Author: Robert L. Snow
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 258
Book Description
How do seemingly "normal" or "ordinary" citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group. Annotation. Snow, a veteran Indianapolis police officer in the homicide branch, does not bother with groups that are demonized as cults merely because they diverge from someone else's idea of truth or proper deportment, but focuses on those that are responsible for major crimes such as murder and torture. They include religious, occult, millennial, new-age, UFO, doomsday, and suicide cults. He also discusses their danger, appeal, recruitment, and indoctrination and how to combat them.
Deadly Cults
Author: Robert L. Snow
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 258
Book Description
How do seemingly "normal" or "ordinary" citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group. Annotation. Snow, a veteran Indianapolis police officer in the homicide branch, does not bother with groups that are demonized as cults merely because they diverge from someone else's idea of truth or proper deportment, but focuses on those that are responsible for major crimes such as murder and torture. They include religious, occult, millennial, new-age, UFO, doomsday, and suicide cults. He also discusses their danger, appeal, recruitment, and indoctrination and how to combat them.
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 258
Book Description
How do seemingly "normal" or "ordinary" citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group. Annotation. Snow, a veteran Indianapolis police officer in the homicide branch, does not bother with groups that are demonized as cults merely because they diverge from someone else's idea of truth or proper deportment, but focuses on those that are responsible for major crimes such as murder and torture. They include religious, occult, millennial, new-age, UFO, doomsday, and suicide cults. He also discusses their danger, appeal, recruitment, and indoctrination and how to combat them.
Deadly Cults
Author: Robert L. Snow
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313057613
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
How does a Vampire Cult differ from a Satanic Cult? How do seemingly normal or ordinary citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? This book focuses on various cults and their often criminal belief systems. Most readers are shocked by stories of mass suicides and ritualized cult killings, but few understand how such crimes come to be committed. Snow, a seasoned police officer with experience working on cult crimes, examines those cults that commit offenses from murder and fraud to kidnapping and sexual assault. By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to avoid falling victim to cult indoctrination, concluding with chapters on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313057613
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
How does a Vampire Cult differ from a Satanic Cult? How do seemingly normal or ordinary citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? This book focuses on various cults and their often criminal belief systems. Most readers are shocked by stories of mass suicides and ritualized cult killings, but few understand how such crimes come to be committed. Snow, a seasoned police officer with experience working on cult crimes, examines those cults that commit offenses from murder and fraud to kidnapping and sexual assault. By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to avoid falling victim to cult indoctrination, concluding with chapters on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group.
Deadly Delusions
Author: Barry Mauer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
"Prescient." "An important piece of work." "While reading it, I was thinking this could be me writing this book, except it is much better articulated." "Diagnoses the condition and recommends decisive action." "Accessible to a mixed audience: both the general population and to an academic-based audience." "We need more bluntness like Mauer's." "The cartoon section as a stand-alone is great for students and even as a coffee table book. The graphics alone could draw one in. Someone sitting in your living room could easily pick it up and learn some extremely important basics pertaining to the right-wing media machine and ideology. It could pique their interest." "Mauer's book makes clear in its straightforward and blunt approach how urgent it is for us to address this issue. He tackles the issue from every side, from how the disinformation has trickled down and deceived his students, to how dangerous it can be to society as a whole and what we can and