Once again, I have to go back to the relationship analogy. For a sociopath, how much love or power is "enough"? That elusive quantity doesn't exist . . . it has to always be more-more-more, even if there's nothing more to give or relinquish.

I love the Amend poem - oddly, I could see that being presented at an sgi meeting; they would twist and pervert it to support their BS, and the members would sit there and say "oh, see! Of course we couldn't be a cult - see how he encourages our stand-alone spirit!"

Among sgi's weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms . . . oh, no! Well, fear, ruthless efficiency, a fanatical devotion to senseless and nice white shirts with ties or pastel suits. And let's not forget the psychological stuff; I think once you are able to get people into the confirmation bias loop, almost anything is possible. Once you've achieved cognitive dissonance, that hook is set and embedded. Once that happens, the controlling entity can go into cruise-control mode; the victim will be able to talk themselves into almost anything. You have to keep that going with tune-ups (study and discussion meetings, and krg), but we're pretty much on auto-pilot from there. As long as members are encouraged to go to leaders for guidance, the same poison will keep being poured, so it's all good. You have a sweet little money-making-power-gathering machine there.

Damn, your right Meh, the cult.org mentality would indeed twist and pervert Amend's words to support their "stand alone spirit" mindset. My devious plan to crack open their mental prison with unbiased poetry would fail miserably (haha). So for the sake of clarification, here's how I prefer to interpret and apply his statement (before it gets read at some cousin rufus meeting):

"Be strong enough to stand alone" without the SGcult
"Be yourself enough to stand apart" from the SGcult
"But be wise enough to stand together" against the SGcult
"When the time comes" the best time (to awaken) is NOW

Meh, your description of SGcult's psy-war machine (and it's WMDs - weapons of mental destruction) has prompted me to coin a new phrase: "Mind Control Arsenal". I've taken the liberty to amend your original paragraph and use it to serve as a starting definition.

SGI's MIND CONTROL ARSENAL: Among sgi's weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and a fanatical devotion to the Pope (Ikeda). Nice red uniforms and white shirts with ties or pastel suits serve to de-individualize and promote group identity. Efficient use of psychological control serves to trap people into the confirmation bias loop, making almost any desired behavior possible. Achievement of cognitive dissonance serves to set and embed control (ie. establish a permanent hook). Once the controlling entity (SGI) attains cruise-control mode; the victim (member) is able to rationalize and delude themselves into doing or believing anything. Cult controllers maintain mind control with tune-ups (study and discussion meetings, and krg), and supplement member's auto-piloted self-deluding process. Pressure to receive "guidance" from senior leaders serves as a vehicle to reinforce previously established mind control, while adding extra levels of control upon members. Conclusion: the MCA serves the sociopath as a perfect money-making-power-gathering machine.

I am certain you guys can contribute many, many more definitive examples of psy-war weapons (WMD - weapon of mental destruction) from SGcult's extensive Mind Control Arsenal (MCA).

Spartacus



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2014 01:10PM by Spartacus.

Well, I do have to give Monty Python a leeetle bit of credit there!

I think one of the most dangerous weapons is sincerity. While I don't doubt that there are a few leaders at the top who are fully aware of how the cousin rufus war-machine works, I'd wager that the vast majority of them are blinded by the glamour,and I use the literal definition:

1. An air of compelling charm, romance, and excitement, especially when delusively alluring.

2. Archaic A magic spell; enchantment.

I would imagine that most of us here had gone to a leader for guidance at least a few times. Until my disaffection started building, every time I received advice from a leader, I felt invigorated and my faith refreshed by their absolute faith and sincerity. I admit to a certain level of gullibility, but I never felt anything other than good intention from a leader under those circumstances.

