"Thank you for being too cheap to use an actual hitman to kill me, as an actual hitman would have succeeded." Is such a funny yet kind of badass quote that i think we all need to appreciate.
Wow, cults are dangerous. We should make a watch group, probably make it a small monthly fee to be a part, maybe $15. Hey we should have somewhere to meet once we have enough funds. And to help pay the rent, maybe put in a gift shop. I think we should also elect a leader to make choices for the group. We gotta protect ourselves from cults after all, and a leader can do that if they're persuasive enough. Be a shame if any of us joined a cult.
At least the Veterans of Foreign Wars have an operating bar standard. Wouldn't need to charge a monthly fee if it were a members-only place. I couldn't serve but i do drink.
Fun fact: One of my college professors would've been right at the center of the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack but his wife went into labor as he was leaving for work so instead of getting gassed he was in the delivery room with her getting several fingers broken (not exaggerating, his wife has incredible grip strength).
Oh yeah my mom broke a nurse's fingers while giving birth to me (or it might have been one of my siblings). She was really new to the job and she was so excited about getting to be a part of it all for the first time that she didn't even care about her injury that much lol
Weirdly enough one of my high school history teachers was also supposed to be on one of those trains to get to class, college I believe. He was spared only because he missed his alarm. Had never happened before and hasn’t happened since which is pretty weird too lmao
I can't express how irritated I am by censorship of the word "suicide," especially as someone who grew up with suicidal ideation. Censoring the language around it is stigmatizing and isolating. We should be allowed to have frank, open discussions about suicide, cult-related or otherwise. FYI I'm irritated at the algorithm and the monetization bullshit, not Paper Will.
small correction about the cargo cults. there likely was no pilot called john frum, but severall pilots that that introduced themself as "john from America / Kansas / any other place". and because the word, the state of origin kept changing, only the "john from" stuck.
You dismissed Synanon too easily. A lot of children "schools" and camps for troubled kids followed their systems, even today. Thousands of teens and children have been victims of this, myself included. I spent a year and seven months in a wilderness camp following their system. Close to 30 years later I still wake up sweating from nightmares
I was thinking they sounded familiar, and it turns out I've read multiple distinct stories just like that in a Reddit thread about experiences in "troubled" children camps. It's absolutely insane what is allowed to go on there, and how parents often don't know the truth and are willing to do anything to "fix" their children. They take kids who need compassion and a listening ear and give them lifelong trauma.
Make sure it has decent production standards and a writing team that makes the stuff you like. Remember, Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story!
I love how the guy at the beginning of the Scientology commercial quite literally said that anything you hear about Scientology, that isn’t coming directly from them, is a lie.
That seems to be Cultism 101. I shouldn’t make this political, but I’ve noticed similar behavior in which outlets people trust to get their daily news…
And I knew exactly what our narrator was talking about when he said "spiritually banging them with rays of light emanating from his fingertips inside them". But who were they? The women or the guys??? 😏😉😁
Also, I’m not sure if you know, but Japanese universities (I’m not sure about all of them) provide their students, before they begin their schooling with a whole warning/ informational paper about cults and how to recognise them, because it’s still such a real and dangerous issue for Japanese college students. This is in particular reference to Sophia University Tokyo.
It’s one of Japan’s top, most prestigious private research universities, (also! can’t forget, with a catholic overtone) so it goes to show that they are purposefully targeting and recruiting arguably some of the most intelligent young people in Japan.
It's not more dangerous to Japanese students more than other people, it's just that in some parts of the world, people recognize the difference between cults and religions and don't go overboard on religious freedom
@Gernot Schrader The "Wow, cults are dangerous." comment is clearly satirical, and we recognize that it is describing a cult to avoid cults. We couldn't do that if we never learned anything about cults, could we? Spreading information and warnings is effective. It's not an absolute fix, but it will save countless people, regardless.
Cults are generally way more high profile and prevalent in a lot of East Asia right now than in places like the U.S. or Europe. South Korea and Japan especially have a massive cult epidemic with huge portions of the population participating in them. It makes a bit of sense if you consider the less strongly monotheistic religious culture and the high rates of suicide and depression because of the sheer expense of living and awful work culture.
@Gernot Schrader There’s a difference between religion and cults. There can be cults created within Christianity (including Catholicism) but it is not a cult just as is. Not a single church leader would hunt you down if you left or cut you off from your families. There are expectations to be considered practicing, but you can actively not follow them and not get called out on it.
"THE KING OF NOTHING TODAY!" made me bust up laughing. Glad I'm not the only one who has actually found some cult music kinda catchy. (Charles Manson - Home Is Where You're Happy) there's a great cover of it on youtube by a lovely woman.
My favorite fact about the L. Ron Hubbard jazz is that he "supposedly" charged the musicians for every wrong note played... In a jazz album let that sink in
For a really long time, I thought the Scientology founder’s name was Elrond Hubbard. Turns out when you learn by listening and not reading you miss some things 😅
I actually got a free session of that Scientology machine thing. It was a lot of memory regression and then having me “remember” things that happened before I was born while I was in the womb. She would not end the session until I said something. Saying “I don’t remember” means you sit there longer. I made up some bs to get out of there.
@@mikehoman7351 That's part of the experience. They essentially tell you to make it up. They tell you to just say whatever is coming to your head and that whatever is coming to mind is a valid "memory" of what happened in the womb aka make it up lol. Since you're so interested, why don't you go ask for a free session yourself?
In the 1980s, my sister was going to BU for a philosophy degree. The Scientologists used to have a building near the Common, and they used to solicit people to take 'a personality test.' They came up to her, and she agreed to give it a whirl. Three hours later they politely returned her to the sidewalk. Much to their (and others') dismay, there is no time limit on philosophical discussion with her
Yeah, I almost got conned into one of those "personality tests" in the '80's, soon as I was led in the door by the (extremely attractive... hey, I was in my 20's, whaddaya expect) young woman and saw Scientology I said "NOPE!" and walked out!! 🤣
I was visiting my friend at MIT in the 80s and took that personality test… then promptly made as many excuses as I needed to get the heck out of there 😳
Now if I had a nickel for every time a cult leader tried to kill a critic by putting a snake in their mailbox, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but weird that it's happened twice.
It sounds like a good idea to someone who isn’t familiar with snakes. Lots of people don’t realize snakes avoid wasting their venom on stuff that they can’t eat.
Thank you, I've had the week from hell, my Sons father passed away, I've been absolutely broken and this actually made me laugh for the first time in days and days. Thanks muchly, Paper Will!
If you want to avoid cults look out for something called love bombing. It's a very common and effective recruitment tool, imagine having a tough year or whatever and you go to a meeting or whatever for the first time and absolutely everyone just gives you a big hug and overloading your brain with the love chemicals. It's a very powerful feeling but remember that is often the first step to getting your time and money.
@@miriamscuderi4680 very true. Like the classic trope of dad kicking the shit out of you and buying you ice cream after. It's an act to confuse you, are they sorry or is this a ploy? If they are capable of this level of kindness what did I do to set them off earlier? Is this really all my fault?
"Orthodox Christians are Jews and Catholics are Luciferians!" -Nutzees of Y'all-Qaeda, now accepting Catholics if they're Sedevacantists, exhibit A: Milo Yiannopoulos
@@autobotstarscream765 You've got it! Exactly simply by looking at the reality, and by placing the ideology based on the reality presented, not simply ideologies supposed by anyone group.
@@isabellalive2.081 I feel like I keep having strokes trying to parse your sentence. I suspect like in javascript, a missing comma and maybe a typo is causing the parsing issues.
Westboro Baptist Church threatened to protest a soldiers funeral in rural North Carolina, so my brother and his gf and I went to protest their protest. We made huge signs and everything. One old farmer man sternally came up to us thinking we were WBC and then hung out for a bit and gave up "sodie pops" from the store. We got a lot of happy honks and waves, and it was the only time a cop came out for my protection and ACTUALLY meant it. They didnt follow through. A couple of them came, saw us and a sherrif who told them to eff off, threw a hissy fit, and quickly left. Lmao. Good times.
bravo to you! we need more people with the guts to stand up to these kids of people....plus also those members need to be exposed to us so that they know we are not evil or out to get them or devil worshipers!
"You don't wanna make a song about murdering, killing, crucifying, torturing, tearing apart or burning people." every death metal band ever: "Speak for yourself."
As a society, we need to have a lot more compassion for cult members/ex members. Cult members are not stupid people, because why would a cult want someone like that? They wouldn't. Cults want smart, wealthy, well connected people that can help them expand their reach. They don't just prey on vulnerable people, they also prey on extremely smart people who they can then make vulnerable. There's a quote from an ex NXVIUM cult member that goes like this: "nobody joins a cult. You join a good thing. Nobody goes, 'yes, let me just join this thing that is going to fuck up my life and the lives of everyone I love'. You join a good thing, until it's not so good anymore". Cults don't start out as what they end up being, because then nobody would join. They start as churches, self-help groups, things that people really love and believe in. We have ALL been manipulated. All of us. Nobody is above becoming a cult member, because no cult member thinks that they are one. Those who join cults aren't stupid, they were joining something that they believed in and truly thought would make the world better. Isn't that what anyone wants?
@@Plethorality thank you! It’s something I’ve been really passionate about recently, these people deserve our compassion because they’ve been through so much
As a fellow Kansan, yeah, I second this. It's a cult and a hate group. I remember they once protested at my high school because we had an LGBTQ student alliance, and my best friend (a gay man) flipped them off.
Pretty much nobody likes them. One time, the KKK showed up to counter protest them. Also, they have a very irrational hatred of other Christian groups.
They’ve also picketed at the funerals of school shooting victims, basically celebrating the shootings and saying they’re a good thing and God’s judgment. They are vile.
This video is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Even some of the more light-hearted ones are somewhat disturbing. Great video. You deserved that shoutout from Brad, and you’ll make it big someday!
I think the vagueness of the Jim Jones cult is why as a teenager I was so against singing songs in church that were super vague. One of them, sorry cannot recall the title, sounded more like you were singing about wanting a woman rather than Jesus. My rule is if it makes you uncomfortable you shouldn’t do it.
I personally believe God wants praise from a happy and grateful heart, not an uncomfortable one. I don't get why people are so critical about it. There's been songs I was uncomfortable singing too, but I had to sing anyway lest I be looked down on. That's fine though, soon as I grew up I quit going to church. I study by myself now. Much more peaceful that way.
That's what I stuck with, too, when being a youth in church camps or so. Not if there were a lot of them, but if I personally had a problem with a verse, I wouldn't sing it. And I would say why afterwards. Nobody had a problem with this - and I think that's a good sign.
As an Orthodox Christian I am very creeped out by American Protestant church songs, they sound like they're in love with Jesus. I like music but no way am I going to sing about my Redeemer like a lover.
Personally I'd feel a lot more comfortable singing a love song about a woman than a love song about a long dead Jewish cult leader from the middle east. But to each his own, I guess.
Regarding the terminology of “cargo cult”: in an academic context, the word cult can just refer to a relatively small and particularly devoted religious group. So, when anthropologists talk about cargo cults and historians talk about the various mystery cults of Ancient Greece, that’s the definition they’re using. I hope this is helpful, in case anyone was confused.
This isn't correct. Cultural anthropologists would be referring to actual cargo cults, which were religious groups formed in rural, usually tribal societies that recieved supplies from soldiers during wartime. While they are now aware this was NOT anything from a higher being and rather more modernised cultures trading or giving modern supplies to them, many still keep the rituals they created based around military men!
I love that you included scientology. Dude, back in the late 80s, the infomercial for L Ron Hubbard's dumb book played repeatedly during the day. It definitely did the heavy lifting to form the backbone of the whole group.
Reminds me of that scene of the Simpsons where Grandpa tells a war story but edits it for the kids: "I was just telling Maggie how we chased the teddy bears into their cuddle bunkers, then had to tickle them out with machine hugs and fun throwers! They say the more soldiers you tickle, the easier it gets. Well, sir, it doesn't..."
@@arthas640 this is a perfect example, because Maggie already has an intimate understanding of gun violence and so avoiding the "bad" words was actually pointless with her.
This shit drives me nuts. It’s also just so stupid because the new, monetization friendly words just become placeholders, then just end up meaning the same thing. I fuckin hate this shit, it’s dumb af. Suicide, as an example, is a serious subject and having to use dumb ass terms like “un -aliving” makes it sound like it’s being made light of. Fuck UA-cam.
It won't be long before you'll get banned for even thinking about the word. Or maybe that's just Microsoft. The level of censorship on American platforms is ridiculous. The land of the free to stfu so you don't offend anyone ever even by accident except in music depending on the genre. 🤣
People really need to understand that cults, especially the leaders, smell your personal weaknesses like the predators that they are. The world needs more educational videos like this one.
Filling an empty cup is the remedy for common sense in most people who long for things unknown to them. Being a child of divorce, I learned early on to play both sides of the fence when it came to which parent I was around at the time. I'd transform myself into what they wanted in a son instead of trying to be myself and it caused me a great deal of problems with social networking, relationships and trust issues. I could easily see both what the cultists are lacking in life and fill that void but I can also understand how easy it would be to let go of all my responsibilities and put my faith in someone I naively believe is providing the missing ingredients to make my life meaningful.
@@accuser_of_the_brethren7816 yeah, my parents divorced when i was 8 after a year of increasingly not speaking to each other. in my 30s i heard about this thing called " double agent syndrome" man, everything u just wrote is spot on, their separation separated me.i was sent back & forth, when with my dad i downplayed anything good in my life connected to my mom & vice versa.got way weird with stepparents, i had to unlearn those mental/emotional gymnastics.i don't have to pretend to be or not be anything, love me, don't love me, i will have to live with it either way but i dont have to change to be more of whatever it is that u would like, AND, THAT IS NOT HURTING ANYONE!! Edit; have u heard of or checked out Eckhart Tolle ?
If someone could produce a cure to my bipolar that wasn't pills, I'd follow them. Issue is, they can't, no one ever can without medicine, so they'll never get me. Because science wins over their mumbo jumbo. Even when it's called "scientology."
Exactly. The current cultural narrative is that only weak or crazy people fall for the lure of cults, which isn't true, and makes them even more dangerous, "oh I'm an independent thinker, I'll never fall for something like that." Yikes.
Fun fact: Bonnie Lou Nettles (Ti) was actually considered the true leader of Heaven’s Gate before her death. She was a nurse in the same hospital where Marshall (Do) hospitalized after a mental health episode. She managed to talk with him about her beliefs and they eventually evolved it into their religion.
Just listened to the jonestown death tape... and am now scarred... should have listened to the warning. A calm, motherly sounding woman's voice saying "They’re not crying from pain. It’s just a little bitter tasting but, they’re not crying out of any pain." is now stuck in my brain... 😳
A friend described to me the woman on tape arguing with Jones about how they could potentially escape to the USSR. “You think the USSR would want this?!” was apparently his response, and that sticks with me.
"The Family" were partly to blame for inspiring Ugandans to try and institute the death penalty for gay people. I will never let anyone forget that that happened
Actually I think that was a different group also called "The Family" check out the book "The Family : The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" by Jeff Sharlet
I actually looked up the Church of Euthanasia, after going through their website and watching the videos I'm almost entirely convinced that the CoE was created out of edgy irony until at some point where the irony was actually being taken seriously.
