Joining another cult... is it an option? Your thoughts..

StarTrekAngel

I've just finished reading "Freedom of Mind" today. Meditating over the many things I've read, one chapter of the book talks about how there could be a situation where more than one family member may have joined one cult, while another member may have joined another one. It mentions the possibility of using one family member against the other in order to bring them both to questions their own cults.

This hit me home as I had been thinking if joining a cult would be a good idea. I know Mr Hassan has said before that comparing cults is a good way to wake up a loved one. However, in many cases is difficult to get a loved one to get them into such comparison debate when they have their guard high up. Chances are they will figure it out. But what about if you joined another cult? What if you get crafty and pretend like you are innocently falling for another group. I mean begin attending their meetings and participating in their rituals, provided you don't join anything crazy. My hope would be that they will come immediately concerned and would have to put their thinking to the test. They will try to talk you out of it and in the process, potentially wake up?

Any comments?

LisaRose

For a minute there I thought you were actually joining a cult, lol

It's a stretch. Most people have no trouble identifying other cults as being cults, but believe their own situation is different no matter how many similarities there are. For someone who is waking up or at least unhappy with their current situation it might just work.

Cold Steel

I'm surprised anyone would make a suggestion like that because I can't see that it would do anything other than create contention. Few people are as fiery as new members, so if you had one family member who is a JW and another who's an evangelical Christian, the only thing you'll get is a knock-down drag-out at best. And at worst you'll get the JW shunning the other family member (and we know how effective that is!).

The only way to get anyone out of a religion is to sew doubt in his or her mind, and often that's difficult to do unless both family members join the same cult, then the one tries to subvert the other. And even that might fall to work. Cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses have a number of failsafes in place. When beset with doubt, members (particularly new ones) tend to go to others within the group for reinforcement. If that fails, there's the threat of discipline. The JWs, more than any other Christian denomination, knows how to identify gaps, seal them off and apply tactics like shunning, which is low and mean spirited. What parent would apply such to their children? Hopefully none.

People also tend to view people who are trying to help them out of a destructive religious group as an enemy. They want the religion to be true, so they will give more credibility to those who try to reinforce their beliefs, even if it involves God choosing their manmade religion more than a hundred years ago and not telling anyone (see Amos 3:7). But something else to consider -- and this is important -- you need to be very careful about unplugging someone from a religion without replacing it with something better. The person may be happy where he or she is, and if you rip their faith from them and abandon them, they could slip into depression and suicide. They may conclude that if the WTBTS is wrong and its leaders wackos and that that if they're wrong, then no religion can be right, especially if they've been told and retold that the others are fit only for destruction. And while many atheists believe that all religious believers should be freed from the shackles of religion, are they willing to do it if they rob their loved ones of their happiness?

freemindfade

I'd kinda like to start one. Seems pretty lucrative.

cofty

Oh the irony!

Most people have no trouble identifying other cults as being cults - LisaRose

Immediately followed by advice on how to help cult members by ColdSteel our resident Mormon apologist.

Ruby456

just talk lots about the other cult. If you start indicating that you are falling for another cult you will eventually be disfellowshipped. cults jealously guard their own and other cults pose the most danger for them.