Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cult

Is Amma the Hugging Saint a benevolent guru or a cult leader, and if so has my friend joined a cult?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:06:54 -0800

Has my friend joined a cult? One of my closest friends (let's call her Alice) has spent the last couple of years in India, and is now a follower of a guru called Amma (AKA. Mata Amritanandamayi, "Amma the Hugging Saint" etc). This is a fairly new thing for her, as previous to this she was something of a hedonist and wasn't really what you'd call a spiritual person. That said, she travelled to India with the intention of having a spiritual journey, so I'm sure that she found her own way to the ashram, and as she tells it she definitely had an epiphany in the presence of Amma and hence became a convert. And most importantly, she seems happy, whereas she probably wasn't before.

So no problem so far. I'm an atheist/skeptic sort of person myself, but I can see the value of faith to people so I'm not criticising her choice on that front. A couple of aspects of her beliefs make me uncomfortable, specifically the rejection of anything from her previous life that she now associates with "negativity" (which includes downbeat films, noisy music, and some types of intellectualism or criticism for want of a better way of putting it), and also as an anti-authoritarian, the idea of submitting yourself to a self-proclaimed guru seems wrong to me.

Now, up to this point I thought that that lifestyle wasn't for me, but was probably no bad thing for Alice. I have to say that at this point I've had very little contact with her recently, but such contact as I've had hasn't been worrying at all.

But I've just found out that another close friend of hers (we'll call her Betty) has apparently been researching Amma and is convinced that Alice has joined a cult, and is deeply distressed by this.

So I've done a google myself, and there do seem to accusations and counter-accusations flying about this, and I don't know what to think any more. It seems like a lot has been written on the subject, but then again some of the cult accusations are linked to via the David Icke website, which raises warning signs itself.

So, is Betty right? Is Amma a cult leader? How can I tell if Alice really has joined a cult or is just following a leftfield religion? If she has joined a cult what should I do? And if it really isn't a cult, how can I convince Betty of that?

Skinned Goats and Film Reel

Juliet Banana — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:50:45 -0800

I'm on a search to find a movie that can live up to The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Please recommend trippy, surreal, psychedelic cult movies. I'm having trouble finding these films because I'm not looking for what "cult movies" are traditionally defined as. No zombies, no horny female prisoners, no giant bugs, nothing that could be shown on MST3K.

We've been calling them Fucked-Up Movies, for the lack of a better term. They blow your mind. They creep you out. As soon as you finish one, you want to inflict it on someone else. You can't stop quoting them. They're visually stunning, and have enough philosophical, intellectual, and spiritual depth to invite viewing after viewing.

Holy Mountain, as mentioned, is the epitome of Fucked-Up Movies. I honestly don't think I'm ever going to find another movie I love as much as Holy Mountain, but I know there's more out there for me to find.

I've seen most of Jodorowsky's work (El Topo is a close runner-up to Holy Mountain, Fando y Lis was crazy surreal and I'm still confused by it, La Cravate was adorable early work). I'm still looking for Santa Sangre, and I'm not sure if Rainbow Thief will be disappointing.

I watched Zardoz, a retro-futuristic parable laced with sex and violence and almost-naked Sean Connery, based on the recommendation of Hipster Musings. I also stole the term "Fucked Up Movies" from her. Zardoz totally changed my life, and gave me hope that Holy Mountain hasn't ruined all other movies for me forever.

Clerkdogs recommended Space is the Place, a trippy 1970s Sun Ra vehicle about liberating the Black race from Earth and into outer space, and I loved it.

Liquid Sky was chockablock with acid-trip neon visuals and certainly extremely weird, but it was also really eighties and terrible. Not perfect, but it's definitely a fucked up movie.

Head (the Monkees movie) is a lot more light-hearted than the rest of these, but undeniably drug-inspired and nonsensical.

I'm trying to stay away from too much gore, but Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom seems to be plenty fucked up, with politics switched in for spirituality. Still trying to muster up the stomach for it.

I also probably haven't seen as much Lynch and Cronenberg as I should, so recommendations for specific movies in their filmographies is welcome.

There's got to be more out there; I'm sure you're all about to embarrass me with my lack of film knowledge. Please do.

Why do nerds/geeks like Monty Python so much?

ShameSpiral — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:20:22 -0800

Why do nerds/geeks like Monty Python? It is a truth universally acknowledged that poindexters prefer Python. But why? Other classic nerd obsessions seem readily explicable - Star Trek, for example - but I've never really understood what makes Python so very appealing to nerds. Can you explain it?

