Having escaped a cult after 50 years I'm here to say hi!

[BiteYerBumHard]

Hi everyone.

I was indoctrinated into a cult as a child. I woke up at the age of 60 and have embraced a more epistemological approach to what I believe and why.

I recognise the dangers I face in falling back into any form of belief or world view without due diligence.

Since waking up in 2017, I have been looking more closely at philosophy and how I can apply it to things I should and shouldn't believe.

It's been a tough path losing friends and family, but I feel cleansed with a clearer view of my place in the universe.

[Agent Smith]

The janitor, Mr. Bentham, was in the hall, listening to Ascott the blind singer, from Montana he was, listening and mopping. Swish, swish, splosh, swish, swish, splosh, drip, drip, drip, clank, clink, rattle, rattle, squeak, squeak, squeak. From the corner of his eye he saw the beetleish thing, brown, post-surgery, he smelled iron. He decided to take a closer look. "It's only Euclid ... for now ... Deus magnus est!"

[henry quirk]

Hi everyone.

I was indoctrinated into a cult as a child. I woke up at the age of 60 and have embraced a more epistemological approach to what I believe and why.

I recognise the dangers I face in falling back into any form of belief or world view without due diligence.

Since waking up in 2017, I have been looking more closely at philosophy and how I can apply it to things I should and shouldn't believe.

It's been a tough path losing friends and family, but I feel cleansed with a clearer view of my place in the universe.

Hello!

Which cult?

[iambiguous]

Lots and lots and lots of cultists here though.

Or, as I call them, objectivists.

[henry quirk]

I call them, objectivists.

Yes, we know.

[iambiguous]

I call them, objectivists.

Yes, we know.

Yes, that's true. But BiteYourBum is new here.

He or she might be interested in noting just how many objectivists/cultists that there are in the world around us.

Whether religious:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_r ... traditions

Or secular:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p ... ideologies

So, he or she might be interested in examining why you insist that it is your own moral and political and spiritual value judgments that "here and now" you believe reflect the most rational and virtuous frame of mind and set of convictions.

Though even you admit that, given new information and knowledge, you are certainly willing to acknowledge that you might change your mind.

[henry quirk]

So, he or she might be interested in examining why you insist that it is your own moral and political and spiritual value judgments that "here and now" you believe reflect the most rational and virtuous frame of mind and set of convictions.

Should BYBH ask me about that, I'd tell him I've never insisted my own moral and political and spiritual value judgments that "here and now" I believe reflect the most rational and virtuous frame of mind and set of convictions. I would also tell him anyone attributing such a thing to me is a liar.

[iambiguous]

So, he or she might be interested in examining why you insist that it is your own moral and political and spiritual value judgments that "here and now" you believe reflect the most rational and virtuous frame of mind and set of convictions.

Should BYBH ask me about that, I'd tell him I've never insisted my own moral and political and spiritual value judgments that "here and now" I believe reflect the most rational and virtuous frame of mind and set of convictions. I would also tell him anyone attributing such a thing to me is a liar.

No, you'll note that God created the human condition and God installed in all of us the capacity to "follow the dictates of Reason and Nature". And while "here and now" you seem rather adament regarding things like abortion and guns and mentally ill transgender folks, you do acknowledge that BYBH him or herself might post new information and knowledge here that prompts you to completely change your mind about these things.

We do seem to agree about that part.

You also admit that since you have been wrong about "important" issues in the past, you may well still be wrong about them today. You just seem unable to cite actual examples of this.

Besides, there's always the squabble regarding how obstinate a moral objectivist must be before he or she becomes a cultist.

[henry quirk]

No, you'll note that God created the human condition and God installed in all of us the capacity to "follow the dictates of Reason and Nature".

Nope. Never have, never will.

And while "here and now" you seem rather adament regarding things like abortion and guns and mentally ill transgender folks, you do acknowledge that BYBH him or herself might post new information and knowledge here that prompts you to completely change your mind about these things.

Nope. Never said it.

We do seem to agree about that part.

Obviously not.

You also admit that since you have been wrong about "important" issues in the past, you may well still be wrong about them today.

Yep.

You just seem unable to cite actual examples of this.

Wrong. I've offered multiple examples across multiple threads.

Besides, there's always the squabble regarding how obstinate a moral objectivist must be before he or she becomes a cultist.

Yes, nihilists are often prone to joinin' cults.

Now, unless there's sumthin' new to tussle about: 'nuff said.

