Quotezaflon They might be made for killing, but it really is outstanding fun to fire one. If you get a chance, give it a go. I fail to see how using a precision weapon specifically designed to kill human beings can be classified as fun. Weightlifting is fun. Going on a date is fun. Walking in the park is fun. Utilizing an engine of death is not.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteandycheeWhat are you saying, that the president is a nazi? Thats nuts. Hes a christian, and he wants this to be a good christian country. No, I am saying that he is using similar manipulative cultic psychology techniques that the Nazis used, ie: mass hysteria, fear, and the scapegoating of religious/ethnic groups. A person can call themselves a Christian and still commit grave evil, ie
Forum: Terrorist and Extremist Groups

QuoteandycheeIf our military and our leaders need to keep secrets to protect us, thats OK with me. We don't need to be prying into their business at the time. Full disclosure is seen as one of the hallmarks of a healthy institution, whether it is a social group, a marriage or a government. Quoteandychee Yeah, maybe no body would want to go to fight in a war if the army told them everyt
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteandycheeWhat do you want to do, let every guy decide for hisself what to do? If every guy decided what they wanted to do, they would all choose the most rational course of action, that is, not to kill other human beings and to remove themselves from a dangerous situation so that they will not risk being killed. This rational thought pattern changes once they pass through the thought-refo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoterajendran My MOS yielded nearly 30 hours of legitmate undergraduate credit for a bachelor's degree for general education and major specific credit. What was your Military Operating Specialty? What university did you attend while you were in the military?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotezaflon Hmmm... for me it was the joy of owning my own M16A4. It should be noted that high-powered semi-automatic weapons exist for only one reason - to exterminate human life.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotejinnythesquinnyI agree. The process of turning young people into solidiers is exactly the same as those used by cults. Excellent point - it is a process, not an education. It appears that this process turns them into people who will kill human beings when ordered to do so by their superiors. You also bring up another good point - they always recruit young people, not adults. This is do
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteandycheeWhat do you want to do, let every guy decide for hisself what to do? Anyway they haven't had the dfraft for years, so it's not like there forcing guys to fight or anything like that. The natural human instinct is for self-preservation and to make decisions made on good, solid information. No one is forcing them to go into the military, but many of the recruitment tacti
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotezaflon But what people need to understand is, this training can be the only thing that keeps you alive when the 7.62 rounds start flying towards you. It should be noted that such training is not based on standard educational principles of like learning mathematics. The training received is firmly rooted in thought reform and control.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quoterrmoderator Note the distinctions between education, adverstising, propaganda, indoctrination and thought reform, which is used by "cults." If I may, I must respectfully disagree: - The military uses a tremendous propoganda campaign in order to entice new recruits. They appeal to primarily an 18-year old male's baser instincts: of wanting to conform, of wanting to belo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Lately, I have been coming to view military training as being very similar to cultic training. Even though Dr. Singer, one of the more promient anti-cult researchers does not agree with this view, as seen here: I feel that perhaps several things were overlooked: - potential military recruits do not have the full picture of what they are joining. Recruiters (at least here in NYC) emphasiz
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Agreed - part of wisdom is knowing what you don't know.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