The only explanation I've been able to come up with is that Python routines often develop logically from an absurd premise, which would appeal to nerds' respect for logic, and that this kind of humor exposes the arbitrariness of many social rules, which would appeal to a demographic that, at least according to stereotype, finds it difficult to deal with the ins and outs of interpersonal communication. But this kind of humor is not exclusive to Python, and seems insufficient to explain the intensity of the cult.

I've observed this phenomenon among nerds from many English-speaking countries, so I'm not looking for explanations that focus solely on Python's American fans.

Saddam in Mauritius?

Skeptic — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 04:25:54 -0800

This summer, I was vacationing in Mauritius when I got lost, near the town of Pamplemousses, North of the capital Port Louis. Trying to find my way among the sugar plantations I drove past an isolated house that was festooned with old-style Iraqi flags. The entrance was guarded by two guys in "Republican Guard"-style military fatigues, black berets and all. I prudently decided against stopping, never mind taking pictures, but the question has been bothering me ever since: WTF was that about?! A cult and/or weird political grouping? Or is maybe Saddam alive and well in a tropical paradise (one would think he'd be a bit more discreet about it)? Despite my Google-Fu, I haven't been able to find an answer, so I turn to you, dear MetaFilter friends: Does anybody know what that was about?

So it's a cult. What now?

finding.perdita — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:52:39 -0800

I think I've accidentally got myself involved in a cult. What should I do? (warning - very long post inside) Step 1 - a friend of mine recommended a Korean-based accupressure treatment for stress. I had some treatments. Worked wonders. £30 a pop - good value. The atmosphere of the centre is lovely - it's very relaxed and everyone is very friendly.

Step 2 - treatments are good, but my practitioner recommended that in order to maintain the benefits, that I start classes. Classes involve a combination of chanting, movements (like tai chi or yoga) and meditation. I signed up. And it's working - I'm less stressed and more able to focus on and work on the issues that make me stressed. Works out at about £6 a class - again, good value. I'm at Step 2 (the steps are divisions I've made up, they're not official divisions of the organisation).

Step 3 - the practitioners are suggesting that in order to get the most benefit from the "energy", I should sign up for advanced training which seems to involve talks and ritual ceremonies. It costs around £4000 for this stage. I was interested, but I have no money at the moment (postgrad studies) and pointed this out to them. They're sympathetic. (I'm no longer interested - see below)

Step 4 - additional advanced training (don't know much about this but it's equally costly)

Step 5 - can become a practitioner, involving additional training in Korea, signing over possessions to the centre, living in the centre and spending all my time as a volunteer giving treatment to both paying customers and those in need (emergency services workers, the homeless, people in old age homes, AIDS patients etc)

So far, so dubious, but the focus on giving back to the community is genuine. And the practitioners are genuinely caring and committed. And there will always be naysayers for any quasi-religious organisation.

BUT - I googled the organisation a couple of weeks ago, and Google threw up a "Organistion X Cult" link, which I followed. Turns out that the couple who started the organisation 30 years ago were jailed in 2000 for a $35 million fraud, for having set up a Doomesday Cult saying that the world was going to end in Feb 2000. Which, clearly, it didn't. The organisation changed its name and kept going with a different focus. The wife has come out of prison and is still running things from Korea. So the organisation that I'm a part of is directly linked to people who set up a Doomesday Cult only a few years ago.

So I've concluded that it's a cult.

Question - what do I do?

I want to keep going to classes. I enjoy being at the centre. Should I keep going or would that be a bad thing?

I believe that most of the practitioners have no idea of the background of the organisation and have joined the cult without realising that it's a cult. I've got to know a couple of them quite well and care about them. Should I make them aware of this? How can I help them? (Can I help them?)

Should I challenge the organisation as a whole about the founders' Doomesday Cult? How should I address this? I accept that if I do this, I'm likely to be asked to not return (in which case, I'll take up Tai Chi and meditation separately!)

Is there anything else I should do? I'm concerned that other people may be sucked in. But I think that the UK brahch is run by the book as a charity and there's probably nothing there that the authorities could work with.

What was the name of the creepy book I read in 7th grade?

odayoday — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:36:30 -0800

Bookfilter: I can't remember the name of a book I read in 7th grade (circa 1987). It's about a school in which a teacher starts a club to teach the kids about the power of groupthink. In the club the kids are divided into groups with armbands and symbols, and at some point things get out of control and the group becomes cult-like and disturbing. Does anyone have any idea what this book was called?

Cult or Not?

jpburns — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:42:59 -0800

I just saw a group of folks at the cafeteria in the DeKalb Farmer's Market in Atlanta, and I'm trying to figure out... are they a cult? A group (maybe 10) of men and women, with children and teens. Mostly white but one black woman. The weird thing that caught my eye was they they were all wearing hempy-natural-fiber looking simple shirts or long dresses over t-shirts and "normal" clothing.

