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Newsgroups: alt.support.ex-cult, alt.religion.scientology, alt.cult.maharaji
From: n...@petermc.demon.co.uk (Peter McDermott)
Date: 1997/07/29
Subject: Re: Recovery Without the "Anticult"--It Can Be Done! (was ARS going downhill, etc...)
In article <01bc9ba5$ce3c51e0$cfdbe...@admin-net1.dcaweb.net>, "Bob S" <boboh...@cryogen.com> wrote: But surely this is an argument that totally does away with the >If you boil down a person's motivation for a particular choice, there are >many possible roots. In the case of cult influence, the memetic structures >are so complex that life and death decisions may be given no real >consideration. When encountering a cult, one small concession can support >leading reasoning, invoking targeted emotions, supporting the next small >concession, etc. The result is a many-point bind that will eventually lead >a person to do anything the cult has in mind. possibility for all free will? All of us have undergone this process to reach the point that we're currently at - the difference being that scientologists chose to enter the cult at some point. How is that any different from someone who chooses to be, say, a >If you could unravel that cult indoctrination process and backtrack in I don't think so. Poor decision making skills *aren't* the sole >someone's mind, you'll find that for that person their whole believe system >is probably based on a shockingly simple premise. Something like "No one >has ever been this nice to me, there must be something to this", or "Wow, >God's name really is Jehovah", or "Seeing the scientific explanation has >opened my eyes". The effect is the same - a poorly monitored docking point >for the programming that follows. >Any subsequent decision made by this person is suspect, and could very well prerogative of cultists. Either we apply these tests of irrationality to everyone, or we apply them to no one. How is a cultist any different to someone who has been poorly programmed by their parents? By their peer group? OK, cults are more systematic about their programming, but then the state is pretty systematic as well. Should we decide that all those patriots who support their country during an irrational conflict with other nations is also under the influence of mind control and thus their thoughts are 'not their own'? >Allowing someone to follow their programming to the point of death is no
>different than allowing a clinically depressed person to commit suicide >because they want to. The person may be an adult, but if they're under the >influence, then their thoughts are not their own. You must Sign in before you can post messages.
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