I made a summary of what is written out there; didn’t try to invent anything new, other than using words that felt more natural to me. Maybe it’s too obvious and well-known, but I don’t remember it being mentioned here in the past, when it was debated whether LW or solstice celebration or whatever was cultish.
I know a few people who got involved with cults by having their boss converted to a cult, and then receiving an option to either convert too, or lose the job. Happened about a decade ago.
These days, I believe political cults are the most popular among young people. SJWs have all the red flags, including the disfellowshipping of former friends who disagree with their sacred beliefs. I believe it is useful to remind people that what they see is actually just another instance of an old pattern.
These days, I believe political cults are the most popular among young people.
Maybe in the West. But Da’ish and other varieties of militant Islam are basically doomsday cults, and have all the usual marks of same. Note that there are in fact flavors of “strict religion”, even in Islam (consider the “quietist sects”), that are not nearly as dangerous in practice, either to the individual or to the surrounding community—and the “red flags” seem to make all the difference there. A “quietist” Muslim might know that he’s supposed to “pray five times a day every day, no matter what you were doing at that time” and “shun the infidels” at some level, but he won’t take these things nearly as seriously as someone who’s actually dangerous—the “cult” is not totalizing for him and real-world concerns will obviously take over at some point.
I made a summary of what is written out there; didn’t try to invent anything new, other than using words that felt more natural to me. Maybe it’s too obvious and well-known, but I don’t remember it being mentioned here in the past, when it was debated whether LW or solstice celebration or whatever was cultish.
I know a few people who got involved with cults by having their boss converted to a cult, and then receiving an option to either convert too, or lose the job. Happened about a decade ago.
These days, I believe political cults are the most popular among young people. SJWs have all the red flags, including the disfellowshipping of former friends who disagree with their sacred beliefs. I believe it is useful to remind people that what they see is actually just another instance of an old pattern.
Maybe in the West. But Da’ish and other varieties of militant Islam are basically doomsday cults, and have all the usual marks of same. Note that there are in fact flavors of “strict religion”, even in Islam (consider the “quietist sects”), that are not nearly as dangerous in practice, either to the individual or to the surrounding community—and the “red flags” seem to make all the difference there. A “quietist” Muslim might know that he’s supposed to “pray five times a day every day, no matter what you were doing at that time” and “shun the infidels” at some level, but he won’t take these things nearly as seriously as someone who’s actually dangerous—the “cult” is not totalizing for him and real-world concerns will obviously take over at some point.
Heh. When chaos said “the 9/11 of cults” I thought “wait, wasn’t 9/11 the 9/11 of cults?”