can't do about it." "Mauer speaks frankly and clearly about the dangerous delusions of the Right." Jen Senko, Director of The Brainwashing of My Dad Educators want their students to live healthy, ethical lives within a healthy, ethical society. But an enormous obstacle stands in the way: a right-wing cult that poses an existential threat to personal and collective well-being. This cult, tens of millions strong, blocks efforts to address all other major problems including climate change, racism, economic exploitation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet many people fail to see the right wing for the serious threat that it is. Often, those who do take the threat seriously lack a holistic understanding of the problem and grossly underestimate the difficulty of confronting it. The rise of an anti-intellectual, science-hating, rage-driven right wing is the culmination of sustained efforts by right wing organizations coinciding with multi-systemic failures in the domains of journalism, education, and politics. The right wing is dragging the world to doom and furiously blocking all attempts by good people to stop it. We are witnessing the suicide of human civilization and the closing of all opportunities to intervene effectively. We need a wake-up call, a proper diagnosis of our condition, and decisive action.Our situation has become so extreme that the proper terms for it - the president is a psychopath; his followers are delusional fanatics locked in a genocidal cult - sound like hyperbolic and childish name calling. The very words required to diagnose our condition have been banished from mainstream public discourse by decorum, disbelief, and a misbegotten sense of fairness. While we debate whether such terminology is appropriate, right-wing pathologies have grown more malignant and engrained in our society. We are at an impasse.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
"Prescient." "An important piece of work." "While reading it, I was thinking this could be me writing this book, except it is much better articulated." "Diagnoses the condition and recommends decisive action." "Accessible to a mixed audience: both the general population and to an academic-based audience." "We need more bluntness like Mauer's." "The cartoon section as a stand-alone is great for students and even as a coffee table book. The graphics alone could draw one in. Someone sitting in your living room could easily pick it up and learn some extremely important basics pertaining to the right-wing media machine and ideology. It could pique their interest." "Mauer's book makes clear in its straightforward and blunt approach how urgent it is for us to address this issue. He tackles the issue from every side, from how the disinformation has trickled down and deceived his students, to how dangerous it can be to society as a whole and what we can and can't do about it." "Mauer speaks frankly and clearly about the dangerous delusions of the Right." Jen Senko, Director of The Brainwashing of My Dad Educators want their students to live healthy, ethical lives within a healthy, ethical society. But an enormous obstacle stands in the way: a right-wing cult that poses an existential threat to personal and collective well-being. This cult, tens of millions strong, blocks efforts to address all other major problems including climate change, racism, economic exploitation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet many people fail to see the right wing for the serious threat that it is. Often, those who do take the threat seriously lack a holistic understanding of the problem and grossly underestimate the difficulty of confronting it. The rise of an anti-intellectual, science-hating, rage-driven right wing is the culmination of sustained efforts by right wing organizations coinciding with multi-systemic failures in the domains of journalism, education, and politics. The right wing is dragging the world to doom and furiously blocking all attempts by good people to stop it. We are witnessing the suicide of human civilization and the closing of all opportunities to intervene effectively. We need a wake-up call, a proper diagnosis of our condition, and decisive action.Our situation has become so extreme that the proper terms for it - the president is a psychopath; his followers are delusional fanatics locked in a genocidal cult - sound like hyperbolic and childish name calling. The very words required to diagnose our condition have been banished from mainstream public discourse by decorum, disbelief, and a misbegotten sense of fairness. While we debate whether such terminology is appropriate, right-wing pathologies have grown more malignant and engrained in our society. We are at an impasse.
