#cultthink

[timeisacephalopod]

People who say shit like "positive vibes only" are such a red flag to me because they expect you to be happy all the time regardless of circumstance or subject and like breh I'm not 'negative' for discussing sociopolitical issues that do in fact have roots in systemic violence that's just how the world works and your positive vibes ass prefers toxic positivity to reality. The mentality that you're either happy all the time about everything or you have 'negative' vibes is not just utterly braindead, it also often seems to serve the purpose of protecting the person who has that mentality from basically any negative reaction to their privilege, or even if it's not an ism thing that 'positive vibes only' attitude seems to be a way to avoid any discussion at all of the consequences of that person's actions. Can't do that, it's ~negative~ rather than like. A normal function of being alive, experiencing and sometimes causing negative emotions.

#winters ramblings #seriously every positive vibes only person is put off by my passion for social justice amd like ??? #how the fuck do you think I have the worse vibes when you cant even admit something besides deliriously happy exists??!? #im living in reality and reality means negative emotions exist and theyre not BAD to experience either #nor is my passion for social justive 'negativity' OR anger like these people seem to think #like sorry youre too up your positice vibes ass to know passion when you see it that sounds like a really sad life tbh #like i know im VERY passionate andthat can freak people out but like positive vibes people are the worst #talk about anything but shitting rainbows and sunshine and theyre there to remind you CultThink isnt on #so tirn up the positive vibes by ignoring any and all realities and also pretending negative emotions dont exist #im sure this will have no psychological consequences for you at all

[ultramaga]

How to instantly lose a debate I saw a feminist claiming that “feminist scholars” should debate MRAs, whereupon the poor Magachuds would dissolve into tears and run away. It puzzled me that a Feminist would call for a debate after sixty years of claiming that there was no debate, that you believed them or you were evil. Feminism is just another religious belief. Its starting point, as with Leftism, is that reality is a social construct, which is a claim that instantly makes debate pointless. By declaring that objective truth cannot exist, you are also declaring that the pursuit of it is futile. If so, why debate? How could you tell anyone that they were wrong if reality warps according to whatever the most people believe at a time? It’s a lunatic point of view. So I think it makes perfect sense that the Leftist here thinks debating means to scream until the opponent gives up, to try and drown out any points they might make, and to try and incite violence in anyone listening in. They inherited the tactics and mentality from the Feminists. It’s cultthink. It’s a total dead end unless you are dealing with the weak minded, which is why Feminists poured into the education system - to subvert the minds of the young and pervert them into madness. When the Leftist here said that all who opposed Leftism must be exterminated, that was a real mask off moment, and that is why I actually put a time limit on Leftism now. It needs to not only return to power in the next American election, but quickly arrest any of its opponents, because the longer we are around, the more we demonstrate to the middle ground folk that Leftists are ridiculous.

#youtube #Feminism #antifeminism #leftism #racism

[bandofchimeras]

Why to do things because you enjoy them for Catholic guilt havers with ADHD

First off: in Christian spaces the "rules" for how to be a good person are not often. Explained? aside from X is good bc it brings glory to God Y is bad because it hurts God. Highly ???? for any autistic or ADHDer trying to find the why, so we can build motivation to care about the thing in the first place.

Also most of deprogramming harmful cultthink is going, wait, why do I follow this rule after all? and how do I shift my values when guilt and fear are omnipresent goblins chasing me around my own metaphorical internal attic any time I try to "relax" and "enjoy life"?

Let's take for example, the notion of humility. Humility says you shouldn't do things for recognition and appreciation. Within Catholicism, it was based on this sense of pride being bad, yu have to give all the glory to God or....DIVINE WRATH but also, idk sometimes bad stuff will happen bc you got cocky, is the most practical way I could think of putting it.

But in secular United States of American fuckin adulthood, I'm learning that doing things for recognition as a replacement for "God Wants Me to Do This" sucks for other, much more compelling reasons.

Mainly, almost /no one/ will actually recognize your efforts, especially in the workplace. Especially if you're disabled and the basics are taken for granted, or you're poor, and surviving is a struggle every day.

ANYWAYS

1. To get any sort of recognition you have to not only stand out in a highly competitive marketplace environment, you have to recognize /yourself/ talk your shit, you have to put in 150% effort...if you're doing shit /for/ recognition, there's no way to sustain motivation through the down slumps where you're grinding your ass off and no one sees a thing you do.

