I Think I Just Joined A Cult

[R. S. Martin]

I can see why you want out. Someone telling you what you can and cannot eat??? And that it will have an effect on your children

 

Good thing you haven't sealed any pacts yet of signed any contracts.

[Ahh!]

OK, bad, bad, bad.

 

I let my curiousity get the better of me.

 

I kept messaging with this dude about my issues and now he's talking about meeting up with me so we can "build neutral" (meaning study the philosophy of this group without any commitment of joining.) I said I was interested and then like 5 minutes later, I smacked myself on the forehead, and said, "D'oh!"

 

I told him that I was busy with school and work though. That might help me buy time until I come up with a better exit.

[R. S. Martin]

You sound EXACTLY like me. You really, really want to check this thing out. You're just scared. And for good reason. But you know you can trust yourself to take care of yourself. One part of your mind knows that. The other part of your mind is not so sure. You know, unlike fundy teaching, contact is not necessarily contamination. Go with the flow. We'll be here to pick up the pieces.

[Amethyst]

First, if someone told me what to eat I'd say eat what you want, but don't tell others what to.

 

Second, those are weird choices, and even OT fundies ignore the shrimp thing. They sometimes go for avoiding the pork but seafood is ok, and it makes no sense to verbally abuse people just for eating something you don't...unless he's not really an atheist.

 

There's no logical reason to avoid pork and shrimp, unless one is a vegetarian and avoiding ALL meat. But singling out pork and shrimp seems weird because they are in the OT. So that is a big warning flag to me. The group can't logically be a non-religious group and verbally and physically abuse people for eating things the OT tells them not to eat. Either they believe in it or they don't.

 

Someone in the group is lying about them not being religious, I suspect, and this is a gut feeling. It may not be a conventional form of religion, but it sounds like one to me from what the OP wrote.

 

Also another red flag is the fact that even though you don't want to join, they are manipulating you into it (or at least it sounds like it).

 

Please be careful.

[Ahh!]

First, if someone told me what to eat I'd say eat what you want, but don't tell others what to.

 

Second, those are weird choices, and even OT fundies ignore the shrimp thing. They sometimes go for avoiding the pork but seafood is ok, and it makes no sense to verbally abuse people just for eating something you don't...unless he's not really an atheist.

 

There's no logical reason to avoid pork and shrimp, unless one is a vegetarian and avoiding ALL meat. But singling out pork and shrimp seems weird because they are in the OT. So that is a big warning flag to me. The group can't logically be a non-religious group and verbally and physically abuse people for eating things the OT tells them not to eat. Either they believe in it or they don't.

 

Someone in the group is lying about them not being religious, I suspect, and this is a gut feeling. It may not be a conventional form of religion, but it sounds like one to me from what the OP wrote.

 

Also another red flag is the fact that even though you don't want to join, they are manipulating you into it (or at least it sounds like it).

 

Please be careful.

 

They're claim is that the Old Testament was based off of an "ancient Kemetic holy book." This crosses me as bullcrap but that's how they justify using Biblical refrences when they're atheistic (I refer to them as atheist in the sense there's no God. They do however believe in plenty of strange things, as you've probably already figured out.)

 

They don't eat pork or shellfish because it's supposed to show that even without believing the Bible, they follow it better than the "Wicked Hypocrites of the Church." From their book:

 

"The poor are slaves; eaters of even the poison animals that the wicked one's book forbids. They worship what they do not know, an invisible man, and it shows that they do no research in that they eat the poison animals. We research as scientists right and exact, magnetically pulled to the Truth."

 

Yeah, if I meet with this dude (which I don't think I want to after thinking about it), I'm going to have a friend wait nearby. This is partially because I don't know him personally so I want someone to "back me up" if it turns out he's some sort of criminal or scumbag and he tries to pull something. I'll also run everything he says by somebody else whose not involved, ask them if it sounds crazy, so I don't get indoctrinated.

 

Also, I'm going to be careful if I meet with him to park my car far away so he can't get my license plates or anything. I don't think they're dangerous to me but "just to be safe." Not going to give out addresses or my home phone number either.

 

I've told people about this. Three of my friends know about this group and all that's been going on. I messaged one the entire transcript of my e-mails with this dude. That way, they know what's going on and can help me out if I join and need to get out or I look like I'm getting brainwashed. I've told them to specifically keep an eye on me for that kind of behavior. So that way I don't end up alone and lost.

 

Plus, this has been a good laugh between us. You know, something can sound totally sensible when you're in an emotional mind state and all alone but when you're around other people, they can see through the b/s. We've had many good laughs the last few days at how ridiculous this all was/is.

 

*sigh* Next time I try religion, I think I'm going to try Buddhism. Somehow, I can't see Buddhists pulling this crap.

[Guest Tess]

*sigh* Next time I try religion, I think I'm going to try Buddhism. Somehow, I can't see Buddhists pulling this crap.

