I read the article…I hate to say this, but I’m not surprised some TWI-followers would fit right in with the current conspiratorial baloney that’s going on. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either – religious cults can be breeding grounds for secular cults.
I read the article…I hate to say this, but I’m not surprised some TWI-followers would fit right in with the current conspiratorial baloney that’s going on. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either – religious cults can be breeding grounds for secular cults.
These euphemisms are part of the problem. No one wants to call a spade a spade or a cult a cult.
Reminds me of Oldies disturbing use of sodomitic session as a sugar-coated apologetic euphemism for child rape yesterday in the NT Canon thread.
How can someone offering up a theological defense for child focking be permitted here, but a discussion of ideological cults is forbidden?
Mainstream (such as The NewYorker) news media would be loathe to call The Way a cult. It's a matter of journalistic ethics. We who have been involved with TWI understand the cultic nature. People come here to learn about it, perhaps. But there ARE legal concerns for a corporate entity to characterize an organization as a cult prior to either the organization itself proclaiming itself as one, or having been adjudicated as such by a court of law according to a standard of law.
I didn't see Oldiesman's comment but it seems not likely to be a reasonable item for comparison to a news enterprise responsible for compliance with accepted journalistic standards.
Mainstream (such as The NewYorker) news media would be loathe to call The Way a cult. It's a matter of journalistic ethics. We who have been involved with TWI understand the cultic nature. People come here to learn about it, perhaps. But there ARE legal concerns for a corporate entity to characterize an organization as a cult prior to either the organization itself proclaiming itself as one, or having been adjudicated as such by a court of law according to a standard of law.
I didn't see Oldiesman's comment but it seems not likely to be a reasonable item for comparison to a news enterprise responsible for compliance with accepted journalistic standards.
Right. I'm aware of ethical standards and practices in journalism. I didn't mean to suggest a breach of those. I'm just venting, I suppose. Are those the only two journalistic standards for calling a cult a cult: self-identification (never happens) or identification by a court? Curious.
Everyone's ears have become so brittle in recent years. Cancel culture, wokeness, etc. The eggshell's seem to be scattered everywhere. It's "sexual assault" instead of rape or "sodomitic session" instead of child rape. This linguistic dishonesty isn't helpful. It seems ani-accountability. That's really my only point. I don't mean to suggest the shrugging off of ethical standards.
Mastriano himself has said that he did not grow up in a "strong Christian family", but was led to embrace religion as a teenager by an "on-fire youth pastor" after being invited to a youth group called "The Way".[20]
He appears to have some rather strange current beliefs. You're welcome to him. He doesn't seem an outstanding "ambassador for Christ," despite being allegedly evangelical. (Of course, that word has its own special meaning, nothing to do with true evangelism, in the USA.)
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waysider
I haven't read the article yet, though I plan to when I get some time later today.
Any discussion of it would probably need to tread lightly, to avoid crashing through the thin ice that lurks menacingly above political discourse.
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GeorgeStGeorge
The name sounds vaguely familiar. (I was in TWI from 1979-1997.)
Was he a musician?
George
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Rocky
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T-Bone
I read the article…I hate to say this, but I’m not surprised some TWI-followers would fit right in with the current conspiratorial baloney that’s going on. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either – religious cults can be breeding grounds for secular cults.
Remember Steven Hassan the author of Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves and Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults …He has written another fascinating book about a cult of personality – but since politics are a no-no on Grease Spot Café I’ll leave it up to you to click on this hyperlink, that has been encrypted to protect the faint of heart > The Cult of Orange-Hole: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the Orange-Hole Uses Mind Control
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Rocky
Hassan is also in several current videos, including one documenting the rise of #Untruth.
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Nathan_Jr
These euphemisms are part of the problem. No one wants to call a spade a spade or a cult a cult.
Reminds me of Oldies disturbing use of sodomitic session as a sugar-coated, apologetic euphemism for child rape yesterday in the NT Canon thread.
How can someone offering up a theological defense for child focking be permitted here, but a discussion of ideological cults is forbidden?
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Nathan_Jr
BELEEF is fundamental to all conspiracy theories and all cults.
Truth can be known. It can be found out. Truth is not discovered by believing.
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Rocky
Mainstream (such as The NewYorker) news media would be loathe to call The Way a cult. It's a matter of journalistic ethics. We who have been involved with TWI understand the cultic nature. People come here to learn about it, perhaps. But there ARE legal concerns for a corporate entity to characterize an organization as a cult prior to either the organization itself proclaiming itself as one, or having been adjudicated as such by a court of law according to a standard of law.
I didn't see Oldiesman's comment but it seems not likely to be a reasonable item for comparison to a news enterprise responsible for compliance with accepted journalistic standards.
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Nathan_Jr
Right. I'm aware of ethical standards and practices in journalism. I didn't mean to suggest a breach of those. I'm just venting, I suppose. Are those the only two journalistic standards for calling a cult a cult: self-identification (never happens) or identification by a court? Curious.
Everyone's ears have become so brittle in recent years. Cancel culture, wokeness, etc. The eggshell's seem to be scattered everywhere. It's "sexual assault" instead of rape or "sodomitic session" instead of child rape. This linguistic dishonesty isn't helpful. It seems ani-accountability. That's really my only point. I don't mean to suggest the shrugging off of ethical standards.
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Rocky
Unless a news story or opinion column were to hedge and say something to the effect that "critics call it a cult..."
Edited by RockyHowever, to get a more specific and current opinion on the matter, ask Raf.
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Nathan_Jr
Thanks
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GeorgeStGeorge
So, is this the guy running for Governor in PA?
George
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Rocky
Yes.
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Twinky
From the Wikipedia entry for this man:
He appears to have some rather strange current beliefs. You're welcome to him. He doesn't seem an outstanding "ambassador for Christ," despite being allegedly evangelical. (Of course, that word has its own special meaning, nothing to do with true evangelism, in the USA.)
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Rocky
Now, that's not very nice of you. I wouldn't wish him on anyone. Clearly he does have potentially cultic religious views.
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Rocky
Doug Mastriano lost. He will not be the next governor of Pennsylvania.
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