My own observations from The Cult Org. Motherland is that a good portion of the membership is comprised of uneducated people. I don't intend this statement to be a pejorative one, just a statement of fact, nothing more. I also noticed another strata of members, comprised of the physically and mentally handicapped. There is also yet another strata of people who are second or third generation (mis)fortune-babies born into the practice, after adopting it unthinkingly by tradition. They've all fallen for the easy answers and instant hope that the cult org. sells, in a world where there is none. That said, all strata of society are vulnerable to the ploy.
Regarding cult org. growth, just like it did in America, all it needs is a rising slope, an eventual peak and then a relatively (averaged) horizontal linear straight line (in multiple countries), before it declines too much, to maintain itself.
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I have a $oka-han "experience" to share (that I just remembered). I was doing $oka-han out at my local temple, I think it was for some kind of large shakubuku event. I was assigned out back to the dirt "parking lot" in a huge field. In between directing cars in and out of their spaces, shuttling members to and from, etc., I noticed that somebody has dropped their black scheduling notebook in their haste. It was starting to sprinkle rain a little bit, so I picked it up in order to save it. I didn't want to keep it in my pocket for too long and risk being accused or giving the impression that I was adopting it as my own, so ... I made a quick dash to the front of the temple, to find a bigger cheese $oka-han to turn it in to. I still remember the lisp speaking, bottle-capped four-eyed, greasy haired guy I was directed to. He snatched it from my hands in the blink of an eye, without even so much as a "thank you" and then got several inches away from my face, towering over me (I was a high school kid at the time) and screamed at me (while spraying spittle in my face) ... "WHY DID YOU LEAVE YOUR POST?!?!?! GET BACK THERE AND DON'T LEAVE IT AGAIN UNTIL THE LAST CAR LEAVES THE PARKING LOT!!!!!" I remember physically pulling back, shaking my head a bit and walking back to my post (I didn't run this time) thinking, "Geeze, I come here for this?"
Just another one of those little straws that kept on being added to the growing haystack for me.
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Here is a rare full version of The Dear Leader doing his cult dance for the unthinking masses in the motherland, posted by a (South American?) hardcore gakkai cult member:
[
www.youtube.com]
The Dear Leader is really feeling the "ichinen" (and constipation) in this clip. Reminds me of some of The Nuremberg Rallies.
(Ever seen a dancing grouper fish [
www.fishingfury.com] on dry land, performing for all the little fish around him? Well, after watching the above clip, you will have.)
CULT!
- Hitch