Vera wrote:
Your forum has been the single most important factor in the healing of many people who have escaped the cult of Butler. I have been on this forum for around 8 years and was able to forward many articles and resources to friends still suffering from their time in the cult. It has been of inestimable value in the recovery of one individual in particular, who was in an apologist daze for years after leaving the cult. Having access to information on more than one cult, the stories and struggles of fellow cult escapees and critics, the golden resources (no where else to be found on the internet), has brought at least one exer out of hell.
Rama wrote
Rick Ross, we appreciate this forum so much, and this forum has been the fulcrum point of almost every major event in my life.
I second the above. Buckets of tears are shed and financial resources squandered for the loss of loved ones to the cult, especially the little ones. It’s sad that the law and society’s hands are tied in dealing with this issue. One family is way too many.
True, there are the nicest and the most talented people in the cult, and they advocate spirituality, good and healthy living and practices that cultivate love, compassion, mindfulness and devotion to God. Unfortunately, they are varnished virtues and a facade, overemphasized to hide the true aims of all cults: subjugation of the minds by power-hungry elites; exploitative and sometimes illegal practices; and hypocrisy to the max. All in the name of God and bankrupt ideology.
The law of karma, the Bhagavad Gita and the story of Krishna are mere tools to propagate an exploitative mindset. Look no farther from the fate of India and the most bizarre exploitation of the Dalit masses via the caste system and cartoon gods and goddesses. Although banned by the law, Caste system is still prevalent because it is ingrained in the religious minds of the people. The same manipulative setup props up many Hindu-based cults in modern society.
A cult is a cult is a cult, no matter how cool and progressive it looks from the outside. All cults share the same above veneers. Unlike the ISKCONs or other cults, just because the Haribol kids dress up just like anybody else that they are your normal, average neighborhood kids.
You only need to watch Tulsi’s eyes when she speaks about Krishna to understand what goes on between the ears. The same is evident when you speak to a child born in the cult - wide-eyed, robotic and otherworldy - as he or she parrots same slogans over and over and over again: “No meat, no eggs, no alcohol, no stimulant, no gambling and no illicit sex”. From birth they are made to utter slogans like the above and “you are not the body”, plus the obviously indoctrinating Vedic mantras which meanings are as foreign as Latin. The design is to groom the brain to a high-demand milieu of another world – a morally superior and culturally advanced – that contradicts the mainstream life and values. If all else does not seem to work the final nail to the coffin of a child’s innocent mind is the magic password: “Parbhupad said … blah blah blah … ”. To violate this is the ultimate and unforgivable sin, sending the child into a bottomless pit of psychological depression and finally loss of innocence and identity. Thus, the ultimate assault to critical thinking that is essential to all human beings.
The unseen damage to the minds of the children that are oftentimes ignored is what alienates them from the out-groups (families, relatives, friends and society) that otherwise would have been a source of love, nurture, empathy and opportunities. Instead, they become dependent on the milieu they are born in. They need not be told, alienation becomes routine and automatic.
To argue that Tulsi is just another regular person of another faith is to ignore what separates a cult from mainstream religions. People born in a mainstream religion somehow retain in varying degrees critical thinking and cultural link to mainstream society; whereas a cultic upbringing sees the outside world in an adversarial black and white way. You cannot separate the obviously manufactured brand – the first Hindu U.S. Congresswoman from the cultic upbringing.
From my previous post, I did not mean to imply that this thread is full of holes; rather the holes are made possible when a poster violates the rules when he or she volunteers to reveal identity to a guileful plant. It happened; my hope is to not get repeated again. Otherwise, this site has my full trust and my utmost respect and gratefulness to Rick.
Without this site I would not have known Rama, Ian, Lalita, Carl and other millennials born into the cult, outside this forum, who chose not to participate actively nevertheless continue to read through. They are my inspiration for not giving up, that it is entirely possible to see through the religious veneers unfortunately old-timers like me had the problem escaping from until life was completely shattered.
I continue to hope that inquisitive and hungry minds get to find the answer here to escape from the invisible prison they were put into; to finally find their true potentials and become proactive and healthy members of society.
