Hi Royal Line, I think that your assumption that most people here have a problem with different religious beliefs is wrong. Honestly, if Swami G was promoting the flying green spaghetti monster, and people were happy in the group and after leaving it, I for one would not ever bother to comment. To each his own. IMO it is not that uncommon for people to talk a good talk but not be able to live
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi All, yes agree with you Psyborgue; to be honest, IMO, I find variations on the "I am dirt and the leader/pastor/guru is a saint of whom I am not worthy"to be the most telling communications from followers of religious groups. NicholasRehl having free speech would be both fair and useful. (Re your pm though Nicholas: every group of people always has somewhat of an agenda;a website
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I suppose the right thing to do here is to at least warn people that in the past Zeuszor has not been at all protective of his sources. If you want to read through the (long) Jesus Christian thread, you can read about the dossier he has formatted in the past, which he sent to news outlets etc without the permission of the people from whom he collected the information. This dossier apparently inc
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One other interesting thing to assess about the group, is how does the group treat its elderly people? Are elderly people shunted off on outsiders when they need assistance and help, or does the group take care of their own people when they are elderly? Here I am talking not just about the way the leader is treated when elderly, but also how the lower level workers are treated. At least a nu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think this is a really interesting topic. I liked Mr Ross video presentation, succinct and good advice about how to approach family members in groups. Just mo, but for something to be destructive, there has to be a level of exploitation. Things that are personal red flags to me about a group/ When the members talk about the leader with "lost in love" voices. Most groups won'
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thank you Rrmoderator and Corboy. ( Hope the flight went well, and we appreciate all the time you put into moderating.) Also thanks to everyone who helped stand up for Diddly.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dabcult; you are anonymous. I am anonymous.I have never seen your real name used on this board ever.SO perhaps neither of us should be scolding people for not giving out their personal history attached to their real world name? Neither of us have done so. If Diddly chooses to do this, she is a brave wonderful woman and I will support her as best I can. But other people outing her sexual history
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dabcult; it was Diddlys personal information, not Swami G's. I don't know if you have ever read what the ethical standards for licensed counselors are. You might find it enlightening to do so. You might also be interested in checking out what the likely consequences might have been, for a licensed mental health counselor who released or repeated confidential information. One wa
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dabcult; Are you saying that you are a licensed mental health professional? If so, what code of ethics do you follow? Ie the APA's ( American Psychological Association)? or are you not licensed and are a rebirther and hypnotherapist attempting to discuss other people mental health without any psychology degrees or accreditation? Just trying to clarify here. If you are a licensed hea
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Diddly; you really explain well what goes on in groups where leaders are considered in one way or another to be the voice of God. Great posts, and to my mind you come from a very reasoned and reasonable point of view. To be honest if "criticize the guru and leave the group= go to hell", then it seems like someone else might be having a problem with black and white thinking....
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Diddly, I really admire your courage in speaking your truth. I'm not really much of a believer in realized beings guiding others, but if I was looking for a guru, in my opinion, basics like; does not need to take medication for a mental health problem, does not have a current mental health diagnosis, would seem to be required to consider someone to be enlightened. Attatchment to food
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Guru Watch; just another opinion here. If someone has indeed had some kind of religious experience/dissociative event, does that necessarily mean they have special insight into anyone elses life, or even into their own? Just mo, but plenty of people who meditate, chant or pray, have had spiritual experiences at one time or another. And plenty of people from rough childhoods can disassociate q
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi All, Re Bhakti; if you are willing to go back to see him again Dabcult, perhaps you could bring him some little things to make his life in jail easier? Corboy might have some good suggestions here. It seems like candy bars and coins for the lockers might be a good idea perhaps? Does anyone else know some affordable things that would be good to have in a care package? Or is there a jail ad
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Gnomad168, There are many high demand religious groups that are actually much harder to stay in than to leave. In fact some groups routinely kick people out who 'don't make the grade" in one way or another. Not trying to get you back does not necessarily mean a group is "safe" or "good" imo. Two areas that I would be grateful for more information from you.
Forum: Clergy and Therapy Abuse

