The Pineapple King's New Suit: where we come to see how the pineapple king mainly has a white middle class audience who choose to see what they are told to see.
So why is it that the followers of Serge Benhayon, are almost exclusively white, educated and middle class? Lets start with the most obvious. The Pineapple King only locates his business, church, university and halls of ageless wisdom in demographics that are ripe for the picking. That is, demographics comprising a largely white,educated and middle class population, which especially includes bored Stepford Wives with expendable incomes looking for meaning. For example, in Australia, its Wollongbar, which is right in the heartland of the alternative, middle class lifestyle demographic. In the UK, its Frome, adjacent to the same alternative middle class lifestyle demographic of Glastonbury.
But when Lord Pineapple gets it wrong it goes really wrong. So for example when he attempted to infiltrate a similar audience in Sydney he first tried Leichardt. Leichardt is multicultural and not alternative. It was a flop. He then made a beeline for Manly, not multicultural and much closer to the hipster alternative moneyed demographic. In other words, Lord Pineapple goes where the middle class money is.
We may wonder why Lord P'head doesn't target the really wealthy areas of say Bath or Vaucluse. The simple answer is that the really wealthy are quite happy with their lot. They don't need a God to lead them to Valhalla. They're already living there. Nor did they get rich by giving their money away to snake oil salesmen from Goonellabah. Another way of thinking about this is to recognise that the really wealthy are already at the top of the social order. The Goonellabah God wants to reshuffle that social order where he's on the top. Not surprisingly they are not interested.
Conversely, the Goonellabah Pineapple God doesn't target the poor working class. They don't have any expendable income. What's more, they are not about to hand over the little money they have for the dubious promise of an upgrade in the next life. Especially from Mr Slick. They are far too grounded to be conned. That is, they are far too grounded in the real world of what is actually happening to be seduced by mere words.
Which takes us to the second reason. The middle class have a special relationship to language and words. In a sense doing things with words to describe reality is more important than the reality itself. Being the masters of language they are also its victims - because they are much more likely to fall under the spell of language. So if someone, lets say Serge the Impressor, comes up with a couple of invented words describing why it is much more evil to leave your inheritance to your children than to him - then they're goners. Or the fact that you can have a bloke out the front teaching the women how to be women, or that by clapping him you're really clapping yourself, or by giving him wealth you're really making an investment. Really? Pull the other one people... it plays Jingle Bells!
The third reason is a bit similar. Lets think about what the white middle class as a whole are really good at. Going to school. Of course that means that you have to be good at words. But it also means that they're really good at being told what to do and being led by someone who has the answers. So the middle class have a predisposition of deference and compliance. Of course, not all the middle class are attracted to cults, but it certainly goes some of the way to explaining what the prerequisite for Universal Medicine membership is. A predisposition for being told what to do within a patriarchal hierarchy. To go further we'd need to recognise that the vast majority of UM'students' are ex-Catholics or ex-other mainstream religions. They are pre-disposed to confession. Additionally, and not coincidentally, an overwhelming number report how they were addicted to substance or alcohol abuse. That is, they have histories of dependence. Furthermore, if you take a straw poll you will find an unusual number of the 'students' either grew up with their family in a cult or have already have been in a number of other recognised cults. That's why they 'know' this one isn't a cult! Haven't these people ever seen Life of Brian? "He's the Messiah. I ought to know because I've followed a few!"
Then along comes the Teacher's-Teacher with his, guess what? - 'School' where the 'students' are endlessly confessing to each other about past indiscretions, how their parents screwed them up and how they've been saved. It's a miracle! And all from the one and only Pineapple King. Here the student's have to endlessly comply with the teacher's lessons: walking gently, eating the right foods, listening to the right music, going to bed at the right time...before the witching hour, speaking and thinking the right way, watching the right shows, talking the right talk and most mindless of all - being told to leave loved ones who 'keep you from yourself'! Its like they have a Woody string that they themselves pull, repeating over and over not "Howdy!", but "I'm feeling into myself"..."I'm feeling into myself!"
Its a perfect co-dependent match! Teacher's-Teacher and eternal students. They even have prefects with special badges.
So returning to the analogy of the Emperor's New Clothes we can see that it has been 'impressed' that the 'school student's' are told what to see and do with psuedo-erudite language. Moreover, they are desperately wanting to be told what to do, see and believe so that they can fit in and belong and so that they can quickly find their place and get the 'right' answer. Of course under these circumstances it is little wonder that they are shocked, defensive and aggressive towards any innocent child/pranic person who is not so needy and isn't easily seduced by the palava.
Next time folks we will explore why a 'Religion', needs to use recruitment tactics akin to a McDonalds advertising campaign of photo-shopped, air-brushed before and after pics to recruit new devotees.
