--- In [email protected], Peter <drpetersutp...@...> wrote: > > --- On Sat, 12/27/08, TurquoiseB <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > From: TurquoiseB <[email protected]> > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: CULT EXPERT WRITES ON THE TM PROGRAM > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Saturday, December 27, 2008, 5:03 AM > > Well said, Peter, and well thought out through. > > There is an element missing, however. How do > > the people in the group react when the group, > > its principles, its teachings, or its teacher > > are challenged? (And I pose this question with > > my experience with the Rama group as much in > > mind as my experience with TM). > > > > In other words, I'm adding the notion of "over- > > identifying with the group" to the mix. If a > > person tends to react *emotionally* to criticism > > of the group, as if the criticism was of him or > > her personally, then IMO that person has turned > > the group they are part of into a cult. > > Agreed. With identification/attachment comes a defense of > whom or what one is invested in. Its automatic. But again, > its not all or nothing, there are degrees of defensiveness. > Thirty years ago I'd defend MMY and the TMO almost like a > rabid dog. Now, I'd listen to the person and probably agree > with most of what they said as long as they were speaking > from their authentic experience. Rabidly hating the TMO > and MMY is just as invested/attached/identified as rabidly > loving it.
While I agree 100% with your last sentence, I should point out that claiming that's what critics of a group are "really" doing when they criticize the group is a classic cult technique in itself. It's a variant of the "They're just jealous that they're not still with us" manipulation technique in that the target audience for the claim is current members of the group, not those outside the group.
