Understanding Cults and Cult Watchers

One of the biggest problems in describing Scientology to people is that everything seems far too outrageous to be genuine. You tell people about the crimes and abuses and far more crimes and abuses and it just goes so far that people say "the government or police or someone would have stopped them long ago if one percent of this was true." So, they assume that you are either lying, mistaken or grossly, grossly exaggerating.

For the sake of the victims of Scientology I wish I was mistaken or exaggerating but unfortunately I think we have far more than enough evidence to support claims of abuses and crimes. It is as Leah Remini said like being in a movie where the villain is always winning. From childhood we are taught to be good because if we are bad we face negative consequences and bad things eventually happen to bad people.

But I think that is evidently false. Some extremely good people have terrible things happen outside their control and some extremely evil people have relatively good fortune in their lives. It isn't a just world. Not by far.

Television and movies mainly prepare us for life in a story that follows this script. There are exceptions. The film No Country For Old Men presents the problem of people living in a world in which people face moral consequences for their actions but they live in a world where there is no moral framework.

That sounds like a contradiction but it is not. The distinction is that you or I can do something like steal money then face negative consequences like someone coming to get the money back and that is a result of my or your choice, a negative result but the universe and other people can be kind of cruel to us regardless of our choices.

This is to me closer to the reality of human existence. We have some understanding of predictable or possible negative consequences of choices and so feel responsible for them but also do not have control over everything. We cannot just be good and entirely eliminate bad things from happening. You can be a terrific person and still get a terrible life or be a terrible person and have a terrific life.

So we face the combination of moral responsibility with self control and attempts at moral clarity and sound judgement while living with the harsh reality that the universe we live in doesn't conform to our morals. It doesn't care.

Seeing the reality that bad people like Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige get away with hundreds of crimes including literally getting away with murder while many of us try to not lie or steal anything and feel bad if we cut someone off in traffic or if we realize we have taken a pen and not returned It is stunning to people. They face the contradictory nature of reality.

I actually think a big part of why people are fascinated with Scientology is that it showcases contradictory elements of larger life but seems like something outside the personal life of people as individuals so it doesn't trigger their own avoidance of dissonant elements in their own lives. It seems to parallel them.

I think we often in trying to understand life approach things that are similar to unresolved issues we personally have but dare not face in ourselves. So many people who are curious about Scientology and cults actually want to understand bizarre and contradictory behaviors in themselves and others. Often people see the worst qualities in people in groups they scapegoat and demonize.

There are qualities like stupidity, greed, lust, hypocrisy and gullibility that are to a significant degree probably present in virtually all human beings. We are all flawed and have plenty of imperfections but sadly tend to deny that they are present in all of us. We then add projecting these repudiated aspects of self into others . By applying this to groups we end up seeing our own groups as better than they really are and groups with different politics or religion or sports teams as more flawed than they really are.

This also helps to support naive realism - the assumption we usually have that our own judgement is sound, that we are rational and logical and objective and have a correct and accurate understanding of the world. The tremendous evidence that human beings are gullible, stupid, biased, incorrect and hold inaccurate beliefs contradicts naive realism but it can be escaped if we see the negative qualities of people as belonging to OTHER people and not us and our groups, because if our groups are exempt from these flaws then we are correct in choosing our groups and being in our groups bolsters our image of being correct.

It is a loop of self fulfilling prophecy. We are seeing our groups and use confirmation bias to see ourselves as right and other groups as holding all the traits we acknowledge as being negative and existing in human beings but prefer to not acknowledge in ourselves. So, we get to fulfill both the requirements of naive realism but have a way to acknowledge the many aspects of human behavior and nature that contradict the assumptions of naive realism by simply pawning them off on other individuals and groups.

In truth we are not perfectly rational and we hold many incorrect beliefs. It doesn't make us evil or stupid, it just is part of being human. None of us fit a model of pure moral good or perfectly objective judgement. It just is outside our nature.

So I have found a tremendous contrast because of some, definitely not all, Scientology watchers and cult watchers and ex Scientologists and ex cult members. And there is a noticeable difference and for some even tension between these two groups, well really it manifests between individuals who have had conflicts or misunderstandings and is worth exploring.

See, here is a way to explain it. I was in Scientology for twenty five years and would not have believed that cults influence and mentally enslave people as they do or committed all these abuses and crimes for decades relatively unchecked. I just would have found everything about it unbelievable, from the undue influence and vulnerabilities we have to persuasion and how relationships work and can be exploited to the degree of evil a group like Scientology can get away with.

So, to ex Scientologists and ex cult members in general there is a noticeable contrast. We know why we have strived to understand Scientology. We want to understand what happened to us and recover from it if possible, so we have a motivation to understand Scientology and cults. It is similar for family members related to cult members as they are concerned for their loved ones. That makes sense too.

But the people who have never had any personal connection to a cult often approach Scientology and cults for different reasons and with different perspectives. If they are trying to maintain naive realism and go "oh, here are where all the gullible, stupid and crazy people end up and finding them here shows that I really don't have these qualities in myself obviously and the more I find these undesirable things in Scientology the stronger my faith in my own sound judgement and character can justifiably grow" and they can feel good about themselves by feeling superior to Scientology.

Part of the conflicts this inspires is when someone who feels this way and treats ex Scientologists as idiots and imbeciles and acts like everyone in Scientology or any cult is irrevocably inferior in character and intelligence and that they always have a card to play of "I have never been stupid or gullible enough to fall for something as stupid as Scientology so I obviously always have been and always will be better than you dumb fuck crazy cultists and so you are always wrong compared to me. "

By playing the "you cultists and ex cultists are worthless pieces of shit and everyone who doesn't join a cult is better" card the person automatically puts themselves in the "better" category. And ex cult members resent having someone come around just to insult and belittle them and to compliment themselves.

Now, there are people who were never in cults who do watch for other reasons or as they learn about cults see that the assumptions regarding negative qualities defining cult members are often entirely wrong and you can tell from their questions and comments.

But I now understand why many ex cult members are guarded or defensive when dealing with cult watchers who were never in. They don't know if you will be kind and considerate or contemptuous and condescending.

This helps to explain why many ex cult members simply do not discuss or even reveal their past cult membership. It is simply not worth it. You do not know what reaction or stigma you will get.

I think that the Underground Bunker is probably one of the most accepting places ex Scientologists can post at but occasionally a person who is not entirely sympathetic sets up and is less than welcoming.