I have a small blog space which I do really short book reviews that I have read.
The latest entry are books by ex-cult councilor Steven Hassan.
http://psychbookreviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/combatting-cult-mind-control-ccmc.html
paranoia agent
JoinedPosts by paranoia agent
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Book reviews by Steve Hassan
by paranoia agent ini have a small blog space which i do really short book reviews that i have read.. the latest entry are books by ex-cult councilor steven hassan.. http://psychbookreviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/combatting-cult-mind-control-ccmc.html.
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paranoia agent
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FEAR
by paranoia agent inwatch, wath it all.. .
http://youtu.be/o-vlhnpwju0.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-vlhnpwju0.
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To understand cults we need to start understanding ourselves
by paranoia agent inthere are books out there that talk about why it is so difficult to convince someone that they are wrong.
hassan and singer specifically address destructive cults.
hassan refers to cult members under mind control and singer under thought reform.
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paranoia agent
A metaphor Jonathan Haidt used in his book The Righteous Mind is that the mind is composed of two parts, the elephant (automatic processes - intuition) and the rider [of the elephant] (controlled processes - reasoning). The rider can do little to control or persuade the elephant, and can only think ahead of what the elephant will do. The key here to understand is that intuitionalism comes first before rationalism.
Recalling Hume, the rider is the servant and the elephant is the master. Elephants can be open to reason when discussions are not hostile, or they will lean away making the rider work frantically to rebut the opponent’s charges.
JW’s teach that we are hostile, it is no wonder that it’s difficult to convince let alone engage with a jw.
Thanks OneEyedJoe
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To understand cults we need to start understanding ourselves
by paranoia agent inthere are books out there that talk about why it is so difficult to convince someone that they are wrong.
hassan and singer specifically address destructive cults.
hassan refers to cult members under mind control and singer under thought reform.
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paranoia agent
There are books out there that talk about why it is so difficult to convince someone that they are wrong. Hassan and Singer specifically address destructive cults. Hassan refers to cult members under mind control and Singer under thought reform. They both imply the same thing; there are social psychological factors at play that shapes and controls a person’s reasoning without being perceived by the victim.
However, when reading these books I always wondered whether Hassam and Singer were being hypocritical. That is Hassan divided two ideologies, one that uses coercive persuasion and the other that respects the individuals views. Singer did the same in her book Cults In Our Midst. Check the link - http://factnet.org/mind-controlbrainwashingthought-reform-exists - scroll all the way down for a good explanation on the differences between cults and religions.
I agree that there are differences, however I have associated for a while now with other theists and there appears to be similarities. For example there are sociocentric and individualist cultures. Sociocentric places needs to groups and institutions and lesser to the needs of individuals, while individualist cultures places needs on individuals. Cults and political parties like the national socialists, Marxism, and certain countries that practice Islam are all sociocentric, and so are other religions that think as groups whether its protestant, orthodox and catholic. Taking this into account we can make an important point on how the Jehovah’s witnesses base their morals, they are totalitarian, they are sociocentric, they are all for the borg and nothing for the individual. Some religions are more extreme than others. But unlike Hassan\Singer, can we make a distinction between certain sociocentric ideologies?
Ever since these books have been published a number of peer review articles have been made to expand on this issue on how to convince others that they are wrong. It started with the story abouts the wolf that change its mind. Freud taught the conflicts between the ID\ego\super ego. Festinger expanded with Freud with his scientific theory of cognitive dissonance. Gilovich found how commonly we resort to confirmation bias. Ariely did some socio economic scientific studies on people and found that we are not rational. Tetlock concluded the we persuade ourselves, and there are more, but the point being is that we are irrational.
There is a cult component yes, but there is also a YOU component that we need to understand. Atheists are not free from this, it doesn’t discriminate, it’s a human thing. It’s sociobiological and environmental. The core problem comes from our reasoning.
David Hume was the first to find this flaw - reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passion, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.
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How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.
by BU2B inif one reads genesis from the first chapter through the end with an open mind, it is clear that not only is it not true, but that god is potrayed as a cruel, petty, childish micromanaging tyrant.
if one continues reading the ot this is just further solidified.
how do jws not see the obvious?
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paranoia agent
Cofty: yes she did, all christians do.
Have a great day.
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How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.
by BU2B inif one reads genesis from the first chapter through the end with an open mind, it is clear that not only is it not true, but that god is potrayed as a cruel, petty, childish micromanaging tyrant.
if one continues reading the ot this is just further solidified.
how do jws not see the obvious?
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paranoia agent
cofty: It's implied.
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Hello from Still Totally ADD glad to be back
by Still Totally ADD init's been 6 months now since my old computer died.
a good friend of our's had a spare computer her husband never used so she asked me if i would like to have it.
after cleaning it up inside and out i found out i could not remember my password and the e-mail i gave them i no longer use.
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paranoia agent
Hi still totally ADD, I am also ADD but found out recently, would you be aware of any medication that I can use for long periods of study?
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How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.
by BU2B inif one reads genesis from the first chapter through the end with an open mind, it is clear that not only is it not true, but that god is potrayed as a cruel, petty, childish micromanaging tyrant.
if one continues reading the ot this is just further solidified.
how do jws not see the obvious?
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paranoia agent
Cofty wrote Paranoia Agent - I have no idea what you just said.
You made an offensive personal attack on somebody who was sincerely trying to explain the OT. I objected - you waffled about Hitler.
If you can't reason on what somebody has said don't resort to ad hominem
Or maybe you are not good with metaphors, and I did resort to ad hominems and will continue to do so. If you have any reservations as to you why I shouldn't treat homophobics who expects me to be in an eternal hellfire after death, please let me know.
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How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.
by BU2B inif one reads genesis from the first chapter through the end with an open mind, it is clear that not only is it not true, but that god is potrayed as a cruel, petty, childish micromanaging tyrant.
if one continues reading the ot this is just further solidified.
how do jws not see the obvious?
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paranoia agent
Not really cofty, anti-theism causes the most dissonance. And besides how should you react if I said that I am nazi? A good nazi thought that likes all races and helps others, but views Hitlers actions as justified? Think about it.
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How do JWs Not see how barbaric YHWH is? Its what started my awakening.
by BU2B inif one reads genesis from the first chapter through the end with an open mind, it is clear that not only is it not true, but that god is potrayed as a cruel, petty, childish micromanaging tyrant.
if one continues reading the ot this is just further solidified.
how do jws not see the obvious?
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paranoia agent
nonjwspouse wrote In my view, this was a very unhappy God trying to fix a horrible mess.
And what exactly are you basing this on, your view? You write of god like he is some human trying to make the best of a bad situation, like he didn't know that Eve would sin, that he was going to kill children, men, women, animals, destroy lands, and make people starve. Not only that but he supported slavery, concubines, and to top it all of an eternal hellfire for me for just not believing in HIM through blind faith... How loving of Jehovah.
But I feel God of the OT tried to rule men while allowing them to have free will and his earlier attempts to create a loving and forgiving society were disasters.
We are not discussing free will, not that there was much free will back then. But I get the impression that you are either mentally retarded or you have never read Genesis to Joshua. Did you know what would happen if you were a virgin and raped? You would be sold to your rapist without say on divorce. They were allowed to beat their slaves as long as they did not die. A man was killed for picking up sticks on the Sabbath!! They were not allowed to eat shell fish and mix fabrics. I mean how stupid to you have to be to ignore all this
The people are the ones who caused such horrid things, believeing they were what was required to make God happy.
So people caused all the genocide, rape, slavery, murder, concubines etc. Right, so you have no sense of morality.