Hi Vera City; Sorry you felt it was harsh; as I said;not my intention. You seem to think I am asking you not to tell the truth about the group. Toe nail water drinking? Ugh.Go for it. Yet some things you seem to be saying don't add up. You were never in the group but you are sure that A) Every x member you know treated their children well, and B) Children in the group were trea
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Vera City; I kind of was debating about whether to post this at all, but thought since you bought it up, it might be useful to you(and others) to have another perspective on why few children raised in groups show up on the board. Firstly, you have had several brave ex group kids show up here.. But here are some things that may be going on that you haven't considered. Most of you guys wer
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Alightinadarkplace; I'm not from or have had anything to do with this group.I was raised in a different group. So , just some outsiders viewpoints. Firstly, you seem to be worried about the group being unfairly "rejected from the body of Christ". But hasn't this group, from what others including Pastor in Missouri have said, already decided that they alone belong to the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sueman; I think in your comments that you are underestimating the abilities of hypnosis, or at least of hypnosis coupled with other linguistic etc techniques.If you look at some of the videos of Derren Brown for example, he has no problem convincing people to act against their own self interest, letting him keep their wallet or phone when he asks for it, in one example. Re your statement that p
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If an observer may add a point of view here; I have no particular interest in protecting the historic reputation of Tibetan Buddism. It seems though that if you look at the religious scriptures or behaviors of any religion or political system that was in existence in the sixth century, you are going to find a lot to horrify modern belief systems. The tortures and burning of witches by Christian
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Some of Oprahs "ministry', I agree is far out and rather worrying; but I admit I love her courage in discussing the vaccine /autism connection. Interestingly, the Daily Mail online yesterday talked about two new vaccine injured children with autism who have been compensated in the U.S. to the tune of two million, I believe? ( The Daily Mail gives the amount in pounds.) Apparently th
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

Hopeful 123; I think the idea was that this was a collection of "unwritten" rules in the 2by2s. Do you do think that most of the things listed describe accurately the behaviors of the people you know in the group? Do most people conform to most of those things? Madison, hope things are going a lot better for you now. And don't throw out all those survival instincts; they can s
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Just wanted to write a quick note to Anti Chris. I was raised in a different communal group, and just wanted to hope that things are starting to get better for you. Re therapists; don't go to one who doesn't understand; I found the most useful ones were older therapists who had dealt with things like PTSD or cults /NRMs a lot.Therapists who have dealt with drug addict families or mili
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Dopamine link; Some people are comfortable only believing things that have been recognised by a scientist and printed in a peer reviewed journal; others have other ways of deciding on things; all seems ok to me. Don't think that anyone , you or others, are necessarily being arrogant; they are just working out what they believe in a way that makes sense to them. Whether energy healing i
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

From a scientific point of view, I did find a couple of studies; A Randomized Controlled Single Blind Trial of the Efficiacy of Reiki on Mood and Wellbeing" and "Therapeutic Massage and Healing Touch Improve Symptoms in Cancer" both seem to describe modest improvements in either mood ( first study) or fatigue etc ( in the second study) post chemotherapy. I haven't really lo
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Hi Blastmaster, Kind of an awkward topic, since some people do and some people don't believe in healing energy. So we are not really talking from a quantifiable scientific study type idea here. However, I doubt whether any of the people you are talking about are using some kind of machine. I know plenty of people with or without some kind of training, who can warm their hands and release
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Hi Corboy, thanks for starting the thread. I do think it is useful for people to realize that scientific studies are very vulnerable to manipulation. As a general rule, if someone is going to use studies as a way to make decisions, it is useful to know how to identify less than stellar studies. Unfortunately a high IQ does not necessarily correlate with ethics; scientists are as prone as eve
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Corboy; such a study would be interesting. Of course if your hypothesis is that people who join abusive religious groups are more likely to be stressed , or to have troubled backgrounds, then you would have to also look at two variables Are people under stress more likely to join social groups of any kind ? Are people under stress more likely to join religious groups of any kind? Perhaps
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Corboy, I think your assessment of this is very interesting,and some of it I definitely agree with. Your point about small boundary violations potentially leading to large violations is particularly important. But. Not all people who join religious groups that tend to power abuse come from broken homes. In fact many people who join cults come from very good homes. Anyone can be conned. The ab
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dr Pignotti, 100% agree with you here! Was trying to figure out how to say something similar, but you really nailed it! Zeuszor, not trying here to be part of a group all choosing to criticize you; ( from what I remember a group you were in liked to do those kind of encounters,and I also have a knee yerk reaction where I hate seeing someone alone trying to defend themselves against a grou
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Dr Mann; I agree that a book is in my mind is much more interesting informative, and accurate if it includes failures as well as successes. And you are right that the effects of a theory should be testable. To quote a selection of statements from "Perspectives on Personality" by Carver et al, A theory is used for two purposes, (and this is true no matter what the theory pertain
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"