I shoulda walked over and asked, "Pardon me, are you a cult?," but something told me that might be rude.

So... were they?

Thanks in advance.

I know I've seen this guy before.

phunniemee — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:04:35 -0800

Who is the guy in this poster? I have been trying to find out who the man in this picture is. He looks so familiar to me, but I just can't seem to place him. My gut feeling is that he's a writer, but he could be an actor or scientist or something.

Through some internet sleuthing, my friends and I have traced the image itself down to a website for the Spiritwatch Ministries (whatever that is), and I emailed the wife of the guy who wrote the article (who happens to run the page) to ask where they got the image and what they know about it. (Haven't heard back yet, and it doesn't appear that I ever will.) We traced the slogan-as-poster to an ad campaign for the Episcopal Church, but I don't know if it's the same one, since it's just briefly mentioned on the bottom of the page.

If anyone knows who he is, or has any clues about the origin of the picture, please let me know! It's been driving me crazy for over a week now.

People I'm nearly 100% certain he's not, but I'd like a second opinon (because the suggesters of these people keep insisting that they're correct):
Richard Dawkins
Christopher Lloyd
Barry Lynn

p.s. I finally joined metafilter after being a long-time reader specifically to ask this question, so I really hope you guys can pull through!

Has fan response ever saved a TV show?

forallmankind — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:29:38 -0800

Has fan response ever saved a TV show? When cult TV shows are cancelled, oftentimes the fans try to get their show renewed through petitions, mailing drives etc. - has there been any cases where networks have responded to these fans by renewing a show they'd just cancelled?

Bonus question: do networks have a contingency plan for when this happens? For example, according to Wikipedia the cancellation of Carnivale generated 50 000 emails in one weekend - that must have been a royal pain in the a$$.

How to find current information on the day-to-day practices of the Church of Scientology in Berlin

omnigut — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:01:52 -0800

I'm researching Scientology in Berlin. Anyone know what they're up to in this city either on a day-to-day basis, or politically? Or what sites I might search to get the relevant information? I should add that I don't speak German. I am asking this here because although I can find many articles and videos etc about the opening of a big "church" in Berlin, I can't find much about what effect it's having now, in 2008. I need to do a paper on the Berlin/New York differences with respect to Scientology, and I'm finding current information hard to come by. Thanks!

PPS, wasn't sure if this fit in the "religion and philosophy" section or the "work and money" section...

Please help me find great, unknown "hidden gem" soul and R&B artists.

amanlikeme — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:54:53 -0800

I've recently started devouring 60's and 70's era soul and R&B music. My favorites are Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, etc. I feel I've mastered the well-knowns, and am now looking for lesser known artists in the vein of Howard Tate: fantastic, but virtually ignored by the masses. Can you help me find other cult favorites / hidden gems?

What do you get the guy whose seen everything?

Gucky — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:27:52 -0800

What do I put in a cult/horror/art/indie film care package for my (really non-traditional) dad that he hasn't seen? My dad's going through a set of really grisly surgeries and needs entertainment to get his mind off of it, so I want to send him some DVDs. (He can't read, due to an issue with his eyes, as well as the pain killers.)

The problem? He's got awesome taste in movies already and I've sent him everything I think would be just his thing -- and then some.

This is a guy who took me to see LIQUID SKY and THE SHINING when I was a kid. His favorite films tend to be weird-awesome-cult -- FORBIDDEN ZONE, PINK FLAMINGOS, MAN BITES DOG, KILLING ZOE, THEY LIVE. He was very involved in film in the '80s so he's seen most of the "important" cult works from then and before.

He takes great pleasure in exposing the small town biker folks around him to stuff that "blows their mind" -- whether that's MEET THE FEEBLES or Gwar concerts on tape. He thinks Rob Zombie is the coolest ever (he fancies himself an evil hillbilly).

I've sent him BATTLE ROYALE, SKIDOO, OLD BOY, FORGOTTEN SILVER, SERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS to positive reviews. He enjoys things like JACKASS TWO as well as ERASERHEAD. He hated HOSTEL, thinking it was too stupid and exploitive -- not enough plot.

He moved to the middle of nowhere a little over 10 years ago, so anything recent has a better shot of wowing him. He's tended towards American cult, so foreign might have a better shot. He will have seen anything that gets run on standard cable.

He's requested DEATH PROOF and PLANET TERROR. I'm throwing in HOLY MOUNTAIN and MISTER FREEDOM for good measure. What else can I send his way? (I buy media, so things that are available DVD are best, but I'll scrounge up a bootleg if it's perfect.)