Daughter of Gloriavale
Author: Lilia Tarawa
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760639184
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
In this personal account, Lilia Tarawa exposes the shocking secrets of the cult, with its rigid rules and oppressive control of women. She describes her fear when her family questioned Gloriavale's beliefs and practices. When her parents fled with their children, Lilia was forced to make a desperate choice: to stay or to leave. No matter what she chose, she would lose people she loved. In the outside world, Lilia struggled. Would she be damned to hell for leaving? How would she learn to navigate this strange place called 'the world'? And would she ever find out the truth about the criminal convictions against her grandfather? 'A powerful and revealing book...' Kirsty Wynn, New Zealand Herald 'An affecting parable and testament, in the most commendably secular senses.' David Hill, New Zealand Listener
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760639184
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
In this personal account, Lilia Tarawa exposes the shocking secrets of the cult, with its rigid rules and oppressive control of women. She describes her fear when her family questioned Gloriavale's beliefs and practices. When her parents fled with their children, Lilia was forced to make a desperate choice: to stay or to leave. No matter what she chose, she would lose people she loved. In the outside world, Lilia struggled. Would she be damned to hell for leaving? How would she learn to navigate this strange place called 'the world'? And would she ever find out the truth about the criminal convictions against her grandfather? 'A powerful and revealing book...' Kirsty Wynn, New Zealand Herald 'An affecting parable and testament, in the most commendably secular senses.' David Hill, New Zealand Listener
The Cult of the Constitution
Author: Mary Anne Franks
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503609103
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
“A powerful challenge to the prevailing constitutional orthodoxy of the right and the left . . . A deeply troubling and absolutely vital book” (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate). In this provocative book, Mary Anne Franks examines the thin line between constitutional fidelity and constitutional fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution reveals how deep fundamentalist strains in both conservative and liberal American thought keep the Constitution in the service of white male supremacy. Franks demonstrates how constitutional fundamentalists read the Constitution selectively and self-servingly, thus undermining the integrity of the document as a whole. She goes on to argue that economic and civil libertarianism have merged to produce a deregulatory, “free-market” approach to constitutional rights that achieves fullest expression in the idealization of the Internet. The fetishization of the first and second amendments has blurred the boundaries between conduct and speech and between veneration and violence. But the Constitution itself contains the antidote to fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution lays bare the dark, antidemocratic consequences of constitutional fundamentalism and urges readers to take the Constitution seriously, not selectively.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503609103
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
“A powerful challenge to the prevailing constitutional orthodoxy of the right and the left . . . A deeply troubling and absolutely vital book” (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate). In this provocative book, Mary Anne Franks examines the thin line between constitutional fidelity and constitutional fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution reveals how deep fundamentalist strains in both conservative and liberal American thought keep the Constitution in the service of white male supremacy. Franks demonstrates how constitutional fundamentalists read the Constitution selectively and self-servingly, thus undermining the integrity of the document as a whole. She goes on to argue that economic and civil libertarianism have merged to produce a deregulatory, “free-market” approach to constitutional rights that achieves fullest expression in the idealization of the Internet. The fetishization of the first and second amendments has blurred the boundaries between conduct and speech and between veneration and violence. But the Constitution itself contains the antidote to fundamentalism. The Cult of the Constitution lays bare the dark, antidemocratic consequences of constitutional fundamentalism and urges readers to take the Constitution seriously, not selectively.
Killer Cults
Author: Stephen Singular
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
ISBN: 1454939435
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
What’s scarier than a murderer? Someone with the charisma to compel others to kill for them . . . or to kill themselves. Meet these cult leaders—and get an inside look at their beliefs and how they controlled others. Some cults, led by leaders like Charlie Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh, are notorious. But others are less well known, such as Shoko Asahara and his doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, who orchestrated the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Or Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret, who founded the Order of the Solar Temple, a doomsday cult that led to the death of 51 members by murder or suicide. Then there is Marshall Applewhite, leader of Heaven’s Gate, who, along with 38 followers, killed themselves in the belief that the Hale-Bopp comet signaled the arrival of a spaceship that would transport them to a higher plane of existence. What makes cult leaders so compelling is their often-unfathomable power over their adherents. Why do people kill others or themselves for a questionable set of beliefs? Killer Cults tells the stories behind both famous and unfamiliar cults, and the people behind them. Across a series of profiles, we learn the jaw-dropping truth behind some of the most mystifying and deadly cults, and their leaders, all of whom led their followers down a dark, murderous path.
