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orthodoxymoron · 03-04-2010, 03:08 PM

Thank-you for posting this Anchor. Perhaps we need to be saved from our saviors. My guess is that a lot of people (and aliens?) start out with good intentions...which subsequently pave the road to hell. I don't really know what the proper balance point is regarding leaders and followers. Perhaps a leader who teaches followers to be leaders is a good sign. Perhaps we need a plurality of facilitators rather than leaders. I don't know. I watched an interview with L. Ron Hubbard which I thought was very good...but I wouldn't touch Scientology with a 100 foot pole. I grew up in a church which many have called a cult. I later attended a megachurch headed by an extremely charismatic and articulate televangelist...with cultish characteristics. I ended up being disillusioned by both organizations...although I learned a lot from both of them. Perhaps the bottom-line is that "Power Corrupts. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." Perhaps the first and last commandment should be "Thou Shalt Have No Gods". Perhaps all paths are problematic...and that we should not have unreasonable expectations.

'Called to Be Free' is a video about the upheaval and transformation in the Worldwide Church of God. Even if you are not interested in religion or spirituality...it is a case study in human behavior, group sociology...and how change occurs in a religious organization...or any organization. YouTube - Called To Be Free What happened to these people can happen to you or me. It's about leadership, abuse of power, gullibility, money, etc. Learn from other people's mistakes. People can dispense with one delusion...and accept another to replace the first. How about everything being up for grabs...all the time? Is this too emotionally upsetting? We desire certainty and peace...yet the world around us is constantly changing...and people and paradigms are in collision. Do we have to lie to ourselves and others...and live in a dreamworld...in order to find peace with ourselves and others? Can New Agers be just as deluded as the Old Agers? Can a very cool and hip new age guru take people for a ride just as easily as a Bible-thumping fundamentalist egomaniac in a megachruch? I'm beginning to despair regarding learning the lessons necessary to properly conduct business on Earth. The propensity of humanity toward delusion is disillusioning...to say the least. The gravitation toward sensation...will sink us. The lessons which one can learn from this video...can be applied to all religious and philosophical systems...especially where charismatic leaders and group peer-pressures are involved. One can think that they are right...and that there is no way that they could be wrong...yet in a few short months or years...they can find themselves drowning in disillusionment. I predict that there will be videos similar to this one regarding the New Age Movement. People have been burned over and over again...throughout the centuries. Please learn the lessons derived from the rude awakenings of the people in this video...and apply these lessons to the contemporary alternative thinking scene. I realize that we need to rethink everything...but that we need to rethink our rethinking...in most cases.

Namaste

03-04-2010, 03:08 PM	#21
orthodoxymoron Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Lunar Base II Posts: 3,093	Re: Cults! Thank-you for posting this Anchor. Perhaps we need to be saved from our saviors. My guess is that a lot of people (and aliens?) start out with good intentions...which subsequently pave the road to hell. I don't really know what the proper balance point is regarding leaders and followers. Perhaps a leader who teaches followers to be leaders is a good sign. Perhaps we need a plurality of facilitators rather than leaders. I don't know. I watched an interview with L. Ron Hubbard which I thought was very good...but I wouldn't touch Scientology with a 100 foot pole. I grew up in a church which many have called a cult. I later attended a megachurch headed by an extremely charismatic and articulate televangelist...with cultish characteristics. I ended up being disillusioned by both organizations...although I learned a lot from both of them. Perhaps the bottom-line is that "Power Corrupts. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." Perhaps the first and last commandment should be "Thou Shalt Have No Gods". Perhaps all paths are problematic...and that we should not have unreasonable expectations. 'Called to Be Free' is a video about the upheaval and transformation in the Worldwide Church of God. Even if you are not interested in religion or spirituality...it is a case study in human behavior, group sociology...and how change occurs in a religious organization...or any organization. YouTube - Called To Be Free What happened to these people can happen to you or me. It's about leadership, abuse of power, gullibility, money, etc. Learn from other people's mistakes. People can dispense with one delusion...and accept another to replace the first. How about everything being up for grabs...all the time? Is this too emotionally upsetting? We desire certainty and peace...yet the world around us is constantly changing...and people and paradigms are in collision. Do we have to lie to ourselves and others...and live in a dreamworld...in order to find peace with ourselves and others? Can New Agers be just as deluded as the Old Agers? Can a very cool and hip new age guru take people for a ride just as easily as a Bible-thumping fundamentalist egomaniac in a megachruch? I'm beginning to despair regarding learning the lessons necessary to properly conduct business on Earth. The propensity of humanity toward delusion is disillusioning...to say the least. The gravitation toward sensation...will sink us. The lessons which one can learn from this video...can be applied to all religious and philosophical systems...especially where charismatic leaders and group peer-pressures are involved. One can think that they are right...and that there is no way that they could be wrong...yet in a few short months or years...they can find themselves drowning in disillusionment. I predict that there will be videos similar to this one regarding the New Age Movement. People have been burned over and over again...throughout the centuries. Please learn the lessons derived from the rude awakenings of the people in this video...and apply these lessons to the contemporary alternative thinking scene. I realize that we need to rethink everything...but that we need to rethink our rethinking...in most cases. Namaste Last edited by orthodoxymoron; 03-04-2010 at 04:00 PM.