I looked them up too, and I think you're right. Church of Euthanasia is about as serious as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Their whole cannibalism thing is satirical, like Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal. The Stork is actually safe to watch (less violent than Bugs Bunny cartoons). He stopped the clip before it got to the really funny part 😆
Look up the church of the sub-genius or discordianism For some background. These are some of the best parody/surrealist religions in the U.S., The church of euthanasia is very probably an offshoot of these movements. I knew some of the original church of euthanasia folk as I live and Boston in Boston is the spiritual home of the Church. They got famous in Boston for holding rallies that would feature over 20 foot long banners emblazoned with the words, save the world, kill yourself.
Same, especially because there's been some similar organizations in the past created out of pure edginess or defeatism like the Euthanasia Coaster and the voluntary extinction "movement".
@@selflessself reminds me a lot of the voluntary extinction movement who are almost universally just faux nihilists and mopey defeatists. They're mostly just people who dont want to have kids who've assigned some ideology to their decision.
It's weird that in the West that the Sarin Gas Attacks are not wildly discussed; not compared to Heavens Gate anyway. But in Japan, this act of terror had such an affect on the country and its new fascination with cults. If you have enjoyed a piece of Japanese fiction about cults then it's very likely that the aesthics of the cult were inspired by these attacks. By aesthetics, what I mean is that in the West our cult media is very reliant on imagery of devil worship, kidnapping, brainwashing and a general sense of malevolence. However the sarin gas attacks were from a group mostly seen as a benign. Which for me is so much creepier and I think the Japanese see it like that too. This sense that this group you mostly laughed at or barely thought of; one day killed a bunch of people and injured hundreds. If you have read IQ84 you may understand what I mean.
I remember the attack ( while in the US). It was reported and it was terrifying. I think it quickly became a discussion of how unsafe mass transportation is though ... I had totally forgotten about it until watching this video though. I don't know iq84, so I guess I need to investigate that too... EDIT: Ohh, right. Murakami's book!! Still have to get around to that one. Thanks for the reminder!
@@zel9298 Murakami has even done a book all about the Sarin Gas Attacks which is how I learnt about it. There's also a documentary that came out recently about it.
I hear it discussed quiet a bit in the west, especially since after 9/11 when concerns of bioterrorism or terrorist chemical weapons attacks became widespread. I first heard about it as a kid around the time of the Iraq invasion and 2001 anthrax attacks since people were worried about a similar gas attack on US soil, especially in light of Saddams supposed chemical weapons. I've heard it discussed quiet a bit since too, since the cult is pretty crazy and they're brought up after a few subsequent attacks and he was discussed in media a bit after his execution as well.
YOOOOO! I actually grew up in The Family. All those corny music videos weren't seen as comedic to us, that's the shit we listened to EVERY day, unironically, (and we loved it). It's hilarious now, but yeah, that was the only entertainment we were allowed lol. Obviously, it wasn't a good environment, especially for kids, for so many reasons. Aside from general dumbshit ideology we were indoctrinated with (I seriously used to have a kneejerk reaction ANY time someone said "millions of years ago," in any context, because evolution was end-boss-evil), child abuse was rampant, and I'm one of the few who got out relatively unscathed, with only general neglect issues that arise from being raised with 20 other siblings. Oh, also, the bit about "how are we going to make money, we're out of literature" comes from one of the The Family's primary monitization schemes, which was "hand out preechy propaganda posters and beg for donations." We'd always say it was "for missionaries here and overseas"--it was part of our little speech we were taught to say before even knowing what "overseas" was, no joke--but that shit went straight to rent. "Postering" was a thing we'd do multiple times a week, starting pretty much as soon as you were able to carry on a conversation. We'd all get in the van, drive to Walmart, and try to pass them off to people putting their groceries away. Only the VERY young kids were accompanied by adults. The rest were just told to come back by X time. Ahh, good times. If you're dumb enough to join a cult, whatever, your life, but if you raise children in a cult you deserve the hell you peach.
Scientology is literally how I got started learning about cults. When I was in high school, my dad was a cable installer. He had a job to go install internet and it turned out it was at a Scientology church. He got there and was told he had to leave his cell phone in his work truck and they all had uhhhhhh "pew pew machines", if you catch my drift... Yeah. He refused to complete that job and called his boss before they could call and complain about him leaving. That story was the dinner discussion that night lol. And then I was taking a sociology class at school and we had to do a presentation about a cult or religion. I gathered two friends for my group, went to the teacher and went, "can we do Scientology? It's both a cult AND a religion!" And then when we got permission I was like "okay. Cool. Can we use a school computer for research? They're not putting cookies on my laptop." He actually approved us using Wikipedia as a source instead of their website after I showed him the videos and was like, "they're saying a lot... and absolutely nothing at all..." It was insane.
I will add that as a Jew it's not weird for a religious building to have a gift shop in general. A lot of synagogues do lol, but that money literally goes to support local Jewish artists (since you're buying their work) and also to do charitable work. That uhhhhhhh isn't what Scientology is doing with theirs lol
So there were Scientologist recruiters at my very large state fair. I forget exactly what they asked but it was something along the lines of if I was stressed. I was like what the heck I got 15mins to kill, let’s take your stress test. Mind you I have issues that make me clinically anxious and stressed. So they decide to use one of those auditing machines and ask uncomfortable questions that are supposed to elicit a response. Trick is you’re holding these two metal rods (one in each hand ) and when you get uncomfortable you tense up or your heart jumps etc. I decided to just hold the rods very loosely and just chill with the fun disassociation I kind of do when I get in a weird situation. They asked, I answered. Machine never moved more than the tiniest bit when I shifted in my chair (which I think was intentionally uncomfortable). They were frustrated but still were like “you’ve probably heard about this book. You should buy it” and invited me to go to their church. I said I would if they came to mine first and I’d even buy lunch. They never came. Kind of disappointed
Your comment reminded me of one time I went to this fair and there was like a church or something there. I remember they had like quizzes about something weird that me and my friends did. It was a really strange atmosphere. Apparently they had been handing out bibles but they had ran out before we came to their booth. I really wonder who they were now. The quiz was just very strange but I can’t remember what it was about for the life of me. They must of been some cult and I wish I knew who. I had completely forgotten about that.
May I recommend 'The Cults of unreason' by Dr Christopher Evans, 'The Space Gods Revealed' by Ronald Story and 'Karma Cola' by Gita Mehta. Firstly I took a Scientology personality test (free, no gadgets) I never took them up on their offer. During the same trip to London, I had a free lunch at a Hari Krishna 'temple'. The effect is I am a 'cult sceptic'
On Aum Shinrikiyo's backstory: The reality of the situation is a lot more shocking. You call them incompetent, but in reality, the cult wasn't run by rando bumpkins, but something ridiculous like 25% of its members had college degrees (all the attackers involved had a degree in some field). The incompetence was actually more on the government's side: AS made a smaller scale attack on a housing block containing 6 court officials that were pressing charges on the cult for a variety of reasons; and a slum in Tokyo also suffered from an accidental leak from a building the cult own. However, the cult got away both times...because they were paying off local law enforcement. Not only that, but they had connections in the media as well, and used these resources to "disappear" former members speaking out about the cult. The handling by officials during the Tokyo Attack was poor for the opposite reasons: no one involved knew what was happening. When people started collapsing in the train cars containing the packets with the sarin gas, they merely emptied the affected car of passengers, and sent the train to further stations, as the gas spread throughout the rest of the train. One officer put what later turned out to be one of the packets in a backroom where some of the victims were being housed, causing more suffering. Summary: They're evil, but they're not stupid.
Reminds me of the Neo Sannyasans, led by Guru Rajneesh, aka Osho. Many of his followers were lawyers and doctors. They tried to kill a lot of people, yet hilariously, every last attempt they made was thwarted by common sense, or ridiculous coincidence, like their car breaking down.
IIRC when the Japanese state police and special forces (Yes the Japanese JGSDF 1st Parachute Division was present) raided the cult's compound they found things like radio jammers, machine tools for manufacturing AK47s and explosives, a Russian military Mi 8 transport helicopter, and even labs for manufacturing biological and chemical weapons!
@@556deltawolf yeah, the followers also had military training on a base in Russia where they also purchased the Mi 8 helicopter. Also they had followers in South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, Canada, and the U.S.
I'm not sure if you left it out to stay monetized, but i think a really important piece of context around Aum Shinrikyo is that they were eating as much LSD as The Manson Family. The dancing, the (fortunate) incompetence of the attacks, the levitating, it all makes a lot more sense knowing they were completely fried.
This is genuinely a great video, and so funny to see you hoping to reach for 2k subscribers at the beginning when looking at your subscriber count now. One of my favorites, great work
Thank you for helping to correct the all-too-common misperception that Jonestown was a mass suicide. It was a mass murder. Also, kudos for the near-impossible job of keeping it real while still making it possible for us to enjoy the weird.
It was 100% murder at gunpoint. Having to decide if you wanted to give your kids posion and have them die in your arms or have them watch as their while family is shot with automatic weapons... that's a choice I couldn't make...
Wouldn't it be both? There were people who willingly drank the Flavor-aid mixture there. They would have been killed regardless, but some people willingly took their own lives.
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” -Calvin and Hobbes
The "Jesus in a spaceship" is actually a detail from a fresco at the Visoki Dečani monastery in Kosovo. The monastery itself dates back to the 1300s, but I wasn't able to find any info on how old the artwork is. Despite its common use as an "ancient alien" example, when you look at the painting as a whole, you can clearly see that it is actually a stylized depiction of the Moon, piloted by an angel, with its companion Sun in the opposite corner. The two heavenly bodies are flying (thus the non-symmetrical rays) above the main crucifixion scene in the center, and the Moon's "pilot" is looking backward toward Christ. You can briefly see most of the larger image in the video ,just before it cuts to the detail.
I almost went to a raelian meeting a decade ago because my grandpa is a member of it for shits and giggles (he’s not a true member who believes in it), the only reason we never went inside for it is because the lady hosting it had a dog (he’s allergic to dogs)
As a cult survivor, you've made me finally laugh at these goons 😂 Serious when you need to be, but still knew the right time to bring in levity. Thanks for that!
@RabidlyTaboo very very small one. There isn't a name to it but the leader always calls it a coven. It was a pagan cult as she invited everybody in, no matter what the religion... but mostly Wiccans (however, they do not act like Wiccans. Wiccan are usually very nice but not this one.) The appeal is that she knew magic... real magic. So she would get A LOT of youngins. I was 19 at the time. My whole life I wanted magic to be real and she gave me that. And I was hooked, line and sinker. That and she provided me alcohol. Even the kids got all the alcohol they wanted too. And seriously, everyone there worshipped her like her shit smell like roses. Even me. I even introduced my own friends to it.
This guy is one of the most funny creators I've seen. Well done man. It's heavily reminiscent of informational early 2000s kids programming for me, but dark. Love it.
I laughed, I was disgusted, I had all the emotions. My boss once gave me a Scientology audit [she didn't do the auditing, she arranged the session at the office as a surprise for me] and it was an experience. I don't make enough money for them to care about, which I'd never been happy about before then.
@@GlareanLiebertine As awkward as it could possibly be. I ended it with something like "thanks, I've got [this task] to do and I really should get back to the office" and left the kitchenette. At the office it was only four of us and suppliers coming with a load of samples once in a while, and that day it was just me, boss, and Mr. Audit. Pretty isolated location. It was focused on an injury I had as a child that I had mentioned in passing. It was semi-work related in that I had good reason to be wary of nonsense medicine [not all home remedies are, but...] and had recently found out that the issues I'd been talking to my OB about were caused by a testosterone cream I was being accidentally exposed to by the lone male that worked there and NOT the aforementioned childhood injury. He thought bringing his body chemistry back to the levels it was in his 20's would make him... not 70 anymore? IDK. He didn't realize that since it absorbed through his skin that he'd need to wash his hands before using shared computer keyboards and such. I grew 3/4 of a beard. That job was... a lot. I really should have sued, but I was working 50+ hours a week as a manager of one of the store locations as well as a bookkeeper and needed the money badly. Besides, I was the bookkeeper. I knew how much money I would get and it really wouldn't have been worth the cost of a lawyer.
I really need to stop thinking Scientology is some sort of pushy science-nerd club, because I do not understand what else it could be. Is there any chance you could explain to me like I'm 5? Or point me somewhere where it gets explained to 5-y-olds?
@@Roadent1241 Like many conspiracy theories and cults, it convinces people that their problems have an easy solution and provides a convenient scapegoat so that they are never really your fault. In this case, you are possessed by tortured space ghosts, so it's better than the bigoted kind of scapegoating, but there is a lot of classism baked into it since it is all about paying huge amounts of money to people higher up the pyramid. The testosterone cream and "supplements cure aging" thing wasn't a scientology thing per se, but the Young Living oils nonsense was strong with every one of them I've spent an extended amount of time around [which is less than ten people.] I think it is more that that type of person also has money to burn on Goop, crystals, oils, and other nonsense. One of them refused cancer treatment in favor of auditing and essential oils, and over the five years I knew them I watched him die a slow and probably unnecessary death from what should have been an easily operable tumor. Cutting it off was a huge no-no. I'm not sure but they seemed to think cutting into the body would effect the thetans. Fill him with bad mojo. I really don't know enough to recommend a source less well known than South Park or Hubbard's own books [cliff notes for them do exist.]
@@sofiadragon6520 Possessed by space ghosts sounds like a parody of FF's Spirits Within, that sounds amazing XD I would make a book of THAT. Though it probably already exists from what little I know of Metroid. The rest of it, oof. I wish my lifelong disability had an easy way out that allowed me to keep experiencing life.
How does this channel only have 200k subs? This is one of the most entertaining videos I have seen on UA-cam in forever. I subbed right away. I’m having a great time, the humor, the flow, the editing, the obvious extensive research. I’m now a fan!!
You know, the curious thing about Aum Shinrikyo was, there were some "highly intelligent" people coming from one of the best universities in Japan that joined this cult. They managed to produce their own "factory" to make sarin gas. Talk about intelligence used for wrong reasons....and the most annoying thing is that they still exist (under a different name)!!
Goes to show how dangerous it is to think anyone is immune to the psychological tactics cults use to draw members in. When people only see horrific events like the sarin attacks and mass suicides, it makes them think that the cults were just Like That, and that the people perpetrating those crimes joined because they LOVE doing murder and domestic terrorism on a Friday night. But this is like showing a movie at its climax; these incidents are largely removed from the necessary context to understand them. What they don't see is the slow buildup and escalation that blinds otherwise intelligent, rational minded people to the reality of their actions. Call it boiling the frog; spend long enough in an environment that constantly beats you the person down and forces you to define yourself by it, and I bet YOU would be puncturing gas bags with umbrellas on a subway. This is the true terror of brainwashing, that it is not some magic woo woo status effect that is inflicted, but a legitimate identity change that happens slowly, and can't really be 'cured' or 'recovered from' per se. More people ought to keep that in mind when talking about cults, I think. you are not immune to propaganda, etc etc
United States University system is basically this, except they produce more drone-type people. critical thinkers haven’t been a majority in college in years. it’s all the kids from school who spent 4hrs a night memorizing instead of learning. this is why many colleges contain some of the most mentally ill, racist, bigoted areas of any town they are in right now. recently oberlin college had to pay 40million because their teachers encouraged students to harass a shop owner who caught some students stealing. the students defense was this - “thaaaatttttsss rayyyyycist!!!!” students are constantly bullied for their political and religious opinion on campuses, usually this isn’t present until second or third year, which makes it even more obvious what’s happening.
"Highly intelligent" is almost as meaningless as the term "racist"now. I mean, look at AOC.` She is considered "intelligent" because she went to college, but she is dumber than a rock. Much of the time, universities are just left-wing indoctrination centers now.
