Amalgames: The Elements of a Manipulation

A few questions, in no particular order

by André Tarassi

A former member of an association commits suicide; a member of a group says he was influenced in his choices by its leader. Is the community responsible, along with all those that resemble it? Yes — if it is a spiritual minority. There are more suicides in the police force or among teachers than in spiritual minorities. But it would occur to no one to equate the police or the national education system with a cult and to shut down their services. Why?

Advertising openly attempts to influence our choices… What separates that intention from manipulation? Is anyone prepared to consider putting an end to every form of advertising?

A few firefighters recently set fires themselves, the newspapers tell us. Should the cult of firefighters be shut down?

Are we responsible for our actions only if we do not belong to a spiritual minority? Must all members of spiritual organisations be considered irresponsible and placed under guardianship?

The charisma of certain leaders is denounced… There are now charismatic lawyers and psychiatrists who fight against cults to the point of rivalling the “gurus” they denounce — in their way of manipulating facts and in the fees they charge in the course of their “sacred mission” against spirituality. What is the difference?

Should we see a deviation here and, perhaps, a still more troubling reality: are the acts alleged against “cults” acts that can be committed by any human being, whatever his background and his beliefs?

Wars kill. Is the army a cult? Do the men who die in war die of their own free will? What faith, then, carries them toward so stupid a death? (What do you think, in your soul and conscience: more or less stupid or absurd than dying for the reasons people like to impute to cults?) Who is responsible for their death? What brainwashing must a nation undergo to convince these men and their families that their sacrifice is worth it? Shall we question the grieving families of those soldiers who wake, after the fact, from that conditioning? And let us ask ourselves seriously about the question of conditioning.

There are more hidden financial interests within governments themselves than in spiritual minorities, which are often impoverished and small in membership. What is this masquerade that leads certain authorities to take spiritual minorities as scapegoats, designating — for a public numbed by disinformation — the leaders of spiritual movements as beings motivated exclusively by the lure of money? Through what conditioning have we come to accept these staggering assertions?

The French republic forbids the display of any conspicuous sign of a belief other than its own. Would that not be a sectarian attitude? Could it be that we live inside a giant cult, one skilful enough that we are not aware of it?

In what way would suicide be more the consequence of a spiritual path than of a malaise omnipresent in our disenchanted societies?

The family of humankind must learn to deal with phenomena of abuse or criminality other than by designating scapegoats who would be responsible for all our ills. The errors human beings make concern us all, beyond our beliefs. And this tragic and ignoble crusade against spiritual minorities is itself an error and a crime. Spiritual minorities constitute, for the most part, today, the crucible of the real values of a society in decline — well beyond the materialist philosophies of every stripe. Is it not astonishing that it is precisely they who are singled out as the troublemakers? Who, then, is troubled to the point of blowing minor facts out of proportion, or even of practising defamation?

These words merely begin to clear ground that is, at present, in bad company… These questions deserve much better…