High school anti-cult lessons

by IT Support 21 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  whyizit

  I had tried to find a program also, but didn't have much success in finding an already put together program. I am using an outline that can be found at HowCultsWork.com. It does not mention any names, and it has great info. on the various cults that are out there. I also am using some of the info. from Steve Hassan's books (Lifton's 8 criteria, etc...).

  Since you are speaking to kids of many backgrounds, many of them may be in a cult and not realize it (yet). If you make it a point NOT to mention any names of cults, then there shouldn't be a problem with any of the parents. In fact, maybe they will see the parrallels as their child goes through the class.

  A friend of mine showed How Cults Work to her daughter-in-law, without mentioning the JWs, and it did have an impact. I would stress the importance of doing research on the history of any organization that you plan to join. (Cults do not typically look in to their own history. They just like to dig in to every one else's dirty laundry, while ignoring their own.)

  If you find any great programs or info., please PM me! I am trying to put something together too, and it would be great to hear how you are coming along with your's.
• 

  IT Support

  This is just an interim posting to let you know how I'm getting on ...

  First, dedpoet sent me some excellent pages he has prepared. If you're interested, be sure to ask him.

  Googling for 'cults' and 'education' gives you thousands of hits of varying quality, but after a bit of dredging I found this page:

  (If you also browse the site, there's also a complementary page with teacher's notes.)

  whyizit, thanks for the suggestion, www.howcultswork.com looks excellent. Thanks.
• 

  Nathan Natas

  Hi IT Support,

  One thing I noticed about ICSA right away was their use of traditional Sufi designs in the page border. It reminded me of ISHK, an organization that was run by Afghan heir to the throne Idries Shah up until his death. I had some contact with ISHK Sufi groups here on the west coast and ultimately left my brief association with them because my own internal cult alarms were ringing like crazy.

  When one reads the extensive writings of Idries Shah, one is told all about psychological states and learning stories and other mumbo jumbo, but the bottom line, when a person would ask "what should I do?" always seemed to be "Raise money for ISHK. Don't be too creative; just give us what you've got"

  It seemed to me that the primary goal of ISHK was to raise money for ISHK -- some of which went directly to Afghan mujaheddin back when they were nobly trying to drive the invading Russians out of the country.

  I'm not saying there is anything necessarily wrong with the material they offer - I'm not familiar with it. I will repeat Bruce Lee's advice: "Absorb what is useful." Even Scientologists might have some useful ideas from time to time. (That doesn't mean I support or endorse Scientology -- I don't.)

  Anyway, go in with eyes wide open.
• 

  Nathan Natas

  DOH! double post!
• 

  LtCmd.Lore

  I guess possibly the most work will be finding (or tailoring) material suitable for the intended audience (14 to 16-year-olds) and keep things pretty simple.

  16 year olds are smarter than you may think... I was 15 when I first had doubts and 16 when I totally realised that JWs were a cult.

  Make sure you emphasize the fact that any group who demands that you can't even listen to the opposing opinion is probably a cult... just like JWs . That realization is what got me to come to this site.

  LtCmd.Lore
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  IT Support

  NN,

  One thing I noticed about ICSA right away was their use of traditional Sufi designs in the page border. It reminded me of ISHK, an organization that was run by Afghan heir to the throne Idries Shah up until his death ... I'm not saying there is anything necessarily wrong with the material they offer - I'm not familiar with it.

  Thanks for your concern.

  Before posting the page, I checked out (quite carefully, I thought!) both the site and the individual page. Is there any 'questionable' material you can see?

  I wonder if it might just happen to be an unhappy coincidence?

  LtCmd.Lore,

  Thanks for the reminder! (It's a few years since my kids were that age, and yes, they were -- and still are -- far smarter than me. <lol>)

  Make sure you emphasize the fact that any group who demands that you can't even listen to the opposing opinion is probably a cult... just like JWs. That realization is what got me to come to this site.

  Excellent suggestion, thank you.
• 

  rebel8

  http://jwinfo.8m.com/cult_comparison.htm

  www.factnet.org
• 

  GermanXJW

  When I attended a cult exit programme I was impressed by the Milgram-Experiment and by experiments on peer pressure.
• 

  SPAZnik

  High school anti-cult lessons? Awesome!
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  IT Support

  rebel8,

  That cult comparison page is superb, and the FACT.net site is amazing, I'll have to spend some time to explore it more fully.

  Thanks.

  GermanXJW,

  Funnily enough, I remembered the experiments, but didn't know that was their name.

  Thanks for the reminder.