Justice for Sri!
Your forum has been the single most important factor in the healing of many people who have escaped the cult of Butler. I have been on this forum for around 8 years and was able to forward many articles and resources to friends still suffering from their time in the cult. It has been of inestimable value in the recovery of one individual in particular, who was in an apologist daze for years after leaving the cult. Having access to information on more than one cult, the stories and struggles of fellow cult escapees and critics, the golden resources (no where else to be found on the internet), has brought at least one exer out of hell.
Rama wrote
Rick Ross, we appreciate this forum so much, and this forum has been the fulcrum point of almost every major event in my life.
I second the above. Buckets of tears are shed and financial resources squandered for the loss of loved ones to the cult, especially the little ones. It’s sad that the law and society’s hands are tied in dealing with this issue. One family is way too many.
True, there are the nicest and the most talented people in the cult, and they advocate spirituality, good and healthy living and practices that cultivate love, compassion, mindfulness and devotion to God. Unfortunately, they are varnished virtues and a facade, overemphasized to hide the true aims of all cults: subjugation of the minds by power-hungry elites; exploitative and sometimes illegal practices; and hypocrisy to the max. All in the name of God and bankrupt ideology.
The law of karma, the Bhagavad Gita and the story of Krishna are mere tools to propagate an exploitative mindset. Look no farther from the fate of India and the most bizarre exploitation of the Dalit masses via the caste system and cartoon gods and goddesses. Although banned by the law, Caste system is still prevalent because it is ingrained in the religious minds of the people. The same manipulative setup props up many Hindu-based cults in modern society.
A cult is a cult is a cult, no matter how cool and progressive it looks from the outside. All cults share the same above veneers. Unlike the ISKCONs or other cults, just because the Haribol kids dress up just like anybody else that they are your normal, average neighborhood kids.
You only need to watch Tulsi’s eyes when she speaks about Krishna to understand what goes on between the ears. The same is evident when you speak to a child born in the cult - wide-eyed, robotic and otherworldy - as he or she parrots same slogans over and over and over again: “No meat, no eggs, no alcohol, no stimulant, no gambling and no illicit sex”. From birth they are made to utter slogans like the above and “you are not the body”, plus the obviously indoctrinating Vedic mantras which meanings are as foreign as Latin. The design is to groom the brain to a high-demand milieu of another world – a morally superior and culturally advanced – that contradicts the mainstream life and values. If all else does not seem to work the final nail to the coffin of a child’s innocent mind is the magic password: “Parbhupad said … blah blah blah … ”. To violate this is the ultimate and unforgivable sin, sending the child into a bottomless pit of psychological depression and finally loss of innocence and identity. Thus, the ultimate assault to critical thinking that is essential to all human beings.
The unseen damage to the minds of the children that are oftentimes ignored is what alienates them from the out-groups (families, relatives, friends and society) that otherwise would have been a source of love, nurture, empathy and opportunities. Instead, they become dependent on the milieu they are born in. They need not be told, alienation becomes routine and automatic.
To argue that Tulsi is just another regular person of another faith is to ignore what separates a cult from mainstream religions. People born in a mainstream religion somehow retain in varying degrees critical thinking and cultural link to mainstream society; whereas a cultic upbringing sees the outside world in an adversarial black and white way. You cannot separate the obviously manufactured brand – the first Hindu U.S. Congresswoman from the cultic upbringing.
From my previous post, I did not mean to imply that this thread is full of holes; rather the holes are made possible when a poster violates the rules when he or she volunteers to reveal identity to a guileful plant. It happened; my hope is to not get repeated again. Otherwise, this site has my full trust and my utmost respect and gratefulness to Rick.
Without this site I would not have known Rama, Ian, Lalita, Carl and other millennials born into the cult, outside this forum, who chose not to participate actively nevertheless continue to read through. They are my inspiration for not giving up, that it is entirely possible to see through the religious veneers unfortunately old-timers like me had the problem escaping from until life was completely shattered.
I continue to hope that inquisitive and hungry minds get to find the answer here to escape from the invisible prison they were put into; to finally find their true potentials and become proactive and healthy members of society.
Justice for Sri!