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October 6 - October 12, 2024
They were a small cult of men, who all died, plus a teenage couple and their baby, who survived. A grisly mass suicide—with no true crime coverage.
People who draw others into a fantasy world are plausible people. There is no one more convincing than the convinced.
Christianity is meant to be inspiring. It’s inevitable that sooner or later it will inspire bad people. Or good people but in the wrong way.
AB: Go on. In your opinion did Gabriel believe he was an angel? EBH: I don’t… I don’t know. But in those moments I spoke to him… I believed he was. That’s the frightening thing.
The mythology is all part of the truth.
just find it fascinating what people believe. If someone you trust tells you something and they’re convinced of it, do you go with the flow? Or is it that if someone has power over you, you just don’t have the confidence or energy or whatever to challenge them? Because some people have that charisma, don’t they? Born leaders.
When you are forced into a place as dark as that, you spend the rest of your life on the return journey.
We’re drawn to people with similar life experiences. There’s an unseen level of communication that draws us to those whose emotional development is similar, or complementary, to our own.
No one wants to admit they’ve been tricked. The most vulnerable people are those who think it can’t happen to them.
EC] The minute you let your emotions through—or your own opinions, for that matter—you close a door. Allow people to speak. They’ll reveal themselves soon enough.
he’s re-created what he had when he was part of a cult. Only this cult is socially acceptable.
It’s when people are drawn away from their lives as individuals to immerse themselves in a separatist organization under a charismatic leader. Becoming part of a utopian community. Cults start with their own rules and philosophy, even if it seems they are creating an existence without either. This has a counterculture appeal for those who struggle to find a place in regular society, or who lack a conventional family.
By the time a victim suspects the organization of wrongdoing, they’re equally guilty of deceiving others.
A cult is a relationship of coercive control on a grand scale.
Some mainstream organized religions operate in ways we associate with cults. Society itself…
In simple terms, as soon as someone knows what you want, they can control you with the promise of getting it for you.
But do you know who I think are the most vulnerable? People who believe they can never be drawn in.
[Aren’t we all living in one big cult? From birth we’re conditioned to behave a certain way, believe prescribed things, and uphold society’s norms. Who’s to say all those beliefs and values are correct? EC]
The psychology of cult leaders is complex. Power, sex, acquisition of wealth, delusions of grandeur.
Social services aren’t used to educated, articulate teenagers who appear mature. Nothing to do with her being more intelligent or less vulnerable. It’s not even about them being incompetent, but unlike the other kids they work with, she has money to fall back on.
understanding. In the face of coincidence and unexplained phenomena we are all at the mercy of our own thought processes.
don’t like them when they’re edgy and I don’t trust them when they’re nice.
You don’t need to be a charismatic individual to influence others. You just need to use the right words, at the right time, to show them certain things and hide others. They’ll do the rest all by themselves.
All I can say is, if that’s feminism, I’m glad to be a gay man. We look out for each other.
He’s an insidious, predatory man, a spider. The only thing he can do is spin a web.
Don’t ever make your life about someone else again.