Proselytizing doesn't work without sincerity, unless the person is a real actor; you may think a snake-oil salesman is questionable, but he's always going to have a shill or two seeded in the audience who will swear to the product's efficacy; one or two of the more gullible in the audience will fall for the pitch and the "lawdy jeezus, I thought I'd never play the violin again!" Some of the buyers will honestly believe that the substance cured their rheumatiz, though, and those are the ones to be wary of. They believe they're better so sincerely that they look better and act better. They have no doubt that this amazing remedy has healed them, and they'll convince you to give it a try for your ague. And maybe your ague was ready to move on anyways, so you attribute your cure to the magic stuff! Whoopee! Before you know it, you're giving it to your family and friends, and some of them will start to feel better too!

You don't want to know that your magical elixir is just alcohol with some innocuous roots ground up into it. You believe, and because you believe so strongly (and sincerely) that this goop is going to cure everything, you're able to convince others to try it. And so it goes.

(Somber) Meh is right. Sincerity is dangerous. One can be sincere in service to a bad cause, if one isnt aware of it being bad. Many recruiters are kept in the dark as to the wealth and long term agendas of the leader.

Or they so dote upon the leader that they sincerely believe he or she deserves the best of everything.

The charisma of sincerity interferes with the focused, critical thinking needed to tell oneself "Fact check this".

Supposedly there is a reporter's proverb that goes something like this:

"If your momma says she loves you, fact check."

And the charisma of sincerity also conceals another matter worth looking for _ the business model underneath the feel good technology.

Can tell you that my parents (and their best friend) lied about so many of the things they told me that I found the journalists proverb to be accurate.

Dad lied about his age on the marriage license issued to him and to my (future) mother.

Dad also omitted mentioning that he had been through two prior wives, not one.

That was one of the smaller lies.

My mother's best friend was so sincere when telling me the untrue versions of the story of my parents' lives, that I could not imagine questioning it.

One so hates to disrupt the mood generated by someone's sincerity.

Fact checking sincerity and asking hard questions of someone with eager eyes and a glowing expression -- one feels like one is kicking a newborn puppy.

Thats how kindness can be turned against us.

But..what is kindness (unwillingness to confront) if ones forbearance and kindness, ones reluctants to make a scene, is in service to a lie -- or enables an ongoing lie to continue?

I do not dispute the need for basic good manners.

But it is such a delicate and necessary matter to discern when one must seem to be unkind.

Too often what we are taught is kindness is a fear of disrupting someone's sincerity, disrupting the nicey nice mood that goes along with it.

But if sincerity is in service to a bad cause, if one notes inaccuracy with facts, a tone that rings false...hmmm.

If one wants only smiles and fears to question what is behind someones smile, someone's niceness, trouble can follow.

Such as parents who are tired, distracted, dont want to cope with tantrums and conflict resolution and who never say no to thier own children.

Below, Macauley gives his opinion of a great flaw in one leader's career.

But today, we have to preserve our liberty in relationships, as citizens and function as agents, leaders in our own lives. And that means seemingly 'ordinary
people have to have the ability to question sincerity and pleasant moods if something seems amiss.

We are now at a point where the humblest of us must, if we are to thrive, have some of the skills of investigative journalists - and governors of our own lives.

[www.strecorsoc.org]

In his History of England, Macauley wrote of the character of Charles the Second, expressing his opinion that this king failed as a custodian of the nation because he wanted to be surrounded by smiles and avoid the unpleasantness of refusing requests:

"It is creditable to Charles's temper that, ...he was so far humane that it was highly disagreeable to him to see their sufferings or to hear their complaints.

"This, however, is a sort of humanity which, though amiable and laudable in a private man whose power to help or hurt is bounded by a narrow circle, has in princes often been rather a vice than a virtue.

"More than one well disposed ruler has given up whole provinces to rapine and oppression, merely from a wish to see none but happy faces round his own board and in his own walks. No man is fit to govern great societies who hesitates about disobliging the few who have access to him, for the sake of the many whom he will never see....

"Worthless men and women, to the very bottom of whose hearts he saw, and whom he knew to be destitute of affection for him and undeserving of his confidence, could easily wheedle him out of titles, places, domains, state secrets and pardons. He bestowed much; yet he neither enjoyed the pleasure nor acquired the fame of beneficence. He never gave spontaneously; but it was painful to him to refuse.

