corboy and Vox ~ your posts are golden and full of great points.
Aloha girl’s blog is still on my mind. It is doubtful she had the opportunity to read my open letter. The following is a quote from author Jon Rappoport about group thinking and the cost to the individual. It reminded me of the mind set of Butler followers and their instant rejection of all criticism of their guru.
The Butler cult may seem a low level cult compared to some others. One of the most damaging of abuses is done to the children. It comes in the form of shunning, as Rama has described, or with the separation from non-devotee parents and family members.
I was struck by the following article about a much larger and influential group. On the religious spectrum, some offshoots are cultish, while others are just extremely orthodox. Some adherents have been accused of culty craziness, including child abuse, while others are respectable community members. One set thinks their dead Rebbe is the Messiah, while others do not. The point being is that this Chassidic group does not condone typically dangerous cult practices. I would caution any one about getting involved with the Lubavitchers, but their synagogues have governing boards and other checks and balances. Rabbis are not considered infallible.
A liberal view, might even see the Butler cult in the same way. Except with the Butler cult, abuses are policy and institutionalized. I am especially referring to the practice of shunning former members who no longer “believe”. What follows is an interesting article about a Chassidic woman who left the group but retained her relationship with her family. She is lucky. The Butler cult could learn a thing or two from this story…
Leaving Lubavitch
Simply put, in the Butler cult, your child's happiness is not a priority. You are taught that you are only a semen or egg donor and that all this talk of love, bliss and happiness is reserved for the guru and the after life. A mother's natural love for her child is displaced by fear and hatred of non-devotees.
Aloha girl, I would hope that in the remaining time you have, that instead of wasting your time focusing on your so-called enemies, that you would create meaningful memories for your husband and children, and help to free them from the cult.
LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring - Gandalf speaks to Frodo in Moria
Aloha girl’s blog is still on my mind. It is doubtful she had the opportunity to read my open letter. The following is a quote from author Jon Rappoport about group thinking and the cost to the individual. It reminded me of the mind set of Butler followers and their instant rejection of all criticism of their guru.
Quote
Author, Jon Rappoport
I’m not trying to discourage any and every group response—but I am saying, without question, that every major covert op is played in order to eradicate the idea of the individual. This is basic mind control. This is the reason mind control exists: to elevate “group” over “individual.”
Mind control tries to make individuals think of themselves as helpless pieces on the chessboard.
Mind control tries to make individuals surrender their free will.
Mind control tries to make individuals believe they have no place in the modern world.
Rather, they must be part of a group; otherwise, they’re invisible.
If you could walk into a person’s mind, as if it were a post office, and if you could get rid of every letter and package that extolled, or surrendered to, The Group, you would see that person rise to a new height. You would see a renewal on a grand scale.
But introduce a fact or idea that challenges The Group and alarms go off. “Reject that fact! Reject it! It’s false! It has to be false! Maintain stability!”
The Butler cult may seem a low level cult compared to some others. One of the most damaging of abuses is done to the children. It comes in the form of shunning, as Rama has described, or with the separation from non-devotee parents and family members.
I was struck by the following article about a much larger and influential group. On the religious spectrum, some offshoots are cultish, while others are just extremely orthodox. Some adherents have been accused of culty craziness, including child abuse, while others are respectable community members. One set thinks their dead Rebbe is the Messiah, while others do not. The point being is that this Chassidic group does not condone typically dangerous cult practices. I would caution any one about getting involved with the Lubavitchers, but their synagogues have governing boards and other checks and balances. Rabbis are not considered infallible.
A liberal view, might even see the Butler cult in the same way. Except with the Butler cult, abuses are policy and institutionalized. I am especially referring to the practice of shunning former members who no longer “believe”. What follows is an interesting article about a Chassidic woman who left the group but retained her relationship with her family. She is lucky. The Butler cult could learn a thing or two from this story…
Leaving Lubavitch
Quote
Chaya Deitsch, Author of “Here and There: Leaving Hasidism, Keeping My Faith"
One of her four sisters still is in the Lubavitch world; the others all have left. The family, though, still is very close. “I give my parents all the credit,” Ms. Deitsch said. “It was all on them, and they said, ‘How else were we going to respond? Your happiness is important to us.
“‘You are our daughter.’”
Simply put, in the Butler cult, your child's happiness is not a priority. You are taught that you are only a semen or egg donor and that all this talk of love, bliss and happiness is reserved for the guru and the after life. A mother's natural love for her child is displaced by fear and hatred of non-devotees.
Aloha girl, I would hope that in the remaining time you have, that instead of wasting your time focusing on your so-called enemies, that you would create meaningful memories for your husband and children, and help to free them from the cult.
Quote
Gandalf
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring - Gandalf speaks to Frodo in Moria