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rrmoderatortruambar:
So you thought it was funny when the Forum leader said the mother as an "asshole" and also mocked her while she was crying?
Did you also think it was humorous when the Forum leader discussed how the mother might get cancer or commit suicide?
Which part was the most funny to you?
What did you think about the Landmark volunteer scrubbing the bathroom?
Why would a for-profit privately owned company have volunteers?
See [
www.culteducation.com]
BTW--you didn't answer my question, are you planning on taking additional courses from Landmark?
Quite obviously, the Forum leader went too far, at least for American culture. Maybe in France he could get away with that. But Landmark doesn't have a program in France any more. My forum leader and the couple of other forum leaders I've seen were far more gentle with their probing. The whole point of the conversation at the mike, by the way, is to get you to do some introspection, understand things you do or don't do, and move beyond those behaviors by understanding them thoroughly. Only some of the people choose to go to the microphone, but everyone's there to listen and virtually everyone finds something useful in what they hear. A fact that was lost in the French documentary, and one that would have been overlooked by the reporter, is that the person at the mike feels well-supported by everyone in the room, including the forum leader. I've watched a few very shy people get up there and really open up, and when they leave the forum, they are bold, loud, and happy about it.
Given that you seem not to have caught it, the leader's suggestion that the woman catch cancer or commit suicide was largely-writ hyperbole. The conversation was obviously cut short to sensationalize the video. These people were there to sell ad space.
I had no problem with a Landmark volunteer scrubbing a bathroom, if it needed to be scrubbed. Most of the courses themselves are put on (yes, taught) by Landmark volunteers, who are in turn assisted by other volunteers, and all of these people give their time and do whatever looks like it needs doing because they feel genuinely grateful for what they got out of the program.
I still go up to my old summer music camp occasionally to wash dishes, for the same reason. I think I've scrubbed toilets up there too. The music camp is a for-profit organization, too, but it wouldn't run without a large cadre of people who are grateful for what they got out of it. The mean old woman who runs the camp was pretty nasty to me while I was growing up, but I loved her for it. I'll bet a news team that's so-inclined could make that look like a cult, too, and anyone that saw the broadcast would be there an hour later with a torch and a pitchfork.
Same story with my local bike shop.
The majority of the Landmark program is run by volunteers, around 15,000 of them, the last I heard. I've looked into it a little bit, trying to find the angle, and I haven't yet found one. Although Landmark is a for-profit company, their profits aren't large and each forum leader becomes a part-owner. The forum leaders I've met don't seem anything near wealthy. My feeling is that if there really is someone at the top, getting really wealthy, more power to him, or them.
So far, for me, the 400 bucks I spent on Landmark is the best 400 bucks I've ever spent, in my life, for anything. The program was that valuable to me, despite its shortcomings. At one point a few weeks after the Forum, I was marveling at how it all could have ever worked so well, and I thought to myself, "Christ, how much would I have paid for that if I could have known in advance exactly what I would have gotten out of it?" And I had trouble putting a value on it.
Regarding the French documentary, I felt that the "experts" they brought in were brought in to say exactly what they said. They obviously had no firsthand knowledge, and to me, what was especially cruel was those so-called "experts" explaining gently to that woman, as if they really knew, that all of the positive affirmation she'd gotten out of her work with Landmark was insanity. They were led to believe they were dealing with a cult by the TV station, and paid to go on television to talk about cults. But that group of people had no right to do what they did until they verified their facts. Which they didn't. And could not have done. And were not motivated to do anyway, because they would have destroyed their story.
Regarding your last question, I am planning to take the Landmark Advanced Course this December. Some time in the next year or two I expect to take their leadership training, because I have a friend who has taken it and I've been impressed enough with the results that it seems worth the price and the time. And I've identified another course or two that look attractive.
And to answer a question you haven't asked yet, but I think it seems natural to wonder, I haven't done much volunteering with Landmark, and I don't expect to do so in the near future. I have a startup business to nurse along, and other things to do, so my time is limited. Will I volunteer, some day in the future? Perhaps. I wouldn't rule it out. The people are friendly, the results are generally worth my time, and it's actually kind of rewarding to watch people pop out of the LF and run off to do really cool things.