@@staters_college_tagers This is really important, thank you for posting it! It's tempting to assume that we, ourselves, could never fall for these tricks. But the tricks are clever, and they easily could.
Thank you for actually being relatively respectful. A lot of people treat cults (including ones that have injured and killed people) as though it's some fun internet drama you tell your besties at dinner. These were real people who were hurt and sometimes killed. People need to have lore respect.
@Gernot Schrader Groupthink refers to the phenomenon of falling in line with the thinking of others to avoid repercussions such as ostracization (or snake hitmen!), not people coming to similar logical conclusions or general agreements on their own.
25:37 You missed the most, eh, distinguishing feature of the Heaven's Gate cult; from Wikipedia: "Eight of the male members of the group, including Applewhite, voluntarily underwent castration as an extreme means of maintaining the ascetic lifestyle.[88] The group initially attempted castration by having one of the members, a former nurse, perform the castration, but this initial attempt was very unsuccessful, almost resulted in the patient's death, and caused at least one member to leave Heaven's Gate. Every castration that followed this initial one was done in a hospital."
I love how, for the "he prayed with Jews" verse, they put up a picture of him praying with Greek Orthodox (Christian) priests. Of course, that's the way with most forms of monotheism: if you're not in my religion, then you are evil and going to hell.
That's not how monotheism works. Hell isn't even a thing in Judaism, for example... Sheol is closer to Greek Hades. Anyway, Abrahamic religions don't like shamanism and witches simply because they are con artists fooling people.
Ik some Catholics who think the pope is a Jewish imposter antichrist kind of thing. EDIT: These people got covered in the video I just hadn't gotten to that point yet.
So many videos on UA-cam about cults are very irresponsible with how they approach their coverage. It’s nice to see that you can still manage humour while being respectful of the fact that a lot of these people are victims. It’s amazing how quickly people forget that these are other humans, and a lot of them are in a bad way. You got an instant subscribe after you mentioned this. It’s nice to see people on UA-cam making content that is both fascinating and kind.
So, Ti was actually the leader of Heaven's Gate while she was alive. She was the charismatic one who was able to make Do's weird ramblings palatable. However, she got cancer and ultimately died from it. Do claimed she would be resurrected in 3 days, but when that didn't happen, he changed to saying that they had to rejoin her in the afterlife.
Just do ti... Weren't they also wearing Nikes when they were found on the bunk beds dead? This was when hale bopp was in the sky, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
@@Ramen10420 Yep, though from what I heard, the only reason they were all wearing the same brand of Nikes was because they got a really good deal on them.
I know this video is old, but at around 23:40 the Jonestown massacre audio for anyone who is curious but doesn't want to go listen for themselves - The most notable parts of the tape is a woman around 5 minutes in standing up for herself and the others, stating how wrong the massacre was (she unfortunately was a victim to the massacre still however, i read another comment that the autopsy stated she was injected with cyanide rather then willingly taking it) You can hear children crying throughout the entire tape, but about 25 minutes in is when the cries become more clear / louder, (I'm not sure if this is a result of the pain from the poison since cyanide isn't a painless death or because as more people die the children start understanding what's happening, either is awful) Jones is also giving speeches about death and peace the entire tape, he calls the children crying "nonsense" and says anyone crying is being manipulated. at one point a woman comes up and defends Jones saying something like when we are born we all cry, but when we leave it should be in peace. The tape ends just silently for a few minutes, since everyone has passed. it's really sad and eerie to listen to, and Jones calmness throughout it all really show his manipulation of his followers.
Jim Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head he did take the high amount of Pentobarbital but he died of a gunshot wound to the head. Jones was found laid out on the stage his head on pillows he is believed to be one of the last to die
Worth noting Jones himself did not drink the cyanide after all this, he would not die in the way he forced them to, he instead shot himself in the head.
For sure it was not a mass su.Ic.idE .... maybe partly but mostly it turned out to be a mass mU.r.dEr (especially where children and babies are concerned).
I read a lot about cults, over the years. It is morbidly fascinating to me, the amount of absurdity people are willing to believe is just astounding. I must admit that my compassion has a limit, too. Especially when I hear about innocent children, brought up into such nightmares by their parents, all the empathy I might have felt towards those that willingly joined, goes out of the window. Disgusting.
i dunno, i beleive some people are just naive, or just want to believe. Like with jonestown, Most joined becuase he preached equality between the races, america when racial tensions where high. He taled about a paradise with everyone can be equal and dont be judged by colour. So i understand people joining. the scared the people into beleive that if they did move with him, they would be killed by racists etc etc, and when youre there you have literally no way to leave, the only way you could leave jonestown where to die. The horrible stories of the few survivours are so tragic, and now its justed as a joke "dont drink the koolaid" most where forced to drink it, guns to thier heads, or forced down their throat. They had to kill their own children. Its such a tragedy. Most that join cults are also people in bad places in life or cults take advantage on people down on their luck, poor or depressed. That japanese cult did promise their members to harvest supernatural gifts, such as flying, in a time in japanese society where you should not be special, stick out. Honestly alot of other social factors in japan made people seek out cults like his, And later when youre in it youre to far in it to get out alive, most are forced to do things, by peer pressure, financial pressure or force. But also in denial. Its true that when kids get hurt and the parent show little to no remorse its disgusting and i do lack the sympathy for those people too. But we cannot ignore that theyre probably also too deep to leave, and it might even be a life danger.
@@jenniferray8569 I think you might be in denial in your own life. If you're pointing to others as they are the example when you're probably an example too it's just not gotten that serious yet but it can and it will. In our lifetimes we will go through something like what you're pointing to but in your own backyard
I DO have compassion for the peole who joined. I was one of them. They have NO idea what they are getting into, because the group gets worse gradualy. That said, when horrible things are done, the people doing it still have responsibiliy. Some leave at a certain point, so. it isp ossiblee, though often hadd.
1. Raelism is definitely bonkers. The more you get into it the wilder it is, and it is DEFINITELY all just a very elaborate way for Rael to get people to sleep with him. And 2) the Second Life shoutout sent me
@@davemccage7918 Meanwhile I'm indifferent on the topless women thing but am digging the weird early 3D modelling of their demo center and want to rip scenes from it for vaporwave music videos.
if that ones real then when the aliens invade im going to fight them no matter how doomed and hoples the battle is better to die standing then live wearing a top
14:10 I think if women being allowed to be topless whenever they like is the only "concession" we have to make to end all war, we probably should find out more about these aliens.
I'm really happy you pointed out the Aum Shrinrikyo game was satire, alot of UA-camrs in this field go surface level and tell people it's made by the cult itself.
When the United Methodist Church became less united over accepting gay members, the common crack was "one branch will continue offering traditional marriage, the other will have the better choir."
I watched the entirety of the Heavens Gate tapes in one sitting late at night, and let me tell you- I think I was actually going insane. I was seeing stuff out of the corners of my eye.
Wait! Wait. Wait. The line about praying with jews, comes with an image that isn't even of Jews! I'm pretty sure they're Russian Orthodox, which is a branch of Christianity. The songwriter just assumed they were Jews because they had beards??? Also, like, the kinds of Jews that grow their beards that long wouldn't pray with a pope because it would be considered too close to idolatry
I went into it expecting Shen Yun and Jehova Witnesses' Caleb and Sophia, but went out with a delicious Christian slam poetry reading over a sick beat. I don't usually leave comments, but this was so out of nowhere for me in a good way! And I appreciate how you managed to keep a relatively light and fun tone while discussing such a disturbing subject without downplaying how horrible cults are.
I just love that Caleb and Sophia have a father who for no apparent reason has this Romance Novel, Luxury Car Ad Spanish accent. He sounds like Gus Fring on Breaking Bad/B.C.S. and a low-profile Jehovah's Witness family is actually a very Gus Fring canard.
My dad's boss in Durango Co in 72 was Micky Craig. A big ole cowboy family man and developer. A mutual friend flew him to Denver to see Applewhite. Thought it was a UFO symposium. He immediately gave all his assets to Heavens Gate, abandoned his family, and never came back. Died with the group.
Old Micky must have had a lot going on underneath that no one around but his friend knew about. A normal, well adjusted person doesn't just up and do that!
The fact that the family claims marilyn monroe as one of their spirit people becomes a lot more uncomfortable if you remember that marilyn was jewish. so like,, they were claiming a jewish woman for their chrisitan fundementalist cult
She wasn't born into Judaism or brought up Jewish, but converted in 1956 in order to marry Arthur Miller. She doesn't seem to have been particularly religious. Not that it in any way excuses the abusive cult using her image to lure in victims.
Even more sad, Don Quixote was also a spirit helper and more than that one of the alter ego spirits that frequently possessed and "spoke through" the founder and it wasn't until I ran away from my commune and read the book that I realized he is a fictional character 🤦🏼♀️ information bubbles are scary things to do to children. Also to add insult to injury, I am Spanish
@@faithbarcelo4795 When I was around them, "Mo's" spirit guides, who spoke through him and thus his pamphlets, were not historical peole, Don Juan was not the guy who chsed windmills, nor the one who tuaght CARLOS CASTENADO. HE WAS JUST SOME GUY, Special for I don't mmeber why. Abrahime was a king of the Gyppsies. Ivan Inovitch was some guy who steered a bot in a Russian canal. Kind of random, I gueass. But later, he started, apprently, to channel more and more peolpe, and Godesses, and, yea--. (sorry for the bad spelling.)
@@milascave2 yeah exactly, but as a kid who grew up in it only being taught what they want you to know and not going to school and stuff....I had no way of knowing these characters were not real. They taught us that everything that he said was gospel truth so how would I know it's bullshit
The Church of Scientology is in my office building, on the two floors below where I work (not the US btw). Apparently, they applied for the office space without mentioning they're fucking Scientology, and the landlord told them they're out immediately if they start bothering other tenants. Seems they brought a fruit basket when they moved in, and now you kind of don't notice them. They do keep to themselves; you just always have to wonder if you're in the lift with crazies, but it's just hello and have a nice day. Always a fun moment when a customer visits for the first time, though.
The Japanese SOS song is actually such a classic 80s bop i unironically love it. Excellent video!! Thank you so much for your super duper hard work on this!
55:05 I can answer this! Even in the Japanese branch of The Family, English was exclusively spoken. I have several friends who were born and raised into the Japanese branch of The Family, and all of them, in spite of being Japanese, speak English as a first language. When the Japanese branch disbanded it was a complete nightmare for these kids to reintegrate into normal society because they didn’t speak Japanese. Speculation on my part but I assume that speaking English was mandatory so that the cult leadership could exert more control on their foreign membership and create distance between their members and the local populace.
Back in middle and high school I had two separate classes assign everyone cults to do presentations on and both teachers gave me Jonestown so idk I must have given off some troubling vibes for two separate teachers to see me and think “kool aid cult”
When we were doing the college presentation in judicial medicine, the professor while assigning subjects, looks at me and says:" you look like you would be into firearms, do you want to do gunshoot wounds?" to which i replied something to the tune of: "nah i'm more of a blades kinda guy". Unfortunately, due to her having to leave for court and me not being able to get the slideshow running i didn't get the chance to present it. And one of the opening slides was my own humble collection of knives and stabbing weapons. Don't know why i shared this , it only tangentially links to your comment and has nothing to do with the original topic of the video. Sleep deprivation, kids: not even once.
@@mikeoxlong1395 lol I’m just picturing like a note the grade book next to your name that says “guns?” and that’s crossed out and they’ve written “swords.”
Hey Will! Just to clarify, the pilot's name was not John Frum. His name WAS John, but Frum was part of the first sentence he said to them. "I'm John From America'
The "exorcist Jesus baby in a spaceship" is a detail from an actual medieval painting (at the Visoki Dečani monastery). I fully understand your confusion but you'll have to point your indignation at the Serbian Orthodox church (and an an artist who (probably) died 600+ years ago) for that one.
There are other religious paintings from around the same time that have similar imagery. I think it's the moon, and just kinda a weird thing that was in style at the time.
You are correct and studies have suggested (with good evidence) that the depiction is of Halley's Comet from 1307 (see I. Stojic, et al, Possible representations of comets in Serbian religious medieval art, 2016)
I remember a documentary on Chariots of God's back in the 70s, I think. It was showing the paintings with spaceships in them. The doc used this as evidence of gods from outer space.
@@sisterhoney61 Now that you mention it, the entire show Ancient Aliens could be on this list. It wasn't made by any organized cult. But belief in ancient aliens is pretty much a cult at this point
Mild correction: The Second Vatican Council allowed portions of the mass to be spoken in the _vernacular_ language, which isn't necessarily English. The technical term for the rando unofficial popes is "antipope," which sounds way more interesting than it is.
Heaven’s Gate weirds me out because yeah, they’re definitely a cult, and what happened at the end is upsetting and a big bummer, but also this is the one where there’s way less creep factor than the rest? The people in it didn’t seem to be there against their will, they often went to talk to or visit their families which most cults would NEVER let happen, and they never did anything to force people to stay or do anything against people who left. Just crazy, man
Yep, exactly! Public perception of Heaven's Gate is a little off. I mean, it was still a cult and still a tragedy. But the members were happy to be there and ecstatic to think they were hitching a ride on a spaceship home. I've watched the videos they filmed to say goodbye and it is so sad to see how happy they were. Even stuff like the castration wasn't mandated by Do, it was the members themselves pushing for it. Definitely my "favorite" cult if there is such a thing... maybe because there is a lot of innocence and hope to them, as opposed to the abuse and murder most other famous cults were famous for.
@@charlesrense5199 yeah, but even that was just a particularly nutty (pardon the pun) group, the leader didn’t ask or even encourage it when they told him about it. Still totally borked, but not nearly as evil as other cults.
Scientology is a pretty good example of how gullible people are to con artists. Seriously though, L. Ron Hubbard was a fiction writer and not even a really good one to boot.
Thank you for including the Westboro Baptist Church..I remember when they were going to military funerals and it was just..infuriating to say the least
good news is they're shockingly tiny and shrinking. It's basically just 1 family and people are steadily leaving the cult. Even those protests they had were basically an effort to try and grab attention to their "cause" by any means necessary, similar to how some edgelords will do crazy shit just for the attention. Funnily enough some of the founders kids have turned against the church and now one of them is an LGBTQ+ rights activist and the other operates some hate group watchdog origination.
@@KevinM88TR11 They go to funerals of vets (esp KIA) and known queer people to picket and say all soldiers go to hell, f*gs fo to hell, all soldiers are f*gs, etc. generally causing a fuckton of problems for the bereaved while reinforcing how horrible the outside world is to those who know the Truth(TM)
I cannot believe The People's Temple Choir had such great music, like they had such insanely talented people at Jonestown! Almost adds to the tragedy of it all, if that is even possible
‘SOS’ and ‘cathy don’t go’ were low-key bops, if they didn’t have literal insane and disgusting connotations (along with being made by an insane group who did awful things), i’d genuinely enjoy it and add it to a playlist. i can see how people were easily manipulated as even i was enjoying it.
At least for the SOS song it being about how too much time on the internet can lead to burnout was at least accidentally relatable. Sure, I know the song’s real intentions were to limit the amount of outside information the cult members had access to, but there’s a grain of truth amongst a mountain of BS. Kathy don’t go felt like a full on precursor to the anti-vaxx ethos, though. ‘If you get a credit card the government can control you via barcode’ is only one step away from ‘if you get vaccinated the government injects 5G trackers in you and makes you gay’.
One of the members of fleetwood mac (jeremy spencer) did end up joining them. I have no idea if he was involved in either song but it is genuinely concerning how that cult was so good with music.
