Cults in our Midst

by Lee Elder 55 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Lee Elder

  This is related to a comment I made in a previous thread. Cults exist in many diverse parts of society. This includes politics. There is strong tendency among former Jehovah's Witnesses to exchange one set of extreme beliefs for another. Politics provides such an opportunity, and it comes as no surprise to me that some here allow the JW vacuum to be filled with the Trump cult that is running rampant in the Republican party in the U.S. This has been addressed by Senator Bob Corker - a respected Republican who frankly stated that the party was becoming "cultish".

  According to Professor Lalich (Professor Emerita of Sociology at Pacific Standard), cults consider their ideology the "one true path", and share four characteristics:

  They 1) espouse an all-encompassing belief system; 2) exhibit excessive devotion to the leader; 3) avoid criticism of the group and its leader; and 4) feel disdain for non-members.

  Its not coincidental that this sounds like both Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the Trump cult. Like the JW's he has to meet regularly with his followers to "encourage" them, to "rev them up". They feel like they are a "special group" of people following a very "special man".

  Like the Watchtower, he creates common enemies, and tries to separate his true followers from the rest of the "world". Only he has the answers and can fix the problems. The media are his "apostates" for drawing attention to his obvious, blatant lies. He seeks to brand them as "fake news" to shut down the flow of information that can discredit him.

  Instead of breaking up families of members like the Watchtower, he seeks to break up families of immigrants. However, quite literally, there are actual families where rational discussion of politics is becoming impossible due to the extreme "all or nothing" brand of Trumpism.
  

  Cult like supporters of Trump will eventually become disillusioned, and look for some other all encompassing truth or charismatic leader to chase after. Article worth a read:

  https://psmag.com/news/a-sociologist-explains-the-similarities-between-cults-and-trumps-gop
  

  
  
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  Jehalapeno

  According to Professor Lalich (Professor Emerita of Sociology at Pacific Standard), cults consider their ideology the "one true path", and share four characteristics:

  They 1) espouse an all-encompassing belief system; 2) exhibit excessive devotion to the leaders; 3) avoid criticism of the group and its leaders; and 4) feel disdain for non-members.

  It's not coincidental that this sounds like both Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the modern-day political left. Like the JW's, they have to meet regularly with their followers to rally and demonstrate against the latest outrage du jour handed down to them by their leaders. They feel like they are a "special group" of people following a very "righteous cause."

  Like the Watchtower, they create common enemies, and try to separate their true followers from the rest of the "deplorables." Only they have the answers and can fix the problems. Anyone not buying the anti-Trump narrative are "apostates" for drawing attention to the media's obvious, blatant lies. They seek to brand them as "Nazis" or "racists" to shut down the flow of information that can discredit their leftist ideology.

  Instead of breaking up families of members like the Watchtower, the left broke up families of immigrants under the leadership of Obama. However, quite literally, there are actual families where rational discussion of politics is becoming impossible due to the extreme "all or nothing" brand of Leftist ideology.
  

  Cult-like supporters of the Left will eventually become disillusioned, and look for some other all-encompassing truth or charismatic cause to chase after. Video worth a watch:

  https://youtu.be/hiVQ8vrGA_8
  

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  PS: Womp womp
  
  
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  minimus

  Lee, just because some do not ascribe to your political beliefs and support anti Trump cries, it doesn’t mean we are now part of a trump cult. That sounds SO JWish. If you don’t believe and accept everything we say, you’re called names. 👎🏿
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  minimus

  By the way, my experience with Jehovah’s Witnesses and they’re leaving the religion, is that they do not find something else to believe in. Most X witnesses do not believe in anything. They been burned so they’re not so overly judgmental. However there are a few bad apples everywhere. You know what I mean, Lee??
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  Doubting Bro

  Maybe it's my JW upbringing, but I have believed for quite a while that politics in general exhibits very cultish behavior sometimes. It's not a right/left thing for me at all. I have a deep distrust and dislike for all politicians They all seem to be interested in either separating me from my hard earned money or trying to control every aspect of my life. Of course, I see the need for laws and understand that you need regulations on the behavior of people and businesses because if you don't, there are those that will take advantage. But, the slavish "my party is always right" type of mentality that seems to grip politics at least here in the US, is frightening. Even on this board, I see more debates along the lines of " Trump is awesome - no he's a trainwreck" than any actual debate on real issues. The ironic thing is that if Trump does something similar to what Obama may have done, its considered brilliant by Republicans and outrageous by Democrats. And vice versa. Just so much hypocrisy! Having lived my life under a system where hypocrisy was a daily event, I have very little tolerance for it now.

  I try to see all angles of a debate and usually fall into a moderate position where I try to take some good ideas from the left and from the right and mush them together. That's literally heresy for both the Republicans and the Democrats.
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  zophar

  The political climate is so cultish it would almost lead one to neutrality!

  Where have I experienced that before?
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  zeb

  They 1) espouse an all-encompassing belief system; 2) exhibit excessive devotion to the leader; 3) avoid criticism of the group and its leader; and 4) feel disdain for non-members.

  a good quote it sounds just like the Liberal party here in Australia.

  belief. Privatize all govt depts

  1.devotion to the leader.

  2.They have got this country into various conflicts and none in the partry would oppose the leader.

  3.(!)

  4.Have utter disdain for the working class the trades, the baristas who they took penalty rates off recently and unions in particular.

  
  

  
  
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I read a book ‘ The Wrong Way Home,byArthur Deikman which developed the idea ofcult behavior in everyday society. A really good book.
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  Lee Elder

  I am a non-partisan independent. Yes, there is cultish behavior in both parties, but there is something unique here in my view, and that of many cult experts. There is a little room for moderates in the Democratic party, and almost no room for moderates in the Republican party. This relates to Gerrymandering in my view, and leaves the large majority of Americans without acceptable political options. It also fuels the inability to reach bipartisan solutions to serious problems, and exacerbates extreme partisan behavior. In some ways this is taxation without representation for middle America. Not dissimilar from life in the Watchtower where the Governing Body fails to reflect the views and needs of most members who have few acceptable choices. I have spent lots of time with ex-JWs. Many are very damaged, given to new sets of extreme views on a wide range of topics including politics, religion, healthcare, etc. In many cases, they have exchanged one set of extreme views and beliefs for another.
  
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  minimus

  Just because someone believes in liberal or conservative thought, it doesn’t mean they are in a cult. Just because someone supports trump it doesn’t mean they are in a cult. Just because someone likes Hillary Clinton it doesn’t mean they are in a cult.