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Anon looks into cults (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/greentext@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 70 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Scientology somehow managed to reach cult "escape velocity" and survive the death of its leader.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    and mormonism

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    And Christianity.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    Christianity as a religion generally started after the death and ascension of Christ.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    So you're saying it reached escape velocity and survived the death of its leader?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    I agree with the other person that the JC fan club-cum-cult only became a real cult heading to religion after it had the sacrificial death to lean on.

    The escape velocity was achieved not from the leader dying, as the martyrdom was the key factor long-term, but more so that it survived the core group of founders by being pliable. It wasn't the "message" per se, but the decentralized and un-professionalizing of the religion that made it so that anyone could practice it, and for less hassle and cost than existing religions. It reached escape velocity because the barrier to entry for outsiders to practice and become leaders was lower.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Interesting. I feel like this theory can be expanded to not just cult but also organizations in general like a start up or a hobby club. What are the defining characteristics of a group getting to escape velocity I wonder

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    Own a fuck load of property, don't pay taxes, keep attracting new people to pay into the group, convince existing members to pay more, maybe scare the feds a little so theyre forced to try cooptation rather than direct suppression

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    • [–] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (12 children)

    The guy pictured, Marshall Applewhite, wanted to fuck dudes and was ashamed of it so he got castrated. Then, after his best friend and cult's co-founder died, he convinced a bunch of people that the world was going to end and the only way they could survive was by committing suicide so that their souls could leave on an alien spaceship hidden behind Hale-Bopp comet as it passed by. Nobody can know what he was thinking but I'd wager he was just depressed and didn't want to die alone.

    EDIT: Originally said it was Hailey's comet.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Fun fact, their website is still up https://www.heavensgate.com/

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    so internalized homophobia is what got them all killed

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    In November 1996, amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek of Houston, Texas, took a CCD image of the comet which showed a fuzzy, slightly elongated object nearby. His computer sky-viewing program did not identify the star, so Shramek called the Art Bell radio program Coast to Coast AM to announce that he had discovered a "Saturn-like object" following Hale–Bopp. UFO enthusiasts, such as remote viewing proponent and Emory University political science professor Courtney Brown, soon concluded that there was an alien spacecraft following the comet. Several astronomers, including Alan Hale, stated that the object was simply the 8.5-magnitude star SAO141894. They noted that the star did not appear on Shramek's computer program because the user preferences were set incorrectly. Art Bell claimed to have obtained an image of the object from an anonymous astrophysicist who was about to confirm its discovery. However, astronomers Olivier Hainaut and David Tholen of the University of Hawaii stated that the alleged photo was an altered copy of one of their own comet images.

    They died over someone's computer settings being misconfigured 💀

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    • [–] 125 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    There is one cult I would welcome the ritual suicide of.

    They’re just about at 10 years now.

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  • [–] 31 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    I had to think for a while.

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  • [–] 44 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    You had a thought? Congrats, you're not in the cult

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    That's just what a woke gay commie deep state libtard would say!

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    • [–] 32 points 1 year ago

    I saw an analysis of cults that have turned into religions - that is, outlived their founder. There's some very specific criteria that need to be met in order for it to endure, must critically it needs a charismatic reformer/organizer to take over when the founder dies.

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    [–] 58 points 1 year ago (12 children)

    Humans are super susceptible to charisma, tribalism, and dogma

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  • [+] -15 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    it's really just americans (and maybe places heavily influenced by america ideologically I dunno) they really aren't a major problem elsewhere noone really joins cults in the uk

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    China had a serious problem with cults, while Japan and Korea are heavily influenced by America, I don't see that reflected in their cults.

    Its not like the UK is less influenced by America than places were the average person has seen like 1 American TV show or movie.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Isn't/wasn't the Jesus Army cult UK based? Like, the USA just has a LOT more people than the UK does, it makes sense for there to be more people that fall into fringe groups. But the UK certainly isn't immune to it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    Poor education, lack of a culture of walking/socializing/eating in cities (overall different city life) and the isolation of suburban car life encouraging engagement only in your preferred echo chambers /// living in the middle of nowhere seems like an amazing recipe to make many Americans predisposed to cults way more than many other countries/world

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    I've never heard of them but it's always annoying whenever someone says something is worse in america americans will go "hurr durr america bigger so more thing happen" as though the rest of the world isn't aware of per capita measurements it's not just numerically a way higher percentage of americans join cults a lot of americans are predisposed to extreme religious views and searching for solutions to societal problems in religion like here that just really isn't normal here most people aren't that religious and it's considered really weird and abnormal for someone to think a rapture or whatever will be the solution to a societal problem people would just laugh at you cults don't get taken seriously here they're funny

