And once again, Senseless displays his inability to have an original thought; that whole incident was based on The Ceremony in the Derriere. Oh, Spartacus . . . I can't doubt that at some point, a similar article will appear on the pages of the Weird Tribune. Hahahahahahaha!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

They don't call it a "throne" for no reason, corboy. His has a special tray, though . . .
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I'm glad to have confirmation of what I'd long suspected, tsukimo. He's credited with over 1,000 books and even had he started "writing" in 1950, that's more than 16 books annually. Even if Stephen King and Danielle Steele combined forces, they couldn't pull that off. Anyone who's ever sat down and tried to read any of that twaddle would notice that they we
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Nichijew, your suck-eda quote came at the perfect time! Still having the little goings back-and-forth on reddit, and it was perfect to counter someone (probably a member) who was telling me I had unresolved issues with sgi and was concerned for my welfare. Thank you!
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C'mon . . . butter AND weed residue? Kind of sounds irresistible ;-)
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That's way cool, Spartacus! WA allows recreational as well as medical use, is that correct? I really think that the big reason sgi supports gay-pride is that there's money to be made there. That was one of the original things that attracted me to sgi - I'm straight, but have always had gay friends and the attitudes of other religious orgs were just so hurtful . . .
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Dare I say it might be attributable to hypocrisy? Seattle has the Sea-Fair parade that sgi has participated in for ages and my understanding (could be wrong at this point in time) is that they have a pretty strong YD who are more sympathetic towards the gay community. If my ex-friend's daughter is any example, they are a pretty flighty and cause-of-the-moment oriented. Not saying anything ne
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The fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan took place not long after I started practicing. I thought that surely, this would be a great opportunity for sgi to have a presence in the peace march that was taking place in Albuquerque! All about the world-peace-thing, right? I was very gently told that sgi couldn't risk pissing people off or offend them, so couldn't participate
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I don't know when you left the organization, wakatta, but since 2010, they have been using bubble-version answer sheets in their exams, and I can't imagine they haven't been housing that data somewhere. It may have just been an out of the blue kind of contact - maybe they had a member-care meeting and someone said "aha! here's wakatta's membership card . . . here, no
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi Wakatta! No, they don't give up. They are like a dog with a rotting, putrefying bone - it's beyond their comprehension how anybody could walk away from such a fabulous way of life. After all, they can't, and they've been imbued with such wisdom by das org that, poor you, all they have to do is get you to open that door a crack and you will surely see the error of your wa
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I'll catch up with you on the other thread!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

After looking through the links that corboy offered, all I can say that it can be a really scary world out there. Someone commented (and I paraphrase here) that since Anticult is so familiar with the mind-controlling techniques used by BK, that perhaps s/he is using those techniques to further a personal agenda and found their own little cult. The response to that (once again, paraphrased)
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks corboy - as always, you provide great info. It's nice to be over here where it's sane! And I am as happy to bear the title "anti-cultist" as I would be if someone called me an "anti-blindist."
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Let's face it, it was kind of a battle of wits with an unarmed man. You're a cult. No, you're a cult! Deep, thoughtful conversation. We're the anti-cult-cult? So is there an anti-anti-cult-cult-cult? This is going to get confusing.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I came across the following, which seems to clearly define the line where sgi has turned itself into a religion as opposed to being true Buddhism: This excerpt really struck me: Buddhists do not worship an image expecting worldly or spiritual favors, but pay their reverence to what it represents. . Sgi is all about chanting for worldly or spiritual favors, particularly the worldl
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I've been over at the reddit boards the past couple of days, which is always an interesting experience. There's one guy that crops up every couple of months, and he pretty much epitomizes everything we've mentioned here, in terms of member behavior. When anyone posts anti-sgi statements, his immediate responses have been "liar, liar!" and accusations of being temple membe
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Welcome back, NIchijew - we've missed you!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I did try to read Dianetics years ago; it seems to me (if memory serves) there was an element of racism in it that I found uncomfortable. As gullible and open to such woo-woo at the time, it still seemed like a load of twaddle to me. There were a couple of SF books that discussed the founding of new religions - Stranger in a Strange Land, of course, and Cat's Cradle come to mind. I'
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The man's hubris knows no bounds. Conveniently, though, I'm sure the members have conveniently erased all of this from their RAM. Besides, that was all in Japan, and we all know that senseless didn't really mean that he was actually going to do all that per se! It was a metaphor for the eventual conquest of the world by cousin rufus. Gosh.
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Holy crap - at least sgi isn't going this far:
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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
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Perfectly harmless, right?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

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
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

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, r
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

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 B
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

There's always that promise that once you chant enough, if your practice is strong enough, once you've connected with senseless strongly enough and once you've donated enough, your dreams will come true. But what is "enough"? If you're chanting to have your teeth grow back, there is no "enough," unless you're one of those highly unusual people who migh
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Great, Spartacus - now I'm scared of Santa. With that red suit and long beard 'n' long hair, you know he's a communist and pacifist on top of being in cahoots with senseless.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

That cognitive dissonance is the ultimate betrayal that we can pull on ourselves. I pulled this from Wikipedia: Belief disconfirmation paradigm Dissonance is aroused when people are confronted with information that is inconsistent with their beliefs. If the dissonance is not reduced by changing one's belief, the dissonance can result in restoring consonance through misperception, rejec
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I say that they aren't willing to test their faith that far because they don't want it proven to them that it doesn't work. I think that might be behind the humility thing in Christianity - don't ask for too much because, not only are you probably not worthy, but there are a few unspoken disclaimers in place. Teeth grew back? Whoa . . . I should have kept on chanting to wa
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I'm not sure what the saddest part is, that it happens or that it happens and the person is unable to see or acknowledge it. I've worked as a contractor for a few years now; it was never my choice, but those were the jobs that became available for me. Because of that, I've had periods of unemployment . . . a contract ends, and it takes a few months to find another position. I a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families