i belong to a group, that for certain common definitions of the word “cult”, is a cult.
one definition is "a group with novel/deviant beliefs/practices”, and like, i dunno, a group that (on the whole) believes that dancing is a good way to good spiritual (whatevers) is probably a group with some novel/deviant beliefs?
and also like, for suresies, i don’t tell people not in the area about it because they’re going to say “holy shit, you joined a cult”. (i suspect bay area people on the whole are less likely to call it a cult and more likely to be confused that it’s not a burning man camp.)
every few months i get concerned and conflate “novel/deviant practices/beliefs” with “is bad, causes harm to its members, does bad things to the world”, and i go looking for the lists of like... cult warning signs.
and the group fails them all, in the good way. take down the window dressing and it’s basically a well-organized club.
anyway i promised not-a-cult mom that i would do (the 2-3 year project) one day, so i guess i should.
