A self observation; looking into the Abyss
posted by Cassius Gaius | August 4, 2010
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IcerocketFirst of all, this is not going to be one of those "chock full of universally applicable wisdom" type posts. It's just some thoughts about my own path. The main reason I don't just type it on my PC is because it's easier for me to find Evolver blog posts than a text file on my PC. So if you are looking for the meaning of life, the solution to the world's problems, or anything like that, feel free to check out the blogs from the other excellent posters at Evolver.
I was commenting on a recent post here in regards to worshipping women as a Goddess and I realized that the article bothered me. Like really, really bothered me. I would even venture to say that it bothered me more than anything I have ever read on Evolver or Reality Sandwich.
This made me ask myself, why? The reason has to do with my background. I first learned about new religious movements when I was 16 and met a group called Zendik Farm at a festival called the "Horde Festival". Around that time Waco happened which started my interest in destructive new religious movements, a field of study I pursue to this day. If it wasn't for the fact that there was very little market for someone who has a relatively unbiased view of NRMs(for example, it is my opinion that there are "grey area" NRMs that aren't destructive per se as much as just a bad idea for someone to get involved with) I would probibly have made my career researching destructive NRMs.
The long and short of it is that I have spent 18 years studying(with varying degrees of intensity) what happens when a human is worshipped in a group setting. On an individual basis I worshipped a girl and it ended in codependancy and sadness. This is why the article bothered me so much. Because 90% of my life experience demonstrated that humans worshipping humans ends in pain(at best) and/or death.
Once I realized that I also realized something else. That I have spent a really long time studying really dark stuff and I really need to stop it. Or at least balance it out with a lot more "fluffy bunny, sweetness and light" type stuff.
Srsly. Wow.
Comments
Good post
— Mar 03, 2011
Thank you.
I don't believe your comments were aimed at religions, per se but at cults.
Cults usually contain a charismatic leader with powers of persuasion. Usually require that converts turn over possessions to the group. Usually have a communal social structure. Use in some form "mind control" ("love booming", for instance) that involves emotions and ritual. Inhibit the departure of members from leaving the group. The charismatic leadership being its hub.
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From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_religious_movement
Charismatic movements
NRMs based on charismatic leadership often follow the routinization of charisma, as described by the German sociologist Max Weber. In their book Theory of Religion, Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge propose that the formation of "cults" can be explained through a combination of four models:[18]
* The psycho-pathological model – the cult founder suffers from psychological problems; he develops the cult in order to resolve these problems for himself, as a form of self-therapy
* The entrepreneurial model – the cult founder acts like an entrepreneur, trying to develop a religion which he/she thinks will be most attractive to potential recruits, often based on his/her experiences from previous cults or other religious groups he/she has belonged to
* The social model – the cult is formed through a social implosion, in which cult members dramatically reduce the intensity of their emotional bonds with non-cult members, and dramatically increase the intensity of those bonds with fellow cult members – this emotionally intense situation naturally encourages the formation of a shared belief system and rituals
* The normal revelations model – the cult is formed when the founder chooses to interpret ordinary natural phenomena as supernatural, such as by ascribing his or her own creativity in inventing the cult to that of the deity.
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There were numerous of these that caused much hardship and many abuses in the 1980's, Jonestown comes to mind, where 909 people died due to mass suicide:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_Town
Information and awareness is the light that chases away the dark side of spirituality. There is certainly nothing wrong with being informed. In fact those that tell you otherwise may very well have something to hide. Over the last two decades that has been their reaching for your wallet.
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Love bombing