So why is it that the followers of Serge Benhayon, are almost exclusively white, educated and middle class? Lets start with the most obvious. The Pineapple King only locates his business, church, university and halls of ageless wisdom in demographics that are ripe for the picking. That is, demographics comprising a largely white,educated and middle class population, which especially includes bored Stepford Wives with expendable incomes looking for meaning. For example, in Australia, its Wollongbar, which is right in the heartland of the alternative, middle class lifestyle demographic. In the UK, its Frome, adjacent to the same alternative middle class lifestyle demographic of Glastonbury.
But when Lord Pineapple gets it wrong it goes really wrong. So for example when he attempted to infiltrate a similar audience in Sydney he first tried Leichardt. Leichardt is multicultural and not alternative. It was a flop. He then made a beeline for Manly, not multicultural and much closer to the hipster alternative moneyed demographic. In other words, Lord Pineapple goes where the middle class money is.
We may wonder why Lord P'head doesn't target the really wealthy areas of say Bath or Vaucluse. The simple answer is that the really wealthy are quite happy with their lot. They don't need a God to lead them to Valhalla. They're already living there. Nor did they get rich by giving their money away to snake oil salesmen from Goonellabah. Another way of thinking about this is to recognise that the really wealthy are already at the top of the social order. The Goonellabah God wants to reshuffle that social order where he's on the top. Not surprisingly they are not interested.
Conversely, the Goonellabah Pineapple God doesn't target the poor working class. They don't have any expendable income. What's more, they are not about to hand over the little money they have for the dubious promise of an upgrade in the next life. Especially from Mr Slick. They are far too grounded to be conned. That is, they are far too grounded in the real world of what is actually happening to be seduced by mere words.
Which takes us to the second reason. The middle class have a special relationship to language and words. In a sense doing things with words to describe reality is more important than the reality itself. Being the masters of language they are also its victims - because they are much more likely to fall under the spell of language. So if someone, lets say Serge the Impressor, comes up with a couple of invented words describing why it is much more evil to leave your inheritance to your children than to him - then they're goners. Or the fact that you can have a bloke out the front teaching the women how to be women, or that by clapping him you're really clapping yourself, or by giving him wealth you're really making an investment. Really? Pull the other one people... it plays Jingle Bells!
The third reason is a bit similar. Lets think about what the white middle class as a whole are really good at. Going to school. Of course that means that you have to be good at words. But it also means that they're really good at being told what to do and being led by someone who has the answers. So the middle class have a predisposition of deference and compliance. Of course, not all the middle class are attracted to cults, but it certainly goes some of the way to explaining what the prerequisite for Universal Medicine membership is. A predisposition for being told what to do within a patriarchal hierarchy. To go further we'd need to recognise that the vast majority of UM'students' are ex-Catholics or ex-other mainstream religions. They are pre-disposed to confession. Additionally, and not coincidentally, an overwhelming number report how they were addicted to substance or alcohol abuse. That is, they have histories of dependence. Furthermore, if you take a straw poll you will find an unusual number of the 'students' either grew up with their family in a cult or have already have been in a number of other recognised cults. That's why they 'know' this one isn't a cult! Haven't these people ever seen Life of Brian? "He's the Messiah. I ought to know because I've followed a few!"
Then along comes the Teacher's-Teacher with his, guess what? - 'School' where the 'students' are endlessly confessing to each other about past indiscretions, how their parents screwed them up and how they've been saved. It's a miracle! And all from the one and only Pineapple King. Here the student's have to endlessly comply with the teacher's lessons: walking gently, eating the right foods, listening to the right music, going to bed at the right time...before the witching hour, speaking and thinking the right way, watching the right shows, talking the right talk and most mindless of all - being told to leave loved ones who 'keep you from yourself'! Its like they have a Woody string that they themselves pull, repeating over and over not "Howdy!", but "I'm feeling into myself"..."I'm feeling into myself!"
Its a perfect co-dependent match! Teacher's-Teacher and eternal students. They even have prefects with special badges.
So returning to the analogy of the Emperor's New Clothes we can see that it has been 'impressed' that the 'school student's' are told what to see and do with psuedo-erudite language. Moreover, they are desperately wanting to be told what to do, see and believe so that they can fit in and belong and so that they can quickly find their place and get the 'right' answer. Of course under these circumstances it is little wonder that they are shocked, defensive and aggressive towards any innocent child/pranic person who is not so needy and isn't easily seduced by the palava.
Next time folks we will explore why a 'Religion', needs to use recruitment tactics akin to a McDonalds advertising campaign of photo-shopped, air-brushed before and after pics to recruit new devotees.