What does one expect from Cult Member when the sail down the Nile without a paddle---denial.
=========
freethought.mbdojo.com...
Is Christianity a Cult?
1998
Don't just react. Let us consider this question honestly.
How do YOU view members of a cult? Let's say, the Heaven's Gate cult, whose members all killed themselves in the hopes of riding the UFO in the tail
of Comet Hale-Bopp.
1) Probably, you would say that members of a cult have lost the ability to think for themselves. They abandon rational, critical thinking. (Most
normal people would not accept the idea of salvation in the tail of a comet.) Now, consider the claims of the bible- walking on water, parting of the
Red Sea, sticks to snakes, Jonah and the whale, Noah and the Ark, etc. Do people accept these things without question or critical thinking? They
most certainly do!
2) You would probably say that they do not have any thoughts that are different from their leadership. Now, do most Christians hold wildly different
viewpoints from their leaders? No.
3) You would also say that they do not question what their leaders say, and are willing to do ANYTHING they are told to do for salvation, including
the killing of others, or themselves. Most Christians would not question what their minister or priest told them, and they would do anything to
secure their salvation, if they were told to do it by their leaders.
4) You would say that they deeply and sincerely believe that they have found the truth, and that they are strongly defensive when they are confronted
on areas of their beliefs. This statement applies exactly to all Christians.
5) Also, you know that people who are in cults always deny that they are in a cult...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The indoctrination practices of Christianity are indistinguishable from any other cult.
How can I qualify this statement?
According to the Grolier Encyclopedia, brainwashing involves two aspects: the confession of past crimes or errors, and re-education to new beliefs.
Victims of brainwashing are "brought to confess" by "isolation from familiar surroundings", and a "routine requiring absolute obedience and humility",
and "social pressure" from other victims with whom they are in contact. "The last includes mutual criticism and self-criticism sessions, which play
particularly on the generalized guilt feeling that all people have to some extent. At the same time regular indoctrination sessions are conducted.
The acceptance of the new ideas is again fostered by group pressure and the anticipated reward of freedom."
These are the methods of Christianity.
More from Grolier Encyclopedia: "Improved understanding of psychology and neurophysiology have enabled modern totalitarian regimes to create
extremely effective brainwashing programs. Some of their techniques, however, have been used for centuries; the INQUISITION, for example, elicited
confessions from alleged heretics by similar methods. In the context of religion, some scholars have noted a parallel between brainwashing for
political purposes and the techniques used by some religious groups to generate religious excitement and conversion."
Again, Christianity. The parallel is observable in religions that use physical means (such as scourging, singing, rhythmic movement, dancing and
drumming) to induce a trancelike state in which the individual is open to conversion. It is also apparent in the mind-control practices of some of
the modern religions prevalent in the United States and elsewhere, most notably the People's Temple group of Guyana, whose 900 person membership
committed mass suicide in 1978.
What happens to individuals who have been psychologically abused and morally betrayed by
fundamentalist cult-like churches? How can they recover from the damage done? Physically leaving a church is relatively easy, but the emotional and
psychological departure can take months or even years. This is why it is hard to understand how any person can stay under a state of religious
influence - much the same way that people fail to see how battered women stay with their abusers.
Such dysfunctional and destructive cults of religion (whether Hari Krishna's, Moonies, Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate or Fundamentalist Christians)
often use manipulation, fear, and deception to maintain a hold on members. They also shower their prey with unbelievable amounts of affection and
approval for staying in the group and meeting their expectations ("love-bombing"). The religious cults discourage members from receiving information
from the outside. Thus it becomes a sin to read any "worldly" publications or "spiritual pornography." Cults establish their own distinction between
right and wrong, good and evil; everything in the group is positive (godly), and doubts, and serious questions are not tolerated. The authority of
the group's leadership is virtually absolute.
More on the URL----
=====
edit on 12-4-2012 by MagnumOpus because: A place called Christian's Denial of truth.