Excerpt from an interesting book ? ?

by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara

  A deeply interesting read.

  I have been reading: 'Soul Snatchers,the mechanics of cults' and I am finding it so precise in explaining /analysing cults. here is a few lines:

  Drug addiction and cult-membership have striking similarities. Drug addiciton described by WHO as having 3 components; habitual use, dependence and ever-increasing doses.

  In the case of the initiate, there is a progressive use of rituals and a way of using language that gradually become habit-forming. As with drugs, the teachings of the sect are administered bit-by-bit so that the initiate does not become overwhelmed and reject it.Each stage in assimilating the doctrines corresponds to a step towards dependence, when the natural defenses will be submerged under the parasitic thought processes. (And you are gone under,tradin gyour lie/ freedom forever)

  (Sound familiar??) Brackets and bold printed by me.

  This is just a start and I cant put it down.

  What are your thoughts?

  Zing

  
  
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  ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara

  A few more lines:

  The dependence is twofold. First there is ideological dependence,
  subjection to the cult’s thought; then there is sociological dependence,
  stemming from the membership in a new groups, which becomes a protective refuge, a substitute family where complicity takes over, unifying
  the disciples while cutting them off from society even more. Here you
  can see a very real similarity to groups of drug-users.
  The third phase is the progressive increase in the constraints applied
  and the submission that results, with no chance of exit. At this stage the
  initiate is dependent on the cult, cut off from society at large, and psychologically and physically bound by obligations that deprive him of his freewill and of all social and economic freedom. This process is in every respect parallel to that of addiction and drug dependency; in the same way,
  it leads to the complete subjection of the individual. "

  
  

  Zing
  
  
  
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  carla

  Sounds like an interesting book!
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  Magnum

  Yes, sounds interesting. I'm getting it. Thanks.
  
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  nonjwspouse

  sounds like a good read
  
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  ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara

  Some more:

  Journalist Edward Hunter explained that the goal of this brainwashing — it is he who popularized the term — was to “radically change a mind, so that the individual becomes a live puppet, a human robot, without the atrocity being visible on the exterior, the objective being to create a tool in flesh and blood, furnished with new beliefs and new thought processes inserted into a captive body.”

  SPOT ON!

  Zing
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  ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara

  Has anyone read : Thanks for the memories by taylor Brice?

  A gripping book!

  Zing
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  Phizzy

  I think this book makes an interesting link in the similarity between drug dependence and dependence upon a Cult, like the J.W's

  A young guy I "studied" with, at the request of his father, as the young feller had just returned home having nearly killed himself with drugs, explained that the drugs alone were not what had a hold on him, it was the "culture", the "society", people he had thought of as friends, also "respect", as he was a Dealer.

  The Cult communities, like the J.W's, Mormons, SDA's etc provide similar. "Friends", a different Culture, and often a boost to one's self worth.

  As with the drug scene, these things have a hold beyond the drug itself, these being the teachings of the Cult, the hope of Everlasting life etc.

  The young guy substituted the J.W's for the drug scene, but he still spiraled down mentally,too much damage done. He is now a psychotic wreck.
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  Spiral

  Thanks for posting this Zing. I was unaware of the similarities between cults and drug culture.

  I've just ordered a used copy, looking forward the reading the entire book.

  The following quote really caught my eye:

  a substitute family where complicity takes over, unifying
  the disciples while cutting them off from society even more. Here you
  can see a very real similarity to groups of drug-users.
  The third phase is the progressive increase in the constraints applied
  and the submission that results, with no chance of exit. At this stage the
  initiate is dependent on the cult, cut off from society at large, and psychologically and physically bound by obligations that deprive him of his freewill and of all social and economic freedom.

  "progressive increase in constraints" explains a lot!
  
  
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  Spiral

  AND the part about a substitute family where complicity takes over.

  Could this be the mental mechanism that enables members to look the other way when children are being abused, because the abuser has status in this "family"?