SOS sounds like a cute song from an 80s shoujo anime. I too would have added it to a playlist, alongside Princess Anmitsu and Ashite Knight's opening bops
@@commanderkruge Actually the swastika is a symbol that is arguablly as old or older then human migration as every culture across the world has a varient of it. Thats actually why the nazi's used it, they loved their occult symbolism(probably got it from Helena Blavatsky's theosophy).
In 2002 I met 3 kids from the Australian chapter of The Family. They had no emotional intelligence for others and very screwed up. Angel, the older sister, was obviously the victim of sexual abuse, and lots of it. The oldest son, treated any female as if she was they to serve his demands, which were always sexual in nature. They stayed in my house for a week, then I moved out. I have no idea if their parents went to prison, for their involvement of things I found out about?
It’s very interesting to see this video after having been in the Lyndon LaRouche political cult in about 2000. They were a very organized group of registered Democrats who were centered around the general philosophy of the Classical canons of music, literature, and (appropriately enough) ancient Greek philosophy. We literally read and studied Plato’s dialogues weekly. Also, they were very pro-Christianity. While this may not sound like a Cult, but rather a thoughtful liberal arts college from the 1950’s, the cultish thing they did was routinely recruit smart, impressionable young adults off the streets of New York and Philadelphia and some other major cities. I was one of them. I ran into their pamphlet and literature stand while walking home from music school in Manhattan: City College of New York. What drew me in was a sign that read “Classical Music Died with Brahms.” Being a lover of Brahms, I approached them with great curiosity, and they started talking about how the Classics were the foundation of Western Culture. Which they are, of course; But what shocked me was that they were mentioning that, mathematically, A432hz is the ideal musical tuning (and not standardized A440Hz). This is the part when I joined. Not because I believed in the healing powers of A432 Hz, but because I was ALREADY tuning all of my instruments to A432 Hz reference tuning. After studying the history of tuning and temperament in my spare time (I was a music nerd), I had come to the conclusion that it made perfect sense to tune to A432hz because if it’s mathematic harmonic beauty. (A432Hz tuning basically aligns with Sacred Geometry, the Golden Rectangle, etc. There was no logical reason to not tune to A432. So I just did it. On my own. Call it the rebel spirt of Leonardo DaVinci.) What’s funny is that they were just as amazed by MY knowledge of tuning, as I was by theirs. They couldn’t believe that I had learned this without LaRouche’s insight. Enter the cult of Lyndon LaRouche. And, yes, basically the cult of LaRouche wasn’t so much as a cult, but rather a political ideology. In a strange way, it was the opposite of the Communism and Marxist group-think. But to the extreme. A sort of non-woke Wokeness. Basically, all group productivity had to be focused around LaRouche’s plan. A plan to bring Classical art and education back into our school and culture. And a plan (at that time) to stop George Bush II from becoming president. We worked tirelessly to get Lyndon LaRouche, a meaty-faced pale American male of French descent) onto the presidential ballot. We knew he would never win, but just to spread the message of God and Western Classicism was enough. We knew that we were working for social change, and felt blessed that we had the freedom and opportunity to do . We loved our country. Proud Americans. Such cultism, I know. Sadly, George Bush no. 2 DID win, and soon enough, the very streets we walked on in New York City would be scrambling in chaos when 9-11 hit, and the Twin Towers fell. Within days, the Patriot Act was written out and soon passed. And to this day the you-know-who has certain “access” to our bank accounts. Later that being further “enhanced” by Obama himself, and the circle of blame goes round and round. Etc etc. Of course, none of this sounds like a real cult. It was a cult in the same way Ayn Ryand’s cult functioned and stayed alive via a controlled pecking order that fought to contantly be the closest to their intellectual God, Ayn Rand. Remember that the Ryandians recruited their followers by circulating a “contest” in American high schools, offering a “literary prize” to the students who could come up with the best “analysis” of her novel, The Fountainhead. Which was the equivalent of their Bible. Once you joined them, all philosophical references had to be made from her very lengthy novel. Certainly more maddening than Jesus Christ, (given the social constrains of a fictional novel, that is). Har har har. But, same thing for the LaRouche cult. All philosophical reference had to be made from Him. (No, not Jesus, Lyndon LaRouche). In the end, I had to separate myself from THEM because no-one was interred in MY ideas. And therein lies their cult. It was all about their leader. And LaTouchhe was a very intelligent scholar and passionate statesman. The entire group’s output of writings about Classicism in the modern era are quite thought-provoking. Yet part of the demonization they got from the media was for their petition to change the international tuning standard to A432 Hz Scientific Tuning. A noble cause or science, but people don’t like change, and the public didn’t really understand the mathematical implications of A432/C256 tuning; Numbers that come up in nature, et even in things like computer coding. (Groups of 256 pixels in a screen. Or buying an SSD memory card in 256 mega bytes. Etc, etc). It was too much to think about. Call it voodoo science. And here now in 2024, with a brand new election coming up, In a strange way, I seem to be carrying on the torch of the A432 Hz movement. But even more-so, I am proud that my discoveries and theorems were made independently of THEM. My discoveries made for the joy of learning and the fascination of all of the things that life as to offer and explore. To date, I have invented two alternate Circle of 5ths progressions. A literal new keyboard that is shaped like a honeycomb periodic table (my Musicolor Matrix) , and I have developed my Theory of Perfect Pitch and Theory of Pitch Psychology; Much of is here in video form on this very platform. Follow the rainbow rabbit. (But then again, it could be a cult).
@@OpticalIllusionsUntold-sq8ru Thanks for checking out my vids! No, I have not patented anything. I feel it is more important that these reach the public as a learning tool for musical education. If it makes music easy to learn, then let the world gain from it. Let the healing begin!
As a musician and recording engineer that drum roll annoyed me to the point of nearly fast-forwarding the video. After reading your comment though I'd really love to see "Drop the beat Ronnie!" become a meme to urge people to 'get to the point' of whatever it is they're trying to say. Loads of YT videos could benefit from someone yelling this over huge parts of their content. The clip of the zoom-in drum roll could even be a GIF. Make it happen Will! DTBR And just so you know - I spelled it 'Ronnie' to match the captions under the vid. Great comment Margaret!
I am more familiar with Westboro than I'd like. Not as an ex-member or anything, just... Well, I'm a furry. I've been to furry conventions. And GUESS who was outside a few of them! Oh yeah. Real nice people. About as appealing to be around as a sentient ball of used needles that really likes hugs. My favorite anecdote was that the guy who ran one of the cons would troll them. HARD. He was outside, talking with them, making them think he was one of them, and they just let him stay in the middle of them. That is, until someone in a fursuit came out to talk to him because they needed his authority on something. Then he revealed who he was, the Chairman of the furcon they were protesting, waved by and went back inside, all with them stunned and PISSED OFF. It was hilarious.
@@Roxstar777 Anthrocon is yearly, and a lot of other furcons have started coming back again after the covid thing kinda made them have to skip a year or two. So yeah, most are annual.
@@Roxstar777 Well, originally, i was thinking about a bloodbath, that would result in a net positive for humanity either way. In reality, you'd just have the two awkwardly making noises at each other, which might just send a few onlookers to the ER from cringing so hard they dislocated a joint or two.
You deliver information in a way i have a great respect and admiration of. I hope you continue to share your views, observations, and lesser known facts to everyone for as long as you can.
This is such a gem of a channel. One of the best videos I’ve seen in a while and I’m gonna share it around. Great work dude
I liked and subscribed, thanks for turning me onto this channel.
Oh hey! It’s you! I like you!
This explains why this was in my recommended, I've been on a bit of a Wendigoon binge over Christmas.
btw, you're awesome dude!
I think you commenting alone has encouraged the algorithm to bring it to me
My man
"Thank you for being too cheap to use an actual hitman to kill me, as an actual hitman would have succeeded." Is such a funny yet kind of badass quote that i think we all need to appreciate.
Agreed
This was so funny I loved it ,,the guy azz hopping in hell made me laugh so hard
2024 ,most needed video for now.
Wow, cults are dangerous. We should make a watch group, probably make it a small monthly fee to be a part, maybe $15. Hey we should have somewhere to meet once we have enough funds. And to help pay the rent, maybe put in a gift shop. I think we should also elect a leader to make choices for the group. We gotta protect ourselves from cults after all, and a leader can do that if they're persuasive enough. Be a shame if any of us joined a cult.
The anti-cult, the cult that protects it's followers from cults.
im in
I agree, for the children that had to be raised lke me that would let them escape and be free
That'd be good, gotta make sure to find some random old man, too! they're *always* trustworthy, no matter what the police might imply
At least the Veterans of Foreign Wars have an operating bar standard. Wouldn't need to charge a monthly fee if it were a members-only place. I couldn't serve but i do drink.
Fun fact: One of my college professors would've been right at the center of the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack but his wife went into labor as he was leaving for work so instead of getting gassed he was in the delivery room with her getting several fingers broken (not exaggerating, his wife has incredible grip strength).
You don't really need a great grip strength to break fingers, just press/pull in the right way.
Oh yeah my mom broke a nurse's fingers while giving birth to me (or it might have been one of my siblings). She was really new to the job and she was so excited about getting to be a part of it all for the first time that she didn't even care about her injury that much lol
Lucky! yikes!
Damn
Weirdly enough one of my high school history teachers was also supposed to be on one of those trains to get to class, college I believe. He was spared only because he missed his alarm. Had never happened before and hasn’t happened since which is pretty weird too lmao
I can't express how irritated I am by censorship of the word "suicide," especially as someone who grew up with suicidal ideation. Censoring the language around it is stigmatizing and isolating. We should be allowed to have frank, open discussions about suicide, cult-related or otherwise. FYI I'm irritated at the algorithm and the monetization bullshit, not Paper Will.
I feel like it belittles the issue. Makes talking about suicide sound like a joke.
Yeah especially when it's referred to as slippyslide or some shit. Belittling a huge societal problem to appease sponsors is dystopian af
@@AdamOBrien29sewer-slide , sea-side
Yeah it sucks
I completely agree, I feel like were falling further and further into 1984/Brave New World
Didn't ask pal
small correction about the cargo cults.
there likely was no pilot called john frum, but severall pilots that that introduced themself as "john from America / Kansas / any other place". and because the word, the state of origin kept changing, only the "john from" stuck.
I wonder if they thought the State names were epithets used by the god/messenger depending on where he landed.
Thank you, I was looking for this comment.
@@ladykoiwolfe 👈 me too.
You dismissed Synanon too easily. A lot of children "schools" and camps for troubled kids followed their systems, even today. Thousands of teens and children have been victims of this, myself included. I spent a year and seven months in a wilderness camp following their system. Close to 30 years later I still wake up sweating from nightmares
I was thinking they sounded familiar, and it turns out I've read multiple distinct stories just like that in a Reddit thread about experiences in "troubled" children camps. It's absolutely insane what is allowed to go on there, and how parents often don't know the truth and are willing to do anything to "fix" their children. They take kids who need compassion and a listening ear and give them lifelong trauma.
I’m sorry to hear that you experienced that. The fact that places like that are allowed to exist is deplorable
Are you talking about the Elan School in Maine?
I’m so sorry!
@@chrisramsey6725 That was one of them, but there were plenty that followed that same model all across the US.
Those horses did not consent to being depicted in Scientology propaganda.
I shall ask the horses…
………..
yeah they said no.
I don't think anyone in that religion has any consent over their own bodies and mind... let alone a horse... 😅😅
@@chipmunkgarcia 😂
@@eclat4641 😅😅😅
Had they been asked, they’d have said neigh.
well, I was on the fence about joining a cult and now I'm overwhelmed with choices.
😂
Make sure it has decent production standards and a writing team that makes the stuff you like.
Remember, Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story!
Don’t let the truth get in the way of Anything!
John Frum's a pretty good start
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
- Groucho Marx.
I love how the guy at the beginning of the Scientology commercial quite literally said that anything you hear about Scientology, that isn’t coming directly from them, is a lie.
Methinks the Scientologist doth protest too much.
That seems to be Cultism 101.
I shouldn’t make this political, but I’ve noticed similar behavior in which outlets people trust to get their daily news…
All those rumors you heard about Scientology? Fake news. Locker room talk. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just give us money.
Until they finally open the locked briefcase full of Xenu materials and you're like oh shit all the jokes were true
@@Enkarashaddam Yes, except anybody who bought enough classes to open that briefcase has never heard any of the jokes. 🙉🙈
Rael didn't want to see women topless, he wanted to see men in bikinis.
❤🧡💛💚💙💜
@@artsyhoodies is it bad that I immediately thought of the teenage mutant Ninja turtles because a person put the colors of them with these hearts
🥳🏳️🌈
And I knew exactly what our narrator was talking about when he said "spiritually banging them with rays of light emanating from his fingertips inside them". But who were they? The women or the guys??? 😏😉😁
SPICY
I was looking up s** cults one time, and google's auto complete was "in my area".
Well all those hot singles have to come from somewhere...
Also, I’m not sure if you know, but Japanese universities (I’m not sure about all of them) provide their students, before they begin their schooling with a whole warning/ informational paper about cults and how to recognise them, because it’s still such a real and dangerous issue for Japanese college students. This is in particular reference to Sophia University Tokyo.
It’s one of Japan’s top, most prestigious private research universities, (also! can’t forget, with a catholic overtone) so it goes to show that they are purposefully targeting and recruiting arguably some of the most intelligent young people in Japan.
It's not more dangerous to Japanese students more than other people, it's just that in some parts of the world, people recognize the difference between cults and religions and don't go overboard on religious freedom
@Gernot Schrader The "Wow, cults are dangerous." comment is clearly satirical, and we recognize that it is describing a cult to avoid cults. We couldn't do that if we never learned anything about cults, could we?
Spreading information and warnings is effective. It's not an absolute fix, but it will save countless people, regardless.
Cults are generally way more high profile and prevalent in a lot of East Asia right now than in places like the U.S. or Europe. South Korea and Japan especially have a massive cult epidemic with huge portions of the population participating in them. It makes a bit of sense if you consider the less strongly monotheistic religious culture and the high rates of suicide and depression because of the sheer expense of living and awful work culture.
@Gernot Schrader There’s a difference between religion and cults. There can be cults created within Christianity (including Catholicism) but it is not a cult just as is. Not a single church leader would hunt you down if you left or cut you off from your families. There are expectations to be considered practicing, but you can actively not follow them and not get called out on it.
I love how Will is trying to make an organized video essay, but quickly dissolves into chaos over what he's seeing.
"THE KING OF NOTHING TODAY!" made me bust up laughing. Glad I'm not the only one who has actually found some cult music kinda catchy.
(Charles Manson - Home Is Where You're Happy) there's a great cover of it on youtube by a lovely woman.
His slam poetry unironically slapped. And I'm ashamed to say I'd listen to some of the other soul songs.
@@ZeranZeran David Koresh's music was surprisingly pretty well made, it's just a shame about everything else.
@@ZeranZeran I love that and him freaking out over L. Ron's drum riff and the Vatican II song.
@@HoxMouse I am ashamed to admit that I kind of like his oddly prescient "Madman in Waco" song.
My favorite fact about the L. Ron Hubbard jazz is that he "supposedly" charged the musicians for every wrong note played... In a jazz album let that sink in
Oh that is a long-running tradition; James Brown, Ike Turner, Ray Charles, Ted Nugent...the list goes on....
@@Starcrunch72 there are no wrong notes in Jazz
@@KamBoomBap That's true
Wtf, that's pretty nuts, lmao.
