Corporations, businesses, they've got CEOs, bosses, supervisors that all adhere to strict structures and operational guidelines. Employees must follow the rules whether they want to or not or they're out of a job.

So that's the best example I could think of that many people might identify with.

Another example, the fitness gyms around here (Gold's, 24 hr Fitness, Sport & Health, etc) have been increasingly implementing a trademarked group fitness regimine series by Les Mills. It sounds like a guy's name. Les Mills. Well if it is a person, this Les Mills choreography is slowly taking over all of our group fitness classes, replacing much better, original, heartfelt choreography made by our home instructors.

I wouldn't be bothered by it if the choreography was interesting or offered variety or if it was even 100% safe. And safe it's NOT! Upright rows and bicep curls with barbells are contraindicated and not good for the glenohumeral joints / wrists, respectively.

What I feel makes this Les Mills choreography cultish is that as gym members these classes are our only options for those who prefer group fitness, so when we go to class we must follow along. It took me a few months to catch on, feel uncomfortable with certain elements, stop going for awhile, then come back and make personal adaptations which are healthier. But until I finally came around to making those adaptations, there I was with the other dumb sheep, following along not knowing what harm was being done to us.

Les Mills. Cult.

End of off LDS-topic rant.

Can you identify any cultish types of groups / activities in the mainstream?

Lifton's 8 criteria hold up pretty well.

The cult of essential oils is a big one these days. There are a lot of dietary and health cults. "Follow our crazy ass diet and you will be free from and immune to all disease, full of energy, and completely top fit in every way. Ignore the anecdotes of hospitalizations or lack of success, they simply didn't follow it properly."

I hear your Les Mills (and sort of semi-agree) and I'll raise you: College and NFL football. Sport as a cult.

Discuss.

Hazing from teammates, devotion to the team above all else, and other things can definitely contribute to a cult-like atmosphere in the locker room

An organization that does the majority of these things is a cult:

http://www.freedomofmind.com/Info/BITE/bitemodel.php

My definition of "cult" is very simple.

Any organization that commands and counsels it's people to only consider its "approved" literature or "official" self produced literature.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2014 03:04PM by deco.

Whatever you do, don't Wikipedia the word. It's Morg propaganda.

Here's a sample of a cult:

"The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth). (Smacks of the FLDS)

The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

‪The group is preoccupied with making money.

‪Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

‪Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. (Don't ever ask your Bishop/Stake Pres. any deep questions on the doctrine.)

Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.

‪The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group."


Here's a great site: http://whytheyleave.blogspot.com/p/cult-characteristics.html
"Why Mormons leave"

A cult makes you believe you are nothing without it.

Dietary cults:

Years ago, my former SIL, living in LA, decided that she needed these hormone shots that were supposed to help her loose weight. Caveat: These shots will only work if you are dedicated to getting a shot once a week, and maintain a dietary intake of 1000 calories per day. Oh yeah, and the shots cost $500 apiece.

we were over to her house for dinner around that time, and she said all she is eating for dinner is salad. Ok, that's cool. she brought out a bowl that would usually be reserved for the whole salad. That thing was huge. into which she put the salad, and bananas, and half a bag of croutons, and half a bottle of dressing. As I watched, she ate the whole thing. My thoughts were; If you eat that much all the time, you would always gain weight. Needless to say, It was way more than a 1000 calories.
Oh, and no one ever told her that if she only ate 1000 calories a day, she would lose weight without the shots.

She did this routine for about six months before she figured out it wasn't working. Some doctors are making a killing.

I think the difference is mind-control. You can have an almost Beatles like devotion to essential oil but that doesn't make it a cult. Most cult experts agree on 10-12 elements that are mind-control behaviors and if your religion, political group, marriage, health club etc. has the majority of the characteristics, then it's probably a mind-control organization and you need to run.

Think of it this way - a lot of medical conditions have lists of symptoms that define it. If you have the majority of the symptoms, your doctor will probably treat you for it or do further testing. But let's say your doctor thinks you might have clinical depression and need medication for it. You have the majority of the defined characteristics BUT a lot of people may suffer from one or two of the symptoms, on and off. Or to a certain degree. However, even though they have the symptoms, they don't match the criteria for clinical depression because the signs aren't severe enough or there aren't enough of them. Cults are the same way. Plenty of organizations may have one or two of the defined characteristics or may only have a certain degree of the cult-behavior but not enough to qualify as a cult.

There are plenty of websites out there where experts who've studied cults in depth define what they are and what mind control is. After reading a few of them, you'll see the same characteristics pop up again and again. You'll also see the difference between an occasional bad behavior by an organization and a full-on, dangerous mind control cult.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2014 03:30PM by CA girl.

Wise words. A lot of the "cult" behaviors are merely self defense mechanisms for a group. Often important to the health and integrity of the organization. The next step is to look at how destructive the organization is to those "mind controlled". For example, the military and corporations both have many characteristics, but few come out of those group completely maladapted and unable to operate in society if they leave (there are obvious exceptions, such as combat survivors, different issue though). Then you have examples such as the health fads or essential oils that may have fewer mind control characteristics, but the common health risks associated with these (such as, in the extreme case of the rare oil fanatic, a complete disregard of traditional medicine and real health care in favor of some smelly oils), they can cause real physical trauma, even death.

This is an important distinction a lot of cult experts make, and one reason why Mormonism is often ranked high on the "badness" scale. It has high mind control tendencies and is highly deleterious. Whereas a group like the often referenced cults of the 90s may be more immediately dangerous (koolaide for example), very few people fall for it, making it less impactful. Or in the case of sports or military, it really isn't that strong of a group think, and it isn't that harmful to "members".

Here's a little link I came across:

http://wisesloth.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/15-signs-your-church-is-a-cult/

You could apply this to Mary Kay, Amway, Chrysalis, or even any of those "motivational" workshops that lock you in for 24 hours.

When you do someone else's bidding without questioning, when you allow someone else's directive to supersede your own reasoning, when you follow orders actually work against your own best interest, you are in a dangerous CULT.

That is what Mormonism is. Yes Mormonism fits with most every list of cult characteristics, but the above is what really makes it dangerous.

When obeying is paramount and knowledge is not you are in a cult. When enduring is a requirement and understanding is not, you are in a cult. When you are told that all the implausible lies will be explained in the "next life." you are in a very dangerous cult.

After years of choosing the Mormon church over my own self, one day I chose myself instead. That is how you get out of a cult.

The only cult I ever liked was the Blue Oyster Cult, which, ironically, is not a cult.

In fact, TSSC meets only one or two criteria for being
a cult, and is not in fact a cult. Sorry to disappoint.

However, as experts point out: if your organization
resembles a cult even in only one or two ways,
you should still ask questions. Because cults are
so incredibly destructive, having even one or two
characteristics of a cult could be very bad.

donbagley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only cult I ever liked was the Blue Oyster
> Cult, which, ironically, is not a cult.


I sincerely hope that they helped you overcome a fear of the reaper...

One criteria that should get your alarms ringing.

We are better than the rest of the world. You are with us or against us.