If this isn't Mother M....???
Kim M., California Correspondent
Planet Infowars
January 23, 2014
1) Aggressive/continuous recruitment by leadership/members
2) Loyalty oaths/membership applications/agreements/contracts required
3) Minimum money/resource/labor/attendance commitments required
4) Charismatic/charming leadership personality (by one person, or an impenetrable core group)
5) Autocratic/authoritarian leadership style (by one person, or an impenetrable core group)
6) Top-down/hierarchical/pyramidal command/control structure – sometimes all the way down to the individual level (cf. “shepherding movement”)
7) Everyone is “positive” and “friendly” – other attitudes/emotions disallowed
8 ) Culture of consensus/shunning – questioning/bucking authority disallowed – non- conformists pushed out via peer pressure and/or formally expelled via great fanfare (i.e. made an “example” of)
9) Busywork – continuous/increasing performance of tasks/duties required, no matter how trivial/time-consuming/futile
10) Isolation – a pervasive “Us vs. Them” mentality required – “outsiders” are shunned (even family and friends), especially former members and contacts who are resistant to recruitment
11) Culture of secrecy – secret groups/gossip/gatherings and propagation of shadowy “intel” and unverifiable “inside information” (aka: “prophecies” in a religious/spiritual/metaphysical setting)
12) Culture of paranoia – everything is seen as a threat to the organization – outsiders are automatically suspect, especially former members and contacts who are resistant to recruitment
13) “Greener pastures” syndrome – continually searching out and moving to “better” locations more conducive to above 12 characteristics
NOTE: I wrote the above while thinking of Saddleback megachurch (of which I was previously a member), plus my experience with friends and family who have joined cults, multi-level-marketing schemes, fraternal and/or “service” organizations, etc.
So this applies to many other areas of life other than religion.
I’ve even seen/experienced corporations and companies that behave like this (and when you research the history of corporations you inevitably end up back in Babylon – i.e. the literal history, not the figurative state of mind).
Hence the basic take-away thought:
Control is the opposite of freedom.
http://planet.infowars.com/health/top-13-signs-youve-joined-a-cult
Kim M., California Correspondent
Planet Infowars
January 23, 2014
1) Aggressive/continuous recruitment by leadership/members
2) Loyalty oaths/membership applications/agreements/contracts required
3) Minimum money/resource/labor/attendance commitments required
4) Charismatic/charming leadership personality (by one person, or an impenetrable core group)
5) Autocratic/authoritarian leadership style (by one person, or an impenetrable core group)
6) Top-down/hierarchical/pyramidal command/control structure – sometimes all the way down to the individual level (cf. “shepherding movement”)
7) Everyone is “positive” and “friendly” – other attitudes/emotions disallowed
8 ) Culture of consensus/shunning – questioning/bucking authority disallowed – non- conformists pushed out via peer pressure and/or formally expelled via great fanfare (i.e. made an “example” of)
9) Busywork – continuous/increasing performance of tasks/duties required, no matter how trivial/time-consuming/futile
10) Isolation – a pervasive “Us vs. Them” mentality required – “outsiders” are shunned (even family and friends), especially former members and contacts who are resistant to recruitment
11) Culture of secrecy – secret groups/gossip/gatherings and propagation of shadowy “intel” and unverifiable “inside information” (aka: “prophecies” in a religious/spiritual/metaphysical setting)
12) Culture of paranoia – everything is seen as a threat to the organization – outsiders are automatically suspect, especially former members and contacts who are resistant to recruitment
13) “Greener pastures” syndrome – continually searching out and moving to “better” locations more conducive to above 12 characteristics
NOTE: I wrote the above while thinking of Saddleback megachurch (of which I was previously a member), plus my experience with friends and family who have joined cults, multi-level-marketing schemes, fraternal and/or “service” organizations, etc.
So this applies to many other areas of life other than religion.
I’ve even seen/experienced corporations and companies that behave like this (and when you research the history of corporations you inevitably end up back in Babylon – i.e. the literal history, not the figurative state of mind).
Hence the basic take-away thought:
Control is the opposite of freedom.
http://planet.infowars.com/health/top-13-signs-youve-joined-a-cult