"The consequence was that his bounty generally went, not to those who deserved it best, nor even to those whom he liked best, but to the most shameless and importunate suitor who could obtain an audience."

Lord Macauley, History of England, subsection 'The Character of Charles the Second"

Anyone who has ever been in a meeting at their place of work bears witness to the good-news-only phenomena. In my own experience, anyway, the higher the level (in corporate hierarchy) attending the meeting, the less honesty and negative reporting you'll hear. Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news and displease the person in power. This has resulted in some very expensive screw-ups. I'm currently working on a multi-million dollar program (a very minor cog, I assure you!) that has been in development since last June. Because of this "sunshine reporting" formula, we are only recently starting to get our heads around why we're already 11% over budget. Nobody wants to escalate problems to the proper level, because that means not only is there something out of their control, but they don't want to make the grand poobah unhappy. And there's the danger of being held accountable for the event - if you knew about it, why didn't you fix it before it got out of hand?

I think, in part, that's one of the reasons why sgi reports such inflated membership numbers. ST&P mentioned a leader who had claimed to have shakubuku'd several hundred people; when asked how many were still practicing, I believe the response was "two." If two or three hundred people of the original group of shakubuku's received their gohonzon, they are still on the books as members; that they haven't attended a meeting in 20 years is irrelevant, they will stay on the books until they die or demand to be taken off (and who knows for sure about that? I can hear sgi-logic saying "oh poor Susie died - we'll keep her card in the box because that will assure that she'll be reborn as a member"). I've often mentioned that out of the 40 or 50 members in the index box, only 10 or 12 attended meetings; that means about 25%. If 12 million members are being claimed world-wide, let's be generous and say that active membership is 30% or even 40% of that.

Let's use his own damning words to discern the true nature of tyrannic King Ikeda. Here are some very revealing quotes from the megalomaniac himself:

ON SOKA DOMINATION;
" We must place the Soka Gakkai members in all the key positions of Japanese government and society. Otherwise Kosenrufu will not be accomplished. "
September 6th 1957, Seikyo Shimbun ( SG's daily organ newspaper )

ON TAKING OVER JAPAN
" I feel the time to take over Japan has come close. A party that can't take the rein of the government need not exist. But don't worry. Here, I am behind the (Komei) party. "
November 16th 1976, Photo gathering with members of the Komei party

ON BECOMING KING & DISCARDING SGI
" What I learned ( from the second president Toda ) is how to behave as a monarch. I shall be a man of the greatest power. The Soka Gakkai may be disbanded then. " (The Soka gakkai is just an instrument for Ikeda.)
July 1970 issue of Japanese monthly magazine "Gendai" (English: the present age)

ON CONTROLLING THE ECONOMY
" In the process of (our) Kosenrufu activity, the SG political party (Komei), the SG schools, the Bunka (SG's cultural oranization), and the Minon (SG's entertainment business organization) have been founded. The last yet unaccomplished (revolution) is the economy. From now on, we members of the Shachokai (a group which consists of CEOs from Soka Gakkai front companies) shall create an economic revolution. "
June 25th 1967, the 1st Shachokai meeting

ON POWER PLAY
" Extend our power inconspicuously, set up networks in the industrial world."
" Yasuhiro Nakasone (former Japanese Prime Minister) is not a significant matter. He is just a boy on our side. When he asked me to help make him Japanese Prime Minister, I said " Okay, Okay, I'll let you be a Prime Minister. "
November 25th 1967, the 6th Shachokai meeting

ON POLICE CORRUPTION
" My men manipulating (the) police are Takeiri and Inoue. "
July 8th 1968, the 13th Shachokai meeting

ON BEING GOD/KING
"To found the Soka Nation, the Soka Kingdom, on earth, in the universe, I shall protect Soka Gakkai members."
The Second Head Quarter Meeting in Tokyo, June 10 1975

ON LOVE OF FASCISM (combined state & corporate power)
"To tell the truth, fascism is my real ideal."
The 61st Executives Meeting, June 15 1972

ON BEING ABLE TO CONQUER JAPAN
" The Soka Gakkai would then be dissolved. "
July 1970 issue of Japanese monthly magazine "Gendai"

ON MISUSING TEMPLE AS MASK TO DISGUISE SGI AS TRADITIONAL BUDDHISM
"The main temple Taisekiji is a sacrifice for the Soka Gakkai. The Soka Gakkai is most important of all. "
The second Head Quarter Meeting in Tokyo, JUne 10 1975


In short, the Soka Gakkai's (hidden) ambitions are an attempt to completely rule japan (and eventually the World as well) in a multifaceted way.

That is,

1. Spiritually: Make all the Japanese belong to Soka Gakkai.

2. Politically: Have the Komei Party take the rein of the Japanese government.

3. Economically: Have business enterprises affiliated with Soka Gakkai control Japanese financial circles.

4. Have Soka Gakkai members slip into key positions of Japanese society, including administrative organs, the Ministry of Justice, the media, educational organizations, cultural organizations, etc., then take control of Japan.

5. Then finally, Daisaku Ikeda will become a man of absolute power to rule Japan.

Ikeda's ambitions are not merely big talk by a megalomaniac. Actually, the Komei Party (Soka Gakkai has its own political party) has become the third biggest party in the House of Representatives in direct proportion to the increase of Soka Gakkai members. Elite individuals, who are members of the Soka Gakkai such as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, accountants, policemen, diplomats, government officials, etc., have already penetrated into Japanese society.

The number of those elites has become over 1,000. Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai's plot to take over Japan has been advancing steadily so far.

The hard truth is this: "The Soka Kingdom" is a terrible fascist nation. The ultimate cruelty is that Ikeda's followers are disposable.

The Soka Kingdom aims at realizing a dictatorship nation based on fascism. As you have seen those crimes committed by the Soka Gakkai, including the oppression of the freedom of publishing, the spurious substitution of votes, the wire tapping incident, the Recruit bribery case, The Jari Senpaku bribery case, and so on. If their ideas were realized, violence, corruption, and injustice would be justified to protect the dictator Ikeda's privileges, honor, wealth, and his power.

This terrible plot, "Realizing the Soka Kingdom" can be said to be the real goal that Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai, under a mask of religion, have been aiming at. Furthermore, the existence of the Soka Gakkai for Ikeda is, after all, just a tool or base to take the rein of the government.

(preceding information and quotes were resourced from here.)


IKEDA IS THE OVERLY AMBITIOUS TYRANT KING OF HIS SOKA KINGDOM!!!

Spartacus



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2014 02:36PM by Spartacus.

Perfectly harmless, right?

I do appreciate you sense of sarcasm, Meh, but there's no such thing as a perfectly harmless Fascist pig - especially one as rich and powerful as Ikee-do.

Since many people may have never seen those Daisucku quotes, I made my previous post just to establish and clarify a few of the factual reasons we carry such disdain for King Fatboy around here. The King of Soka Kingdom can kiss my grits. Fascist bastard.

No, you're right, Spartacus, and I perhaps shouldn't have been flippant about it. It just made me think of the times we heard "that's other countries" on the reddit board.

What some people just don't get it that that is the true face of sgi; you might put your party manners on in other countries, but you are yourself when you're at home. You shine a light on senseless' megalomaniacal political fancies for Japan; anyone who doesn't think he'd like to apply them to the rest of the world is either hopelessly naïve or deliberately stupid.

Í will be glad when that sad, fat bastard is dead. Hopefully, some of that insanity will die with him. With any luck, the organization will just crack wide open and expose itself as the festering sore on the arse of the earth that it is.

We haven't heard any further comments or questions from freeyourmind, so I think we can safely assume that he or she heard things that were uncomfortable or was an sgi troll hoping to shoju his/her way into our hearts with the light of cousin-rufus-reason.