How Cults Work

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gruden2.0
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Re: How Cults Work

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ajax wrote:http://www.howcultswork.com/

• Instant friends.
This reminds me how in the last ward we were in, shortly after we arrived the bishop there assigned a woman to be my wife's friend, thus an 'instant friend'. I never figured that one out. Strange times.

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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gruden2.0 wrote:
ajax wrote:http://www.howcultswork.com/

• Instant friends.
This reminds me how in the last ward we were in, shortly after we arrived the bishop there assigned a woman to be my wife's friend, thus an 'instant friend'. I never figured that one out. Strange times.
no assigned friend would last long with me...
besides I have friends, friends as odd as I who enjoy and share my love of collecting rocks and lovecraftian horror and steven universe.

Fiannan
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Re: How Cults Work

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Sirocco wrote:
gruden2.0 wrote:
ajax wrote:http://www.howcultswork.com/

• Instant friends.
This reminds me how in the last ward we were in, shortly after we arrived the bishop there assigned a woman to be my wife's friend, thus an 'instant friend'. I never figured that one out. Strange times.
no assigned friend would last long with me...
besides I have friends, friends as odd as I who enjoy and share my love of collecting rocks and lovecraftian horror and steven universe.
That's not odd. :)

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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Well I am very picky about who I spend my time with, I can't imagine some random "assigned" person would gel well with me.

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Joel
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Joel
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Joel
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Joel
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BrotherOfMahonri
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Re: How Cults Work

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something to consider watching, i do not agree with entirely but appreciate the efforts made...

https://www.youtube.com/user/askreality/videos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Joel
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Re: How Cults Work

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BrotherOfMahonri wrote:something to consider watching, i do not agree with entirely but appreciate the efforts made...

https://www.youtube.com/user/askreality/videos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Image

BrotherOfMahonri
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Re: How Cults Work

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Joel wrote:
BrotherOfMahonri wrote:something to consider watching, i do not agree with entirely but appreciate the efforts made...

https://www.youtube.com/user/askreality/videos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Image
Where did you get that graphic? =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =))

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Obrien
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Re: How Cults Work

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Joel has a Urim and Thummim, thus allowing him to find all kinds of digital hilarity.

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Joel
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Re: How Cults Work

Post by Joel »

Obrien wrote:Joel has a Urim and Thummim, thus allowing him to find all kinds of digital hilarity.
BrotherOfMahonri wrote:Where did you get that graphic? =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =)) =))
:D Imgur!

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Joel
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Re: How Cults Work

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Cult Leader, Sun Myung Moon: Emperor of the Universe

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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Screw him, I'm the Emperor of the Universe!

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Joel
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Re: How Cults Work

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Sirocco wrote:Screw him, I'm the Emperor of the Universe!

:))

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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Joel wrote:
Sirocco wrote:Screw him, I'm the Emperor of the Universe!

:))

*possible rendering*

Image

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Joel
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Re: How Cults Work

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Looking powerful!

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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Need to be, I am the Emperor of the Universe!

Emperor Sirocco Jai-Li Shura Jasper Herculies-Rockefeller

KMCopeland
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Re: How Cults Work

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Jim Kelley wrote:May I present two dictionary definitions and then some personal observations?

In my 1953 large edition (takes two large books) dictionary the definition for cult is; “Extravagant devotion to a person, cause, or thing.” Wouldn’t that fit a religion that whole heartily worships Jesus Christ?

Now my 2000 college edition dictionary. Third definition; “A religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist.” Notice anything added here?
What I notice is that your 1953 dictionary isn't describing a cult, but someone who belongs to one. Looks to me like your 2000 dictionary is the better quality one.
Jim Kelley wrote:Just a side note: I looked up gay in the 1953 dictionary and the definition is; “Merry, sportive, brilliant, showy, loving pleasure, happy, cheerful.” Any changes since 1953?
I'm annoyed that we can't use the word gay the way we once could too. It's meaning has been sharply curtailed now. But there are still lots of others to choose from. We'll be all right.
Jim Kelley wrote:Here are my observations:

Starting way back there were movies (and I suppose books too) depicting “satanic cults.” This depiction was done quite well to paint the term “cult” as anything but righteous but only had to do with Satan and evil.

One of the later movies I am aware of depicting satanic cults for public consumption is the 1975 movie, Race With The Devil. Here is a link to a promo. I don’t think You Tube has this movie for free but for rent. Any way you can get the idea what this movie was about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqv6PIH_ymY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It would seem Satan did his homework well in brainwashing the public to be conditioned to think any religion that can be labeled as a cult is satanic.

