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QuestionEverything
It is also at times very black and white in its philosophy, e.g., "anger is never justified."
This just cracks me up. Coming from a "psycho-neuro-immunological" perspective, it would be like saying the natural, hereditary, genetic, instinctive, autonomic, or cellular reaction that is a pysiologic response to injury, threat, or injustice (real, imagined, or potential) is a matter of some kind of "choice." It's part of the "fight or flight" response. It's something we all have inherited as part of a whole "menu" of survival mechanisms. Adreneline and noradreneline (terror and rage) are the neurotransmitters of response to a situation that demands immediate action. If you believe that "god" had something to do with evolution, than it would be like second-guessing Him.
(What one does with anger, or how one tailors his response to a situation, might be another subject entirely, but that doesn't seem to be addressed in what you've stated above.)
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Over time, I realized that I could not reconcile the inconsistencies in the text and I found that trying to do so made me feel crazy. Also, I had borrowed some tapes on the course by a well-known teacher of ACIM and found it very disturbing. One of the teachings I found most disturbing was that children choose the circumstances in which they are born -- e.g., a child chooses to be born into an abusive situation.
Yuck! The same nonsense. "New Age" cr*pola that can mean anything or nothing and often serves as just so much "permission" or "absolution" for abusers.
And the same old "nothing-up-my-sleeve" routine of cognitice dissonance (confusion or distraction).
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I finally separated myself from the course and got rid of all the materials. After reading a lot about cults on various Internet sites, I see a great similarity in a lot of the beliefs of ACIM with those of other New Age cults. Even though I would hesitate to call it a destructive cult because it does not seem to have all the features of a destructive cult (though possibly some). However, my experience has been that ACIM's philosophy, taken to it's logical conclusion, is destructive and did not help me to be more at peace - quite the contrary.
P
I haven't heard or seen a lot of negative information about it over the years. I wonder if it's "students" aren't just so confused by the whole thing they don't have the time or the inclination to cause a lot of trouble.
I tried to read a couple of pages of it once and put it down in disgust. Plus, it taps into the big "Miracle, Mystery, and Authority" triad so precious to scammers of all times. Selling "miracles" is, after all, their stock-and-trade.
Ellen