Phina's Waking Hours

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

Including the fact that they literally use cult experts to design basic training.

I spent more than half of my life in cults and that doesn't make me an expert, but it does mean I recognized what she wrote about in her books as a mirror to what I grew up around. And she breaks it down in those books in a way I wouldn't care to on Tumblr.

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

Actually they're not all cults and you're doing the work of making sure actual cults can slip under the radar when you say stuff like that

Cult leaders LOVE that trend, because they can point to it and say, "people will call anything a cult, it's basically meaningless"

However, scientifically the words "Religion" and "Cult" can't really be meaningfully separated. Any definition of religion narrow enough to exclude all cults also excludes things that are very much seen as legitimate religions and any definition broad enough to include all religions will include things that most agree are definitely cults.

Behavior - control member behavior via reward, punishment, manipulation, etc

Information - control information coming in and going out via isolation and propaganda

Thought - discourage critical thinking for oneself to shape attitude

Emotion - guilt, shame, terrorize, create a sense of community and family, etc

She's the only cult expert to have grown up in a cult. Specifically the Children of God pedophile sex cult. She was also in the army in intelligence. She has a perspective on cults that absolutely cannot be matched.

According to her, religions CAN'T be cults. But religious GROUPS can.

A religion is a concept and it's too big to ever create the kind of coercive control. Christianity isn't a cult, but Mormons and Catholics are. A Cult requires a shared sacred assumption or charismatic personality to center around.

Cults of personality only last as long as the leader does, and so MAGA is on its way out. Someone may take over the mantle when 47 dies, but MAGA will never be powerful again. Because a cult of personality is specifically about the cult leader. The leader is divine or something like it.

Cults of ideals are built around something that transcends a single person's lifetime. The Army uses the Constitution. Mormons have their weirdly specific rituals and commandments. The Catholic Church has the papacy. Scientology has aliens. The sacred idea is taught and maintained through a bureaucracy of some kind. The leader here is not divine, but a high priest of the divine, so to speak.

A religion is a set of beliefs and values that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has the reins. A small Christian congregation who splits preaching up among the members isn't a cult. A Sikh gurudwara that feeds the locals with volunteers and doesn't require anything from the people eating isn't a cult. A Norse pagan group that meets on the solstices to dance and feast isn't a cult.

A church that tells you to cut off non Christian family members? Cult. A boyfriend who controls who you can see and what you eat and demands domestic labor? That's called a two person cult. A social group that demands all of your free time and punishes you for raising questions? Probably a cult.

A religion is just... it's a D&D rulebook. It tells you what's possible but you make choices within it. A cult is when people use the rule book to extract labor and respurces from people. A cult actively and intentionally exploits people.

But, video communication in seconds is a fucking blessing. The things it's doing for diasporic groups can't be over stated. The traditions and languages it's given new life to are pretty wild.

Don't get me wrong, we need to read more and with AI in the world, I am passionate about doing what we need to do in order to bring back literacy and thinking.

But I'm starting to get disturbed by the number of people who are acting righteous over worshipping the written word. One of those 15 characteristics of white supremacy that people feel morally upright for holding onto.

I prefer some things written but I also deeply value the ability to tell my story aloud. To participate in a tradition of story telling that was previously wiped out among my people. And a number of dying languages don't have a written counterpart and can only be taught remotely with videos. There are stories that people are desperately trying to preserve that don't translate to being written down. You can't write down a hula or a haka. Sure, a lot of the stuff recorded on social media is trash, but so is most of what's written down. Acting like video is uniquely evil is some... well, it's not great.

With the world the way it is, I have to side eye white people dismissing what is essentially the modern version of the traditions that they killed so many people trying to destroy. Like, I'm not judging anyone for preferring text. But that doesn't require people to viciously shame people who prefer video. No one has to act like only stupid people watch videos when the stupidest people on the planet are typing words and posting them to Twitter and Facebook.

OBVIOUSLY I'm pro writing. I just wrote a stupid number of words to express this. But it isn't the flex people seem to think it is to say out loud that they're too good to engage in this new take on some of the most ancient traditions our species has. That isn't intelligence, it's elitism. Something I'm pretty sure we agreed years ago is shitty and narrow minded.