 

Just stay away from Soka Gakkai International and I'll agree with you on that one.

[R. S. Martin]

I've told people about this. Three of my friends know about this group and all that's been going on. I messaged one the entire transcript of my e-mails with this dude. That way, they know what's going on and can help me out if I join and need to get out or I look like I'm getting brainwashed. I've told them to specifically keep an eye on me for that kind of behavior. So that way I don't end up alone and lost.

 

Sounds like you're taking a lot of precautions but you do have to take some personal responsibility. You are, after all, an adult (I guess; I don't know you). So if you insist on destroying yourself there's not much your friends can do about it, right?

 

They can't physically restrain you. Nor will the police interfere so long as you are not a physical danger to yourself or anyone else. This means if you decide to get brainwashed there really is not a lot others can do to prevent it, right? Because we know how subtle brainwashers are. This dude is already drawing you in. And you are not digging in your heals....By the time the brainwashing is obvious (and irreversible?) it may be too late to "save" you because you will resist and resent any "saving" or "rescuing" efforts from friends or anyone else.

 

I don't really know what's going on here, why you are so obsessed with this group, or why you feel a need to get involved, or how far you are going to get involved. Is it just a benign curiosity? Will you be satisfied when you understand what they believe? Is it a need for something deeper--community, or something like that? Sounds like you're really scared of them--you don't want them to know your licence number. Doesn't sound good at all. People who claim to be atheist but who also claim to believe in a "wicked one" are just plain weird. How can they pass moral judgment on food without being religious and/or highly superstitious? And they have a Book???

 

I would say DROP IT!!! Find some other outlet for your emotional passions, your inquisitive and curios mind. There's other, less dangerous groups to get involved with than this one. On the other hand, if I remember correctly, you're quite young. Maybe you need to make a few mistakes and get burnt a few more times. We'll still be here to pick up the pieces. ExC is not in the habit of saying I told you so. Your life is before you. Figure out what it is you want out of it. Just be sure not to hurt anyone, okay? I really don't know what else to say. It's your life and it's you who will have to live with the decisions you make.

[Ahh!]

Yeah, I'm sort of slowly backing away from this guy. He's selling way past the sale and trying to insist I meet with him when I've already told him I've got other things to do. My big mistake was showing him any interest. I should of just told him flat out that I didn't want in his group anymore. So I'm going to give him a few online days to drop it, telling him a polite no, and then I'll just block him.

 

EDIT: While I was typing this, this dude sent me the friggin most Jehovah's Witiness style crazy thing I've ever read. He told me I was God and that I could do anything, so even if I'm busy, I should come "Build Neutral" with him. That's it. I'm not responding to him anymore.

[R. S. Martin]

Congratulations! He sounds like a psycho--the kind that either is in a mental hospital or needs to be.

[Ahh!]

Congratulations! He sounds like a psycho--the kind that either is in a mental hospital or needs to be.

 

Before I even got a chance to start telling him off, he called one of my friends a racial slur. He's an African American of the kill whitey kind, and I sent him a message that may have said some things that haven't been socially acceptable since the Civil War. Hate to sound racist but that's what he gets for pushing shit that far.

[Sparrow]

There was this cult some of my friends were in a while back. We were seperated but after I left Christianity, I became interested in this cult myself for a while. I posted on several blogs and groups led by them that I was interested in joining. It's been months now since then and I have lost interest in this group, realizing that it has a cultlike dogma, a racist agenda, and sometimes involves itself in gang activities. They never contacted me until today and suddenly they want to see if they can recruit me. I already have expressed admiration for their teachings. What do I do to get out of this situation?

 

Easy. Don't participate, don't go along, tell them you disagree and are not really interested. Tell them to leave and if they don't, threaten to call the police. If they don't leave, then call the police.

 

In other words, take control of yourself and the situation you are in. If they are a racist mind-controlling, sect or cult, and you know it now, then you only have yourself to blame if you get caught up in it.

 

Spatz

[Amethyst]

Ok. If you are really curious about this group, here's what you do without getting yourself involved. Google the group (or use your search engine of choice). Make sure to include words other than the group name in your search (for example, ex) for stories of people who used to be members of it. Search as many times as it takes til you actually find something that is not group propaganda. You never know what dirt you may dig up on this group.

 

Or...you could get involved in something else. Take up a new hobby, take a class, take up WoW, anything. Just something to get your mind distracted.

[Grandpa Harley]

*sigh* Next time I try religion, I think I'm going to try Buddhism. Somehow, I can't see Buddhists pulling this crap.

 

Just stay away from Soka Gakkai International and I'll agree with you on that one.

 

Some NKT groups can be like that too...

[R. S. Martin]

I understand he's decided to let it go, block the guy's email, or whatever. According to Ahh's last post, the exchange has degenerated to name-calling, etc.