If you were gonna join a cult...

[Farm Boy]

They're probably just operating under a different interpretation of cult? Tim seems to be, and I'm mostly inclined to agree with him on that one. It's something somebody calls somebody else like by definition.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I can't square with the concept of joining one. The premise itself annoys me.

In the spirit of the thread my answer is that the attribute most important to a cult I'd somehow be in is that I'm leading said cult.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I feel it's like asking "What kind of abusive boyfriend would you like to have?", or "How would you like to be tortured?", or "What terrible disease would you want to contract?"

Well that last one is obvious. I'd choose to contract Parkinson's Disease. Since I already have it...

 

[AmazonQueen]

I'm not a leader so none has to be the answer.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I don't think that's true. I think it's just that the only ones you hear about are the evil ones.

I've been thinking about this, not just that the common use of the term is implicitly negative (the word 'evil' makes me itchy), but that it's so non-specific, encompassing sex-traffickers, con artists, and people who want to start race-wars with Buddhist vegans and eccentric celebrities.

 

[Farm Boy]

That's because they're all people "operating under nefarious magics and sacrileges" as close to the center of the meaning as I can figure out. Maybe not quite always nefarious. Possibly crazily virtuous, if somebody is inclined to believe in something.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Did Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker run a cult?

 

[EgonSpengler]

Did Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker run a cult?

Now that you mention it, I was thinking about the 'prosperity gospel' people. You can add the whole array of televangelists that have made me scratch my head and say "what the..?" since I was little. I can't remember if it was Jim and Tammy Faye, but some of them used to come on after my cartoons when I was a kid, one at least one channel. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Now that you mention it, I was thinking about the 'prosperity gospel' people. You can add the whole array of televangelists that have made me scratch my head and say "what the..?" since I was little. I can't remember if it was Jim and Tammy Faye, but some of them used to come on after my cartoons when I was a kid, one at least one channel. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now.

Power grab, money grab. They built a TV cult based on fakery and deception.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Years ago I saw an infomercial for some "free miracle water." It seemed scammy.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Years ago I saw an infomercial for some "free miracle water." It seemed scammy.

Hmm... yes, that does sound suspicious.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Hmm... yes, that does sound suspicious.

I think the guy had a funny-sounding last name too, but I can't remember what it was.

 

[rah]

Was it beavis or butthead?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I was able to google it! Apparently he's been pulling scams for years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Popoff

 

[Hygro]

Been looking into this for labor reasons and tax benefits.

 

[dusters]

I am already in a "cult". It follows cats. Cats from another planet.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Been looking into this for labor reasons and tax benefits.

Churches get great tax benefits.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I've been thinking about this, not just that the common use of the term is implicitly negative (the word 'evil' makes me itchy), but that it's so non-specific, encompassing sex-traffickers, con artists, and people who want to start race-wars with Buddhist vegans and eccentric celebrities.

For that matter quite a few fringe political groups have had cult like elements to them from using methods like flirty fishing to recruit, expecting income and work from members, discouraging family and other outside social ties, excessive veneration of the leader, and even in the case of the WRP accusations that female members were expected to provide for the leader's sexual wants.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I am already in a "cult". It follows cats. Cats from another planet.

http://awfullibrarybooks.net/friday-fiction-rise-of-the-cat-overlords/

This particular title, set in the future, examines the aftermath of a planetary disaster involving a devastating virus. Leaving behind a ruined planet, humans took off for greener pastures. In the mess of what was left, a band of cats evolved into a complex, intelligent society. The humans, referred to as the Demons, have now returned. What will happen to this society and the peaceful earth now that the humans have returned?

 

[dusters]

http://awfullibrarybooks.net/friday-fiction-rise-of-the-cat-overlords/

I mean this:

"These are astounding revelations from our relative future, scientifically authenticated, covering: the transforming eventual pole shift; cosmic genetic engineering; the quasi-crystal mystery; the role played by radioactivity in evolution; science and the occult; and much more. Murry Hope, one of the leading writers on the metaphysics and parapsychology, reveals her channeled communications with the Paschats, a race of leonine beings from what we call our future. If you feel an affinity with felines, you will love The Paschats And The Crystal People, a fascinating and gripping revelation. These advanced friendly races of lion-people are watching, guiding and caring"

https://www.amazon.com/Paschats-Crystal-People-Murry-Hope/dp/1870450132