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
ISBN: 1454939435
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
What’s scarier than a murderer? Someone with the charisma to compel others to kill for them . . . or to kill themselves. Meet these cult leaders—and get an inside look at their beliefs and how they controlled others. Some cults, led by leaders like Charlie Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh, are notorious. But others are less well known, such as Shoko Asahara and his doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, who orchestrated the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Or Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret, who founded the Order of the Solar Temple, a doomsday cult that led to the death of 51 members by murder or suicide. Then there is Marshall Applewhite, leader of Heaven’s Gate, who, along with 38 followers, killed themselves in the belief that the Hale-Bopp comet signaled the arrival of a spaceship that would transport them to a higher plane of existence. What makes cult leaders so compelling is their often-unfathomable power over their adherents. Why do people kill others or themselves for a questionable set of beliefs? Killer Cults tells the stories behind both famous and unfamiliar cults, and the people behind them. Across a series of profiles, we learn the jaw-dropping truth behind some of the most mystifying and deadly cults, and their leaders, all of whom led their followers down a dark, murderous path.
Cults That Kill
Author: Wendy Joan Biddlecombe Agsar
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1612438814
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 161
Book Description
A true crime author explores what happens when cults cross the line in this anthology of false prophets, true believers, and tragic consequences. Thousands of religious, political and self-improvement cults are active around the world, and an estimated two to five million Americans have been involved in a cult at some point in their lives. While not all cults are destructive, these stories demonstrate how unwavering faith in an infallible leader can lead lay the groundwork for criminal acts a heinous as murder or mass suicide. True crime author Joan Biddlecombe Agsar uncovers what really happened inside some of modern history’s most notorious cults, including: • The Manson Family Hippie devotees turn violent to manifest God’s race war • The Peoples Temple Hundreds of utopia seekers meet their end in the Guyanese jungle by ingesting a cyanide-laced drink • The Vampire Clan Teenagers consume blood and bludgeon an unsuspecting Florida couple to death • Heaven’s Gate Nike-adorned disciples commit suicide to transport onto a spaceship approaching • Earth Silvia Meraz Moreno’s Santa Muerte Cult Members collect sacrificial blood by slicing open victims’ veins while their hearts are still beating
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1612438814
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 161
Book Description
A true crime author explores what happens when cults cross the line in this anthology of false prophets, true believers, and tragic consequences. Thousands of religious, political and self-improvement cults are active around the world, and an estimated two to five million Americans have been involved in a cult at some point in their lives. While not all cults are destructive, these stories demonstrate how unwavering faith in an infallible leader can lead lay the groundwork for criminal acts a heinous as murder or mass suicide. True crime author Joan Biddlecombe Agsar uncovers what really happened inside some of modern history’s most notorious cults, including: • The Manson Family Hippie devotees turn violent to manifest God’s race war • The Peoples Temple Hundreds of utopia seekers meet their end in the Guyanese jungle by ingesting a cyanide-laced drink • The Vampire Clan Teenagers consume blood and bludgeon an unsuspecting Florida couple to death • Heaven’s Gate Nike-adorned disciples commit suicide to transport onto a spaceship approaching • Earth Silvia Meraz Moreno’s Santa Muerte Cult Members collect sacrificial blood by slicing open victims’ veins while their hearts are still beating
Cult Escape
Author: John Spinks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781673690064
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Cult Escape. It is the personal story of a boy born into a tyrannical religious Exclusive Brethren cult in England, and the tormenting journey of planning the escape to eventual freedom. The price of freedom was to be cut off from all his friends and family who were forbidden from having any contact with him. Now, after escaping, what does a 22 year old boy, who had been hidden in a box like a coiled spring do, when suddenly he finds he can explore all his fantasies with no religious restraint? Like the proverbial kid in the sweetshop, he goes wild. He loses his virginity within days, goes evil by buying the forbidden TV, radio, video and 'fills his boots' experimenting with the 'big bad world'. That boy was me.Cult Escape has three sections; IN, OUT and SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT. The story starts with being born into the cult, the lifestyle, the rules, the coercion, the confessions, the disciplining, and the separation from the evil world. The IN chapters cover how it felt having to grow up in a strict religious cult, the laws we were all under, the difficulties of school life, the challenges of work life, and the coping mechanisms for 'us young ones' during the excruciating boredom of eleven meetings every single week! One of my distractions was, believe it or not; I ate myself. I still have the scars. In that particular chapter called Funny Memories..."