Look at what is being said right on this thread. We are discussing all the anti-Mormon definitions for cult as if they really meant something when we should be exposing the anti-Mormon folly that changed the definition for the word cult to fit their anti-Mormon purposes. Obviously the anti-Mormons have succeeded judging from the newer dictionary definitions and many of today's conversations even on this thread.

It seems Satan wants to corrupt languages to fit his purposes. That is exactly why the words gay and queer have been destroyed today. Those were two perfectly good words that used to be used in everyday conversation. I personally think gay has been corrupted and adopted by the homosexual community to give the suggestion homosexuality is a merry way of life. I personally use the term homosexual instead of gay and queer.

Even the Nephite’s language was corrupted after a time (Moroni 10:32-33) so the end result was the BofM was harder to write and translate. But the Lord God knows all things and He provided a way for the BofM to be translated correctly for our day in English.

Satan isn’t doing anything on this earth that hasn’t already been done on other worlds before (Temple Endowment) so the corruptions of the word cult is only a part of Satan’s tried and proven plan to attack The True Church and should not be considered any more than that.

Bro. Jim
Jim, if you insist on ascribing demonic motives to changes in word usage, you've got your work cut out for you.

Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today.

Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and now it just means foolish.

Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe," which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.”

Wench: A shortened form of the Old English word wenchel (which referred to children of either sex), the word wench used to mean “female child” before it came to be used to refer to female servants -- and more pejoratively to wanton women.

Fathom: It can be hard to fathom how this verb moved from meaning “to encircle with one’s arms” to meaning “to understand after much thought.” One’s outstretched arms can be used as a measurement (a fathom), and once you have fathoms, you can use a fathom line to measure the depth of water. Think metaphorically and fathoming becomes about getting to the bottom of things.

Clue: Centuries ago, a clue (or clew) was a ball of yarn. Think about threading your way through a maze and you’ll see how we got from yarn to key bits of evidence that help us solve things.

Myriad: If you had a myriad of things 600 years ago, it meant that you specifically had 10,000 of them -- not just a lot.

Naughty: Long ago, if you were naughty, you had naught or nothing. Then it came to mean evil or immoral, and now it mostly just means badly behaved.

Eerie: Before the word eerie described things that inspire fear, it used to describe how people feel when they're afraid fear -- as in one could feel faint and eerie.

Spinster: As it sounds, spinsters used to be women who spun. It referred to a legal occupation before it came to mean “unmarried woman” -- and often not in the most positive ways, as opposed to a bachelor …

Bachelor: A bachelor was a young knight before the word came to refer to someone who had achieved the lowest rank at a university. It lives on in that meaning in today’s B.A. and B.S degrees.

Flirt: Some 500 years ago, flirting was flicking something away or flicking open a fan or otherwise making a brisk or jerky motion. Now it means something else altogether.

Guy: This comes from the name of Guy Fawkes, who was part of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. Folks used to burn his effigy, a “Guy Fawkes” or a “guy,” and from there it came to refer to a frightful figure. Now, in the U.S. mostly, it has come to refer to men in general.

Hussy: Believe it or not, hussy comes from the word housewife, and used to refer to the mistress of a household, not the disreputable woman it refers to today.

Egregious: It used to be possible for it to be a good thing to be egregious: it meant distinguished or eminent. Now it means that someone or something is conspicuously bad.

Quell: Quelling something or someone used to mean killing it, not just subduing it.

Divest: 300 years ago, divesting could involve undressing as well as depriving others of their rights or possessions. It has only recently come to refer to selling off investments.

Senile: Senile used to refer simply to anything related to old age. Now it refers specifically to senile dementia.

Meat: Have you ever wondered about the expression “meat and drink”? It comes from an older meaning of the word meat that refers to food in general -- not just animal flesh.

I think we give Satan far too much credit for things he probably didn't have a hand in. Seems to me he's probably got bigger fish to fry than to spend a lot of time changing the meanings of words.

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

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Yeah English does that a LOT its far more our language is weird then any other force.

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Joel
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KMCopeland
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Re: How Cults Work

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Fiannan wrote:Speaking of cults. Image
Sour grapes.

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Sirocco
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Re: How Cults Work

Post by Sirocco »

I remember I told missionaries I don't trust my feelings, I forget the context (it wasn't about the church or truth or anything).

But I do remember how different they approached me, I think they could see how different I was, obviously not the extent I truly was, I didn't let on how much I knew. I find people and psychology quite interesting, just watching others is fascinating to me.
Very interesting indeed.

I could never see a scenario where I actually feel guilty for watching pornography or drinking tea...

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