Cult

All posts tagged Cult

Cults: The Mind Enslaved

Posted by Mason I. Bilderberg (MIB) on September 10, 2012
Posted in: Brain Works, Cults, Human Perception, Psychology. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

by Jeanette Pryor via PJ Lifestyle

Jason Beghe is an actor, a Brooklyn tough-guy known for his starring role in the gritty G.I. Jane. In 2008, after fifteen years as a Scientology poster boy, Beghe left the cult and released an interview (embedded below) chronicling his descent into and exodus from L. Ron Hubbard’s bizarre universe.

Beghe’s recruitment, life as a celebrity spokesman and ultimate rejection of the cult are riveting, particularly for someone like myself who spent nearly thirty years in a cultic religious organization. I was stunned because, even though the doctrines and practices of our respective organizations were so different, I identified perfectly with the mental processes Beghe described. I also believed in a completely irrational worldview and ignored blatant contradictions.

Experts believe people join and remain in cults for similar motives regardless of variations in cult lifestyles and teaching. Harder to find in scholarly research is an explanation of how or why people in wildly differing cults exhibit such similar mental and emotional symptoms.

Keep Reading: PJ Lifestyle » Cults: The Mind Enslaved.

Related articles

“10 of the World’s Most Infamous Cults”

Posted by Mason I. Bilderberg (MIB) on August 8, 2012
Posted in: Bizarre, Cults, Human Perception, Psychology, Scams. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Most people have their own vague idea of what constitutes a cult. But “cult” is one of those slippery, nebulous terms that are difficult to define. Strict definitions tend to be either too wide or too narrow. To complicate matters, what one considers a cult is often a matter of opinion. But, as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about another ill-defined topic, people tend to think that they know it when they see it.

Sidestepping the controversy, sociologists don’t like to use the pejorative term “cult.” Instead, they like to talk about new religious movements (NRMs), which can be more widely defined. NRMs hold beliefs that are far outside of the mainstream. They are often characterized by making strict demands on the lifestyle of their members, such as giving up possessions, professions and contact with family to live in a commune with other members. Many have charismatic, authoritarian leaders whose followers believe have special prophetic powers. These leaders often prophesize about an imminent apocalypse.

Keep Reading: HowStuffWorks “10 of the World’s Most Infamous Cults”.

5 Traits of a Cult

Posted by Mason I. Bilderberg (MIB) on July 2, 2012
Posted in: Bizarre, Brain Works, Psychology. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

For a while now I have been examining cults and certain practices on how they conduct themselves, and how the leadership in cults controls their members.

Here is a list of five traits that many cults tend to have: The Soap Box.