Evil Cults

Blog entry from "The Rantings of Eric Nehrlich",
http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2 003/11/15/evil-cults/ :

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Evil cults

(written 11/10/03) This is going to be a rant. It's not a reasoned
discussion, it's not an unbiased look at the facts, it's pretty
much just a rant. Go with it.

It started with a friend of a friend trying to drag people to a
Landmark Forum event, raving about how it had changed their life. I was
skeptical, to say the least. Landmark Forum, according to skepdic, is
an offshoot of est, which is itself an offshoot of Scientology. I
didn't end up going to the event, because it conflicted with another
obligation, but I did a little reading and thinking, and I'm mostly
just recording that here.

Here's what I don't get. Why do people believe in crap like this?
As far as I can tell, most of these cults (from Jesus Christ onwards)
have one message: "You're a good person. You are valued. Keep on
paying us, and we'll continue to value you." I can understand the
need for validation, and for external approval. I crave it myself. But
I don't understand why people think that such validation that comes
with a price tag is worth anything. I only hope I never get that
desperate.

It's a weird thing. Many of these programs, apparently including
Landmark Forum, strive to break down the participants in order to build
them back up. Things like refusing bathroom breaks, holding the
meetings at odd hours (Landmark Forum meetings are typically at 10pm, I
assume to take advantage of people being tired and slightly
disoriented, and therefore more impressionable), sleep deprivation, and
repetition of the core message. When you're broken down, then they
can build you back up, and you'll forever be dependent on them.

But, as my friend pointed out, even skepdic admits that sometimes these
programs help people. And that doesn't surprise me. After all, the
placebo effect helps people about 30-50% of the time even when dealing
with actual physical diseases. And I can even see how these programs
could help people deal with their life better, providing a crutch to
help them get on with their life.

The evil part is that, instead of teaching them to walk first with the
crutch and then on their own two feet, they teach them to walk with the
crutch, teach them to be dependent on the crutch, and then threaten to
take the crutch away unless they pay up. That's pure unadulterated
evil. I have a strong belief in the right of people to attempt to
achieve their potential, and deliberately crippling people with a
mental crutch like that flies in the face of all that I hold dear.
Teaching people to believe in themselves is valuable. Teaching people
that they hold their destiny in their own hands is wonderful. Teaching
people that to achieve their destiny, they must attend the advanced
course is pure poppycock.

The other thing that I thought was interesting was that this friend of
a friend apparently made a comment to the effect of "I really got to
reinvent myself" at a Landmark Forum event over the weekend. My
immediate thought was "So is 'reinventing myself' code for
'making myself feel better about myself'?" I'm skeptical that
one can "reinvent" oneself in the sense of making measurable
alterations in one's behavior over the course of a weekend. One's
behavior is so locked in by nature and nurture that changing anything
fundamental about yourself is really really hard. Learning to accept
one's limitations and working within one's behavior patterns is one
thing. Changing them is another. I've spent a lot of time trying to
change what I don't like about myself, and have learned there's no
shortcuts. There's no easy path. It's long, it's hard, it's
miserable, and sometimes it's just not worth it, and you have to just
accept the way you are.

I can definitely see the appeal of somebody offering a shortcut. I'd
love to become instantaneously more sociable and more comfortable
around people. But it doesn't work that way. It's the equivalent of
dieting. Dieting, in the end, is about eating right and exercising.
There's no shortcuts. But that doesn't stop people from trying
every fad diet that comes along, and paying for the right, to the tune
of $40-100 billion a year in the US. I see these programs like Landmark
Forum to be the mental equivalent of the diet industry. They're there
to give you a temporary boost, which is doomed to fail in the long
term, so that they can get you to pay more money for another go-round.
And the real solution is free and available - it's just hard work.

Anyway. I think I've said what I want to say for the moment. I'm
sure I'll come back to this subject over the next few days.