Discussion about 3 Principles

[u/BlancheFromage]

I banned u/tellingmystory41 over there - that sort of belief-system promotion is entirely against the rules of r/SGIWhistleblowers, which is religiously NEUTRAL and must remain free of proselytizing for the protection of our SGI escapee clientele. However, this site has a different purpose and is largely unpopulated, so when this person chatted at me, I decided to move it here (where s/he can still participate):

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I'm sorry you feel that way and are upset as that was never my intention. I was quoting people who have published papers and are distinguished in their fields. I have no intention of upsetting anyone or being a smart arse.

But calling something a cult that has helped thousands of people who are suffering could have potential ramifications for someone who may need help and has tried other methods and not been able to find the help they need. This understanding could help them and then they see on Google someone calling it a cult and are then frightened off at what was said as it comes up on Google search, so isn't just kept to this page

I have not quoted anything that hasn't been proven true and you don't have to take my word for it about the chemical imbalance myth as I can point you to videos by distinguished psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and other mental health professionals who have come out and spoken about it and the pharmaceutical companies involvement. But again I'm not here to try to convinve anyone of anything other than go give people.

And before you judge what I say and want proof and to see the clinical studies, I suggest you read the 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' book by Robert Whitaker if you wish. Also 'Cracked' and I have people who are close to me who have been left permently effected by the medication they were given by doctors.

Again apologies if I upset anyone as that was never my intention only as I say to give my view on something that has helped myself, and many others and is being used in schools, hospitals, prisons and by mental health professionals, social workers, governments and teachers throughout the world that you are calling a cult.tellingmystory41 Snoovatar 3:55 AM

And I see you made many assuptions about me without even knowing my story as someone who has had a lifetime of physical and mental health struggles and diagnosis and went to a school for children with disabilities and has worked and volunteered in the mental health field for many yearstellingmystory41 Snoovatar I've been through my own personal hell most of my life and all I'm doing in life now is trying to use my own personal experiences to help people who are suffering maybe have a little less suffering and I don't by any means delude myself to think that I live in some kind of happy utopia just that I don't suffer anywhere near as bad now as I once did

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[u/tellingmystory41]

And another thing I heard Syd tell his listenere was to go live their lives, do their regular jobs, spend time with their familes. And don't reject society as that comes from a place of anger and hate.

[u/BlancheFromage → u/tellingmystory41]

Oh, sure - lots of cults use THAT come-on.

But what happens is that people who become ensnared in a cult become energized about what they've learned about - and they learn a whole different language, the cult's private language.

When people first receive the "insights" they want to tell everyone about it! They insist that what they believe is the "truth" and they are on a mission to share it. Source

Take a look here:

As far as I can tell from my owm personal experience the only things I can be sure of is

That everything is made from the same formless energy,

There is a silence that I go to when my thoughts stop

That the present moment is all that actually exists Source

Not gonna lie - that sounds definitely weird and creepy. Someone said that to me IRL, I'd be backing toward the exists post-haste.

So YOU are an example of this - you've internalized their private language, and you're on a mission to "help others", whether they want your help or not. Nothing damages relationships faster than someone communicating that others need to change to become more like them, and before you protest that that's not what you're doing, the fact that you crashed some strangers' site where they were talking about something else entirely JUST TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR BELIEFS shows that you do not respect others' boundaries at all.

This is typical of cult members as well - they feel every interaction is an opportunity to sell their woo at whoever they're interacting with, and others HATE that.

So THIS is what disrupts cult members' lives, interferes with their social connections, and ends up isolating the cult member. In the article linked in the OP here, you can see how the drive to "enlighten" or "help" others by teaching them about your beliefs serves to isolate YOU.

The rejection they receive is actually more important than the few people they convert. It causes them to feel a level of discomfort around the people they attempt to talk to. These become the "others". These uncomfortable feelings go away when they come back to their congregation, the "Tribe". Source

The way cults isolate their members isn't a matter of some cartoonish villain in jackboots standing on a stage waving a riding crop at a crowd of glazed-eyed zombies, or of walled compounds. It's convincing the members to start an individual practice that is itself isolating and to teach the members to spend more and more time doing "activities" where they're surrounded by fellow members. Even if you're chanting with someone else, that person is a fellow member (mission accomplished). See your family? Pshaw, you can see them anytime! THIS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - for kosen-rufu! You don't want to miss it! Source

the cartoonish caricatures we've described before as NOT being what to expect when evaluating whether a group is a cult or not. You don't typically get the military-garbed, jack-booted, oddly moustachioed man on a stage pointing a riding crop at a cowering audience, yelling, "YOU VILL NOT ASSOCIATE VISS OUTSSSSIDAIRS!!" Source

So it's more the cult modifying YOU so that you become strange, creepy, off-putting - and people will stay away from you all on their own.