...Such was the dry monotony for most of us young ones, we were always on the lookout for anything to break the boredom. The following are a few memories and funnies of such happenings, which though may sound ridiculously insignificant to you, were some of the highlights of our life of conformity, restrictions, rules and regulations.Here you will read about Sandy Huckley's buns, the fate of all those who watched Charles marry Diana, the passage we could look up and the Yawn Show. Yes, all weird stuff, the things intelligent people can get up to when they allow a man they call The Universal Leader to control their hair length, their shaving habits, their house drains and convince them it would be wicked to have a cup of tea with their neighbour."The OUT chapters describe the new and exciting world I was now free to explore, how my head got free from the cult indoctrination, how my beliefs changed and three major healing experiences that I hope will help many who read this book.The controversial SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT chapters examine serious issues that seek to position religious controlling cults under the scrutiny of the public eye. Though religious cults are legal, how does society really feel about the splitting up of families, coercive indoctrination and brainwashing? What actually defines a cult? Why do they all believe they are the 'right' church? How can a person successfully leave a cult, even if they were born into it? Can anything be done to stop the control and abuse that goes on today? I believe that there is something the government can do and I make a legislation proposal in the penultimate chapter called The Religious Warning. Finally, the Conclusion which I offer for due consideration. In the words of Paul McCartney, 'There must be an answer, Let It Be'. What will be the next big cult story to hit the news? Another suicide cult? Another family separation story? A friend of mine once testified in court that the cult he had been a member of had not informed him of his mother's death, till three months after she was buried. The judge put his head in his hands and shook his head in disbelief. Something needs to be done about this. Let's get on with it.John Spinks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781673690064
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Cult Escape. It is the personal story of a boy born into a tyrannical religious Exclusive Brethren cult in England, and the tormenting journey of planning the escape to eventual freedom. The price of freedom was to be cut off from all his friends and family who were forbidden from having any contact with him. Now, after escaping, what does a 22 year old boy, who had been hidden in a box like a coiled spring do, when suddenly he finds he can explore all his fantasies with no religious restraint? Like the proverbial kid in the sweetshop, he goes wild. He loses his virginity within days, goes evil by buying the forbidden TV, radio, video and 'fills his boots' experimenting with the 'big bad world'. That boy was me.Cult Escape has three sections; IN, OUT and SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT. The story starts with being born into the cult, the lifestyle, the rules, the coercion, the confessions, the disciplining, and the separation from the evil world. The IN chapters cover how it felt having to grow up in a strict religious cult, the laws we were all under, the difficulties of school life, the challenges of work life, and the coping mechanisms for 'us young ones' during the excruciating boredom of eleven meetings every single week! One of my distractions was, believe it or not; I ate myself. I still have the scars. In that particular chapter called Funny Memories..."...Such was the dry monotony for most of us young ones, we were always on the lookout for anything to break the boredom. The following are a few memories and funnies of such happenings, which though may sound ridiculously insignificant to you, were some of the highlights of our life of conformity, restrictions, rules and regulations.Here you will read about Sandy Huckley's buns, the fate of all those who watched Charles marry Diana, the passage we could look up and the Yawn Show. Yes, all weird stuff, the things intelligent people can get up to when they allow a man they call The Universal Leader to control their hair length, their shaving habits, their house drains and convince them it would be wicked to have a cup of tea with their neighbour."The OUT chapters describe the new and exciting world I was now free to explore, how my head got free from the cult indoctrination, how my beliefs changed and three major healing experiences that I hope will help many who read this book.The controversial SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT chapters examine serious issues that seek to position religious controlling cults under the scrutiny of the public eye. Though religious cults are legal, how does society really feel about the splitting up of families, coercive