Re: dangerous New Wage guru to be aware of
Posted by:
Brynhild Tudor
()
Date: November 27, 2010 01:44AM
I did not pick secular humanism because I'm into science or philosophy. It's nice and I like watching Nova and Secrets of the Dead on PBS, but that's about it. Like I said, if the majority of people believe something, I believe it, too, and whenever I've held a different oppinion and tried to express it (such as I don't like Oprah and everyone else does), it makes me feel like I'm missing something. Having a physical perspective of science helps me slowly let go of any religious beliefs I have that I don't want anymore, such as "God created the world." It's not easy for me to just drop them.
I tried the secular humanism label to see if it would fit. I have been alone all my life, and would like a group to belong to, and would like it to be okay for me to feel that I can belong to something. When I left new age, and decided I was done with religion and spirituality, and that I would just be a good human being, a humanist (because I was human), interested in secular things, and I wanted to find other people just like me, because it strengthens and validates my wanting-to-believe that I'm okay, and helps me deal with the fear that "bad things will happen if you don't believe us" that you get when you leave spiritually-oriented groups.
But if I were just one person believing it, it gets shaky, and I think, maybe something bad will happen.
You ever see a leaf blowing in the wind? There's only one of them, and nobody stands up for it or tries to help it. It blows every which way because it has no support from anyone else around it.
Look at a brick building in a wind. It can't float around because all these little bricks are holding each other up, and supporting each other, and a wind can't knock it down because there's other bricks around to help one.
I don't think there's anything wrong with hinduism or Buddhism at all. I think, for people that are interested in them, that they are beautiful religions, and they provide something for people. I was only looking at that one person, that one "life is a game" belief, that, if I remember correctly, was seen as destructive on another thread, and thought to help people like Calm, who was destroyed by that sort of thing, avoid it.
I did read Lifton, and Margaret Singer's articles, and that was why I was so shocked when another poster paralleled my own experience with the cult signs, and they had to do it for me because I could not see it myself.
Nobody told me there was a western and an eastern definition of enlightenment. So how would I know? How would I think to look if I only saw one? If you only see one everywhere you go, you think that's all there is. At least, I do.
I still hold some beliefs that I would like to be true. I love the idea of an afterlife and angels. But that's it. No other religious or spiritual practices interest me. I wanted a group, and the closest I could find was secular humanism. Because I'm secular.
But secular humanism does not fit me. I cannot be a part of cold, hard intellectuals with no emotions, no feelings, no heart, some of whom have an ivory-tower mentality. I cannot do that.
It seems that everyone can find a place to belong. Even the new agers and the Pagans, who claim to be individualists, have some common beliefs. So even they have a group, a shared thing.
You all have a common belief, too, or at least a way of life. Lots of you are intellectuals, interested in science, enough to do tons of research and it peaks your curiosity. I'm not like that. I'm happy to do basic stuff, like background checks and read stories of other people's cult experiences, and articles, and if I don't understand something, I ask. But that is not the type of help people seem to think I should be looking for.
But there is no place for me, a Christian who was never interested in Christ or the Bible, a Pagan who doesn't care for nature or reincarnation, a new ager who isn't interested in metaphysics or spirituality, a secular humanist who isn't interested in science.
I thought the response that could happen from my original post, from people who were cult survivors who supported each other, would be: "Hey Brynhild, thanks so much for the info. We appreciate you taking the time to look out for us and our safety and well-being. You probably didn't know, but this person actually died in 2009. We think the "life is a game" belief is destructive, too, and we'd discussed it on other threads as being such, so thank you for spotting it."
But obviously I did not receive supportive responses. It's kinda funny how you say, when something goes wrong, cult leaders blame the person because they weren't doing it correctly, it's always the person's fault, the person's in the wrong, never the group.
Weren't you doing that to me???
No really, hear me out. Look. I say or do something, and your responses or hurtful comments are never your responsibility. It's always "I'm not thinking critically, I'm in the wrong, I didn't read this enough, I'm reading into things too much, it's my fault." Never the group's. Never.
Isn't that the thing you're supposed to be speaking out against? But you do it, too.
So I will go now. I do not wish to make any enemies here, or be seen as a manipulative liar. I wish to be known as someone who is honestly telling her story. But clearly it is not seen that way.
It was nice meeting you all.
Brynhild