That is the unpleasant reality of this system and world, most work is pretty thankless, and if you decide to have a chip on your shoulder about it, it just turns you into a bitter and resentful Misery Gremlin immune to life's tiny joys. Oh also, if you're a "minority" of any kind (read, an inheritor of generational exploitation and priming for abuse), you don't get extra thanks for the extra work, you get some half ass recognition sometimes that is usually exploitative (not compensating you fairly), MORE work and MORE people bitching at you for no real discernible reason other than their own unexamined stinky doodoobrain.

2. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON VAGUE INTEREST AND DESIRE FOR RECOGNITION if you already have a hard time making decisions, because everything is cool, this will murder your drive. Yeah if would be cool to be an acclaimed chef or a rockstar or an astronaut or or or ...this is how kids think and unfortunately also me living in a cool delusion of future coolness and funness mostly based on an aesthetic understanding of shit at a surface level. However it's not much better to ask "what am I good at" or "what do people want" as guiding factors...those can come in later but as a starting point, suck. The world needs SO MANY things. And maybe you have a knack for 20 different little skills or you love everyone you meet and maybe everyone needs food but also shelter and also love and so on and so on. Who knows what people want, or what your real true talent lies in, before you just start doing shit!

SO. I'm gonna quote Mark Manson, author of "How to Stop Giving a Fuck" here: find problems you love.

It is a PRACTICAL and LIFESAVING decision to do stuff that you enjoy, whether for work, or as a hobby, or for recreation, that also requires effort.

Stuff you love so much you don't give a rats ass if anyone ever sees it but also hope they do bc it's so damn exciting to you!!!! Even if it's terrible and ugly because what a fun puzzle that was! It will keep your motivation stacked! It will protect you against the demoralizing leagues of Misery Gremlins at work who want to siphon any living emotion out of you with an HR flavored straw! It will fill your cup and you won't need the recognition because you had a damn good time struggling with your own sense of creativity and living authority! Fuck God! Fuck the Patriarchy!!!! Vibe la revolution!

This is essentially Love, because loving people takes effort but with the right ones you'll be excited to do it.

You can do the things you enjoy, even if it feels bad and scary at first! If you get stuck in the misery business just offer up the needless complications caused by your guilt complex for the souls in HR departments (Purgatory).

#religious trauma recovery #Catholicism

[everetterice]

It sure is!! ER.

[theliterateape]

If Yogi Bear Were God, I’d Have This Thing Wrapped Up

by Don Hall

From a Letter from Pontus Pilate to Tiberius Caesar:

...from that moment I was convinced that the conquered had declared themselves the enemy of the conquerors; and I would warn the Romans to beware of the high Priests of this country. They would betray their own mother to gain office and a luxurious living. It seems to me that, of conquered cities, Jerusalem is the most difficult to govern. So turbulent are the people that I live in momentary dread of an insurrection.

At first I was apprehensive that his design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews. One day in passing by the place of Siloe, where there was a great concourse of people, I observed in the midst of the group a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected, so great was the difference between him and those listening to him. His golden-colored hair and beard gave him the appearance of a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years old. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a Contrast between him and his hearers, with their black beards and tawny completion!

I extended to him my protection, unknown perhaps to himself. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and address the people, and to choose disciples, unrestrained by any Praetorian mandate. Should it ever happen {May the gods avert the omen!} should it ever happen, I say that the religion of our forefathers will be supplanted by the religion of Jesus, it will be to this noble toleration that Rome shall owe her premature death, while I, miserable wretch, will have been the instrument of what the Jews call Providence, and we call destiny.

Pilate knew that he was witnessing a new religion forming when he saw Jesus speak. He could see the demise of Roman rule at the hands of this new prophet and gave him the freedom to speak publicly about it. People believe in things that inspire them or provide them with a road to dominance because religion is both a way to codify behavior for oneself and to then enforce that behavior from everyone else.

Back in college, I really wanted to date Diane. OK. That was coy. I wanted to jump her bones. There was chemistry but she was Mormon. Like, full-on Mormon. Her father was an elder at her church. She told me before we could date I had to talk to him first. He invited me to meet at the church.

“You want to see my daughter socially?”

“Well, yeah. Uhm. Yes, sir. I would.”

“We don’t allow dating outside of the church. Would you be interested in coming to some classes and workshops before I give permission?”

“I’m a college student. Classes and workshops are all I do right now, so sure.”

For six weeks I’d go to Mormon school. Diane would check in with me at lunch in the commons area to see how it was going. I sat through spiritual exercises, hour-long seminars on the history of the church, and workshops designed to indoctrinate me into this odd belief system. If something they told me was not unintelligible, it was vague. If neither unintelligible or vague, it was unverifiable.

