"Most cults don't turn into religions . . . " Most cults are in their nature "religious" from the jump. The structure and operations of the two are more than merely synonymous. Both are structured in basic pyramid design, all-knowing, unquestioned, all powerful entity on top, REIGNING autonimously to all beneath. The entity does all the …
"Most cults don't turn into religions . . . " Most cults are in their nature "religious" from the jump. The structure and operations of the two are more than merely synonymous. Both are structured in basic pyramid design, all-knowing, unquestioned, all powerful entity on top, REIGNING autonimously to all beneath. The entity does all the thinking, provides all the answers, no need to ruminate individually in the least. All is required is the total submission. Easy peasy.
"Cultus" in Latin = "care, labor; cultivation, culture; worship, reverence," "Cultus deorum" = "reverence for the gods."
In historical parlance, a saint's "cult" is not a pejorative term. It was rather recently that "cult" came to mean a religious group outside the dominant, established religious organizations, and more specifically one at odds with mainstream society and its institution., and inducing strange and destructive behavior.
MAGAs define themselves as supporters of Trump just as much as adherents to a religion. They elevate the will of Trump over all the established institutions of society, and they trust his word as authoritative. They wouldn't be insisting that the 2020 election was stolen if Trump didn't claim it was.
Indeed, thank you. I began to correct myself in the matter of throwing the word cult around. It occured to me earlier that Trump's lemming following was cultish in nature. But then I reasoned how was it that a good third to half of the American people suddenly found themselves behaving in cultist resonance. Explanations were everywhere but fell short, alluding to some insidious virus, some mystic voodoo, yadda yadda. My belief now is that people who fall victim to cults are disenfranchised, emotionally raped, left hopeless on many levels, finding any recourse unavailable. Along comes superhero to their rescue, a surprisingly sudden banner of hope.
What's perplexing is that so many otherwise normal-seeming people - some of them highly accomplished-- have committed themselves to defending a fantasy version of Trump that's wildly at odds with the most obvious facts about him and spinning weird theories to explain the opposition to him from among their former allies.
A few days ago, I heard someone describe an analysis of the people arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack: 93% white and 87% male (no surprise), and mostly with good jobs. Slightly more than half were from blue states. Overall, they were disproportionately from counties that had voted for Biden.
At this point, I don't recall the line between the data about J6ers and the results of a survey about disposition to approve of political violence. I think it was the latter where the researchers found a strong correlation with demographic trends away from a white majority.
The Trump cult is largely defined by a sense that "they are taking our country away from us," whether it's cast in ethnic terms, or as Marxists who use ethnic minorities to overwhelm "legacy Americans." Some intelligent and successful people who hold that belief embraced Trump as a dauntless warrior against the people they see as enemies of their America.
"Most cults don't turn into religions . . . " Most cults are in their nature "religious" from the jump. The structure and operations of the two are more than merely synonymous. Both are structured in basic pyramid design, all-knowing, unquestioned, all powerful entity on top, REIGNING autonimously to all beneath. The entity does all the thinking, provides all the answers, no need to ruminate individually in the least. All is required is the total submission. Easy peasy.
"Cultus" in Latin = "care, labor; cultivation, culture; worship, reverence," "Cultus deorum" = "reverence for the gods."
In historical parlance, a saint's "cult" is not a pejorative term. It was rather recently that "cult" came to mean a religious group outside the dominant, established religious organizations, and more specifically one at odds with mainstream society and its institution., and inducing strange and destructive behavior.
MAGAs define themselves as supporters of Trump just as much as adherents to a religion. They elevate the will of Trump over all the established institutions of society, and they trust his word as authoritative. They wouldn't be insisting that the 2020 election was stolen if Trump didn't claim it was.
Indeed, thank you. I began to correct myself in the matter of throwing the word cult around. It occured to me earlier that Trump's lemming following was cultish in nature. But then I reasoned how was it that a good third to half of the American people suddenly found themselves behaving in cultist resonance. Explanations were everywhere but fell short, alluding to some insidious virus, some mystic voodoo, yadda yadda. My belief now is that people who fall victim to cults are disenfranchised, emotionally raped, left hopeless on many levels, finding any recourse unavailable. Along comes superhero to their rescue, a surprisingly sudden banner of hope.
What's perplexing is that so many otherwise normal-seeming people - some of them highly accomplished-- have committed themselves to defending a fantasy version of Trump that's wildly at odds with the most obvious facts about him and spinning weird theories to explain the opposition to him from among their former allies.
A few days ago, I heard someone describe an analysis of the people arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack: 93% white and 87% male (no surprise), and mostly with good jobs. Slightly more than half were from blue states. Overall, they were disproportionately from counties that had voted for Biden.
At this point, I don't recall the line between the data about J6ers and the results of a survey about disposition to approve of political violence. I think it was the latter where the researchers found a strong correlation with demographic trends away from a white majority.
The Trump cult is largely defined by a sense that "they are taking our country away from us," whether it's cast in ethnic terms, or as Marxists who use ethnic minorities to overwhelm "legacy Americans." Some intelligent and successful people who hold that belief embraced Trump as a dauntless warrior against the people they see as enemies of their America.