#Cultism

[zuchinnifixations]

How to Leave a Cult

1. Abandon what you think you know

You think you are devoted to Him, but you must remember you were first devoted to yourself. You must dredge up any compassion you have for Him, and twist it to fit yourself. The love you direct towards Him must be contorted to wrap around your mind. You must remember the only way to Salvation is by ripping your melted flesh from His grasp. Despite the stinging of opened wounds, you have to free yourself.

[sumontienne]

the mainstream portrayal of evil cults as pagan or occult esoteric is so funny to me because the biggest and most harmful cults were and are christian

[hiimtracher]

I'd be careful around Daisy, after all, she isn't what she... seems...

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green eyes is also not what they seem to be he is what i'd like to call a soul eater

[ivehadanapophany]

My other favorite part of cultsim lore is that Elagabulus the real roman emperor was maybe an avatar of the Sun-In-Rags

[mary-laib]

“I just think that children have a closer relationship with God”

Bro??? You’re child is literally indoctrinated??? She’s literally chanting about how God is going to kill all the nonbelievers and spewing anti-trans rhetoric? How is that normal or Godly?

[invharolda]

The man has been confirmed by Thomas Kales as the second cult leader although his name remains a secret (52656d69746572656e) he has been let out of the psych ward to the normal prison as he didn't show any signs of violence and was very cooperative. There he met Peter Haft who was arrested for hacking to and stealing from bank accounts they were quick to make friends (6d792062656c6f76656420616e67656c) which was found weird as Peter started his criminal path after he escaped the cult with his abnormal intelligence given to him by playing with his and two other brains during the ritual called surgery. We are currently observing the two as they share a room with each other.

Posted on may 25th

[melbagirl]

[Image Description: Four slides outlining and giving examples of the four methods of control in the BITE model, listed as follows:

Behavior Control

Promote dependence and obedience

Modify behavior with rewards and punishments

Dictate where and with whom you live

Restrict or control sexuality

Control clothing and hairstyle

Regulate what and how much you eat and drink

Deprive you of seven to nine hours of sleep

Exploit you financially

Restrict leisure time and activities

Require you to seek permission for major decisions

Information Control

Deliberately withhold and distort information

Forbid you from speaking with ex-members and critics

Discourage access to non-cult sources of information

Divide information into Insider vs. Outsider doctrine

Generate and use propaganda extensively

Use information gained in confession sessions against you

Gaslight to make you doubt your own memory

Require you to report thoughts, feelings, & activities to superiors

Encourage you to spy and report on others' "misconduct"

Thought Control

Instill Black vs. White, Us vs. Them, & Good vs. Evil thinking

Change your identity, possibly even your name

Use loaded language and cliches to stop complex thought

Induce hypnotic or trance states to indoctrinate

Teach thought-stopping techniques to prevent critical thoughts

Allow only positive thoughts

Use excessive meditation, singing, prayer, & chanting to block thoughts

Reject rational analysis, critical thinking, & doubt

Emotional Control

Instill irrational fears (phobias) of questioning or leaving the group

Label some emotions as evil, worldly, sinful, or wrong

Teach emotion-stopping techniques to prevent anger, homesickness

Promote feelings of guilt, shame, & unworthiness

Shower you with praise and attention ("love bombing")

Threaten your friends and family

Shun you if you disobey or disbelieve

Teach that there is no happiness or peace outside the group

/End Image Description]

America has a weird relationship with cults where they’re terrified of small cults (or organizations they think are cults) but completely normalized massive cults that hurt many more people (eg: LDS Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amish, Scientology, most Megachurches)

[hiimtracher]

here my cultists and others have two monsters

[angstandhappiness]

WILD

Conservatives having a normal one

[invharolda]

What i know of the hierarchy

Pope Surgeon Chalice Bishop preist follower the operated ones

posted on may 22nd

[pumpkinsplicelatte]

Oh talking about gender diversity is "bad" but convincing someone they can magically fluently speak a long-dead language is totally fine?

[icyfox62]

Don’t forget- Am I allowed to enjoy harmless freedoms/things? and Am I being forced to apologize for actions that are not my own or in my control?

If you’re being guilted into refraining from certain things that are relatively harmless to yourself and others (especially if your “leaders” indulge), know that it’s most likely not for your benefit. If you’re forced to apologize for anything that is not your fault, especially if the issuer came and went before you were born, it’s not to help you. It’s about control.