Yet these decent people believed. They believed in the absurd story of Joseph Smith and his magic glasses and disappearing golden tablets. They believed that multiple marriages primed them to live as gods and goddesses in the afterlife (even though officially they denied this, the classes sure made polygamy seem like the path to follow). There was the whole thing about binding underwear.

“Well, Mr. Hall. You’ve passed your classes. Any thoughts about what you learned?”

I wanted to get into Diane’s pants but not enough to stop myself from being honest.

“Sir, no disrespect intended but I’d sooner believe that Yogi Bear was the Divine Creator before putting my faith in this nonsense.”

While leaving me with a six week case of blue balls the time was instructional although not in the manner expected. I wondered what was going through the minds of people who believed Smith when he told them his bullshit story? I’m certain some thought he was a loon, others thought he was maybe an idiot, but enough people believed that it started a new branch of Christianity. That’s big. A new religion in the midst of so many.

Like Scientology, the Branch Davidians, the Aetherius Society, the Gentle Wind Project, and the Reformed Druids of North America, it seems so many are looking for answers in cults so cults are born on the flimsiest of reasons with nonexistent means to verify their connection to truth.

Turns out it isn’t difficult to start a cult and gain followers.

Step 1: Choose a set of grievances and attribute them to an amorphous enemy.

In the odd quirk of being the only truly conscious animal on the planet, each one of us is the hero (or anti-hero) of our own private movie. Each of us, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, believe that our struggle is the Greatest Struggle (often in spite of all evidence to the contrary). The Cult of Personality functions by breaking that quirk down, effectively convincing people that someone else is the real hero and themselves pawns to his or her victory over the Other. The Cult of Personal Anguish exploits this quirk, enforcing that each of us has Greater Pain than anyone else and by attacking the Other, we each receive our due.

So pick one. Pick some slight you feel personally. Anything that makes you feel all the bad feels. You know, because you are misunderstood and treated with less...whatever you think you deserve. Hell, pick a couple that seem related.

Some examples might include:

You feel objectified by _____. You feel unheard by _____. You feel left out by _____. You feel criticized and shamed by _____. Your choices in life have left you with LESS than _____. _____ are happier or more fulfilled than you

Step 2: Use language to pre-emptively invalidate all criticism or questioning.

This is key. The idea is to take an already agreed upon set of words that denote injustice or abuse and gradually expand the meaning until your specific anguish is cloaked in them. That way, when anyone questions your logical conclusions, you can throw out those words and phrases and shut down dissent.

If someone is critical of a war, they are automatically supporting terrorists. If someone tells an off color joke in the office, he is automatically a sex offender. If someone points out the obvious connection of a flag to slavery, she is automatically attacking your cultural heritage.

By expanding the umbrella that words mean, you destroy the nuances of language. Like when the word "rape" — defined as sexual intercourse without consent — is attached to the word "culture" and suddenly paints a broader brush that covers pretty much anything men say or do. Attaching the word "verbal" to the very specific "assault" amps up the calling of names to felony territory. Add "heritage" to a long standing bigoted "culture" and it seems goddamned noble.

More importantly, let these words and phrases completely dominate your discourse. Find ways to attack anything and everything through the prism of your pain. Eventually you and your followers will begin to lose the ability to see the complexities of living on a rock with seven billion fucking people and only see society through that kalaidiscope of personal misery. The mere opening of a door can be construed as sexist. The practice of women's basic health 97% of the time is completely eradicated because of a legal surgical procedure. Everything a white person says or does is automatically racist in intent.

A Cult of Personal Anguish requires a huge degree of fealty to these horse blinders, this narrowing of the world within the tunnel of your personal oppression or it falls apart under scrutiny.

Step 3: Recruit others who either feel that grievance or gain something by identifying.

In the Age of Constant Connectivity, this is a breeze. White Supremacist groups would be pocketed away in small, dark corners if not for the internet. With this tightening of the world via digital communication, being heard by others who hurt the same hurts as you is easier than ever before. 

There are also on the periphery those who, while they don't exactly feel your specific pain, gain a sense of validation by identifying with it. These "allies" to your cause are good for numbers but don't count upon them if things get tough. While they can assist in many ways, these are just groups of seekers who feel that things aren't quite fair enough for them but have no esoteric pain to attach to. Your cause is like a t-shirt they can wear and feel included in something bigger than themselves. 

Speaking of, sell t-shirts. Your "allies" will buy them. That's how you can tell them from your True Believers and you can make a couple of bucks in the process.

