Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Seed Discussion Forum

Art Barker likely never at Synanon

<< < (3/4) > >>

Anonymous:
The Higher power thing Greg? If somebody went off the deep end would they believe their own bullshit all the time or would there be a conscious knowing of their trickery? Or would they have tricked themselves? If they felt chosen to rise out a tyrant wouldn't that make their god an evil god?  :eek:

Anonymous:
I dont think cultism really has much to do with god..good ,evil or otherwise.

Cutlism is more about re-enforment of dogma and individual ego, mind control, basic surprisingly simple  behavior modification and the pyschology of the propensity of people to follow a leader.

Troubling as it is, AA has all the elements of dangerous cultism at its immediate disposal. Dogma, exclusive language, higher purpose...all there for the grabbing.

Witnness Chuk Deitrich, Art Barker, Jim Jones and countless other cult leaders that have sprung form the AA doctrine.

Anonymous:
I recall a movie about Santeria and its involvement with a drug rehabilitation program called"The Believers" starring Martin Sheen. It mae me wonder what really went on behind closed doors at the staff's circle. The god concept was introduced to me through AA doctrine as a Supreme being. All I could think about was some god that wore a long red robe and wandered through the world. For all the atheists their higher powr was the spirit of the group called a "spreda core" or something. I guess the mysticism of all the cultish programs just seemed like a dogma, like you said. As Seedlings we were always getting it from everybody it seemed like. Even the place where they called us a "family". I hated that place.(the Seed) :flame:

GregFL:
Yeah, the spree de corps thing. I remember that term being bantered around quite a bit.

More than that, I remember having my speach ready during steps rap, which occured every day in first phase, and then repeating the "god to me is the group" pablum every time I was called on to explain that particular step.  I never believed it, not for a second, nor did I think anyone seriously believed that "god to them can be anything..even a chair".

What a crock, but if you even appeared to doubt any of the dogma, any of it, you were in big trouble, so I sat in my chair and rehearsed what I would say if called upon mustering as much feigned enthusiasm  as I could,  deeply afraid of being called on and confronted, deeply resentfull of being stuck there but not seeing a way out, and all the while losing my childhood to an experienced that I neither needed, wanted, or should have been subjected to.

Yesterday My daughter and I spent the day together with family for a party for my nephew. My daughter is the age I was (14) when I went in. As I thought of what a crime it would be to break her spirit at this age, I also observed former seedlings at the party and wondered if they thought the same thing about their kids.

The Seed still sucks, but now it is just sucky memories.


Back to the thread topic...Still looking for help identifying where Art got his synanon techniques.

marshall:
Cliff usually talked about how our higher power could be anything...the group, an idea, even a lightbulb. I recall that Robert Chun once really got angry and contradicted cliff on this. He kept saying that god was not some lightbulb or the group, etc..that god was GOD! It was obvious that he was referring to cliff on this subject. The cultish, mystical aspect of the seed is especially repugnant to me. Art our saviour. Our glorious mission in the world. We...the chosen. ughh!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page