Did the subway sarin incident go to plan?

The_Partridge_Family — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:54:42 -0800

SarinGasFilter: in the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, 5 team members released a total of 5.5 litres of liquid sarin at 5 different locations. According to this Wikipedia article, "a single drop of sarin the size of the head of a pin can kill an adult," yet the total deaths = 12. Were Aum Shinrikyo aware that their sarin was spectacularly bad/ impure/ degraded, or were they aiming for significantly more fatalities?

Do we need a lawyer or a deprogrammer?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:05:21 -0800

Some family members have gotten involved with a cult/pyramid scheme called Psi Seminars. They've been spending money they don't have (up to $4000/seminar, for which they travel to another state and have to stay in hotels) and it's wreaking havoc on their lives. One has lost his home, two are threatening to end their marriages and are alienating their grown children. They are demanding that our relationships with them be within the context of us paying them to attend these seminars as well. One of the family members is my godmother. One is recently detoxed from a heavy chemical addiction. All are vulnerable as hell and looking at this as the cure for sadness, loneliness, addiction, boredom and the heartbreak of psoriasis.
Now they are trying to start seminars here in our state and on top of their being taken advantage of, We're worried that by bringing a pyramid scheme accross state lines, they are opening themselves to criminal liability. How can we open their eyes to the danger that they are in, emotionally, legally and otherwise? Does anyone out there know a good deprogrammer?

How to get a friend out of a cult

adamrice — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:07:54 -0800

I have a friend who has gotten involved in Avatar, and I want to disengage her from it. She first got involved about 9 months ago; at the time, I knew nothing about Avatar but was instantly suspicious. The more I've learned, the less I like it. She's taken at least three of their courses—these courses are, naturally, very expensive, and she doesn't have a lot of money to throw around. She's actually put what had been her primary source of income on the back-burner and begun teaching these Avatar classes, if I understand correctly.

I don't have direct contact with the rest of her social circle, though I could probably find ways to reach them. Her friendship is important to me, so I don't want to just give up on her. I'm not sure how to broach this with her in a way that will express the gravity of my misgivings without alienating her, or (more importantly) pry her loose. I'm pretty sure she intuits my misgivings, so she'll tell me "I'll be out of town for an Avatar course," but will say very little more than that about it to me.

YALT : Yet Another Landmark Thread

eurasian — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:03:20 -0800

Landmark Filter! Ok, so there have been a few discussions on Landmark Forum, what I would like to know, is what texts/books can one read to get at the main chunks of its philosophy? Ok, so 2 friends of mine are into this. And I'd like to learn what exactly it teaches. Since I'm a book learning sort of person, and have no desire to drop that sort of cabbage to be brain wa-- I mean instructed, I'd like to read as much LM philosophy as I can. So far, the only book I've seen mentioned that is fodder for LM is the I, Ching. For those of you who have researched LM or have taken it, what books would more or less cover what LM is regurgitating?

Has my friend joined a cult?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 08:40:40 -0800

Has my friend joined a cult? A friend of mine has become very immersed in a religion (?) called ECK. From what I have read, it doesn't seem like a very good thing, but all faiths have websites with people complaining about how awful/evil they are.

Does anyone have any experience with this group, or can tell me if this is a cult, and if so, what are the long term negative effects belonging to ECK could have on my friend? Is this a lose all your money type thing, a Heaven's Gate cousin, or niether?

What religion, cult or group is this?

andraste — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 16:16:24 -0800

Who are these women with long hair and headscarves, who always wear red or blue? Over the past couple of years, I've sometimes seen a group of young women travelling together at airports, often with an older woman who I suppose acts as some kind of mentor or chaperone. The common characteristics are that the girls all have long hair and usually wear long skirts; they usually wear small triangular headscarves with their long hair visible and hanging loose; they usually wear long skirts and blouses; and they are always partly dressed in red and/or blue. The group will not be dressed completely the same - some wear patterns, some plain, and some have white blouses so it's not a uniform, but it always incorporates red and blue. They don't look like teenagers, they look like young women in their early twenties. I live in Australia and I have spotted these groups three or four times at airports in the larger Australian cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane).

Does anyone know what group, religion or cult these people could represent? I'm idly curious.

Web Cults: Do They Exist?

TwelveTwo — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 16:22:05 -0800

Crazy people, pseudoscience and cult pages, are there any on the internet with a following or are they just there to be amusing? I am asking for links to successful snake oils, and internet based cults. I have doubts that anyone buys into these things. Prove me wrong, or prove me right!