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    When looking at the kind of person most likely to fall victim to the cults, many people are surprised by the findings. The following are characteristics of the most likely cult recruit and suggest that the person:

    1. Is from an economically sound family background.

2. Has average to above average intelligence.

3. Has a good education.

4. Is idealistic.

    Most cults can recruit and control a person in a matter of three or four days.

    https://cultinformation.org.uk/mobile/articles/cult-concerns-an-overview-of-cults-and-their-harmful-methods-in-the-uk/

    I think you're just perpetuating your own opinions about this, instead of any sort of facts.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    And for the majority of Americans cults just get laughed at as well. At least until it started leaking into politics, but that is being seen in many other countries now, too.

    A lot of Americans are doing horrible things, and there definitely is something about the culture here that affects that, as you don't see the mass shooting and school shooting issues in other parts of the world as strongly. But coming at this saying that it doesn't really happen outside of the USA and that it doesn't happen in the UK is just ridiculous. If you make a statement that infers you don't understand per capital, then you'll get a reply making that rebuttal.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Are you quite sure?

    When the word cult is mentioned, some people may think not only of the tragedy in Waco, Texas but also of Jonestown and the murder/suicides there on l8 November l978, when 913 died following the order of Rev. Jim Jones to drink cyanide laced Kool-Aid.

    Both of these cases instantly became the focus of the worlds attention. Since the two groups were U.S. based, there is a danger that many people in the U.K. may consider the cult issue to be a North American problem and one that does not affect people here in Britain. They do so at their peril.

    Figures quoted for the UK usually indicate 500+ cults in operation here. On a per capita basis the U.K. has a similar problem with the number of cults to that of the U.S.

    https://cultinformation.org.uk/mobile/articles/cult-concerns-an-overview-of-cults-and-their-harmful-methods-in-the-uk/

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    • [–] 27 points 1 year ago

    If you last longer you become a cultural heritage issue and are delegated away from cult status

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    [–] 24 points 1 year ago

    I would be a fool if I gave all my money to a charlatan, and I'm no fool. That proves that Jesus IV is the real deal.

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    [–] 15 points 1 year ago

    Cults work by coercive control to brainwash people. They subtly do it using tactics including lovebombing, isolation, limiting information, sleep deprivation and getting blackmail material to gain total control over the person's mind and body. It's the same process a domestic abuse perp uses, but they have more resources at their disposal, making it even harder to break free

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    [–] 15 points 1 year ago

    Can we get to the part where the Musk cult and the Trump cult both commit ritual suicide? It's long overdue.

    Would be great, thank you.

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    [–] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Lots of cults, probably most of them, exists far beyond the ten years range unfortunately.

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    • [–] 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    When will the Trump cult suicides start?

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    • [–] 33 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Oh no this can't be true this would exclude major religions which are cults as well

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Ehh ... The definition of a cult includes things like isolating you from your friends and family, and having secret teachings that only the initiated have access to. I.e. the Freemasons: secret teachings, but does not try to isolate you from friends and family. Secret society, but not a cult. Religion is a cult in terms of the original sense of the word: organised worship, but not a cult as we think of them. Though some subsets definitely do get pretty culty. Don't know about these days, but when I was at university the Campus Crusaders for Christ definitely had the love-bombing and isolating you from your friends and family going on.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    As a Catholic by baptism and family tradition I do sometimes find Christianity a bit outdated, but I still think it's capable of renewing.

    I don't really have time to go to church nowadays but for example when I last got to go at Easter the priest was a Russophile of all things (this happened in Hungary) and he very much made that part of his speech. Something about the Russians doing The Good Lord's job in Ukraine, just as they did back in WWII. I'm not even kidding.

    Then again when I got to regularly go to the youth service a few years back it was basically just singing to the guitar band and looking at the Bible which was really fun, the priest was very educated and seemingly didn't have any hateful opinions, which is sadly more than you can expect from most of the clergy nowadays.

    So yes TL;DR Christianity can be very fun and inclusive without acting like a cult, but the people who make up the Christian community come in all shapes and forms and sadly most of them aren't people you would want to spend much time with, and that includes some of the priests as well whose job it should be to make people more friendly in my opinion.

    Well at least these are my experiences but I haven't ever been an integral part of any Christian Club or something like that.

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    • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    You don't want to be the guy that didn't let the Savior of mankind fuck his wife and the Savior wasn't lying.

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    [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    I don't know, sounds kind of fun.

    The charisma thing though, that ain't happening

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