Synanon and Jonestown cults had a common emphasis on creating a post-racist culture which pulled a lot of people from the counter culture. Both of those groups were notable for being racially integrated.
Reading up on the cults in Wikipedia I'm experiencing tremendous turmoil in the subtext.
There's obvious seeding of a stance which isn't exactly pro-cult, but tries to spin it as New Religious Movements, and define the opposition as some minority Anti Cult Movement.
But there's even deeper subtext because from a sociological perspective the mechanisms which define a cult are the basic levers and pulleys of society. Social pressure and indoctrination etc.
And beyond that there's a deeper taboo tapdance around the fact that religious history and cults are very difficult to disentangle.
My admittedly vague memories at that time was that both groups were creepy.
A one-time close friend dismantled her marriage because of her involvement with the "Noetics Institute" and it was a real fucking bummer to watch.
EM was subjected to Mind Control at a communist controlled camp in Cuba in the 70s and it Fucked. Her. Up.
(Mind Control is a specific form of cult indoctrination, distinct from Brainwashing.)
She did a lot of therapy with a specialist on the subject.
Then her sister became involved in the Recovered Memory movement so I wound up getting an education in two of the all time great Mind Fucks of the last forty years.
And an irritating thing on this show, they gave a blanket pass to women involved in couple kidnappings. Only men are that evil. Women are just broken.
And victims. Always victims. (That pissed me off too.)
Burrell,
I am not sure why Jamestown fucked you up, but I was about 7 or 8 when Jamestown came across the news and I just could not get over all the adults and little kids dying in mass after drinking kool-aid! The family watched "60 minutes" every Sunday faithfully and some of the material on that program still lives with me decades later.
They had some grim shit on "60 minutes."
I didn't really know what happened at Jonestown until I was in my 30s. Em was about 2 at the time. Joe and I watched a documentary on PBS and I totally fell apart at the end. For me it was the actions of the parents in regards to their children and the total manipulation and control Jim Jones had over these people. Scares the ever loving crap out of me because from what I saw on the documentary, the People's Church seemed so beautiful in the beginning.
Sumi, that link made me laugh.
I hate thinking about abductions, and I generally don't. The selectivity of the brain to be able to not focus on the terrifying and worrisome is a marvelous thing.
In other news, I love the drawings of things writers fuel themselves with: [link] Of course Michael Pollan chooses tea and a handful of almonds!
I just had someone express surprise that there are white Haitians. Seriously? Are we still there? Aside from the fact that white Haitians can go back centuries, are there likely to be many countries left with no white population? He thought that if there were white people, they were the children of long term tourists.
Yeah, because that's a big phenomenon.
