My experiences do give me a leg up in a few ways. Like, if you ever need advice on what to do if you're in a cult I've got a few suggestions from personal experience. Mind you my bias is 'murder the leaders' prone.
[ She thinks she's hilarious, thanks. ]
In the end, everyone has capacity for evil. What's alarming is how easy it can be to fall into it, to just fall in line and accept what someone tells you.
I think it's important to explain that things like cults, they find you at your weakest and they pretend to take you in, pretend to be something you need. They pretend that you're someone they value, that you're worthy of their trust and respect. They tell you that you can do good, can be good, so long as you're with them. They pretend that your values and theirs align.
You were taken in so easily, were made to believe it was a good idea to listen to these new people so easily, because they acted in a way to fill a need you had. A need for guidance and rules and structure. Maybe even a need for someone to tell you what to do.
I know I had a similar need when I was first brought into The Forge. My life had been pretty regulated, too. And when I was there in the new setting I would have panicked if the Leader hadn't given me activities to do, people to listen to. Going from a place with strict rules with dire consequences to one with invisible rules with dire consequences would have been the death of me had I not had those little hints here and there, and the words of the Leader to point me towards who he thought was a good cultist, who I could learn from and obey in his absence.
You don't seem like you'd have coped very well without someone to tell you what to do. Er, no offence. It's just, based of the information I have now, you seem like you're someone who needs some form of direction or you flounder. I'm the same way, I just have my whole stupid code of ethics thing to guide me when all else fails, and that only came after I realised my lack of ethics meant the Leader could turn me into something I didn't want to be. You didn't really get the chance for any sort of revelation like that.
no subject
[ She thinks she's hilarious, thanks. ]
In the end, everyone has capacity for evil. What's alarming is how easy it can be to fall into it, to just fall in line and accept what someone tells you.
I think it's important to explain that things like cults, they find you at your weakest and they pretend to take you in, pretend to be something you need. They pretend that you're someone they value, that you're worthy of their trust and respect. They tell you that you can do good, can be good, so long as you're with them. They pretend that your values and theirs align.
You were taken in so easily, were made to believe it was a good idea to listen to these new people so easily, because they acted in a way to fill a need you had. A need for guidance and rules and structure. Maybe even a need for someone to tell you what to do.
I know I had a similar need when I was first brought into The Forge. My life had been pretty regulated, too. And when I was there in the new setting I would have panicked if the Leader hadn't given me activities to do, people to listen to. Going from a place with strict rules with dire consequences to one with invisible rules with dire consequences would have been the death of me had I not had those little hints here and there, and the words of the Leader to point me towards who he thought was a good cultist, who I could learn from and obey in his absence.
You don't seem like you'd have coped very well without someone to tell you what to do. Er, no offence. It's just, based of the information I have now, you seem like you're someone who needs some form of direction or you flounder. I'm the same way, I just have my whole stupid code of ethics thing to guide me when all else fails, and that only came after I realised my lack of ethics meant the Leader could turn me into something I didn't want to be. You didn't really get the chance for any sort of revelation like that.