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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

LOL, I'm half Italian but I don't think I can pull the crazed witchy look off, I think a male cult leader as a figure head might work a bit better... I'll handle merchandising rights

They've had their day ..... women cult leaders are needed if only to keep the kids safe!

All joking aside, raping children seems to happen far too often in cult situations.

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle



They've had their day ..... women cult leaders are needed if only to keep the kids safe!

All joking aside, raping children seems to happen far too often in cult situations.

I think for those guys I would have a cult punishment that would make sure that they can't ever do it again, they'd be ritually bobbitted

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

LOL, I'm half Italian but I don't think I can pull the crazed witchy look off, I think a male cult leader as a figure head might work a bit better... I'll handle merchandising rights

They've had their day ..... women cult leaders are needed if only to keep the kids safe!

All joking aside, raping children seems to happen far too often in cult situations.

You're thinking of Hubbard and that shit Mo Berg who was actually pimping his disciples kids?

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle


This also brings up two other features of cult behaviour - control of information and isolation, both of which are used by cult leaders to maximise their control over their sheeple.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

LOL, I'm half Italian but I don't think I can pull the crazed witchy look off, I think a male cult leader as a figure head might work a bit better... I'll handle merchandising rights

They've had their day ..... women cult leaders are needed if only to keep the kids safe!

All joking aside, raping children seems to happen far too often in cult situations.

You're thinking of Hubbard and that shit Mo Berg who was actually pimping his disciples kids?

Child rape seems to be a recurrent theme with cults. Child marriage is another - not that there's a lot of difference.

I'm just going on media reports here - nothing more solid than that. Institutionalised child abuse - physical, sexual and emotional - seems to feature in cult behaviour far more than it might occur in non-cult situations. IIRC it seems to crop up often in fundamentalist cults based in the major religions. Think for example of those polygamist Mormon sects that live in isolated rural communities - often being run as mini-theocracies by Church 'elders'. Both child marriage and rape seem to be frequent ('normal'?!) events there. I'm wondering if the one 'normalises' the other .....

This also brings up two other features of cult behaviour - control of information and isolation, both of which are used by cult leaders to maximise their control over their sheeple.

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle


This also brings up two other features of cult behaviour - control of information and isolation, both of which are used by cult leaders to maximise their control over their sheeple.

Scientology is a good example for it, they are not allowed to google for it or even listen to outside sources, as they have been told they would block themselves for the next step...

So I need to catch them all and ship them to an island without internet access or regulated internet access (does China rent out "spiritual retreats?") but then how do I get them to make lots of money for me? Ah this cult thing isn't as easy as it looked...

When I was a child there were a lot of orange clad people who paid for the Rollers of a fat bearded guy, they seem to have disappeared...

1. Never obey anyone's command unless it is coming from within you also.
2. There is no God other than life itself.
3. Truth is within you, do not search for it elsewhere.
4. Love is prayer.
5. To become a nothingness is the door to truth. Nothingness itself is the means, the goal and attainment.
6. Life is now and here.
7. Live wakefully.
8. Do not swim—float.
9. Die each moment so that you can be new each moment.
10. Do not search. That which is, is. Stop and see.

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ORIGINAL: Edwynn


Especially the monarchy, I meant to say.

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

You know, I was first joking about it, but this cult idea doesn't sound too bad, I mean a harmless one that keeps them meditating and navel gazing to stop them from spending tons of money on freakazoids, but then if you're too harmless and nice you possibly don't have much of an appeal...

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

Another way of rendering your disciples more malleable is a diet containing as little protein as possible. The Reverend Moon and the various flavours of ISCKON swear by that one. Starving people of protein renders them a lot more suggestible and suppresses their critical faculties a lot.

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ORIGINAL: Demspotis

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

Another way of rendering your disciples more malleable is a diet containing as little protein as possible. The Reverend Moon and the various flavours of ISCKON swear by that one. Starving people of protein renders them a lot more suggestible and suppresses their critical faculties a lot.

ISKCON really doesn't starve people of protein; their diet only restricts from certain sources of protein (meat, fish, eggs), but uses, sometimes heavily, others: dairy products and legumes. They're part of Hinduism, which has thousands of years of experience with nutritionally safe vegetarianism. Whatever problems there are in ISKCON come from other sources, not the diet! Nor from the teachings or instructions of their founding guru, but in direct and blatant violation of them.

Incidentally, this negative use of the word "cult" that we see in this thread is basically a tactic used by some fanatic cults and their dupes to marginalize and "discredit" minority religions. Quite a lot of "anti-cult" literature defines a "cult" as anybody whose teachings are different from the religion (or other beliefs) of the people producing the literature.

The thing is that the word "cult" by itself is really neutral, and basically means either a religion, or some special line of devotion or practice within a religion. For example, Roman Catholic Christianity includes within itself the "cult of Mary", which is the traditional practices relating to veneration of Mary; or the "cult of the saints". If we mean a bad kind of cult, we really need to use an adjective to make it negative, like "fanatic cult", "abusive cult", or whatever.

So... if our OP wants to start a cult, there doesn't have to be anything bad about it at all! (And collecting money from people is not necessarily bad, either. ;-)) I suggest a cult based on cookies... :-D

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ORIGINAL: Demspotis

The thing is that the word "cult" by itself is really neutral, and basically means either a religion, or some special line of devotion or practice within a religion. For example, Roman Catholic Christianity includes within itself the "cult of Mary", which is the traditional practices relating to veneration of Mary; or the "cult of the saints". If we mean a bad kind of cult, we really need to use an adjective to make it negative, like "fanatic cult", "abusive cult", or whatever.

So... if our OP wants to start a cult, there doesn't have to be anything bad about it at all! (And collecting money from people is not necessarily bad, either. ;-)) I suggest a cult based on cookies... :-D

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze

You know, I was first joking about it, but this cult idea doesn't sound too bad, I mean a harmless one that keeps them meditating and navel gazing to stop them from spending tons of money on freakazoids, but then if you're too harmless and nice you possibly don't have much of an appeal...

Not too sure about the Lady C ..... there are lots of harmless cults out there. Have you heard about "bait and switch"?

It seems that the trick is to be edgy without going overboard. Present the cult as a radical life-affirming choice that will revolutionise lives bring everlasting happiness and profound wisdom ...blah blah blah. It doesn't have to be - in fact it's prolly better if it's not - but remember it's the look that counts. (the "bait")

As soon as they're in the door, then switch the focus to fear of outsiders, contamination, maintaining the purity of the cult while you relieve them of their possessions and cash .... (the "switch")

I do have to say I'm so impressed by your natural affinity with these matters!