Anonymous web hosting

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 15:21:26 -0800

Anonymous web hosting: I left a cult which I was raised in about a year ago. I would like to set up a page with information as well as a forum for ex-members to locate each other and heal. I would like to do this anonymously because I have family, friends and coworkers who are still inside and I would like to keep my identity private. I will be writing jsp's for the forums, so the hosting company will need to support that. It will be a tld, so I will need to somehow register the site anonymously. I'm not planning on doing anything illegal, so I shouldn't have to worry about being subpoenaed or anything like that.

If you have any ideas which you would not like to post on askMe, feel free to send me an e-mail at noitulove@hushmail.com. Thanks!

What's up with Weight Watchers?

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 23:04:50 -0800

DietFilter: Weight Watchers - cult or miracle solution? Has anyone used Weight Watchers? Successfully? Unsuccessfully? Online or with meetings? I never thought I'd say this, but I have recently been considering joining Weight Watchers. I just saw an old friend who lost 40 pounds on the program, and it has got me thinking. I am a 25 year old female who is about 25 pounds above the "target weight" for my height. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years and am moderately active - running or soccer 3 times a week. I love veggies and whole grains and all . . . and everyone considers me a very healthy eater. I just have this issue with portion sizes. I figure their crazy point system may teach me a thing or two. Any comments, good or bad?

How to lead a cult

Meatbomb — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 00:08:40 -0800

I'm going to start a cult, and would appreciate any tips and tricks that Mefites can share with me. Was your cult successful? What did or didn't make it so? What makes a good cult leader? Can a cult succeed without mind control? How much attention should I pay to the legal / business side as opposed to the HR / recruitment side?

Stopping Amway in the workplace?

randomstriker — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 01:29:50 -0800

How do I stop a multilevel marketer from infiltrating my company? I work in a smaller office of a large multinational consulting corporation. I am a new, junior employee (started in September), and I joined the social committee shortly after I joined the company. This committee's mandate is to organize events that improve the employee experience, blah blah blah, you know the deal. We have a $30K annual budget for 100 employees, which ain't too shabby.

We're currently holding our annual June Wellness month, promoting health, happiness, blah blah blah. Last week the most senior member of the social committee (a secretary for one of the other departments) sent us a gung ho email about bringing in speakers from Nikken to speak about all their "magnetic" and "far infra-red" therapeutic products. Our employer provides lunch for these events in order to entice employees into attending.

I instantly objected, calling this stuff quackery that relies on the placebo effect. I said all this in one of those emails that you regret clicking the "Send" button just a little too quickly. While my email wasn't outrageously rude (and I certainly wouldn't get in trouble for it if it were forwarded on to, say, the CEO), it was curt and condescending enough to undermine my case against Nikken.

Today, this secretary sent out an email to the whole group saying that the event was going ahead, and she had spoken privately to most of the group and they had given her their backing.

I'm quite ticked off because:
a) I am a skeptic that objects vehemently to this magnetic and infrared bullshit
b) I am worried that an event like this will destroy the credibility of the social committee and result in us losing our budget. Our credibility is already on shaky ground as we blew $1200 on a lunch for ourselves last Christmas, and the CEO (understandably) threw a hissyfit.
c) I object to our employer paying for lunch for an outside company to shill its products to us.
d) I object to this secretary exploiting the social committee for her own financial gain.

How can I handle this situation without pissing people off even more than I already have? I could just put up with it, but I'd rather not if there's a diplomatic solution. I had a bad feeling about this company as soon as I read the email, and Googling about it tonight confirmed my suspicions: Nikken seems to be a multilevel marketing company along the lines of Amway. See here and here.

Polyphonic Spree: cult or not?

tommasz — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:35:10 -0800

Okay, what's up the Polyphonic Spree? Are they a cult or what? Interestingly, this same question came up on Ask Yahoo! and comes up as the fourth link on a Google search, so I know I'm not the only one who's wondered. [band link is heavy with Flash]

Founded by Scientologist reject, family abuser, and tax avoider all in one!

lorrer — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 17:10:43 -0800

The Landmark Forum / est, courtesy Werner Erhard, has stolen my friends. Please help! Three friends of mine have recently been sucked into this "human potential" seminar, originally called est. One of them wants to pay for the business he works at to take the forum, which would use up his considerable savings. Another "completed" with me, something I found highly unpleasant because it involved her telling me all the horrible things she'd done to me in her mind over the years, with a flimsy promise to do better now. She also gave me a bizzarre lecture on the difference between decisions and choices. Good god!

What's the best way for me to deal with this? These are good friends, and I don't want them throwing their money away in return for a creepy dependance on the Forum.

Please share any of your experiences, positive or negative. Thanks!