The sax playing in the first jazz clip is flatter than my bank account.
For a really long time, I thought the Scientology founder’s name was Elrond Hubbard. Turns out when you learn by listening and not reading you miss some things 😅
I thought the same thing for years lol.
Or if you're just stupid
So you watched this video and went to Wikipedia, great job
hold on, that is not the leaders name ??
@@tommymarco it's L. Ron Hubbard not Elron Hubbard or Elrond Hubbard.
I actually got a free session of that Scientology machine thing. It was a lot of memory regression and then having me “remember” things that happened before I was born while I was in the womb. She would not end the session until I said something. Saying “I don’t remember” means you sit there longer. I made up some bs to get out of there.
You could have just gotten up and walked away.
@@helmsscotta I wanted to know what the experience was meant to be like
If you wanted to know the experience then why did you make up the bs ?
@@mikehoman7351 That's part of the experience. They essentially tell you to make it up. They tell you to just say whatever is coming to your head and that whatever is coming to mind is a valid "memory" of what happened in the womb aka make it up lol. Since you're so interested, why don't you go ask for a free session yourself?
I am shocked you got a free session, and didn’t get hounded afterwards for money.
In the 1980s, my sister was going to BU for a philosophy degree. The Scientologists used to have a building near the Common, and they used to solicit people to take 'a personality test.' They came up to her, and she agreed to give it a whirl. Three hours later they politely returned her to the sidewalk. Much to their (and others') dismay, there is no time limit on philosophical discussion with her
Yeah, I almost got conned into one of those "personality tests" in the '80's, soon as I was led in the door by the (extremely attractive... hey, I was in my 20's, whaddaya expect) young woman and saw Scientology I said "NOPE!" and walked out!! 🤣
they got a compound building going in Back Bay but i am not sure if they had to cut it loose
Lmfao 🤣
I was visiting my friend at MIT in the 80s and took that personality test… then promptly made as many excuses as I needed to get the heck out of there 😳
Lol!
Now if I had a nickel for every time a cult leader tried to kill a critic by putting a snake in their mailbox, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but weird that it's happened twice.
just put this into a voice ai as dr doofenshmirtz voice, would link it but it would porb get blocked
Best comment ever.
It sounds like a good idea to someone who isn’t familiar with snakes. Lots of people don’t realize snakes avoid wasting their venom on stuff that they can’t eat.
@@DustyHoney it's sad to be honest, the poor snake was probably just thirsty and confused.
@@john.d.rockefeller2538 Yeah, it’s just stupid.
Thank you, I've had the week from hell, my Sons father passed away, I've been absolutely broken and this actually made me laugh for the first time in days and days. Thanks muchly, Paper Will!
If you want to avoid cults look out for something called love bombing. It's a very common and effective recruitment tool, imagine having a tough year or whatever and you go to a meeting or whatever for the first time and absolutely everyone just gives you a big hug and overloading your brain with the love chemicals. It's a very powerful feeling but remember that is often the first step to getting your time and money.
Having autism is like an anti-love bomb mechanism.
Abusive people do this too. Love bombing is a common tactic to break perfectly normal and healthy initial boundaries.
Screw that. Strangers hug me they get smacked the f down.
.................⬆️...must be life of the party...
@@miriamscuderi4680 very true. Like the classic trope of dad kicking the shit out of you and buying you ice cream after. It's an act to confuse you, are they sorry or is this a ploy? If they are capable of this level of kindness what did I do to set them off earlier? Is this really all my fault?
it's upsetting that all these talented people in cults didn't pursue music instead. some of this stuff is legitimately amazing
In order to be really creative/original... you have to be a little crazy already.
I agree. "L-Ron" would have been more famous for jazz!
Like how a lot of alt right people have fantastic potential for fiction writing.
For some reason the best music always comes out of the most passionate groups of people. And there's nothing more passionate than a fanatic.
What, you don’t know the hit “garbage truck” by Charles Manson?
The pope "Praying with jews" when in fact the guys in the pic are orthodox christians killed me
Some of the more fanatical religions look sort of the same to those who aren't.
@@wintersbattleofbands1144 Except in this case, the more fanatic religious one is the one who made the video. 😂
"Orthodox Christians are Jews and Catholics are Luciferians!"
-Nutzees of Y'all-Qaeda, now accepting Catholics if they're Sedevacantists, exhibit A: Milo Yiannopoulos
@@autobotstarscream765 You've got it! Exactly simply by looking at the reality, and by placing the ideology based on the reality presented, not simply ideologies supposed by anyone group.
@@isabellalive2.081 I feel like I keep having strokes trying to parse your sentence. I suspect like in javascript, a missing comma and maybe a typo is causing the parsing issues.
The slam poetry bit actually went kinda hard especially "I wish I had an animated bodyyy", I kinda wanna sample it into my music now lol
You've got my full permission to make something with my terrible, terribly voice.
Westboro Baptist Church threatened to protest a soldiers funeral in rural North Carolina, so my brother and his gf and I went to protest their protest. We made huge signs and everything. One old farmer man sternally came up to us thinking we were WBC and then hung out for a bit and gave up "sodie pops" from the store. We got a lot of happy honks and waves, and it was the only time a cop came out for my protection and ACTUALLY meant it.
They didnt follow through. A couple of them came, saw us and a sherrif who told them to eff off, threw a hissy fit, and quickly left. Lmao. Good times.
thx for doing that 💓
You don't support free speech?
bravo to you! we need more people with the guts to stand up to these kids of people....plus also those members need to be exposed to us so that they know we are not evil or out to get them or devil worshipers!
sodie pops are the only correct type of carbonated beverage >:O u got the good shit
@@madsfiedler3884 I think you meant to say a "Co-colah."
"You don't wanna make a song about murdering, killing, crucifying, torturing, tearing apart or burning people."
every death metal band ever: "Speak for yourself."
Undertale fan songs:
@@DogDogGodFog fr fr
Every Christian church I've ever visited
I was gonna say, I've written about 50 so far..
Mel Brooks "The Inquisition" and ALW "Jesus Christ Superstar".
As a society, we need to have a lot more compassion for cult members/ex members. Cult members are not stupid people, because why would a cult want someone like that? They wouldn't. Cults want smart, wealthy, well connected people that can help them expand their reach. They don't just prey on vulnerable people, they also prey on extremely smart people who they can then make vulnerable. There's a quote from an ex NXVIUM cult member that goes like this: "nobody joins a cult. You join a good thing. Nobody goes, 'yes, let me just join this thing that is going to fuck up my life and the lives of everyone I love'. You join a good thing, until it's not so good anymore".
Cults don't start out as what they end up being, because then nobody would join. They start as churches, self-help groups, things that people really love and believe in. We have ALL been manipulated. All of us. Nobody is above becoming a cult member, because no cult member thinks that they are one. Those who join cults aren't stupid, they were joining something that they believed in and truly thought would make the world better. Isn't that what anyone wants?
that is really well explained.
@@Plethorality thank you! It’s something I’ve been really passionate about recently, these people deserve our compassion because they’ve been through so much
@@teddybearable so true!!
we all need to see different exoeriences to be less polarised.
No, that's what extroverts want... to join a group
@@RepentImmediately what does that have to do with what I said? Would you mind elaborating?
I am from the state of KS, would like to point out that majority of us here agree that Westboro is a cult and hate group that should be shut down.
As a fellow Kansan, yeah, I second this. It's a cult and a hate group. I remember they once protested at my high school because we had an LGBTQ student alliance, and my best friend (a gay man) flipped them off.
Pretty much nobody likes them. One time, the KKK showed up to counter protest them. Also, they have a very irrational hatred of other Christian groups.
They’ve also picketed at the funerals of school shooting victims, basically celebrating the shootings and saying they’re a good thing and God’s judgment. They are vile.
@@BlackFlagHeathen absolutely they are the worst.
This video is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Even some of the more light-hearted ones are somewhat disturbing. Great video. You deserved that shoutout from Brad, and you’ll make it big someday!
I like to hit the balance between uncomfortable and nervous laughter.
I love weezer
He needs to learn how to pronounce “sarin”, though. That was f-ing annoying.
Yes. I agree 💯
Who’s Brad? I won’t rest until I find out.
I think the vagueness of the Jim Jones cult is why as a teenager I was so against singing songs in church that were super vague. One of them, sorry cannot recall the title, sounded more like you were singing about wanting a woman rather than Jesus. My rule is if it makes you uncomfortable you shouldn’t do it.
I personally believe God wants praise from a happy and grateful heart, not an uncomfortable one. I don't get why people are so critical about it. There's been songs I was uncomfortable singing too, but I had to sing anyway lest I be looked down on. That's fine though, soon as I grew up I quit going to church. I study by myself now. Much more peaceful that way.
That's what I stuck with, too, when being a youth in church camps or so. Not if there were a lot of them, but if I personally had a problem with a verse, I wouldn't sing it. And I would say why afterwards. Nobody had a problem with this - and I think that's a good sign.
As an Orthodox Christian I am very creeped out by American Protestant church songs, they sound like they're in love with Jesus. I like music but no way am I going to sing about my Redeemer like a lover.
This is why I love the internet. I find answers to why I feel the way I do.
Personally I'd feel a lot more comfortable singing a love song about a woman than a love song about a long dead Jewish cult leader from the middle east.
But to each his own, I guess.
Regarding the terminology of “cargo cult”: in an academic context, the word cult can just refer to a relatively small and particularly devoted religious group. So, when anthropologists talk about cargo cults and historians talk about the various mystery cults of Ancient Greece, that’s the definition they’re using. I hope this is helpful, in case anyone was confused.
That’s not what a “cargo cult” means. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
This isn't correct. Cultural anthropologists would be referring to actual cargo cults, which were religious groups formed in rural, usually tribal societies that recieved supplies from soldiers during wartime. While they are now aware this was NOT anything from a higher being and rather more modernised cultures trading or giving modern supplies to them, many still keep the rituals they created based around military men!
Doesn't have to be religious.
Cults can be instructive and destructive. I recommend looking up the BITE model for identifying cults.
"ass hopping over a lake of fire" I can't tell you how close I came to blacking out laughing so hard at that
I love that you included scientology.
Dude, back in the late 80s, the infomercial for L Ron Hubbard's dumb book played repeatedly during the day. It definitely did the heavy lifting to form the backbone of the whole group.
I remember those commercials!
The fact that staying monetized on UA-cam involves censoring basic, inoffensive words like "murder" is terrifying.
Reminds me of that scene of the Simpsons where Grandpa tells a war story but edits it for the kids:
"I was just telling Maggie how we chased the teddy bears into their cuddle bunkers, then had to tickle them out with machine hugs and fun throwers! They say the more soldiers you tickle, the easier it gets. Well, sir, it doesn't..."
@@arthas640 this is a perfect example, because Maggie already has an intimate understanding of gun violence and so avoiding the "bad" words was actually pointless with her.
This shit drives me nuts. It’s also just so stupid because the new, monetization friendly words just become placeholders, then just end up meaning the same thing. I fuckin hate this shit, it’s dumb af. Suicide, as an example, is a serious subject and having to use dumb ass terms like “un -aliving” makes it sound like it’s being made light of. Fuck UA-cam.
It won't be long before you'll get banned for even thinking about the word.
Or maybe that's just Microsoft.
The level of censorship on American platforms is ridiculous.
The land of the free to stfu so you don't offend anyone ever even by accident except in music depending on the genre. 🤣
As someone who was murdered, i find it offensive.
People really need to understand that cults, especially the leaders, smell your personal weaknesses like the predators that they are. The world needs more educational videos like this one.
That "smell your personal weaknesses" technique is damn near diagnostic for psychopathy.
Filling an empty cup is the remedy for common sense in most people who long for things unknown to them. Being a child of divorce, I learned early on to play both sides of the fence when it came to which parent I was around at the time. I'd transform myself into what they wanted in a son instead of trying to be myself and it caused me a great deal of problems with social networking, relationships and trust issues. I could easily see both what the cultists are lacking in life and fill that void but I can also understand how easy it would be to let go of all my responsibilities and put my faith in someone I naively believe is providing the missing ingredients to make my life meaningful.
@@accuser_of_the_brethren7816 yeah, my parents divorced when i was 8 after a year of increasingly not speaking to each other.
in my 30s i heard about this thing called " double agent syndrome" man, everything u just wrote is spot on, their separation separated me.i was sent back & forth, when with my dad i downplayed anything good in my life connected to my mom & vice versa.got way weird with stepparents, i had to unlearn those mental/emotional gymnastics.i don't have to pretend to be or not be anything, love me, don't love me, i will have to live with it either way but i dont have to change to be more of whatever it is that u would like, AND, THAT IS NOT HURTING ANYONE!! Edit; have u heard of or checked out Eckhart Tolle ?
If someone could produce a cure to my bipolar that wasn't pills, I'd follow them. Issue is, they can't, no one ever can without medicine, so they'll never get me. Because science wins over their mumbo jumbo. Even when it's called "scientology."
Exactly. The current cultural narrative is that only weak or crazy people fall for the lure of cults, which isn't true, and makes them even more dangerous, "oh I'm an independent thinker, I'll never fall for something like that."
Yikes.
Fun fact: Bonnie Lou Nettles (Ti) was actually considered the true leader of Heaven’s Gate before her death. She was a nurse in the same hospital where Marshall (Do) hospitalized after a mental health episode. She managed to talk with him about her beliefs and they eventually evolved it into their religion.
Yup, she was the head banana of the cult. Marshall was her sidekick.
It's too bad we can't bring some of these cult leaders together in a single room and have them argue about who's right lol
We do. Its what happens when politicians get together, e.g. at the UN or COP or GX meetings.
@@infwhale9183 fair enough 😂
and don't let them eat or use the bathroom
@@quester09 truth!
Yeah and also with pseudoscience/fake medicine
Just listened to the jonestown death tape... and am now scarred... should have listened to the warning. A calm, motherly sounding woman's voice saying "They’re not crying from pain. It’s just a little bitter tasting but, they’re not crying out of any pain." is now stuck in my brain... 😳
A friend described to me the woman on tape arguing with Jones about how they could potentially escape to the USSR. “You think the USSR would want this?!” was apparently his response, and that sticks with me.
@@electricfishfan
Some Believe Jones Was a CIA Asset In a Mind Control 🛂 Experiment,
That Sadly Worked.
"The Family" were partly to blame for inspiring Ugandans to try and institute the death penalty for gay people. I will never let anyone forget that that happened
They were connected to an evangelical school I attended in New Zealand back in the 80s. Insidious.
*try and succeed at this point
Oh my God! How f**king awful.
Actually I think that was a different group also called "The Family" check out the book "The Family : The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power"
by Jeff Sharlet
What's wrong with that?
Cargo cults attract anthropologists, and anthropologists give gifts. Whoever filmed the clips of cargo cults in your videos probably gave them stuff.
I actually looked up the Church of Euthanasia, after going through their website and watching the videos I'm almost entirely convinced that the CoE was created out of edgy irony until at some point where the irony was actually being taken seriously.
I'm sure it was created by some egdy antinatalists.
I looked them up too, and I think you're right. Church of Euthanasia is about as serious as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Their whole cannibalism thing is satirical, like Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal. The Stork is actually safe to watch (less violent than Bugs Bunny cartoons). He stopped the clip before it got to the really funny part 😆
Look up the church of the sub-genius or discordianism For some background. These are some of the best parody/surrealist religions in the U.S., The church of euthanasia is very probably an offshoot of these movements. I knew some of the original church of euthanasia folk as I live and Boston in Boston is the spiritual home of the Church. They got famous in Boston for holding rallies that would feature over 20 foot long banners emblazoned with the words, save the world, kill yourself.
