How the BLEEP did that happen?! - Episode 28
[I recommend going in numerical order with the Episodes. They build on each other.]
Episode 30 contains the full resource list.
In Episode 25 I wrote about the lengths devotees will go to to protect the leader or doctrine.
This means you will protect me against the non-believers, the infidel, the suppressives, the ones asking questions. They MUST be stopped! By ANY means necessary. Lies, Framing, False Charges, Extortion, Blackmail…. whatever! It doesn’t matter. (You don’t notice you’re doing the very thing you believe is bad) You are in a blind rage of zealous protection. And it feels so RIGHT! So JUSTIFIED!
People might ask: "Don't they realize they are breaking their own code of conduct?" The answer is a flat out... NO they don't. They've compartmentalized these behaviors. There are two kinds of moralities at play for them. Margaret Singer said it best in her book: "Cults in our Midst":
“Cults tend to have a double set of ethics. Members are urged to be open and honest within the group and to confess all to the leader. At the same time, members are encouraged to deceive and manipulate non-members. In contrast, established religions and ethical groups teach members to be honest and truthful to all and to abide by one set of ethics. The overriding philosophy in cults, however, is that the ends justify the means, a view that allows cults to establish their own brand of of morality, outside normal social bonds. For example, one large group introduced the concept of ‘heavenly deception,’ another introduced ‘transcendental trickery,’ and some of the neo-Christian groups introduced terms such as ‘talking to the Babylonians’ or referred to outsiders as the ‘systemites.’ Language such as this is meant to justify a double set of ethics, making it acceptable for members to deceive nonmembers”
An FBI report on the Unification Church states:
“One of the central doctrines… is what they call heavenly deception. It basically says that to take from Satan what rightfully belongs to God, you may do most anything. You may lie, cheat, steal or kill.”
People you love, who months before you considered your best friends, will not hesitate to conspire against you and cause untold damage. Even illegal acts. As hard as it may be to accept, it's just the way it is. You may find yourself:
Lied to.
Framed for something you did not do.
Having one or more people accuse you of something and deliver false testimony.
Having your best friends and family members turned against you.
Blackmailed.
Spied on (sometimes using your most cherished friends)
Harassed.
They may hire private security organizations to dig up 'dirt' or information on you.
They may conspire with other powerful organizations to help 'take you down'.
And that's just the warm-up.....
Understand, their zealotry knows no bounds and unfortunately neither does their morality. The leader knows best, so they blindly follow.
There's a film scene that illustrates this so disturbingly. In the movie Divergent, Four (Theo James) and Tris (Shailene Woodley) are deeply in love. A faction called the Erudite (all brains - no empathy) program Four to kill Tris, the woman he loves more than anything.
He is in a trance of sorts. A brainwashed DRONE.
In the case of this movie, he snaps out of it. Many times the 'devoted' do not.
To be continued....
Mark Vicente @2017