I am just hopeful enough…
At my last job the technician who worked in our group just casually dropped in conversation, months into knowing him, “Yeah, I used to be in a cult.”
I had so many questions. He acted like it was just a funny story from his past, but he lived in the Alaskan wilderness for years. He only left a few weeks before we met. He got married and had a child, and his family stayed behind because his wife was in love with the cult leader.
I asked “Why would you ever?” and he said that they made some good points about the nature of our reality. And I’m thinking “Dude, you still believe in the cult? You seemed so normal!”
I guess it happens to real people, too.
perhaps you need to spend more time with the nature in Alaska
We’re not a cult. We’re an organization that promotes love.
It’s a myth that “anyone can get caught up in a cult”. While it’s true that cults have snared intelligent and sophisticated people, cults exclusively target the emotionally vulnerable. Just like email scammers intentionally use poor spelling and grammar to exclude all but the most credulous, cults have barriers to entry that are going to weed out skeptical people. You often have to dress a certain way; theirs a crazy amount of nomenclature; and strict status and hierarchys to obey. Only the people who have a strong desire to belong and conform are going to tolerate that.
I don’t say this like oh, I’m too smart to be in a cult. I say it to emphasize that cults prey on vulnerable people.
I’m not all that bright, but I’m far too skeptical to get sucked in. As to status and hierarchies and obedience, aw hell no, not going to play along.
So would I get rejected right off, or are there strategies to hook people like me?
EDIT: Read some more comments and realized that, were I single, a sex cult could snatch me easily. I’ll put up with quite a lot to get laid regularly.
Yes and no. We all go through periods in our lives when we’re emotionally vulnerable. For the barrier at the entry, it’s not necessarily true. Most cults seem ordinary at first; the deeper someone gets involved, the more specialized language and rules they have to follow, and the harder it can become to recognize how much their perspective has changed.
It’s like the familiar “boiling frog” comparison: the water doesn’t become dangerously hot all at once. The changes happen gradually, so each new demand or belief can seem like only a small step from the last. By the time the situation feels alarming, the person may already be deeply invested and accustomed to conditions they would once have rejected.
This isn’t really a question of credulity at all.
Violet, you should run the sex cult.
My first thought was that I want to run a sex cult. Because my brain always goes to a joke first. But in all seriousness I feel like a sex cult would be a lot of work to keep up and I don’t think I have the motivation or energy for it. I don’t even think I could be part of a sex cult. They’d be like, time for the orgy, and I’d be like nahhhh…maybe I’ll just hang out over here with a coffee. I had a threesome in college and even that was a bit much, trying to do things for two people. Theres more pressure and more work. I’ll have my coffee and wife, please.
I’ll have the same thing he’s having - a coffee and his wife. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
We prefer the term swingers club.
Edit: I love the idea that the sole downvote I see atm implies he/she/they prefer sex cult.
Curiosity killed the cat
…but satisfaction brought it back
🙂↕️
Today looks like a fun cult. Where do I sign up?