The grip cults have on people is strong, but sometimes the feeling of guilt makes the possibility of leaving even harder. Even if you do leave, that guilt doesn’t just magically disappear. It can even plant doubts and insecurities in your mind that can strip you of your ability to create healthy boundaries and make decisions that don’t require you to view yourself as a sacrifice or self deprecate.

Am I In A Cult?

Every so often, you have to sit without yourself and think, "am I in a cult?" This goes for everyone and it's really important to do so.

Consider:

1. Is there an out group I'm supposed to hate?

2. Is a group telling me they're the only safe people?

3. Am I being told to distance myself or stop contacting my loved ones?

4. Am I being asked to risk my life or others' lives? (This one is iffy, but still should be on the list.)

5. Am I being told that my group is above the law?

6. Am I asked to self censor? Am I punished for asking questions?

7. Am I worried about losing all my friends and social network if I step out of line?

8. Have other people called me an extremist?

9. Am I being told to follow one person or organization and not question it?

Everyone is susceptible to cults. Everyone!

This isn't about any particular group or ideology. But there are a lot of groups online that are falling into cult behaviors and we need to be aware of that and stop it immediately.

[zuchinnifixations]

How to Join a Cult

1. Self-Betrayal

Those feelings of worthlessness? Let them in. Allow every hateful thought about yourself to consume you. Release any doubt. You are not deserving of beauty and kindness. The sun bends to avoid you. Flowers wilt at your feet. Yearning evades you. To properly ascend, you must acknowledge your faults wholly. You are not special. You are not exempt from the truth.

2. Him

Once you’ve beaten yourself black and blue, once your fingers are torn from scratching at yourself; your knuckles bruised from punishing the mirror. He will emerge. He will find you. He will save you from yourself. He will brush against your bloodied skin, and it will heal. Butterflies will flutter against your stomach. Pulsing under His gaze and adoration. He will smile. And once He does, you must thank Him.

3. Give yourself fully.

Let master take your hand and guide you to righteousness. Let Him cradle your face, as if He is Father, and walk to holy land. Would you bleed for Him? Good. Let the blood flow from your veins onto His altar. Let it paint the picture of your affection. Feel His warmth on your skin (feel your love), and do not resist. Let the fire blistering your feet burn bright. Your needs will smolder in the ashes. The embers will crumble and your flesh will burn, but you will accept it because the flame is His and He is divine.

[lilitunoirrr]

I've only just learned about Kat Torres and her human trafficking of girls under the guise of being a life coach/guru, and all I can think is wtf. This woman is a straight-up sociopath from the things I've learned, surely 👀

[epitome-of-an-openbook]

If you don't think that you would fall for a cult, if you dont think that people on the forefront of social justice movements, people doing the opposite work of MAGA, can fall for cult rhetoric - I want you to look up Jim Jones and the People's Temple and then I want you to look up which people and what movements he was appealing to (here's a hint -> "In a period in which most mainline churches were white supremacist, Peoples Temple’s leadership was able to capitalize on blacks’ yearning for inclusion and cultural validation. In an era in which many Bay Area black churches were accused of bourgeois conservatism, People Temple touted the radical progressive rhetoric of black liberation struggle." source linked below)

Now, even if you don't recognize the names Jim Jones or The People's Temple, you have almost definitely heard the phrase "drank the kool-aid" which is a phrase born out of the tragedy of what happened to the members of The People's Temple.

Cult rhetoric is meant to capitalize on feelings of loneliness, abandonment, loss, and longing - and once you are in they use strategies like the BITE model (Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, Emotional Control) to make it EXTREMELY difficult for you to leave.

So yeah, not only do we need to be willing to help people who are exiting cults (MAGA included) but we also need to recognize that it easily could have been us, our friends, and our allies. In times like this where a lot of us are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and (most importantly) isolated we are extremely vulnerable to cult rhetoric as well.

And if you still struggle to help people who leave MAGA I urge you to remember that forgiveness is not the same thing as kindness or empathy. You can treat someone with kindness, understand that what they have been through is horrible and still not forgive them for what they did to you. You can point people towards resources that will help them escape the cult mentality and not forgive them for what they did to you. But choosing to make things difficult for those leaving a cult does the work of the cult leaders for them by proving to those who try to leave that they really won't be accepted anywhere else, just like they were told.

This is an interesting thing. Looks like testimonies of people who left the MAGA movement- how they got into it and why.

Leaving a cult is really hard, so I really respect the people who are speaking from this place.