[iambiguous]

No, you'll note that God created the human condition and God installed in all of us the capacity to "follow the dictates of Reason and Nature".

Nope. Never have, never will.

So, you do not believe a God, the God created us? A God that then split the scene? And you do not follow the dictates of reason regarding your own value judgments?

Okay, what did create us then? And what other than reason does motivate you to believe what you do about the issues above?

And while "here and now" you seem rather adamant regarding things like abortion and guns and mentally ill transgender folks, you do acknowledge that BYBH him or herself might post new information and knowledge here that prompts you to completely change your mind about these things.

Nope. Never said it.

Note to BYBH:

That's a flagrant lie. On the "a defense of drag show/drag queens" thread, he flat out admitted that new informations and knowledge might prompt him to change his mind about these issues.

...you recognize that given new information and knowledge, you may well be in here concluding just the opposite of what you believe now.

Yep.

Sounds like a cultist mentality to me. The capacity to lie even to yourself.

You also admit that since you have been wrong about "important" issues in the past, you may well still be wrong about them today.

Yep.

Okay, let's pin down the "for all practical purposes" implications of this. You have a set of convictions "here and now" regarding abortion, guns and mentally ill transgender folks. They are important to you. But since you were wrong about important issues in the past, you may well be wrong about these issues today. Isn't that a reasonable assumption?

You just seem unable to cite actual examples of this.

Wrong. I've offered multiple examples across multiple threads.

Okay, perhaps I didn't read those threads. So, note the top three most important issues that you changed your mind about. Or just the number one most important turn around of all.

Besides, there's always the squabble regarding how obstinate a moral objectivist must be before he or she becomes a cultist.

Yes, nihilists are often prone to joinin' cults.

Right the "fractured and fragmented" cult. Yet, how many times have I noted that I do not exclude my own arguments here from my own argument here? After all, over and over and over again in the past I have changed my mind about many truly important things...God and No God.

I am rather adamant that given new experiences, new relationships and access to new information and knowledge [along with the Benjamin Button Syndrome] I may well change my mind again.

And the crucial thing about me is that given just how bleak and depressing my frame of mind is "here and now" regarding both sides of the grave, I'd like nothing more than to have my mind changed about a lot of things.

[Iwannaplato]

Hi everyone.

I was indoctrinated into a cult as a child. I woke up at the age of 60 and have embraced a more epistemological approach to what I believe and why.

I recognise the dangers I face in falling back into any form of belief or world view without due diligence.

Since waking up in 2017, I have been looking more closely at philosophy and how I can apply it to things I should and shouldn't believe.

It's been a tough path losing friends and family, but I feel cleansed with a clearer view of my place in the universe.

Well, that's great then, though I'm sorry you had to lose friends and family.
Was this decision brewing over a long period of time, or did a recent event trigger your leaving?
And if you feel comfortable saying, what kind of cult was this?

[henry quirk]

BYBH:

A common tactic of the forum rhetoricians: rephrasing what you post then attributing the rephrasing to you. It seems they reflect back your meaning in the rephrasing, but: they do not.

Keep your guard up.

[Agent Smith]

Cult member 1: He left
Cult member 2: On 13th April 2023
Cult member 3: 10 PM
Cult member 4: Which day of the week?
Cult mwmber 5: Thursday

[Age]

Hi everyone.

I was indoctrinated into a cult as a child. I woke up at the age of 60 and have embraced a more epistemological approach to what I believe and why.

I recognise the dangers I face in falling back into any form of belief or world view without due diligence.

Since waking up in 2017, I have been looking more closely at philosophy and how I can apply it to things I should and shouldn't believe.

Is there absolutely ANY 'thing', which 'should be' BELIEVED?

If yes, like 'what', EXACTLY?

It's been a tough path losing friends and family, but I feel cleansed with a clearer view of my place in the universe.

I hope you did NOT leave one cult, only to enter another one like the one that is existing in the days when this is being written, which is LED by 'the love-of-money' and indoctrinates children into BELIEVING that they need TO WORK and OBTAIN MONEY over just about ANY 'thing' ELSE.

[Wizard22]

I hope you did NOT leave one cult, only to enter another one like the one that is existing in the days when this is being written, which is LED by 'the love-of-money' and indoctrinates children into BELIEVING that they need TO WORK and OBTAIN MONEY over just about ANY 'thing' ELSE.

IS this THE cult 'YOU' come 'FROM' age'?'