Step 4: Create an “Us vs Them” Mentality

Essential. Without an enemy to blame your grief upon, your cult goes nowhere. Focus lots of energy in pointing out the differences rather than similarities. The similarities weaken your cult. The differences are the fucking gas on the fire. Using Step 2 to amp up the discord, be on a constant attack on the Other. Ignore those other groups who, perhaps, have some of the same grievances because YOUR cause is FAR more important than theirs.

Remember the propaganda of WWII that reduced all Germans and all Japanese to evil caricatures. Observe how FOX News demonizes anyone who doesn't fall in line with their narrow worldview. Find your version of Bobby Jindal or Ben Carson to turncoat against those you see as Them. Remember, this is WAR (because if you attach the word "war" to anything else, it automatically becomes a Big Deal).

Become a Single Issue Proponent. Anyone who is not completely loyal to your cult becomes a part of the cause of your hurt. This is a broad strokes, scorched Earth approach that has succeeded for thousands of years.

When called out on this focus, obfuscate the issue by claiming a broader definition of the problem/oppressor:

"I love all sinners but hate the sin." "When I say 'white people are racist' I mean the system is racist." "I'm not saying Mexicans are the problem. All illegal immigrants steal our jobs..." "I'm not attacking the Good Policemen just the 'bad apples' when I say Kill the Cops." "It's not a war on women. It's a war on what's inside of women."

Once you have these four steps nailed down, go organize. Get a non-profit status or a Super PAC to support you (I mean, while you are out there sowing the seeds of revolution, someone has to pay the bills, amiright?) and legitimize your cult as either a political movement, a righteous cause, or a religion. Look around — there are legal organizations surrounding the pain Christians feel about abortions they don't have, the anguish Southerners have when removing their flag, coercing airlines to increase seat capacity for the Differently Weighted, the misery certain people have when their kids read about evolution, and Online Bullying.

A generation of citizens with crushing debt and few genuine job opportunities can feel bereft of transcendence and meaning, and “becoming woke” fills that spiritual hole. “Woke” is religion without God which strips away all the trappings of what we know of religion, simplifies the complexities of things like racism, income inequality, and the environment, and is really easy. Like Christianity, you profess your wickedness, confess your sins, and tithe to the church and you go to heaven.

Like early Catholicism, you wage war on those unbelievers and call it conversion. Create a moral binary that dictates a ‘with us or against us’ scenario and hammer it home. Spin the soft bigotry of yesterday and make it antiracism. No one likes to be called a racist and with no way to demonstrate that one is not racist, the moral binary takes hold.

I’ve read the books and heard the arguments. I believe most in the current cult are decent people who somehow believe in their movement.

Should it ever happen {May the gods avert the omen!} should it ever happen, I say that the religion of our forefathers will be supplanted by the religion of Kendi and DiAngelo, it will be to this noble toleration that America shall owe her premature death.

As for me? I’d sooner believe that Yogi Bear was the Divine Creator before putting my faith in this nonsense.

#cultthink #pontius pilate #mormons #religion of the now

[benperorsolo]

True story I thought you were an anti blog back when you still had your Leia icon and I only realized you were Reylo-friendly after seeing you interact in reblogs with greyjedireylo! Like at first I clicked on one of your ask responses to a neutral SW question and saw the Leia-with-saber layout and I was like O SHIT ANTI!!! but a few months later I realized you weren’t, and now you’re one of my absolute fave Reylo blogs. Icon/URL paranoia is SO real

Awwww, thank you <33

I’ve gotten a lot of asks telling me that, hah. I switched to a Ben icon for the first time in years not to purposely deflect that (bc honestly who the fuck are antis to claim Leia and hate her son, I’m not capitulating to that), but just because I thought an illustration of Ben in a comic was cute. But now the whole SW enterprise has been soured for me, and I think the only characters I can enjoy fully without having to do this ‘is this a character or some hijacked mouthpiece for corporate/anti creepthink’ is Ben and Rose. 

In a weird irony, Ben and Rose getting so disrespected and shafted by the narrative turned them into the symbols of grassroots ‘true’ Star Wars, in opposition to the corporate creepiness of what the ~trio~ is and how it represents company takeover of SW’s real values. There really isn’t a coincidence in how most of the greater fandom view Ben and Rose as ~icky reylo~ things now.

#asks #nonnie #lol that's bc i was newly into sw and enjoyed leia for #you know #her character #and not whatever cultthink is going on with her in the caves of anti blogs

[notesfromanoutcast]

how do you deprogram an entire planet from cultthink without starting a physical war even though you’re already engaged in psychological warfare?