What do you think is the best course of action to address cult movements, either as a whole or on an individual level?

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Recently heard about Rajneeshpuram and it got me wondering

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Sorry, hard disagree.

I also don’t want to argue. So feel free to say what you like about this, but I won’t respond. I’ll just drop some thoughts for consideration.

  1. Cults don’t have to be religious, and even then there’s a difference
  2. Harm doesn’t just come from being militant or political
  3. The mechanisms of disbanding suck as much as the criminal justice system and states in general do
  4. This isn’t just about the US

Jehovas Witnesses, Moonies, Scientology and so many more are still ongoing. Cult mechanism are literally some of closest stuff to brainwashing there is. They are malign. The followers are victims, and collectively this absolutely should be addressed.

Also, I am not offering any kind of solution here, I.e. to just go after the cults and disband them. As others have said it’s nuanced.

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FWIW, being an ex-JW, I’ve very rarely heard any other ex-JW suggest banning them outright. Besides moral concerns, nobody really thinks it would work. By all means, come down on them for specific crimes (like hiding pedophiles), but blanket bans are a no.

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