indoctrination and brainwashing? What actually defines a cult? Why do they all believe they are the 'right' church? How can a person successfully leave a cult, even if they were born into it? Can anything be done to stop the control and abuse that goes on today? I believe that there is something the government can do and I make a legislation proposal in the penultimate chapter called The Religious Warning. Finally, the Conclusion which I offer for due consideration. In the words of Paul McCartney, 'There must be an answer, Let It Be'. What will be the next big cult story to hit the news? Another suicide cult? Another family separation story? A friend of mine once testified in court that the cult he had been a member of had not informed him of his mother's death, till three months after she was buried. The judge put his head in his hands and shook his head in disbelief. Something needs to be done about this. Let's get on with it.John Spinks
Losing Reality
Author: Robert Jay Lifton
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620975122
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
A definitive account of the psychology of zealotry, from a National Book Award winner and a leading authority on the nature of cults, political absolutism, and mind control In this unique and timely volume Robert Jay Lifton, the National Book Award–winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual proposes a radical idea: that the psychological relationship between extremist political movements and fanatical religious cults may be much closer than anyone thought. Exploring the most extreme manifestations of human zealotry, Lifton highlights an array of leaders—from Mao to Hitler to the Japanese apocalyptic cult leader Shōkō Asahara to Donald Trump—who have sought the control of human minds and the ownership of reality. Lifton has spent decades exploring psychological extremism. His pioneering concept of the "Eight Deadly Sins" of ideological totalism—originally devised to identify "brainwashing" (or "thought reform") in political movements—has been widely quoted in writings about cults, and embraced by members and former members of religious cults seeking to understand their experiences. In Losing Reality Lifton makes clear that the apocalyptic impulse—that of destroying the world in order to remake it in purified form—is not limited to religious groups but is prominent in extremist political movements such as Nazism and Chinese Communism, and also in groups surrounding Donald Trump. Lifton applies his concept of "malignant normality" to Trump's efforts to render his destructive falsehoods a routine part of American life. But Lifton sees the human species as capable of "regaining reality" by means of our "protean" psychological capacities and our ethical and political commitments as "witnessing professionals." Lifton weaves together some of his finest work with extensive new commentary to provide vital understanding of our struggle with mental predators. Losing Reality is a book not only of stunning scholarship, but also of huge relevance for these troubled times.
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620975122
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
A definitive account of the psychology of zealotry, from a National Book Award winner and a leading authority on the nature of cults, political absolutism, and mind control In this unique and timely volume Robert Jay Lifton, the National Book Award–winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual proposes a radical idea: that the psychological relationship between extremist political movements and fanatical religious cults may be much closer than anyone thought. Exploring the most extreme manifestations of human zealotry, Lifton highlights an array of leaders—from Mao to Hitler to the Japanese apocalyptic cult leader Shōkō Asahara to Donald Trump—who have sought the control of human minds and the ownership of reality. Lifton has spent decades exploring psychological extremism. His pioneering concept of the "Eight Deadly Sins" of ideological totalism—originally devised to identify "brainwashing" (or "thought reform") in political movements—has been widely quoted in writings about cults, and embraced by members and former members of religious cults seeking to understand their experiences. In Losing Reality Lifton makes clear that the apocalyptic impulse—that of destroying the world in order to remake it in purified form—is not limited to religious groups but is prominent in extremist political movements such as Nazism and Chinese Communism, and also in groups surrounding Donald Trump. Lifton applies his concept of "malignant normality" to Trump's efforts to render his destructive falsehoods a routine part of American life. But Lifton sees the human species as capable of "regaining reality" by means of our "protean" psychological capacities and our ethical and political commitments as "witnessing professionals." Lifton weaves together some of his finest work with extensive new commentary to provide vital understanding of our struggle with mental predators. Losing Reality is a book not only of stunning scholarship, but also of huge relevance for these troubled times.
Underground
Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375725806
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375725806
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.