is in prison yet still controls the actions of followers through communication to his leadership. Warren Jeffs is the head of the group currently serving a life sentence in a Texas prison.  He was convicted of sexual assault of children.  He is famous for taking up young girls and forcing them to be his wife.    In the documentary I noted cult members suspiciously peering at film makers and hiding behind fences.  It was obvious they refused to adhere to any source of information that did not come from their cult leadership.  Experts fear the followers will do anything Jeffs instructs them to do.
     Some in the Religious Right are pushing their followers into a cult-like version of the world.  They do not accept any information that comes from the tainted pens of those outside their own close circle.  You cannot trust any survey, opinion, or research, that does not come from the select group who gives out the facts.
     A recent John Birch Society email gives further evidence to the problem.  The email suggested insiders, mostly from the Council on Foreign Relations, control the election and are conspiring to unseat Donald Trump's Presidential bid.   This goes on because behind the scenes diabolical evil groups control the world and you cannot trust the government, media, or politicians to tell you the truth.  This secretive group is in control, not the government, media, or politicians.
      I ran across this problem in a local editor's opinion on the election.  The newspaper reported that Secretary Clinton should be held responsible for her crimes but the current President will not prosecute here and is breaking the law by refusal.  He compared the nation to the old Soviet Union stating the government has total control of the media which is state run.  The national media has been instructed to  attack Republican candidates.  The media even goes so far as to lie insinuating GOP leaders have been connected to racist, sexist and xenophobic concepts.    This brainwashing comes directly from the Democratic Party seeking to hold power by controlling votes.  The Democratic Party registers illegal immigrant voters who are taking away the votes of real citizens.  "....the more illegal the better."  Swing states will have illegal voters flood into the state to defeat the GOP candidate.  American votes are thus canceled out by people who are not citizens.
     The fact that there is little if any evidence that anything the author said can be verified is not my interest.  The interesting item is that you cannot trust anything that comes from the press.  Thus from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times,  Yahoo News and etc, none of them will give you the truth because they are controlled by others.
     Times in my life I have dealt with people who thought I was brainwashed because of where I went to college or seminary.  I sought to share new information with these types and often found they were not open to any other view that did not come down from the official version of truth.  I have noted that David Barton, Bill Gothard , and a host of others, have followers with these tendencies.  Recalling stories about deprogramming cult members, I noted that patience, long periods of time, and close friends are required to gain the trust of cult members.  It is no easy task.  
    Certainly not all Religious Right members are like this.  Some, unfortunately are.   It does not serve our Democracy well to create subcultures of peoples who do not trust our government at all.   One solution is to give these peoples access to government and elected officials and this allows them to have personal contact with people in government, or for that matter the press to make government and news personal.   Jefferson never believed the yeoman always got it right in electing leaders.  He did believe it was the right thing for them to do.  If people feel they have a voice, tensions are erased.  It they do not feel they have a voice, tensions are increased.



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Would appreciate links or source info so I could take a look at the documentary cited in 2nd paragraph and the editorial piece in paragraph 5. Thanks.  

by 0101101 on Thu Mar 10, 2016 at 12:03:33 PM EST
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by MariyaDorothy on Wed Sep 30, 2020 at 10:58:28 AM EST
Parent


with News reporting - and it solidly backs up the saying "Reality has a liberal bias!"

The fact is, the news is solidly slanted towards a conservative viewpoint.  Research has also demonstrated that reporting is very racist (although subtly so), even today - solid research by any reasonable standard.  There have been several Critical Linguistic Analysis and Content Analysis research articles regarding that fact - I can list a couple of them later.

My own work demonstrated that fact when examining the reporting on the Jena Six situation.

What I did was a Content Analysis on the reporting, comparing what was reported to eyewitness accounts, official testimony, court and police records, and things like that (which I was able to acquire).  The best source of news (at the time, and sadly it looks like again, now that Al Jazeera America is or has gone down) was NPR, and they even got it wrong in some important points.  The mainstream reporting was misleading through omission, and Fox (and the Washington Times) - so bad that their statements forced me to create two new codes (used in analysis) "Deliberate Deception" and "Overt Racism".

The only news source that was 100% accurate was a website deliberately set up to defend the Jena Six... and that website was loudly and widely derided as "COMMUNISTS!".

Regarding the programming and so on - only too true with the dominionist churches (and they're spreading their propaganda throughout the more mainstream churches - remember the IRD?).  We were told by "Authority" that we couldn't trust the "librul press" and that everything outside of the church was all lies and not to be trusted.  We were to listen to Christian radio stations, only pay attention to Christian news, and music?  ONLY approved Christian music.  Movies - only if recommended by the pastor, and only church-sponsored concerts allowed.

Funny thing is that the truth is that everything WITHIN those churches is not to be trusted.  We on the outside know that, and the walkaway community is only too aware of that truth - but sadly those trapped in those cults can't see it.

As I've  related before, they also will physically harm people who resist or say things they don't like.  They're trying to force their worldview on everyone else.  Truth becomes lies, and their lies are held as truth.

by ArchaeoBob on Thu Mar 10, 2016 at 12:36:47 PM EST

Again I note Archbob that I am accused of having been brainwashed.  Like these LDS cult members would see me, I am not enlightened.  It reminds me of 5 point Calvinism.  One cannot know truth or salvation because they were never conceived to understand it.  Calvinist, linked to Reconstructionist, would say, "Who are we to argue with God as to who He choses."  

by wilkyjr on Thu Mar 10, 2016 at 01:43:41 PM EST
Parent


I believe it was Showtime's Prophet's Prey, that I saw.  Southern Poverty Law Center has a great deal of information on the story.

"Newspaper"  editorial I read was the New Ulm Enterprise, Thursday Mar. 3, 2016, pages 1 and 6. No author is listed.  At the local election I was a judge in this county.  Our voter count was eleven to one in favor of the Republican Party.  You might understand why from the article.

by wilkyjr on Thu Mar 10, 2016 at 01:31:12 PM EST


Thank you for sharing the post. things to do post

by tadobre on Thu May 24, 2018 at 07:11:31 AM EST

It's important to approach the situation with sensitivity and respect. People involved in such groups may not be aware of the negative impact on their lives, Lab grown diamonds and forceful intervention can push them further away. Encouraging critical thinking and maintaining open communication can be effective ways to support someone in such situations.

by isabelladom on Wed Nov 15, 2023 at 11:30:56 PM EST


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