Why are we so collectively desperate for belonging? To understand this world and our place in it? What is it that calls to us to find the secret knowledge from the beyond? Join us, as we do a brief dive into the dark waters of cults.
In this episode we examine JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, HEAVEN'S GATE, THE PEOPLE'S TEMPLE and THE MANSON FAMILY. The groups, their leaders, founders and the doctrine they follow(ed).
One could argue the thing that makes cults fundamentally different (and therefore dangerous) then other groups is the subversion of the members' free will. A dynamic more akin to mind control or social engineering than spiritual enlightenment. But how can we protect the vulnerable from the predations of a bad shepherd, while still living up to America's founding principles of freedom?
What is it that makes us so susceptible to religious persuasion? Why do people devote their lives to some movements and not others? And why will we often follow someone into Hell to find these answers?
You decide.
***LINKS:
BITE
Asch Experiments
Milgram Shock Experiment
JW's
JW.org
JW Theology
What if they're right?
Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate
Exit Testimonials
Jim Jones / Peoples Temple
Paradise Lost
Death Tape
SDSU Records
Manson Family
Diane Sawyer Interview
Turning Point
Jokes
As a great man once said
Family Guy Garden of Eden
Flair
Rookie Numbers
American History X
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