Steven Hassan has a new book...

by Queequeg 9 Replies latest social current

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  Queequeg

  Steven Hassan's new book.
  
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  blondie

  On my Amazon shopping list. Thanks, comments by Zimbardo and Lifton
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  NCC-1701

  I think Mr. Hassan is going to go from Hero to Zero for many on this forum.
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  Still Totally ADD

  NCCA-1701 you mean zero to hero. Trump is a cult just like the Wt. Still Totally ADD
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  MeanMrMustard

  Yeah, Hassan lost a bit credibility when he was talking to Rogan about cults and Molyneux. He was claiming his podcast is a cult, and as the discussion progressed, and Rogan pushed back, he talked himself into the exact position Molyneux takes. It was clear he was just labeling based on what seemed to be cult behavior on third party evidence.

  And now this? Trump is using mind control?

  Good lord.
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  OnTheWayOut

  And now this? Trump is using mind control?

  
  I know it's hard to imagine because Trump is such a moron. But so are those of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. It seems that even morons can do the bidding of others smarter than themselves, in the case of the Governing body, those smarter have already passed on.
  
  So I think you should wait for the book before you condemn the very idea.
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  MeanMrMustard

  OTWO:

  Nah, I don’t think I’ll be spending the money for this book. Bolstering the idea that forking over $30 on Amazon would be too painful is the description:
  

  Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted.

  His behavior has become “disturbing”? By what measure? Could it be that it is disturbing because Hassan doesn’t agree with him, and any policy not coming from a left-wing ideological philosophy is “disturbing”?
  

  Funny thing about “fake news”. I remember when it was first used by the left. Trump had just won, and Democrats everywhere were looking for a scapegoat. “Fake news” was the answer! All the independent creators were using reason and evidence, and damn it, the election shouldn’t have turned out this way. Since then we’ve had one story after another from the mainstream that has turned out to be literal “fake news”. It’s fake because it is not news, it’s activism.
  

  Authoritarian? Well, he is just about Hitler after all, right?
  

  So I think you should wait for the book before you condemn the very idea.

  Mmkay... I would be more open to it if the shenanigans he displayed on Rogan never happened. I would also be more open to it if the description of his book listed actual reasons why it is cultish, and not just a smear.

  Yeah, yeah.. it’s a cult... and we are racists too. Homophobes... white nationalist! He’s authoritarian! etc. All labels, all emotion. No reason.
  
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  DesirousOfChange

  I don't think it's Trump.

  It's politics. Watch the political ads as the primaries get closer. The shpiels (from both sides of the aisle) are all manipulative half-truths. They put the "spin" on everything to their own advantage.

  Trump just is a master at it!

  Clinton was damn good too! The greatest political chameleon ever.
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  MeanMrMustard

  @DOC:

  But that’s exactly my point. Hassan can’t point to Trump, and what he might consider universal political activities (campaign slogans and half truths) and scream “cult!” I wouldn’t accept it being applied to the Democrat side either.

  Or, if Hassan wishes to expand the definition of “cult” to include “politics” (and maybe there is an argument for that), then to be consistent, I would expect all political parties to be labeled as a cult.

  But we don’t have that here - it’s Trump only. He’s the cult leader. His side is the cult.

  Those seem like large red flags of bias waving all around. And it’s a shame too because Hassan has, as far as I can tell, decent points about cults. But he’s applying the term inconsistently, or too broad, or in some cases incorrectly.
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  DesirousOfChange

  MMM, remember..................Hassan may have become like the WTS....................and moved on to just the selling of books. The bashing of Trump or the loving of Trump both sell books.

  That's what pays for his rent.