(no subject)

[feotakahari]

Is it just me, or is this cult discourse kind of circular? I mean, if cults want to isolate you from your friends and have you just listen to the cult leader . . . And then some person shows up and tells you you’re in a cult and you need to get out now, and he wants you to isolate from your “cultist” friends and only listen to him . . .

Comments

[wingedcatgirl]

It is definitely very possible for cult recruitment to take the "you are currently in a cult and need to get out" angle.

I feel like there's gotta be a way to avoid looking like that when legitimately trying to get someone out of a cult, though.

[lb_lee]

Enh, I mean, if I had a friend yoinked by Moonies or whatever... it'd be just another way of getting a friend away from an abuser, and when has "JUST GTFO" ever worked there? (And even if it did work, I wouldn't want my friend to just obey me! That's their choice to make, and my job as friend to someone being hurt is to help build them up, regardless if it's to make choices I don't like. That's what freedom means!)

So in that situation, I'd want more to run support for said friend, help them find clarity, or if nothing else just try to be there when they resurface. (Because if it IS a hardcore controlling situation, being a big loudmouth "CULT LEADER CHRIS IS THE WORST" is the express ticket to getting myself cut off, insuring I can't help them much at all!)

I have friends who disappear under scary circumstances, who I worry over. But all I can do is try to be there for them if they come back.