tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6827464299415582466.post663180963947138435..comments2024-02-10T04:44:11.614-05:00Comments on Jonestown Apologists Alert: "Jonestown: Paradise Lost:" Antidote to Stanley Nelson's Cult Apologist Snake BiteTom Kinsolvinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17696831283935899290noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6827464299415582466.post-49870052159550190152009-12-20T13:11:50.071-05:002009-12-20T13:11:50.071-05:00To follow up on the comment I just left, the follo...To follow up on the comment I just left, the following book does a good job of addressing the point I was trying to make: Arthur J. Deikman, M.D., 'The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society.' Dr. Deikman is a psychiatrist, and his point is that patterns of cult behavior are much more widespread than people think: the desires that bring people to cults -- including the desire to feel secure and protected -- are universal human longings, and when people make self-destructive choices in order to obtain the type of security they are seeking, they are actually making the same type of choice which cult members make in order to stay in a cult.<br /><br />The key self-destructive choices include: failing to think realistically (i.e., choosing to believe in fantasy when one should know better), suppressing healthy dissent (i.e., choosing to stay silent when one knows better); giving up personal autonomy; devaluing outsiders; and accepting authoritarianism. Didn't every executive employee at Enron make these same choices, exhibit these same behaviors? Don't many employees do this in the workplace every day?<br /><br />Diane StranzDiane Stranznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6827464299415582466.post-39383193464885576832009-12-20T12:20:53.823-05:002009-12-20T12:20:53.823-05:00I agree that Nelson's documentary could have c...I agree that Nelson's documentary could have contained more of the damning evidence against Jones -- including statements by his son Stephan that Jones was obviously crazy, all of the time -- but I agree that no one can come away from this documentary being sympathetic to Jones.<br /><br />What bothers ME, though, is this idea that somehow all of Jones' followers were innocent victims (i.e., so brainwashed that they cannot be held accountable for their OWN share of the culpability for what happened). Anyone present the first time Jones held a "White Night" should have left the organization right then and there. Jones admitted openly that he had encouraged many of the men to have sex with him, yet he proclaimed himself the only true heterosexual in the organization? That doesn't even make SENSE, yet his adult members chose to continue following him regardless. They knew Jim Jones was "off" and had a low level of personal integrity, yet he was a man with power (not just in the church, but in the larger outside world as well) such that they knowingly made "a bargain with the devil" in the hopes of getting their own inner needs met. <br /><br />The willingness to make this type of 'Hobson's choice' does not speak highly of an individual's own level of personal character/integrity. There is validity to the literature which talks about the psychological and moral aberrations which make one vulnerable to being a victim, and it is critical to teach that information alongside the information on the techniques used by cult leaders to control others.<br /><br />As I teach my children, we cannot control the fact that bullies, cult leaders and 'evil-doers' exist in the world; we CAN, however, greatly reduce the potential that we ourselves will be victimized, and we each bear the responsibility to protect ourselves in that way. <br /><br />Anyway. Thanks for letting me comment.Diane Stranznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6827464299415582466.post-11515746426957860942007-03-02T00:31:00.000-05:002007-03-02T00:31:00.000-05:00Pretty interesting article 12:09Pretty interesting article 12:09Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14023852057418281003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6827464299415582466.post-1409433518571227582007-01-28T15:09:00.000-05:002007-01-28T15:09:00.000-05:00please look at the jeff schnepper article in usa t...please look at the jeff schnepper article in usa today and also look at a book called heavenly deceptor by nathan landau and email hay340@aol.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com