Steve Hassan - politics as a cult

by Anna Marina 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Anna Marina
    Anna Marina

    See this video at 2:58

    Sanity4Sweden explains that 'cult expert' Steve Hassan was on CNN giving advice on how to deprogram Trump supporters.

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/3PLgUuBDSjs/

    So this must be political correctness on steroids.

    I have occasionally heard the name Steve Hassan mentioned in relation to the Watchtower. But even Watchtower helps people to escape cults. It too can define a cult and tell you how you ought to behave, according to it, Watchtower the bookselling, broadcasting, media company cult which we all know so well.

    In the 70s and 80s there were people who used to kidnap those involved in religions like the Moonies or Scientology. It went to the court and the courts took action against the deprogrammers. Deprogramming extremists even used rape and agression as one of their methods.

    But the courts said, the people involved in the cults had freedom of choice even if the relatives who had hired the deprogrammer felt otherwise.

    The sad thing was that whereas you can see that intitially this all started with loving parents wanting to protect their children from exploitation, the tables turned and decent people with decent values were being kidnapped and treated badly by deprogrammers - who basically wanted money. Be it money for their services or money for their books. How very C T Russell and J F Rutherford.

  • perdurabo
    perdurabo

    Steve Hassan......just like JW's......see other groups for what they are....he sees the groupthink and bias clearly.

    Yet he cannot for a minute think....he might be suffering from groupthink and bias himself....yet again.

    Trump supporters will tell you they can see the cult like actions of the left.

    Biden supporters will tell you they can see the cult like actions of the right.

    But none of them (or very few) can see their own indoctrination.

    I have no dog in the fight......and I see both sides as extremists......including Hassan.....he just got fooled again.

    America has been psychologically brought to it's knees...and divided.....and it's by design.

  • MeanMrMustard
    MeanMrMustard

    I watched the video above. Hassan conflates political views with a cult, just because, for a while, the movement which embodied those political views had a leader. Ever since Hassan was on Rogan and claimed that Molyneaux was a cult leader, I started to think he wasn't quite being rigorous with his definitions. He was playing fast and loose with a concept that does have a specific meaning. Hassan claimed Molyneaux was a cult, and then slowly as Rogan passively questioned him, pushed back a little, he changed his position, contradicted himself, claimed he didn't know too much about the details of his claims, but still decided he was a cult leader. I mean, this stuff matters. If anyone is going to go around saying people are in a cult, that person should be able to address those claims without the appeal to emotion and subjective terminology.

    It has to be more than "Because I don't agree".

    Hassan defines "cult" like the left defines "racism" - the definition is way too general and subjective.

    As the guy on the video said: So they think that now Trump is gone, all the Trump supports will "wake up", we can be deprogrammed, and join their political side. Idiots.

    I'll say it again - it was never about Trump. I watched some of the inauguration on YouTube. Just a scroll through the comments, most were restating the Trump's statement: "They're not after me, they're after you. I'm just in the way." It is about policy.

  • TD
    TD

    I think Hoffer's The True Believer describes the psychology of mass movements better and without the religious connotation

  • Anna Marina
    Anna Marina
    Hi MeanMrMustard - on Steven Hassan not being rigorous on his definition. Yes its a right blooper mixing religion and politics. Kind of assalts the very concept of democracy, don't you think? Love the way you explain what Hassan did:-

    Hassan claimed Molyneaux was a cult, and then slowly as Rogan passively questioned him, pushed back a little, he changed his position, contradicted himself, claimed he didn't know too much about the details of his claims, but still decided he was a cult leader. I mean, this stuff matters. If anyone is going to go around saying people are in a cult, that person should be able to address those claims without the appeal to emotion and subjective terminology.

    In UK (where I lived) we have a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is the titular head of the Church of England. But America has a president not a monarch - although in the days of the Founding Fathers, I understand it was suggested America should have it's own king.

    Muslims do not separate government from religion.

    What we see in Watchtower is an attempt through the Communist idea of stages of history coupled with Christ's 2nd coming, to establish a link between religion and government and justify rulership by a particular set of people.

    It all comes down to values and priorities and the question of who says what is right. I think it was Louis 14th who said, "the State, it is I."

    An elder told me that some elders believe that if you lie and you fool the other person, God gave you those words to lie with and the fact that the lie succeeded means that God has approved the lie. Well, Jesus said Satan is the Father of the lie. So it shows who WT and such elders serve. Certainly not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

    Watchtower play with numbers to get to the date 1914 to establish their authority. It's rubbish but people believe it. How ironic that there has been such controversy over whether or not the votes in America were counted properly. Values as their most basic. Have people been lied to or have they been told the truth? And if you dare to question whether or not you have been told the truth are you an... apostate?

  • Anna Marina
  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    Lets not do this folks. We all know politics right now are a powder keg. Its time to make bridges and be calming influences.

  • MeanMrMustard
    MeanMrMustard
    Lets not do this folks. We all know politics right now are a powder keg. Its time to make bridges and be calming influences.

    Ok, what type of “bridge” do you have in mind?

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete
    Ok, what type of “bridge” do you have in mind?

    I'm not saying there is any easy solution to the cultural divides that have grown, it might have sounded that way by using a simple metaphor.

    In my experience, when tempers are up bridges can be as mundane as discussing hobbies like coin collecting or raising chickens. Share passions like music and pets. Bridges form when we talk about childhood experiences on the farm or fishing/hunting etc. Even if the other person has not had the same experience, they are learning about you and filling out the image they had of you and you of them. The first step has to be a willingness to have a nonconfrontational exchange and try to see the person not a label. Once you know the other person as a human, it becomes harder to assume the worst about them or assume malicious intent.

    1. Most folks are decent, 2. All of us can be mistaken, 3. everyone has something interesting about them

    Remembering those 3 things is how we build bridges.

  • MeanMrMustard
    MeanMrMustard

    Right. Those are personal “bridges”. In short, you want the politics topic to go away. Sweep it under the rug for a while. Because, as you say, “now is the time.” It definitely wasn’t the last four years, but now is great.

    Look, I have no problem with that. We can talk about hobbies, fishing, chess, religion, or whatever. It’s a forum. But my guess is that politics will continue to come up because the left is marching ever leftward. It’s going to touch a bunch of us like it’s our eyeball.

    https://www.thenation.com/article/society/black-votes-reparations-gerrymandering/

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit