The quote at the end of the HBO preview: "no explanation other than faith." IMHO, faith is fine for established religions backed up by Scripture, but L.Ron Hubbard? Rael? the Heaven's Gate guy all with their weird theories? No thanks.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Good analogy, Corboy, the daisy. She certainly does cast herself in the best possible light. But all of "the work" is still based on your being honest with yourself--continually (not easy). Figuring out what the truth of your situation is, wanting to make the right decisions,knowing what those are. There are so many personal variables. So it seems like she's made a win-win s
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Oh, gosh, she should certainly beware. But when someone's involved emotionally, it's very hard for them to look at that person objectively. She must be enamored and blocking out her warning signals (that have to be buried in there somewhere with such a weird -- I don't even know what to call it... not a religion as they don't believe in God), and of course, your warnings, too.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sunny99 Well, we all have free will. I was curious and went to their website and watched a couple of videos. I can see how someone might be sucked in. He seems sincere when he talks about his encounter. But the other video that explains how the Elohim created us and all the animals, etc., just doesn't ring true. He says the Elohim had reached a point in their scientific endeavor like the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks, Sunny99, yes, that worked. Interesting (and so demoralizing) what his wife went through. And those poor kids! Marie-Paul says: 'I thought I had married a fairly ordinary, if slightly egotistical, man. Not a freak. At first I believed that Claude really thought what he was saying was true, but over the years I began to think the whole Raelian movement was a trick to have more sex a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"But then I came across a testimonial from the leader's ex-wife: www.dialogueireland.org/dicontent/media/iwasmarried.doc" This link doesn't work for me... From the bottom article, he sounds like a megalomaniac and like so many, charismatic yet uses his power to seduce and control.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

YeleneJBean "If you could really do that with your mind why write all the books and do all the business deals. Why not just sit at home and manifest what you want :)" I guess under the guise of helping others. But if they can't actually do it themselves, it is hypocritical. To give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they do want to help people, but then it turns into a hug
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From Wikipedia: "There is continuing debate on whether Raëlians can be identified as a cult. The government of France classifies the Raelian Movement as a "secte" (French word for cult). However, according to Glenn McGee, the associate director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Virginia, part of the sect is a cult while the other part is a commercial website that
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy, you make a good point. People should rely less on these "psychic" experiences and look closely into the lives of the people they are thinking of following. What are their true beliefs (ie how do they live vs what they say), are they compassionate toward others, selfless? Do they really want to help others without a desire to exploit, or are they driven by a lust for power, contr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Weird for sure. Look at just this one paragraph from Wikipedia: Raëlians do not believe in reincarnation as dictated by mystical writings because they do not believe that an ethereal soul exists free of physical confinement.[19] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[20] When Elohim release this inform
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I also don't subscribe to the idea that just because you think something, it makes it true. Or that not thinking it makes your suffering go away. That just sounds to me like more positive thinking hype veiled under another cloak.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've just been newly introduced to Byron Katie by a friend. Her idea seems good about not believing everything your mind brings up (we all know how our minds can change) but I'm not sure what else she teaches and don't want to get sucked in if it's just a huge money-making operation. Also, I don't really know what's behind her philosophy. Reading these posts is h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"