WHY ARE PEOPLE BELIEVING TRUMP IS SENT BY GOD? ARE THEY DEMONSTRATING SIGNS OF FOLLOWING A CULT LEADER?
My daughters jokingly say they were raised in a "cult" and I was the cult leader. This in one way is flattering because cult leaders are extremely charismatic and make people feel loved, accepted, and as if they belong and matter. But cult leaders have a bad side also. It is said they use brainwashing techniques to attract and keep their followers. The followers identify with the cult leaders on some or many levels and admire them greatly. I in no way, shape, or form wanted my daughters to be followers. The parenting skills I believed I was implementing were intended to shape, form, and mold free thinkers.
When looking at the definition of a cult leader I found myself disagreeing with it. Religion and religious groups are only described as able to have a cult following, by one resource's definition. Of course, there are several infamous cults which center around religion such as David Koresh, Charles Manson, and Jim Jones. But not ALL cults are religious. Religious cult leaders claim to have direct contact or revelation from a God/Higher Power/ or from the Universe giving them insight/understanding/information/special knowledge that the members do not/cannot possess. In some cases, the leader tells the followers he CAN help them to come into the same awareness/knowledge/power if they follow his direction. Yes, most cult leaders are men.
Donald Trump is imfamous for making outlandish promises to his base. His followers do not seem to care that he is not able to deliver on many of his promises. But the really scary thing about Trump is he never objects or tell people not to put him in a savior category. He doubles down on their assessment and revels in being seen as god-like. Is he a cult leader and are his followers blind sheeps for the slaughter? Cult leaders and their followers has historically met with a bad end.
I believe a cult leader can show up in any given area where there are people looking to be embraced. Hitler took cult leader to the highest deadliest level. Cult leaders are not just your everyday narcissists. The are what is defined as "traumatic" narcisissts. The actions of a traumatic narcissist has deleterious effects on their followers often persuading the follower into abusive situations or to carry out abuses on others. Can anyone say JANUARY 6th?
Cult leaders are intuitive, able to read people. They thrive on chaos and create crisis situations tapping into well planted fears they have made the followers believe. Fox news is a vehicle for creating one fear after another for its viewers to grab a hold of. They are power-hungry and authoritarian.
One thing I find clever of the cult leader is they issue uniforms and titles. These two actions make the follower feel important and above the ordinary person in status. The uniform and title reinforces the idea the follower has a job and authority in his enlightenment within the group and over those without the revelation given to them by their leader. The MAGA hat and slogan is an example of a uniform which makes people feel part of a group, have a job, have a title, and have a mission to enlighten others. Another MOVE of the cult leader is to make tantalizing promises. His promises keeps the follower amped up in anticipation that any day the promise will come true. Hitler was a leader who used these cult practices.
The Delusional Martyr: Is the most dangerous cult leader. Heaven's Gate leader, Marshall Applewhite instructed 39 members to commit mass suicide in 1997. He was convinced aliens would come to earth and take him and his followers away leaving their bodies for a higher existence. This group oriented delusion is called "Shared psychotic Disorder" according to the National Institutes of Health.
The Preacher Turned Egomaniac: May start out as a teacher, preacher, or an instructor of some sort then realizes people believe or hang onto their every word and become puffed up with such influence or his power to get people to listen to his every word. In 1978, Jim Jones, once a preacher, orchestrated the Jonestown Massacre in 1978, killing 900 people by instructing them to drink poison to commit suicide.
The Hard and Fast Narcissist: Has been a narcissist the majority of their lives. they feel entitled to completely lie to a person or whatever they have to do to get others to believe whatever it is they are selling, whether it is God, a product, or anything. They are a bottomless pit of ego need. They are malignant narcissists and do not care about the lives they destroy, or the lies they tell, the damage they are doing, they just need to be loved, feared, adored. Many say former President Donald Trump falls into this category.
WHICH CATEGORY DOES DONALD TRUMP AND HIS FOLLOWERS FIT INTO?
I would love to read your answer in the comments.
The sad thing is there will always be a group of disenfranchised people, the outcast, or the person who has had enough of the way they have been negatively treated, waiting for someone to understand their plight and formulate a solution to address it. The cult leader will begin at the root of the unhappiness/discontent by saying they understand, validating the person, boosting self-esteem, and feelings of being heard. There is a formula or steps visible the cult leader takes, which those outside of the cult can plainly see. The steps are as follows.
