Hi nmconcerned, it's nice to see that you've caught up on the new additions to this thread.

I hope your wife has regained some of her critical thinking ability in the meantime.

It's remarkable how many cults are formed around people claiming to channel alien entities. The book "Messengers of deception" by Jacques Vallee looks at some of these. I don't necessarily recommend the book, as it doesn't really make anything clear. But it does give a very unique perspective on the matter, different from the typical skeptic or believer perspectives. From a review at Goodreads.com:

Quote

"Messengers of Deception" is a thoughtful, well reasoned examination of UFO cults and the contactee subculture. While he doesn't claim to know what UFOs are, Vallee makes a strong case that they have a terrestrial origin and are instruments of social control.

Here's a pdf of the book: [spookscentral.com]

Here are two reviews of Summers books by someone written by someone who seems to have his thinking cap on:
[www.darkstar1.co.uk]
[www.darkstar1.co.uk]

From the last one:

Quote

The material presented by Summers creates a milieu that would make for a good series of novels. There is an impression of great complexity without any accompanying details, which novels would flesh out. On a spiritual level, the work feels cold and calculating. Far from Knowledge, I sense obfuscation and misdirection, perhaps even malefaction. Which is great in a novel, but perhaps not so ideal in real life.

I think this is spot-on. This impression of great complexity with out any accompanying details makes the texts seem profound and necessitates the believers to fill in the details for themselves. Since these details are then a product of their own convictions, their belief in them and attachment to them is extra strong.

Research has found that when people create or finish a product themselves, they appreciate it more. This is one of the reasons for Ikea's success. When you've assembled a chair yourself, you'll value it more highly.

Another advantage (for Summers) of this impression of great complexity without any accompanying details: the lack of details makes it not about facts that can be checked and proven or disproven, but about belief.

From the same review:

Quote

He offers no factual basis for any of his claims. None. Indeed, the author attempts to make a virtue of this:

"Many people want answers. They want to know dates, names and places. But these are meaningless. You will not be able to visit these places for a long time. It is the perspective and understanding that are necessary. Without this, no matter how much information you have you will not see the picture clearly." (p191)

Those pesky scientists with their trivial desire for facts and data! Instead, the contents of Summers' teachings are faith-based; unverifiable and nebulous. He claims that contact has been made with humanity by extraterrestrial civilisations - some of which pose something of a threat to us - but offers no narrative for this contact. It's just a vague allusion to behind-the-scenes activity. According to the author, this hidden contact, and the impending threat of more intervention from beyond our skies, is sufficiently troubling to create the need for his followers to "leave behind your past of living in confusion, dominated by the social forces around you and dominated by the mental environment in which you live. Not everyone can travel with you up this mountain, and you cannot take everything with you." (p154) The tone of this advice sounds worrying to me.

Hello I found this forum by searching my screen name. I'm here to clear my name, the 'DirtyBirdy760' on reddit is not me. I'm not sure why this person obviously copied my name and has been spewing mostly nonsense. I have reported them on reddit for impersonation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2021 09:29PM by DirtyBird760.

Hi nmconcerned, may i ask if you read his material? Is there something specific you disagree with?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2022 10:05PM by ReneLL1985.

Users of this message board are not obligated to respond to questions that seem "off".

One way to make an assessment is to study other posts the person has made. You can do this by clicking the username, which is a live link

Next, click Profile.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Then click Show All Posts

Do this for ReneLL 1985 and you'll see this:

[forum.culteducation.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2022 08:31PM by corboy.

Hey! Hello, It’s me again!!

Ok, so there seems to be a misunderstanding by user Dirtybird760 (in his post above).

That is his screen name here on this site apparently, as well as, over on Reddit.
He prematurely over-reacted & posted above that someone was “impersonating him” which is completely untrue & I worry that his hastily made post will only confuse people.

So to help clarify;

• The Reddit screen name referenced multiple times by me, throughout this thread, & on this forum is:
DIRTYBIRDY760 …not, ‘dirtyBIRD760’
(in other words, a completely different user, with a similar sounding screen name! Trust me, they are two distinctly different users on Reddit, with viewable & accessible post history for each).

So I hope that clears that matter up!
I’ve sent a private message to dirtybird760 to ask him to please come back here & delete his post, after explaining to him the error he made.

Thanks !! ;)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2022 08:34AM by AniNassui.