Put on your war paint @trixafaerie - Tumblr Blog

soberqueerinthewild

Shel Silverstein predicting ChatGPT in 1981

ace-sailor-uranus

tbh i think this poem is better served with the *whole* picture, don't you?

lynati

...Oh yeah.

chilliesh

charlesoberonn

America has a weird relationship with cults where they’re terrified of small cults (or organizations they think are cults) but completely normalized massive cults that hurt many more people (eg: LDS Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amish, Scientology, most Megachurches)

charlesoberonn

To anybody asking if the Amish are a cult, the answer is yes, very much so.

They’re a high control group that isolate you from society. The cult decides how you dress, how you behave, who you marry and how. They control what you know, blocking all information from the outside world. They control how you feel and what you’re allowed to think with threats of both social and supernatural harm. They’re a cult.

charlesoberonn

The best method to determine if a group is a cult, in my opinion, is Steven Hassan’s (cult expert and former cult member himself) BITE model.

BITE stands for Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, and Emotional Control.

The more points a group “scores” on the model, the more of a cult it is.

I think this model is the best one for several reasons:

It’s more nuanced than “cult” or “not cult” and doesn’t make false equivalences between groups

It’s versatile, applying to groups big and small, and cults of all kinds, religious, political, financial, etc.

It focuses on what’s important, which is what the cult does to its members, and those members’ experiences, and not on irrelevant details like how uncommon their doctrines are or whether they have a charismatic leader

charlesoberonn

This is a great example of Thought Control used by cults whenever they’re confronted with criticism.

saxifraga-x-urbium

#you might notice that there are a lot of similarities between cult techniques and those of abusive partners#and that is an important thing to be aware of

yah that goes in the post

charlesoberonn

The creator of the BITE Model considers abusive relationships to be two-person cults.

forgotn1

It’s important to note that almost every sect of evangelical christianity in the US today fails the BITE Model.

alp-crispy

This was the post that lead to breaking my JW mindset. Been a while since I seen it.

charlesoberonn

I’m glad I could help in your deconstruction, if only a little bit. I wish you all the luck in your journey moving forward.

tuulikki

And to highlight a key aspect of the “two-person cult” dynamic:

Not all high-control groups are religious. Secular cults exist.

I’d strongly recommend reading this brief bio of Janja Lalich. She’s a deprogramming therapist, but she’s also a cult survivor from a political cult.

loneleeghost

TELL ME IM WRONG, I DARE YOU

avadcniels

OBI-WAN KENOBI | PART II

manny-jacinto

OBI-WAN KENOBI (2022) Part I & II + text posts / tags (credit)

inadequate-nefelibata

The man. The myth. The legend.* *not necessarily in that order

Edward “Blackbeard” Teach OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022)

cungadero

the indescribable annoyingness that having new entry level knowledge into a field of study gives you is so unbelievably funny to me. babby psych students who become obsessed with diagnosing their friends with personality disorders for disagreeing with them. babby paleo students who get irrationally angry at plastic dinosaur toys for children. newly-identifying chefs/foodies who are ready to have a meltdown on anyone who cooks a steak to a wellness level they don’t enjoy. if youve ever wondered why every subreddit for every topic is Like That this shit is why