1. Next the enlightenment talk begins, the ability to see the TRUTH others are blind to or are blatantly disregarding. A new vocabulary only the group is privy to forms, making the followers feel special and separated from others develops.
2. Articles of clothing are introduced in some shape or form. The group takes pride in wearing the items and can be identified by them and titles are given so some sense of power and authority is bestowed upon the followers (no longer a group anymore. Leader and follower hierarchy has been established by now).
3. The leader makes promises to the followers that are appealing and are told family and friends will turn against them for believing in the promises and the leader. Outsiders, or anyone who disagrees with the leader become a THREAT, ENEMY, INFERIOR. The leader makes the followers protective of him saying those who do not believe will want to destroy him with lies or even physical attacks. This is the point where the follower can become dangerous in an attempt to protect the message, doctrine, and/or leader from outside influences. The leader now has full control and can demand money or violence from the followers. The followers become weaponized by the leader. Just objects to be used as he sees fit.
I have written a book Manhood Interrupted, But Never Destroyed, An Answer For The Red Pill Man addressing a group of men whose group has been described as a cult, in the RED PILL community. These men believe they are not treated as well as women by society Their rights as men are not recognized in the home and world at large. Women use sex to manipulate men. Women have made laws/polices beneficial to them by giving or withholding sex and thus are responsible for the bad condition of society. Women lie and call the police on men falsely claiming rape. The courts favor women in divorce awarding them the man's money/possessions and children in child custody battles. Women continually reject men in the dating scene.
The Red Pill community have their own language, looks to a leader for instruction and ideology about women, attack outsiders or their enemy- women, verbally and on a few accounts physically. There is Red Pill apparel available for purchase, they actively recruit members usually unhappy young Republican White men, and offer comradery for men in private groups. This group checks many of the cult boxes of a cult. But what else makes a cult? The people who join the group or community. The Red Pill community and MAGA have traits of a cult.
There are certain characteristics of those who are recruited, belong, join, connect with cults and cult leaders. People who join cults:
SEEK APPROVAL
FOLLOWERS BY NATURE, NOT LEADERS
SEEKING AN IDENTITY
SEEKING MEANING
SCHIZOTYPAL THINKING (not schizophrenic but dances on the edge and have odd beliefs/behaviors with conspiracy-type, alien-type, supernatural-type beliefs)
HIGHLY SUGGESTIBLE
CONSTANTLY BLAME OTHERS
ALWAYS ANGRY
VERY LOW SELF-ESTEEM
Angry social media communities can easily spin into a cult. No one in America would have believed 2,000-2,500 Americans would attack the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. People watched the news with utter shock and disbelief as rioters forced their way into the Capitol Building in an effort to overturn election results and harm employees of the government including the vice president. I can guarantee none of the people involved in the protest and attack would classify themselves as cult members but I bet their family members would.
The rioters, MAGA, follow a charismatic leader and hang on his every word or instruction. They believe they are understood finally by their leader. They subscribe to conspiracy theories. Those who don't believe the leader are deemed inferior, a danger, or an enemy. The leader enlists fear as a tool for action and to ensure his followers remain angry along with wild promises (he delivers many). He plays a martyr saying the media is attacking him. He dictates their source of information. The main part of the uniform is the MAGA hat. Bullying is used as an abuse tactic. The leader often proclaims his brilliance, and he is the only one who can help them and change the country/world. His blatant lies are ignored for the common good of their ideology. The leader separates followers from family who do not believe the same. He uses his power to elevate followers to positions and titles. Money flows, weapons flow, and discontent grows. Crisis after crisis only he can solve is echoed by the leader.
In the end, a large number of followers of cult leaders end up dying. The leader eventually crosses a line in his big grab for power or relevance resulting in their death. No special enlightenment is needed to know the Cult of Trump is going to end in some form of disaster even bigger than January 6, 2021. History repeats itself.
This is what the Bible says about FALSE teachers (leaders) who bring truth into dispute 2 Peter 2:10-14. They are bold and arrogant.
"This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority... With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning, they SEDUCE the UNSTABLE; they are experts in GREED - an accursed brood!"
Please by my book The Politics of Prayer in which I talk about how politics is supposed to play in the Christians life and about those elected to government positions of power. It is a book that will surely help Christians and non-Christians understand how not to let religion go astray when dealing with corruption in the government and its officials. My book is available on amazon.com
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