People In Cults Seldom Realize They Are In One

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Most people alive today will remember that on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement called Jonestown, Guyana. Nearly all of them ended their lives willingly by drinking a Koolaid laced with cyanide. The tragedy began with the assassination of United States Congressman Leo Ryan as he attempted to flee the settlement in fear of his life. It ended with the willing (and forced) suicides of nearly one thousand people. Few of us can understand why so many people would blindly follow a man all the way to their actual deaths, and yet without a doubt, this is exactly what happened at Jonestown.

Actual Cults Are Very Powerful

We often hear the word “cult” thrown around casually and sarcastically. It is often used to describe people who adhere to a specific perspective or point of view without ever wavering. Fan Clubs are cults, in a sense, in that the object of the fanaticism is held in high esteem and seen as “above” their followers. But actual cults are very powerful things that should be understood and respected.  The cult mindset is at the core of many of life’s greatest powers and most horrible atrocities. Hitler was able to convince an entire country that the cause of their woes was with the Jews and with other countries. He exterminated over six million Jews and made a good attempt at controlling the entire world based on the power afforded him by his cult, The Nazi Party, and by his charismatic persuasion of the German people.

How Does Someone Join A Cult Without Knowing?

Most of us think we’re too smart to be fooled. That’s exactly how we get fooled. And once we are fooled, most of us have too much pride to admit it. So we just go along or pretend it isn’t so. If we hear information that challenges what we believe, we ignore it. We tune it out by minimizing it in any number of ways. This is the basic mechanism we all have that makes becoming a cult member so easy. When you couple this basic mechanism for Ego protection together with external reinforcement (i.e. what the cult leader is saying), the belief can become an overwhelming reality. Only supporting information is allowed in. All contrary information is blocked. The belief is reinforced and almost nothing can penetrate the barrier that protects it.

How Trump Maintains His Base Of Support

Trump supporters are in a cult. A big one. The people in the cult became members because they loved to hear Trump repeat what they want to believe. And he did it with charisma. He mocked those they dislike. He echoed their darkest ideas and brought them into the light. He gave validity to their fears. He offered them salvation, quite literally. He said “Only I can save you!”. They believed him then and they believe him now. They think he is saving them. They believe him no matter what he says. They think their own friends are the stupid ones, or blind ones, or the ones who are actually the hateful ones.

They are not going to change. Most of them wont anyway. For exactly the reasons outlined above, they will continue to support him until he is gone. Then they will say that he was the victim. That liberals hated him and destroyed him. That nobody ever gave him a fair chance. And then they will look for the next Republican savior.  A new Jim Jones that will really do it for them this time. God help us all when that happens. Now that the Republicans are in bed with the Russians against Democrats and Independents, it might be too late to do anything about it. Might be. 😉

#notevenhuman