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Should we be so tolerant of cults?

By Brian Holden - posted Tuesday, 13 September 2011


Being caught-up in a cult has to be harmful to the core of oneself. We all have a powerful need to feel to be somebody. This is expressed in our possessions, the friendships we select to nourish, the status we seek in an organisation and the skills we develop. But Janny as a nun is dressed in a uniform covering all skin except face neck and hands. She spends a significant amount of the day on her knees praying. Her day has the schedule of a prisoner doing hard time. She is, thus, being reminded by the minute that she is a humble person.

Working for God or a working under a bully-boss? Whatever the means the outcome is the same - an individual, by coercion or by direct force, is unjustly subjected to the will of another. In the workplace that is against the law - and yet when religion is involved, we turn a blind eye. As we move to legislate against nicotine being freely allowed to hardwire vulnerable brains, then should we also legislate against programmed subordination being freely allowed to hardwire vulnerable brains?

The potential to develop a cult mentality is not only exploited by mainstream and fringe religions. It is also exploited by dictators. The situation then is analogous to a woman terrified of her partner, but in a relationship she cannot extract herself from, pretending to herself that she loves him. If this is kept up for years, the brain becomes hardwired. We see the tragic results of this in North Korea.

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I was reminded of how deep neurologically programmed subordination can go when Nikita Khrushchev stood up at a party congress and denounced Josef Stalin as a tyrant. Some older members of the audience shook with fear at the sound of Krushchev's words - even though the tyrant's body had been cold for three years.

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About the Author

Brian Holden has been retired since 1988. He advises that if you can keep physically and mentally active, retirement can be the best time of your life.

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