Same, especially because there's been some similar organizations in the past created out of pure edginess or defeatism like the Euthanasia Coaster and the voluntary extinction "movement".
@@selflessself reminds me a lot of the voluntary extinction movement who are almost universally just faux nihilists and mopey defeatists. They're mostly just people who dont want to have kids who've assigned some ideology to their decision.
It's weird that in the West that the Sarin Gas Attacks are not wildly discussed; not compared to Heavens Gate anyway. But in Japan, this act of terror had such an affect on the country and its new fascination with cults. If you have enjoyed a piece of Japanese fiction about cults then it's very likely that the aesthics of the cult were inspired by these attacks. By aesthetics, what I mean is that in the West our cult media is very reliant on imagery of devil worship, kidnapping, brainwashing and a general sense of malevolence.
However the sarin gas attacks were from a group mostly seen as a benign. Which for me is so much creepier and I think the Japanese see it like that too. This sense that this group you mostly laughed at or barely thought of; one day killed a bunch of people and injured hundreds. If you have read IQ84 you may understand what I mean.
Oh shit.this comment made me realise the links between 1q84 and the gas attacks, even down to the leaders description.
I remember the attack ( while in the US). It was reported and it was terrifying. I think it quickly became a discussion of how unsafe mass transportation is though ...
I had totally forgotten about it until watching this video though. I don't know iq84, so I guess I need to investigate that too...
EDIT: Ohh, right. Murakami's book!! Still have to get around to that one. Thanks for the reminder!
@@zel9298 Murakami has even done a book all about the Sarin Gas Attacks which is how I learnt about it. There's also a documentary that came out recently about it.
I hear it discussed quiet a bit in the west, especially since after 9/11 when concerns of bioterrorism or terrorist chemical weapons attacks became widespread. I first heard about it as a kid around the time of the Iraq invasion and 2001 anthrax attacks since people were worried about a similar gas attack on US soil, especially in light of Saddams supposed chemical weapons. I've heard it discussed quiet a bit since too, since the cult is pretty crazy and they're brought up after a few subsequent attacks and he was discussed in media a bit after his execution as well.
YOOOOO! I actually grew up in The Family. All those corny music videos weren't seen as comedic to us, that's the shit we listened to EVERY day, unironically, (and we loved it). It's hilarious now, but yeah, that was the only entertainment we were allowed lol.
Obviously, it wasn't a good environment, especially for kids, for so many reasons. Aside from general dumbshit ideology we were indoctrinated with (I seriously used to have a kneejerk reaction ANY time someone said "millions of years ago," in any context, because evolution was end-boss-evil), child abuse was rampant, and I'm one of the few who got out relatively unscathed, with only general neglect issues that arise from being raised with 20 other siblings.
Oh, also, the bit about "how are we going to make money, we're out of literature" comes from one of the The Family's primary monitization schemes, which was "hand out preechy propaganda posters and beg for donations." We'd always say it was "for missionaries here and overseas"--it was part of our little speech we were taught to say before even knowing what "overseas" was, no joke--but that shit went straight to rent. "Postering" was a thing we'd do multiple times a week, starting pretty much as soon as you were able to carry on a conversation. We'd all get in the van, drive to Walmart, and try to pass them off to people putting their groceries away. Only the VERY young kids were accompanied by adults. The rest were just told to come back by X time.
Ahh, good times. If you're dumb enough to join a cult, whatever, your life, but if you raise children in a cult you deserve the hell you peach.
I'm so sorry you went through that, I hope for the best for you now and in the future
Fr people who raise their kids to indoctrinate them into that craziness is so much cringe, horrid.
@@nickonerd "is so much cringe" what
The thing is that people who join cults aren't really stupid. That's what makes them so scary in the first place.
You don't have to be dumb to join a cult, smart guy. Anyone can be manipulated.
Scientology is literally how I got started learning about cults. When I was in high school, my dad was a cable installer. He had a job to go install internet and it turned out it was at a Scientology church. He got there and was told he had to leave his cell phone in his work truck and they all had uhhhhhh "pew pew machines", if you catch my drift... Yeah. He refused to complete that job and called his boss before they could call and complain about him leaving. That story was the dinner discussion that night lol. And then I was taking a sociology class at school and we had to do a presentation about a cult or religion. I gathered two friends for my group, went to the teacher and went, "can we do Scientology? It's both a cult AND a religion!" And then when we got permission I was like "okay. Cool. Can we use a school computer for research? They're not putting cookies on my laptop." He actually approved us using Wikipedia as a source instead of their website after I showed him the videos and was like, "they're saying a lot... and absolutely nothing at all..." It was insane.
I will add that as a Jew it's not weird for a religious building to have a gift shop in general. A lot of synagogues do lol, but that money literally goes to support local Jewish artists (since you're buying their work) and also to do charitable work. That uhhhhhhh isn't what Scientology is doing with theirs lol
This comment was saying a lot but nothing at all
@@bump112 found the cultist
So there were Scientologist recruiters at my very large state fair. I forget exactly what they asked but it was something along the lines of if I was stressed. I was like what the heck I got 15mins to kill, let’s take your stress test. Mind you I have issues that make me clinically anxious and stressed. So they decide to use one of those auditing machines and ask uncomfortable questions that are supposed to elicit a response. Trick is you’re holding these two metal rods (one in each hand ) and when you get uncomfortable you tense up or your heart jumps etc. I decided to just hold the rods very loosely and just chill with the fun disassociation I kind of do when I get in a weird situation. They asked, I answered. Machine never moved more than the tiniest bit when I shifted in my chair (which I think was intentionally uncomfortable). They were frustrated but still were like “you’ve probably heard about this book. You should buy it” and invited me to go to their church. I said I would if they came to mine first and I’d even buy lunch. They never came. Kind of disappointed
Your comment reminded me of one time I went to this fair and there was like a church or something there. I remember they had like quizzes about something weird that me and my friends did. It was a really strange atmosphere. Apparently they had been handing out bibles but they had ran out before we came to their booth. I really wonder who they were now. The quiz was just very strange but I can’t remember what it was about for the life of me. They must of been some cult and I wish I knew who. I had completely forgotten about that.
May I recommend 'The Cults of unreason' by Dr Christopher Evans, 'The Space Gods Revealed' by Ronald Story and 'Karma Cola' by Gita Mehta. Firstly I took a Scientology personality test (free, no gadgets) I never took them up on their offer. During the same trip to London, I had a free lunch at a Hari Krishna 'temple'. The effect is I am a 'cult sceptic'
Should be 'Unreason' not 'unreason'
Well played!
"I said I would if they came to mine first and I’d even buy lunch." That honestly sounds like a really good idea.
On Aum Shinrikiyo's backstory: The reality of the situation is a lot more shocking. You call them incompetent, but in reality, the cult wasn't run by rando bumpkins, but something ridiculous like 25% of its members had college degrees (all the attackers involved had a degree in some field). The incompetence was actually more on the government's side: AS made a smaller scale attack on a housing block containing 6 court officials that were pressing charges on the cult for a variety of reasons; and a slum in Tokyo also suffered from an accidental leak from a building the cult own. However, the cult got away both times...because they were paying off local law enforcement. Not only that, but they had connections in the media as well, and used these resources to "disappear" former members speaking out about the cult. The handling by officials during the Tokyo Attack was poor for the opposite reasons: no one involved knew what was happening. When people started collapsing in the train cars containing the packets with the sarin gas, they merely emptied the affected car of passengers, and sent the train to further stations, as the gas spread throughout the rest of the train. One officer put what later turned out to be one of the packets in a backroom where some of the victims were being housed, causing more suffering.
Summary: They're evil, but they're not stupid.
Reminds me of the Neo Sannyasans, led by Guru Rajneesh, aka Osho. Many of his followers were lawyers and doctors. They tried to kill a lot of people, yet hilariously, every last attempt they made was thwarted by common sense, or ridiculous coincidence, like their car breaking down.
Yes. Added note, one of the attackers on the train used to be an ER doctor.
IIRC when the Japanese state police and special forces (Yes the Japanese JGSDF 1st Parachute Division was present) raided the cult's compound they found things like radio jammers, machine tools for manufacturing AK47s and explosives, a Russian military Mi 8 transport helicopter, and even labs for manufacturing biological and chemical weapons!
@@556deltawolf yeah, the followers also had military training on a base in Russia where they also purchased the Mi 8 helicopter. Also they had followers in South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, Canada, and the U.S.
@@darksideofthemoon488 weren't they also rumored to have caused a nuclear explosion in their massive property far in the Australian outback?
I'm not sure if you left it out to stay monetized, but i think a really important piece of context around Aum Shinrikyo is that they were eating as much LSD as The Manson Family. The dancing, the (fortunate) incompetence of the attacks, the levitating, it all makes a lot more sense knowing they were completely fried.
No it doesnt. Coming from someone who is still tripping.
@apesy800 lies. How'd you even get here if you're tripping on lsd. You wouldn't even know if you OWNED a cellular telecommunication electronic device
copious amounts of hallucigenics will in fact fry your brain, who knew!
@@apesy800ha! Agreed friend! Cheers here’s some good energy your way!
🎶👯Leader, Leader, Leader…👯🎶 Leader, Leader, Leader👯(x 4 minutes) ….YES! I WiLL Join!!! This is GREAT!
This is genuinely a great video, and so funny to see you hoping to reach for 2k subscribers at the beginning when looking at your subscriber count now. One of my favorites, great work
Thank you for helping to correct the all-too-common misperception that Jonestown was a mass suicide. It was a mass murder.
Also, kudos for the near-impossible job of keeping it real while still making it possible for us to enjoy the weird.
They shot that senator or congressman and jim sealed their fate with it the ones who ran into the woods were the lucky ones
@@TheRealRusDaddy Plus the deaf guy who literally just didn't hear the call. And a couple of others.
@@jessiehermit9503 the ones that didnt get hunted down like animals and forced to drink it at gun point or shot yeah
It was 100% murder at gunpoint. Having to decide if you wanted to give your kids posion and have them die in your arms or have them watch as their while family is shot with automatic weapons... that's a choice I couldn't make...
Wouldn't it be both? There were people who willingly drank the Flavor-aid mixture there. They would have been killed regardless, but some people willingly took their own lives.
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
-Calvin and Hobbes
The "Jesus in a spaceship" is actually a detail from a fresco at the Visoki Dečani monastery in Kosovo. The monastery itself dates back to the 1300s, but I wasn't able to find any info on how old the artwork is.
Despite its common use as an "ancient alien" example, when you look at the painting as a whole, you can clearly see that it is actually a stylized depiction of the Moon, piloted by an angel, with its companion Sun in the opposite corner. The two heavenly bodies are flying (thus the non-symmetrical rays) above the main crucifixion scene in the center, and the Moon's "pilot" is looking backward toward Christ.
You can briefly see most of the larger image in the video ,just before it cuts to the detail.
I almost went to a raelian meeting a decade ago because my grandpa is a member of it for shits and giggles (he’s not a true member who believes in it), the only reason we never went inside for it is because the lady hosting it had a dog (he’s allergic to dogs)
As a cult survivor, you've made me finally laugh at these goons 😂
Serious when you need to be, but still knew the right time to bring in levity. Thanks for that!
Wow props for standing up to it❤
Former cult member here, too. It’s easy to get sucked in, because we all want answers to life. And they know it. So to have some levity helps
What one?
@RabidlyTaboo very very small one. There isn't a name to it but the leader always calls it a coven. It was a pagan cult as she invited everybody in, no matter what the religion... but mostly Wiccans (however, they do not act like Wiccans. Wiccan are usually very nice but not this one.) The appeal is that she knew magic... real magic. So she would get A LOT of youngins. I was 19 at the time. My whole life I wanted magic to be real and she gave me that. And I was hooked, line and sinker. That and she provided me alcohol. Even the kids got all the alcohol they wanted too.
And seriously, everyone there worshipped her like her shit smell like roses. Even me. I even introduced my own friends to it.
@@MarzieMalfoy wtf did she do to make you believe that magic was real?
This guy is one of the most funny creators I've seen. Well done man. It's heavily reminiscent of informational early 2000s kids programming for me, but dark. Love it.
Aaaaand new favorite praise lol.
I loved it it made me laugh
I lov
I laughed, I was disgusted, I had all the emotions.
My boss once gave me a Scientology audit [she didn't do the auditing, she arranged the session at the office as a surprise for me] and it was an experience. I don't make enough money for them to care about, which I'd never been happy about before then.
Er, how'd that go?
@@GlareanLiebertine As awkward as it could possibly be. I ended it with something like "thanks, I've got [this task] to do and I really should get back to the office" and left the kitchenette. At the office it was only four of us and suppliers coming with a load of samples once in a while, and that day it was just me, boss, and Mr. Audit. Pretty isolated location.
It was focused on an injury I had as a child that I had mentioned in passing. It was semi-work related in that I had good reason to be wary of nonsense medicine [not all home remedies are, but...] and had recently found out that the issues I'd been talking to my OB about were caused by a testosterone cream I was being accidentally exposed to by the lone male that worked there and NOT the aforementioned childhood injury. He thought bringing his body chemistry back to the levels it was in his 20's would make him... not 70 anymore? IDK. He didn't realize that since it absorbed through his skin that he'd need to wash his hands before using shared computer keyboards and such. I grew 3/4 of a beard.
That job was... a lot.
I really should have sued, but I was working 50+ hours a week as a manager of one of the store locations as well as a bookkeeper and needed the money badly. Besides, I was the bookkeeper. I knew how much money I would get and it really wouldn't have been worth the cost of a lawyer.
I really need to stop thinking Scientology is some sort of pushy science-nerd club, because I do not understand what else it could be.
Is there any chance you could explain to me like I'm 5? Or point me somewhere where it gets explained to 5-y-olds?
@@Roadent1241 Like many conspiracy theories and cults, it convinces people that their problems have an easy solution and provides a convenient scapegoat so that they are never really your fault. In this case, you are possessed by tortured space ghosts, so it's better than the bigoted kind of scapegoating, but there is a lot of classism baked into it since it is all about paying huge amounts of money to people higher up the pyramid.
The testosterone cream and "supplements cure aging" thing wasn't a scientology thing per se, but the Young Living oils nonsense was strong with every one of them I've spent an extended amount of time around [which is less than ten people.] I think it is more that that type of person also has money to burn on Goop, crystals, oils, and other nonsense. One of them refused cancer treatment in favor of auditing and essential oils, and over the five years I knew them I watched him die a slow and probably unnecessary death from what should have been an easily operable tumor. Cutting it off was a huge no-no. I'm not sure but they seemed to think cutting into the body would effect the thetans. Fill him with bad mojo.
I really don't know enough to recommend a source less well known than South Park or Hubbard's own books [cliff notes for them do exist.]
@@sofiadragon6520 Possessed by space ghosts sounds like a parody of FF's Spirits Within, that sounds amazing XD I would make a book of THAT.
Though it probably already exists from what little I know of Metroid.
The rest of it, oof. I wish my lifelong disability had an easy way out that allowed me to keep experiencing life.
How does this channel only have 200k subs? This is one of the most entertaining videos I have seen on UA-cam in forever. I subbed right away. I’m having a great time, the humor, the flow, the editing, the obvious extensive research. I’m now a fan!!
You know, the curious thing about Aum Shinrikyo was, there were some "highly intelligent" people coming from one of the best universities in Japan that joined this cult. They managed to produce their own "factory" to make sarin gas. Talk about intelligence used for wrong reasons....and the most annoying thing is that they still exist (under a different name)!!
