First off thanks to all, particular the Landmark contributors, for helping me to save my mind and my money.

I've since steered countless people here for similar purposes.

First of all I am not insinuating or alluding to anyone or anything here. This is simply a caution to be vigilant.

It has been my observation that some people have the impression that Rickross.com is similar to evangelical sites that seem to have no tolerance for any religion but their own, or skeptical/atheistic sites whose knee-jerk reaction is to scoff at anything/anyone that/who does't conform to their materialist/athiest paradigm. Granted many cults purposefully spread these ideas to undermine Rickross.com.

We have to be ever careful not to misrepresent our own personal biases as self-evident facts.

Many religious individuals who post here may not approve of the more Gnostic-style New-Age spirituality that has grown in popularity of late. Many Gnostic practictioners may feel similarly towards orthodox religious types and find their thinking to be limited. And materialistic atheists may look down their noses at both of them and think them both nuts. Fine.

And as the late Dr. Margaret Singer observed in her section entitled "Intruding into the Workplace," in the 1995 edition of "Cults in Our Midst," her book was not an attack against the New Age movement per se--just the self-serving cultic groups that misrepresent themselves as such and other familiar organizations that we know and trust.

I sincerely hope that this site will always remain an unbiased source. I hope that it will encourage its partcipants refrain from sinking to the level of the evangelical and/or skeptical sites. It's fine to have an opinion about an organization, but in absence of any tangible evidence at Rickross.com, that's all that it is.

And in conclusion, to reiterate: to post an opinion as a self-evident "fact" isn't just "inappropriate" (a weak weany word if I ever heard one), worse, such behavior has the potential to undermine the very credibility of this site altogether. Ultimately that would be precisely what genuine cults and cult-like groups would rejoice over.

They always told us in French and Spanish class to never swear when traveling overseas, for you may be the only American a foreigner meets and they will think all Americans to be just like you. Similarly your post may be the ONE that forms a lasting impression on someone who visits here. So regardless of whether you are are New Age, Evangelical or atheist/skeptic, please keep all of the aforementioned in mind and post responsibly. The reputation and credibility of this site may depend on it.

CNFT

Some thoughts, these of course simply my own opinion:

Folks who want to find something to dislike in Rick Ross's work and in these forums will find it, words and motivations can be twisted. If a reader decides that one disliked post is enought to color their opinion of the entire forum and also of Rick Ross's work, and even of the entire theme of evaulating destructive groups, they can do that, though they are missing out on a lot of good information.

The forums are very well moderated and we get reminded when need be to stay on track. I think the forums can be a place to express some bias, along with our choices and process, our experiences. Some of us in our recovery process may be in the "That's crazy!" stage, and it seems like there is room for that also. The forums consist of many posters and our opinions, along with our quest for various facts, they are ongoing discussions. To me, the discussions are healthy and vigorous.

Quote

All messages on this board should be evaluated critically, through a process of individual reflection and independent judgment.

I like the Disclaimer on this forum, especially the line above.

We posters are at various levels of knowledge, research ability, we have all sorts of beliefs and biases, a forum such as this one is a great place to mix it up, communicate, puzzle over things, compare notes, and learn from. Both readers and writers are at varying levels of critical thinking ability.
And this forum and Rick Ross's work aren't the only games in town, there are so many other resources for folks to choose from, according to their own preferences.
I am pretty sure that my posts, for instance, no matter how muddled or whatever, will not destroy the Rick Ross site. :) This is such a well moderated intelligent forum, hopefully readers will note the disclaimer, will understand that this is a forum, and will continue their research as they are led to.

I suppose my main point is that I believe the Rick Ross site and these forums to be valuable, that forums can and do include opinions and emotions, and that there is room for all of us who keep within the guidelines.

SL

I think it goes without saying that these forums are just a bunch of personal opinions.

But people are going to interpret them as they see fit.
Some guy was PMing me a while back saying that he thought RickRoss was all of these different Identities on this board, etc, etc.
So some people are going to believe whatever nutty stuff they want to believe.

Personally, i am an Agnostic at this point, but to me that has NOTHING to do with cultish groups.
It seems to me, that most folks who are into some Religion, or even Wicca, or some New Age thing, do it in a healthy, or harmless way.
The reality is, with freedom of religion, and freedom of thought, its none of mine, or anyone elses business what they choose to believe.

So it seems to me that the point of this exercise is to explore the DESTRUCTIVE aspects of cultish groups.
My view is, when it comes to cults, everything gets "crazy" and irrational real fast.
Personally, i have been accused of "blasphemy" many times in my life. But the reality is, that in a mature society, people "should" be able to tolerate some blunt criticism of their most cherished beliefs.

But we don't live in that kind of society or world.
If anything, society seems to be regressing into more fundamentalist and cultish belief systems. It makes one wonder where it is all going to end.

Coz