You may recall that this phrase was coined in the late 70’s in connection with the mass suicide of the followers of a self-styled faith healer, Jim Jones. At the time this tragic event seemed incomprehensible to most—but in the aftermath offered powerful insight into messianic leaders and the cults that worship them. The relationship between the two is complex and psychologically fascinating, especially in the midst of current events. Politics and religion share many attributes, not least of which is a search for absolute truth—and the fanaticism associated with cult behavior inevitably arises from a personal sense of repressed doubt.
Carl Jung was perhaps the first to articulate the particular disease—and it is a disease the same as any other addiction. Both the idols who inspire cult adulation and their followers are in a symbiotic relationship. Their union feeds on a self-affirming conviction that neither requires evidence nor accepts anything which might undermine their belief system—or rather that might cause them to question the validity of their views. And like all fanatics, cult members are intent on imposing their views on everyone else believing they have both a right and mission to do so.
What we are experiencing right now in our country is nothing more or less than fanaticism. Standing outside this self-sustaining belief system it is hard to accept that millions of people can convince themselves—even contort all facts and evidence in contradiction of their closely held views with such ease. But it is nothing new—we can see this same behavior at work everywhere in the world, and it comes as no surprise that members of one cult, are often associated with others. It is the behavior that one must diagnose not the actual beliefs. Those who embrace QAnon, Stop the Steal, and many extremist religious sects share a common bond, they are composed of individuals driven by a repressed insecurity and fear.
For some, fear and doubt can only be overcome through reason, acceptance, and the will force to sustain hope in the face of adversity. Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor who wrote about his experience in the Nazi death camps, believed that those who were able to maintain their humanity and sanity were motivated by what he called a “will to meaning”. They could not change their circumstances but they could choose how they would respond and by doing so alter the effect of the depravity which surrounded them.
Philosophers, psychologists and enlightened second half of life thinkers have shared the same observation with us over the ages. Adversity, hardship and misfortune will always be with us. If we are overwhelmed by them and surrender ourselves to fear and doubt in their face we are without hope. When we lose our will to meaning--we lose our power to transform the unacceptable.
But not everyone takes this path. Some seek out a simpler solution, a leader that substitutes adulation and promises illusory gain—believe in me, in what I say—accept it with total assurance and you can banish fear and doubt. Couple this with the pre-meditated erosion of belief in traditional institutions, cultivation of tribal hatreds and personal feelings of injustice along with a consistent abuse of fact and logic and you have a perfect recipe for what we can observe at this precise moment. That is the mind game of the false prophet--stoke the latent fears and doubts that lurk within us, distort reality and the truth by discrediting objective sources and anyone or thing that offers an alternate perspective.
Once you have prepared the ground, paint a picture of the world and the future that is bleak--it isn't that hard as we face real and genuinely difficult challenges --many of our own making. Finally, pronounce simplistic solutions--make grandiose messianic statements and assure your followers that you alone can save them from this predatory world. It is a time honored tradition--one that we have observed before--even in our own lifetime.
Not everyone who is caught up in the current situation belongs to the cult—some are simply bystanders guided by ideological belief or self-interest. But the core of the cult –the most extreme of its members are true believers, they cannot and will not abandon their positions, it is their addiction, and the drug of choice that sustains them.
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