Goes to show how dangerous it is to think anyone is immune to the psychological tactics cults use to draw members in. When people only see horrific events like the sarin attacks and mass suicides, it makes them think that the cults were just Like That, and that the people perpetrating those crimes joined because they LOVE doing murder and domestic terrorism on a Friday night.
But this is like showing a movie at its climax; these incidents are largely removed from the necessary context to understand them. What they don't see is the slow buildup and escalation that blinds otherwise intelligent, rational minded people to the reality of their actions. Call it boiling the frog; spend long enough in an environment that constantly beats you the person down and forces you to define yourself by it, and I bet YOU would be puncturing gas bags with umbrellas on a subway. This is the true terror of brainwashing, that it is not some magic woo woo status effect that is inflicted, but a legitimate identity change that happens slowly, and can't really be 'cured' or 'recovered from' per se.
More people ought to keep that in mind when talking about cults, I think. you are not immune to propaganda, etc etc
United States University system is basically this, except they produce more drone-type people. critical thinkers haven’t been a majority in college in years. it’s all the kids from school who spent 4hrs a night memorizing instead of learning.
this is why many colleges contain some of the most mentally ill, racist, bigoted areas of any town they are in right now. recently oberlin college had to pay 40million because their teachers encouraged students to harass a shop owner who caught some students stealing.
the students defense was this -
“thaaaatttttsss rayyyyycist!!!!”
students are constantly bullied for their political and religious opinion on campuses, usually this isn’t present until second or third year, which makes it even more obvious what’s happening.
"Highly intelligent" is almost as meaningless as the term "racist"now. I mean, look at AOC.` She is considered "intelligent" because she went to college, but she is dumber than a rock. Much of the time, universities are just left-wing indoctrination centers now.
@@staters_college_tagers This is really important, thank you for posting it! It's tempting to assume that we, ourselves, could never fall for these tricks. But the tricks are clever, and they easily could.
Damn… 😞
Thank you for actually being relatively respectful. A lot of people treat cults (including ones that have injured and killed people) as though it's some fun internet drama you tell your besties at dinner. These were real people who were hurt and sometimes killed. People need to have lore respect.
So, to get respect in life i should start a cult and get people killed... huh? I'll write that down, might give that idea spin.
*more
That was really insightful, you took the words right out of my mouth!
Groupthink is always bad
@Gernot Schrader Groupthink refers to the phenomenon of falling in line with the thinking of others to avoid repercussions such as ostracization (or snake hitmen!), not people coming to similar logical conclusions or general agreements on their own.
25:37 You missed the most, eh, distinguishing feature of the Heaven's Gate cult; from Wikipedia:
"Eight of the male members of the group, including Applewhite, voluntarily underwent castration as an extreme means of maintaining the ascetic lifestyle.[88] The group initially attempted castration by having one of the members, a former nurse, perform the castration, but this initial attempt was very unsuccessful, almost resulted in the patient's death, and caused at least one member to leave Heaven's Gate. Every castration that followed this initial one was done in a hospital."
jesus christ..
@@ZeranZeran did he also practiced hubieras mutilation? Oh right he was a Jew.
I love how, for the "he prayed with Jews" verse, they put up a picture of him praying with Greek Orthodox (Christian) priests.
Of course, that's the way with most forms of monotheism: if you're not in my religion, then you are evil and going to hell.
I wonder if Christians think that Moses, Noah and other characters from the old testament are burning in hell because they were not Christians?
@@majorneptunejrno, we don't.
That's not how monotheism works. Hell isn't even a thing in Judaism, for example... Sheol is closer to Greek Hades. Anyway, Abrahamic religions don't like shamanism and witches simply because they are con artists fooling people.
@@majorneptunejrThe short answer is no.
So, when people say "Is the Pope a Catholic?", is there a group of people who ACTUALLY THINK HE ISN'T?!
Ik some Catholics who think the pope is a Jewish imposter antichrist kind of thing.
EDIT: These people got covered in the video I just hadn't gotten to that point yet.
I'm more surprised there are people who think he is Catholic or Christian
@@thelordz33 Um, he isn't catholic?
I think they mean what BRANCH of Christianity is he in.
I think there are a lot of people who think that he is catholic and a lot of people who think he is protestant
So many videos on UA-cam about cults are very irresponsible with how they approach their coverage. It’s nice to see that you can still manage humour while being respectful of the fact that a lot of these people are victims. It’s amazing how quickly people forget that these are other humans, and a lot of them are in a bad way. You got an instant subscribe after you mentioned this. It’s nice to see people on UA-cam making content that is both fascinating and kind.
So, Ti was actually the leader of Heaven's Gate while she was alive. She was the charismatic one who was able to make Do's weird ramblings palatable. However, she got cancer and ultimately died from it. Do claimed she would be resurrected in 3 days, but when that didn't happen, he changed to saying that they had to rejoin her in the afterlife.
@@PaperWill Also the whole "Ti and Do" naming thing might have been the idea of Applewhite, as he was actually a music teacher before the cult thing.
Just do ti... Weren't they also wearing Nikes when they were found on the bunk beds dead? This was when hale bopp was in the sky, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
@@Ramen10420 Yep, though from what I heard, the only reason they were all wearing the same brand of Nikes was because they got a really good deal on them.
Thank you, was looking for this comment
@@Ramen10420 black n white nike decades which the brand discontinued cuz of the association. they sell for a lot lot of money now
Just discovered you from your recent upload about n. Korean entertainment and I have to say all your content is well done and gold!
I know this video is old, but at around 23:40 the Jonestown massacre audio for anyone who is curious but doesn't want to go listen for themselves -
The most notable parts of the tape is a woman around 5 minutes in standing up for herself and the others, stating how wrong the massacre was (she unfortunately was a victim to the massacre still however, i read another comment that the autopsy stated she was injected with cyanide rather then willingly taking it)
You can hear children crying throughout the entire tape, but about 25 minutes in is when the cries become more clear / louder, (I'm not sure if this is a result of the pain from the poison since cyanide isn't a painless death or because as more people die the children start understanding what's happening, either is awful)
Jones is also giving speeches about death and peace the entire tape, he calls the children crying "nonsense" and says anyone crying is being manipulated. at one point a woman comes up and defends Jones saying something like when we are born we all cry, but when we leave it should be in peace.
The tape ends just silently for a few minutes, since everyone has passed. it's really sad and eerie to listen to, and Jones calmness throughout it all really show his manipulation of his followers.
He called the kids crying "nonsense"??? wtf???
Jim Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head he did take the high amount of Pentobarbital but he died of a gunshot wound to the head. Jones was found laid out on the stage his head on pillows he is believed to be one of the last to die
Worth noting Jones himself did not drink the cyanide after all this, he would not die in the way he forced them to, he instead shot himself in the head.
@@microwave8931 the worst part was the hypocrisy
For sure it was not a mass su.Ic.idE .... maybe partly but mostly it turned out to be a mass mU.r.dEr (especially where children and babies are concerned).
I read a lot about cults, over the years. It is morbidly fascinating to me, the amount of absurdity people are willing to believe is just astounding. I must admit that my compassion has a limit, too. Especially when I hear about innocent children, brought up into such nightmares by their parents, all the empathy I might have felt towards those that willingly joined, goes out of the window. Disgusting.
Rights its fucked up
i dunno, i beleive some people are just naive, or just want to believe. Like with jonestown, Most joined becuase he preached equality between the races, america when racial tensions where high. He taled about a paradise with everyone can be equal and dont be judged by colour. So i understand people joining. the scared the people into beleive that if they did move with him, they would be killed by racists etc etc, and when youre there you have literally no way to leave, the only way you could leave jonestown where to die. The horrible stories of the few survivours are so tragic, and now its justed as a joke "dont drink the koolaid" most where forced to drink it, guns to thier heads, or forced down their
throat. They had to kill their own children. Its such a tragedy. Most that join cults are also people in bad places in life or cults take advantage on people down on their luck, poor or depressed. That japanese cult did promise their members to harvest supernatural gifts, such as flying, in a time in japanese society where you should not be special, stick out. Honestly alot of other social factors in japan made people seek out cults like his, And later when youre in it youre to far in it to get out alive, most are forced to do things, by peer pressure, financial pressure or force. But also in denial.
Its true that when kids get hurt and the parent show little to no remorse its disgusting and i do lack the sympathy for those people too. But we cannot ignore that theyre probably also too deep to leave, and it might even be a life danger.
Perhaps we're seeing the largest loss of discernment r n. Same hallmarks of propaganda & othering.
@@jenniferray8569 I think you might be in denial in your own life. If you're pointing to others as they are the example when you're probably an example too it's just not gotten that serious yet but it can and it will. In our lifetimes we will go through something like what you're pointing to but in your own backyard
I DO have compassion for the peole who joined. I was one of them. They have NO idea what they are getting into, because the group gets worse gradualy.
That said, when horrible things are done, the people doing it still have responsibiliy. Some leave at a certain point, so. it isp ossiblee, though often hadd.
1. Raelism is definitely bonkers. The more you get into it the wilder it is, and it is DEFINITELY all just a very elaborate way for Rael to get people to sleep with him. And 2) the Second Life shoutout sent me
Not going to lie, I am kind of onboard with the topless women thing though. None of the other weird shit, just to be clear.
@@davemccage7918 Meanwhile I'm indifferent on the topless women thing but am digging the weird early 3D modelling of their demo center and want to rip scenes from it for vaporwave music videos.
@@Soitisisit An equally valid opinion…
if that ones real then when the aliens invade im going to fight them no matter how doomed and hoples the battle is
better to die standing then live wearing a top
14:10 I think if women being allowed to be topless whenever they like is the only "concession" we have to make to end all war, we probably should find out more about these aliens.
I'm really happy you pointed out the Aum Shrinrikyo game was satire, alot of UA-camrs in this field go surface level and tell people it's made by the cult itself.
Yes you can say mamamax, it's alrighr
In a strange way, it's comforting to me that the Westboro Baptist Church apparently can't find good singers...
When the United Methodist Church became less united over accepting gay members, the common crack was "one branch will continue offering traditional marriage, the other will have the better choir."
Unlike other cults, the WBC generally limited itself to the Phelps extended family and didn't try to actively convert people into their church
I watched the entirety of the Heavens Gate tapes in one sitting late at night, and let me tell you- I think I was actually going insane. I was seeing stuff out of the corners of my eye.
What did you see, if I may ask?
@@websurfer5772 Not sure. Like something was moving just beneath my vision, where my cheeks are.
@@AldenHoffman Thanks for answering. It's weird that happened after you watched it.
Makes sense considering it’s 1000% real and not fake
@@websurfer5772 lol its called being a naive kid homie wasnt being hypno haunted
Wait! Wait. Wait. The line about praying with jews, comes with an image that isn't even of Jews! I'm pretty sure they're Russian Orthodox, which is a branch of Christianity. The songwriter just assumed they were Jews because they had beards???
Also, like, the kinds of Jews that grow their beards that long wouldn't pray with a pope because it would be considered too close to idolatry
I went into it expecting Shen Yun and Jehova Witnesses' Caleb and Sophia, but went out with a delicious Christian slam poetry reading over a sick beat. I don't usually leave comments, but this was so out of nowhere for me in a good way! And I appreciate how you managed to keep a relatively light and fun tone while discussing such a disturbing subject without downplaying how horrible cults are.
I thought i recognised that picture! Yeah, i was worried it was ganna be JW’s in the list.
@@trollol1914 I wouldn't have worried about exposing JW as a doomsday cult with a children's cartoon propaganda if I were you.
@@trollol1914 Why get worried when they ARE a cult?
I just love that Caleb and Sophia have a father who for no apparent reason has this Romance Novel, Luxury Car Ad Spanish accent. He sounds like Gus Fring on Breaking Bad/B.C.S. and a low-profile Jehovah's Witness family is actually a very Gus Fring canard.
@@troyevitt2437 I know nothing about Gus Fring, but this is probably the funniest way I saw anyone describe how the dad sounds xD
My dad's boss in Durango Co in 72 was Micky Craig. A big ole cowboy family man and developer. A mutual friend flew him to Denver to see Applewhite. Thought it was a UFO symposium. He immediately gave all his assets to Heavens Gate, abandoned his family, and never came back. Died with the group.
That's crazy!
Old Micky must have had a lot going on underneath that no one around but his friend knew about. A normal, well adjusted person doesn't just up and do that!
The fact that the family claims marilyn monroe as one of their spirit people becomes a lot more uncomfortable if you remember that marilyn was jewish. so like,, they were claiming a jewish woman for their chrisitan fundementalist cult
I read Marilyn Monroe as Marilyn Mason and got really confused for a minute.
She wasn't born into Judaism or brought up Jewish, but converted in 1956 in order to marry Arthur Miller. She doesn't seem to have been particularly religious. Not that it in any way excuses the abusive cult using her image to lure in victims.
Even more sad, Don Quixote was also a spirit helper and more than that one of the alter ego spirits that frequently possessed and "spoke through" the founder and it wasn't until I ran away from my commune and read the book that I realized he is a fictional character 🤦🏼♀️ information bubbles are scary things to do to children. Also to add insult to injury, I am Spanish
@@faithbarcelo4795 When I was around them, "Mo's" spirit guides, who spoke through him and thus his pamphlets, were not historical peole, Don Juan was not the guy who chsed windmills, nor the one who tuaght CARLOS CASTENADO. HE WAS JUST SOME GUY, Special for I don't mmeber why. Abrahime was a king of the Gyppsies. Ivan Inovitch was some guy who steered a bot in a Russian canal. Kind of random, I gueass. But later, he started, apprently, to channel more and more peolpe, and Godesses, and, yea--.
(sorry for the bad spelling.)
@@milascave2 yeah exactly, but as a kid who grew up in it only being taught what they want you to know and not going to school and stuff....I had no way of knowing these characters were not real. They taught us that everything that he said was gospel truth so how would I know it's bullshit
The Church of Scientology is in my office building, on the two floors below where I work (not the US btw). Apparently, they applied for the office space without mentioning they're fucking Scientology, and the landlord told them they're out immediately if they start bothering other tenants. Seems they brought a fruit basket when they moved in, and now you kind of don't notice them. They do keep to themselves; you just always have to wonder if you're in the lift with crazies, but it's just hello and have a nice day. Always a fun moment when a customer visits for the first time, though.
The Japanese SOS song is actually such a classic 80s bop i unironically love it. Excellent video!! Thank you so much for your super duper hard work on this!
Your interpretation of a Scientology jazz drum solo was fascinating, terrifying and ridiculous. Thank you.
Do you know where to find that drum roll? I want to listen to the whole song but can't find it
@@isaacconandoyle6681 my dude ua-cam.com/video/Wka6ZKUd8WQ/v-deo.html
It was amazing
@@isaacconandoyle6681 Here's the full album if you are still searching: ua-cam.com/video/Wka6ZKUd8WQ/v-deo.html
@@markusa5293 thank you for the _jaaaazzzzz_
The Mario jump sound effect while he is "butt jumping" made me laugh so hard too fricking good. Absolute gold
55:05 I can answer this! Even in the Japanese branch of The Family, English was exclusively spoken. I have several friends who were born and raised into the Japanese branch of The Family, and all of them, in spite of being Japanese, speak English as a first language. When the Japanese branch disbanded it was a complete nightmare for these kids to reintegrate into normal society because they didn’t speak Japanese. Speculation on my part but I assume that speaking English was mandatory so that the cult leadership could exert more control on their foreign membership and create distance between their members and the local populace.