# God's Senator - article about Opus Dei cult member, US Senator Brownback. From Rolling Stone. (January 25, 2006) # The Da Vinci Senator - Senator Brownback, an Opus Dei cult member, attempts to merge church and state by trying to change the US Constitution using a report from an Opus Dei-backed think tank. From AlterNet. (June 19, 2006)
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Is NVIXM having financial difficulties?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Excellent post. Within the Catholic Church, cults that will attempt to infiltrate university campus ministries for recruitment purposes include Opus Dei, Regnum Christi, Neocatechumenate and Communion & Liberation.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From what you described, your intuition sounds quite accurate. Many cult leaders will describe themselves as the center of all knowledge and enlightment. Cults also seek to provide little or no information to those outside the cult, similar to what you are experiencing. In addition, they also seek to isolate their members from "corrupting" influences, ie: those outside the cult who a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From what you described, it sounds like a fairly vicious cult. Many cults will physically separate recruits from the world for 3-5 days in an attempt to brainwash them. For example, the Landmark cult does this in an initial 3 day session, usually in hotels, from Friday to Sunday with a followup on Tuesday. Opus Dei, a cult in the Catholic Church, does this with 5 day retreats under the guise o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Excellent point Rick. It should be noted that banning cults can be a double-edged sword, since the cults could in turn come to power and ban anti-cult/free groups. And following up on what Rick said, cults do in engage in criminal behavior on a regular basis, such as harassment and stalking. Here is a Cease and Desist Order that has been used many times against the Opus Dei cult and can be use
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Secretive Opus Dei honours banker who was cut up with a chainsaw Opus Dei financier brutally executed Opus Dei banker in food scandal is found dead after cult meeting
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteupsidedownnewspaperAnyway, the best possible way of dealing with a terrorist attack would be to mis-allocate blame and become more powerful in doing so. Who'd continue with terrorist attacks if that were the result? Keep in mind, attacks from internal/external enemies can be staged by those looking for an excuse to increase their power. Recall the fire in the Reichstag in Germany; H
Forum: Terrorist and Extremist Groups

Followup article in Forbes about the NXIVM cult. Apparently they recuited 2 wealthy members of the Bronfman family in NYC:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Opus Dei cult links from dmoz.org:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi all - Some intel on the Jews for Jesus cult: - Major recruiting push over the past few weeks in NYC - Handing out massive amounts of pamphlets on streets of midtown Manhattan - Cult members have new t-shirts for this year's recruiting season - Overhead ads on subways - New website that transposes the name to make it seem like it is NOT part of the cult, when in fact it is: ww
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sounds very similar to cults in many respects - total control, obedience, group confession, and strict rules. Also when the person from the group states "trust me", that is a good indication that something is wrong.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotejoseph1Why do associates and or cooperators shadow,follow, bump, glare, stare at Catholics in Manhattan and Brooklyn? Opus Dei cult members will engage in such action so as to intimidate, harass and/or force critics into silence. They also use these tactics against those who are trying to break away from the cult. In such a case, the Opus Dei Cease and Desist Order is most useful:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote from Opus Dei in America, by Father James Martin: "Two priests I interviewed (who asked to remain anonymous) came into contact with Opus Dei while studying at Princeton in the mid-1980’s. In the course of their work with campus ministry, a divisive conflict arose between an Opus Dei priest and other members of the team. “Opus Dei was rather defensive about being secretive,” said o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotemaggieblueI've read that American members are flocking to join since Da Vinci Code. It is fascinating. It is very Catholic though, isn't it? Don't you have to be a Catholic to join? maggie It is important to take what the Opus Dei cult says (in this case, they are saying that they are getting more members) and turn it around 180 degrees to get some semblance of the truth.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It should be noted that one of the "sources" of the original poster was from The Epoch Times, which is a recruitment front newspaper for the Falun Gong cult. Here in New York City, they are given away for free in bright yellow boxes. Also, many of the members of the cult are forced to stand and sit in tortuous positions, (eg: sitting in 4 foot cages, sitting tied and bound, standing
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotewquercusQuoteThe Opus Dei cult is completely and totally autonomous, answerable to no one but themselves.Opus Dei is a personal prelature -- the equivalent of a non-territorial diocese. It's prelate answers to the pope, as does each bishop. The person making this statement is lying about the nature of Opus Dei and its jurisdictional status in the Catholic Church. This is incorrect. T
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotewquercusODAN is a one woman operation. One disgruntled person. And Mr. Moderator, the person to whom I was responding has said many times that among his issues with these groups is that they do accept and teach Church teaching. This is incorrect. ODAN has supporters throughout the Catholic Church, throughout the world. Once again, the issue is with the Opus Dei cult's recruitin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"