Morning!
And how are you today? So nice that you stopped by my blog, I very much appreciate your presence. Over here in LingLand, life is just dandy – the most magnificent sentence one can imagine has permeated my household (all together now: "School STARTS in less than 3 weeks!") and finally (FINALLY!) my kids are appreciating just how easy they had it over the summer (I’m starting to wake them up at normal school times like 6am again).
But I digress. 🙂
Today’s topic deals with a radio soap opera to which my dad and I used to listen back in the 80s. It was called "Oakdale, Indiana", and focused upon lesbian registered Nurse So-and-so and her trials and tribulations of finding her true self.
One thing that really stood out in my mind (to the point I can quote it 23 years later) was the "Church of the Color-coordinated Jesus". The premise was as follows:
"When you da-high, do you want to ascend to those pearly gates in mis-matched clothing? Of course not! So you want to join The Church of the Color Coordinated Jesus so you KNOW that whenever you meet your maker, you won’t be embarrassed by your bland and unseemly duds."
For the life of me, I cannot locate transcripts of that radio show anywhere! But wow, did it make an indelible impression on my mind…about how just about ANYTHING can be tailor-fit to achieve someone elses’ personal goals (read: mind-control and cults).
Which, of course, brings me to the point of this post.
One of the most damaging dangers you can encounter online and in real life is the seductive murmurings of, ahem, unique organized religions or unique organized business opportunities or unique organized….you get the idea. In other words, cults.
I’m rather familiar with cults myself; one of my family members was sucked into the International Church of Christ. I won’t go on about how destructive such a thing was…you can easily visit the site to learn more. But the main point that I want to etch on your forehead in indelible ink is:
Cults…..DAMAGE you.
Thus, here are some resources to help you learn about cults and what to do when your loved ones are blindsided by them.
- Cult Hotline and Clinic
- Ex-cult.org
- FACTnet.org
- ReFOCUS.org
- RickRoss
- World Religions and 101 Cults and Sects
Here are some business cult information:
- Commercial Cults
- In This Building Resides a Cult – Nuskin
- MLM Cult Forums
- MLM – The Truth
- Skeptics – Amway
And here are de-programming resources:
- Cult Coping Strategies
- Getting Help
- How To Deprogram Your Own Mind
- How to get a friend out of a cult
- Wiki Deprogramming
Religious or business or corporate or sexual or whatever! cults are downright dangerous to you and your loved ones….always be alert to the warning signs whenever you encounter them. Here are some warning signs I found from RickRoss:
Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
- Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
- No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
- No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
- Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions…..MORE….
Ten warning signs regarding people involved in/with a potentially unsafe group/leader.
- Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.
- Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower’s mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused–as that person’s involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.
- Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".
- Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior…..…..MORE….
Ten signs of a safe group/leader.
- A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.
- A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.
- A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.
- A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them…..MORE….
Do visit the links above – they have very helpful information. I hope the above has been useful!
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
PS – speaking about cults, you can also read:
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!