Are we really just going to ignore that Rael's logo is LITERALLY JUST A SWASTIKA IN THE START OF DAVID? Like surely that can't end well.
yeah i noticed that….. like why did they decide in that???
Yeah, they’ve gone off the Raels.
I noticed that and it reminded me of the same “logo” Kanye posted awhile back… looked it up to check that tweet and it was the exact same thing!
Pick a lane
What, no Chick Tracts?
Back in middle and high school I had two separate classes assign everyone cults to do presentations on and both teachers gave me Jonestown so idk I must have given off some troubling vibes for two separate teachers to see me and think “kool aid cult”
there's not that many cults to be fair, this could be an honest coincidence of a teacher going "Uhhhhhhh.. that one I didn't pick yet" lol
@@ZeranZeran I don’t think anyone else who was in both classes with me got doubles though
maybe you just have one of those faces that says "i enjoy mass murdering people by feeding them poisoned Kool aid"
When we were doing the college presentation in judicial medicine, the professor while assigning subjects, looks at me and says:" you look like you would be into firearms, do you want to do gunshoot wounds?" to which i replied something to the tune of: "nah i'm more of a blades kinda guy".
Unfortunately, due to her having to leave for court and me not being able to get the slideshow running i didn't get the chance to present it. And one of the opening slides was my own humble collection of knives and stabbing weapons.
Don't know why i shared this , it only tangentially links to your comment and has nothing to do with the original topic of the video. Sleep deprivation, kids: not even once.
@@mikeoxlong1395 lol I’m just picturing like a note the grade book next to your name that says “guns?” and that’s crossed out and they’ve written “swords.”
Hey Will! Just to clarify, the pilot's name was not John Frum. His name WAS John, but Frum was part of the first sentence he said to them. "I'm John From America'
Love the clarification and also love how well that fits in with the whole misunderstanding of the cargo cults, it's so cool
"I don't know if there's a hell, but if there is, Shoko's there now, ass-hopping over a lake of fire." 😆😆😆
The "exorcist Jesus baby in a spaceship" is a detail from an actual medieval painting (at the Visoki Dečani monastery). I fully understand your confusion but you'll have to point your indignation at the Serbian Orthodox church (and an an artist who (probably) died 600+ years ago) for that one.
There are other religious paintings from around the same time that have similar imagery. I think it's the moon, and just kinda a weird thing that was in style at the time.
@@lukelee7967 Ohhhh..... so that one Doc Who episode where the moon is an egg.... Jesus was a space dragon????
OK SIGN ME UP! I WANNA SPACE DRAKE!
You are correct and studies have suggested (with good evidence) that the depiction is of Halley's Comet from 1307 (see I. Stojic, et al, Possible representations of comets in Serbian religious medieval art, 2016)
I remember a documentary on Chariots of God's back in the 70s, I think. It was showing the paintings with spaceships in them. The doc used this as evidence of gods from outer space.
@@sisterhoney61 Now that you mention it, the entire show Ancient Aliens could be on this list. It wasn't made by any organized cult. But belief in ancient aliens is pretty much a cult at this point
Mild correction: The Second Vatican Council allowed portions of the mass to be spoken in the _vernacular_ language, which isn't necessarily English.
The technical term for the rando unofficial popes is "antipope," which sounds way more interesting than it is.
They are actually false Antipopes. The true Antipope dresses in black, worships Satan, and is an actual decent person who doesn’t abuse kids.
Heaven’s Gate weirds me out because yeah, they’re definitely a cult, and what happened at the end is upsetting and a big bummer, but also this is the one where there’s way less creep factor than the rest? The people in it didn’t seem to be there against their will, they often went to talk to or visit their families which most cults would NEVER let happen, and they never did anything to force people to stay or do anything against people who left.
Just crazy, man
Yep, exactly! Public perception of Heaven's Gate is a little off. I mean, it was still a cult and still a tragedy. But the members were happy to be there and ecstatic to think they were hitching a ride on a spaceship home. I've watched the videos they filmed to say goodbye and it is so sad to see how happy they were. Even stuff like the castration wasn't mandated by Do, it was the members themselves pushing for it. Definitely my "favorite" cult if there is such a thing... maybe because there is a lot of innocence and hope to them, as opposed to the abuse and murder most other famous cults were famous for.
I don't know about that. If anything it is creepier to me that their indoctrination was such that people did all of that to themselves.
@@zanizone3617 its literally how christianity and islam and every other religion starts.
The beliefs werent that crazy, relatively speaking.
Well, I mean, there's also the castration.
@@charlesrense5199 yeah, but even that was just a particularly nutty (pardon the pun) group, the leader didn’t ask or even encourage it when they told him about it.
Still totally borked, but not nearly as evil as other cults.
Scientology is a pretty good example of how gullible people are to con artists. Seriously though, L. Ron Hubbard was a fiction writer and not even a really good one to boot.
Thank you for including the Westboro Baptist Church..I remember when they were going to military funerals and it was just..infuriating to say the least
good news is they're shockingly tiny and shrinking. It's basically just 1 family and people are steadily leaving the cult. Even those protests they had were basically an effort to try and grab attention to their "cause" by any means necessary, similar to how some edgelords will do crazy shit just for the attention. Funnily enough some of the founders kids have turned against the church and now one of them is an LGBTQ+ rights activist and the other operates some hate group watchdog origination.
@@KevinM88TR11 They go to funerals of vets (esp KIA) and known queer people to picket and say all soldiers go to hell, f*gs fo to hell, all soldiers are f*gs, etc. generally causing a fuckton of problems for the bereaved while reinforcing how horrible the outside world is to those who know the Truth(TM)
@@KevinM88TR11 Looking for attention in order to spread their hateful message. Why'd you use that inane emoji?
@@lizardog it's a good emoji wouldn't you agree?🤔
@@lizardog That's the Critical Thinking emoji. We sure don't want anyone doing anything like that around here.
Counterargument: Rael only made the topless women video to have an excuse for men to wear small bikinis. And to be honest, I'm not complaining.
The user name fits.
@@gunnaryoung and whats that supposed to mean?
You know when the bikinis actually fit those guys rocked them.
I cannot believe The People's Temple Choir had such great music, like they had such insanely talented people at Jonestown! Almost adds to the tragedy of it all, if that is even possible
It is. It's a black hole of suck.
I've watched this more than once and every time I do, I marvel at my species ability to fool itself, sometimes to tragic effect. Stay Sane!
‘SOS’ and ‘cathy don’t go’ were low-key bops, if they didn’t have literal insane and disgusting connotations (along with being made by an insane group who did awful things), i’d genuinely enjoy it and add it to a playlist. i can see how people were easily manipulated as even i was enjoying it.
+
At least for the SOS song it being about how too much time on the internet can lead to burnout was at least accidentally relatable. Sure, I know the song’s real intentions were to limit the amount of outside information the cult members had access to, but there’s a grain of truth amongst a mountain of BS.
Kathy don’t go felt like a full on precursor to the anti-vaxx ethos, though. ‘If you get a credit card the government can control you via barcode’ is only one step away from ‘if you get vaccinated the government injects 5G trackers in you and makes you gay’.
ikr,, why did SOS slap so hard…. I-
One of the members of fleetwood mac (jeremy spencer) did end up joining them. I have no idea if he was involved in either song but it is genuinely concerning how that cult was so good with music.
SOS sounds like a cute song from an 80s shoujo anime. I too would have added it to a playlist, alongside Princess Anmitsu and Ashite Knight's opening bops
Counterpoint- Raelism was created just to see men in bikini tops. Which I fully support.
Weeeell, I dunno - combining a David Star with a Swastika as their symbol tells me they have some other interests as well....
Yeah, I’m suprised you’re the first person to actually point out their questionable symbol design
@@commanderkruge Actually the swastika is a symbol that is arguablly as old or older then human migration as every culture across the world has a varient of it. Thats actually why the nazi's used it, they loved their occult symbolism(probably got it from Helena Blavatsky's theosophy).
@@commanderkruge Sigh... It's the Big Dipper around Polaris at the beginning of each season. For f**k's sake.
@@joshuaobrien6137 So? I have yet to see any organisation or cult that does combine those two symbols and NOT follow some crypto-fascist agenda.
In 2002 I met 3 kids from the Australian chapter of The Family.
They had no emotional intelligence for others and very screwed up.
Angel, the older sister, was obviously the victim of sexual abuse, and lots of it.
The oldest son, treated any female as if she was they to serve his demands, which were always sexual in nature.
They stayed in my house for a week, then I moved out.
I have no idea if their parents went to prison, for their involvement of things I found out about?
It’s very interesting to see this video after having been in the Lyndon LaRouche political cult in about 2000. They were a very organized group of registered Democrats who were centered around the general philosophy of the Classical canons of music, literature, and (appropriately enough) ancient Greek philosophy. We literally read and studied Plato’s dialogues weekly. Also, they were very pro-Christianity.
While this may not sound like a Cult, but rather a thoughtful liberal arts college from the 1950’s, the cultish thing they did was routinely recruit smart, impressionable young adults off the streets of New York and Philadelphia and some other major cities. I was one of them. I ran into their pamphlet and literature stand while walking home from music school in Manhattan: City College of New York. What drew me in was a sign that read “Classical Music Died with Brahms.” Being a lover of Brahms, I approached them with great curiosity, and they started talking about how the Classics were the foundation of Western Culture. Which they are, of course; But what shocked me was that they were mentioning that, mathematically, A432hz is the ideal musical tuning (and not standardized A440Hz).
This is the part when I joined. Not because I believed in the healing powers of A432 Hz, but because I was ALREADY tuning all of my instruments to A432 Hz reference tuning. After studying the history of tuning and temperament in my spare time (I was a music nerd), I had come to the conclusion that it made perfect sense to tune to A432hz because if it’s mathematic harmonic beauty. (A432Hz tuning basically aligns with Sacred Geometry, the Golden Rectangle, etc. There was no logical reason to not tune to A432. So I just did it. On my own. Call it the rebel spirt of Leonardo DaVinci.)
What’s funny is that they were just as amazed by MY knowledge of tuning, as I was by theirs. They couldn’t believe that I had learned this without LaRouche’s insight.
Enter the cult of Lyndon LaRouche.
And, yes, basically the cult of LaRouche wasn’t so much as a cult, but rather a political ideology. In a strange way, it was the opposite of the Communism and Marxist group-think. But to the extreme. A sort of non-woke Wokeness. Basically, all group productivity had to be focused around LaRouche’s plan. A plan to bring Classical art and education back into our school and culture. And a plan (at that time) to stop George Bush II from becoming president. We worked tirelessly to get Lyndon LaRouche, a meaty-faced pale American male of French descent) onto the presidential ballot. We knew he would never win, but just to spread the message of God and Western Classicism was enough. We knew that we were working for social change, and felt blessed that we had the freedom and opportunity to do . We loved our country. Proud Americans. Such cultism, I know.
Sadly, George Bush no. 2 DID win, and soon enough, the very streets we walked on in New York City would be scrambling in chaos when 9-11 hit, and the Twin Towers fell. Within days, the Patriot Act was written out and soon passed. And to this day the you-know-who has certain “access” to our bank accounts. Later that being further “enhanced” by Obama himself, and the circle of blame goes round and round. Etc etc.
Of course, none of this sounds like a real cult. It was a cult in the same way Ayn Ryand’s cult functioned and stayed alive via a controlled pecking order that fought to contantly be the closest to their intellectual God, Ayn Rand. Remember that the Ryandians recruited their followers by circulating a “contest” in American high schools, offering a “literary prize” to the students who could come up with the best “analysis” of her novel, The Fountainhead. Which was the equivalent of their Bible. Once you joined them, all philosophical references had to be made from her very lengthy novel. Certainly more maddening than Jesus Christ, (given the social constrains of a fictional novel, that is). Har har har.
But, same thing for the LaRouche cult. All philosophical reference had to be made from Him. (No, not Jesus, Lyndon LaRouche).
In the end, I had to separate myself from THEM because no-one was interred in MY ideas. And therein lies their cult. It was all about their leader. And LaTouchhe was a very intelligent scholar and passionate statesman. The entire group’s output of writings about Classicism in the modern era are quite thought-provoking. Yet part of the demonization they got from the media was for their petition to change the international tuning standard to A432 Hz Scientific Tuning. A noble cause or science, but people don’t like change, and the public didn’t really understand the mathematical implications of A432/C256 tuning; Numbers that come up in nature, et even in things like computer coding. (Groups of 256 pixels in a screen. Or buying an SSD memory card in 256 mega bytes. Etc, etc). It was too much to think about. Call it voodoo science.
And here now in 2024, with a brand new election coming up, In a strange way, I seem to be carrying on the torch of the A432 Hz movement. But even more-so, I am proud that my discoveries and theorems were made independently of THEM. My discoveries made for the joy of learning and the fascination of all of the things that life as to offer and explore. To date, I have invented two alternate Circle of 5ths progressions. A literal new keyboard that is shaped like a honeycomb periodic table (my Musicolor Matrix) , and I have developed my Theory of Perfect Pitch and Theory of Pitch Psychology; Much of is here in video form on this very platform. Follow the rainbow rabbit. (But then again, it could be a cult).
Oh my God, your work is amazing. This is unbelieveable. Have you patented any of your charts? Or the color keyboard?
@@OpticalIllusionsUntold-sq8ru Thanks for checking out my vids! No, I have not patented anything. I feel it is more important that these reach the public as a learning tool for musical education. If it makes music easy to learn, then let the world gain from it. Let the healing begin!
I literally laughed at "RONNY DROP THE BEAT."
Loved the concept of the video. Great work!
As a musician and recording engineer that drum roll annoyed me to the point of nearly fast-forwarding the video. After reading your comment though I'd really love to see "Drop the beat Ronnie!" become a meme to urge people to 'get to the point' of whatever it is they're trying to say. Loads of YT videos could benefit from someone yelling this over huge parts of their content. The clip of the zoom-in drum roll could even be a GIF. Make it happen Will! DTBR
And just so you know - I spelled it 'Ronnie' to match the captions under the vid. Great comment Margaret!
I am more familiar with Westboro than I'd like. Not as an ex-member or anything, just... Well, I'm a furry. I've been to furry conventions. And GUESS who was outside a few of them! Oh yeah. Real nice people. About as appealing to be around as a sentient ball of used needles that really likes hugs.
My favorite anecdote was that the guy who ran one of the cons would troll them. HARD. He was outside, talking with them, making them think he was one of them, and they just let him stay in the middle of them. That is, until someone in a fursuit came out to talk to him because they needed his authority on something. Then he revealed who he was, the Chairman of the furcon they were protesting, waved by and went back inside, all with them stunned and PISSED OFF. It was hilarious.
That's awesome.
@@Roxstar777 Anthrocon is yearly, and a lot of other furcons have started coming back again after the covid thing kinda made them have to skip a year or two. So yeah, most are annual.
What's the score when you get 10 furries against 10 WBC fuckers? 20:0 for humanity.
@@Roxstar777 Well, originally, i was thinking about a bloodbath, that would result in a net positive for humanity either way.
In reality, you'd just have the two awkwardly making noises at each other, which might just send a few onlookers to the ER from cringing so hard they dislocated a joint or two.
@@mikeoxlong1395 You're the kind of person who cheers when a school bus crashes, aren't you?
It’s been five months and I still say “Ronnie, you need to drop the beat” on a regular basis, confusing the hell out of my friends and family.
You deliver information in a way i have a great respect and admiration of. I hope you continue to share your views, observations, and lesser known facts to everyone for as long as you can.