#like Scientology is a cult def

[munsonology]

ALRIGHT I'm going to tell you a story I've told others that makes me chuckle and is also a OH MY GOD and also sexual harassment so

I love massages. To give and to receive. The lady I typically went to was booked and I was out of town for the next two months. Being out of town as I was, I decided "hey let me try a place up here". So I went to a place that also did waxing. I had talked with my masseuse as she did both, about prices so she knew I was interested in waxing

Now, if you've never had a massage, you strip and lay on a table and are covered. When I was a preteen I was uncomfortable and left my bra and undies on, now I just leave my undies on because I'm paranoid about starting my period while there (it happened 1 time and now im like oh God it could happen again 💀)

So to set the scene: im laying face down, completely naked except for my not thong but was basically a thong, a thin sheet covering me. The Masseuse is massaging my back. I am used to silence, relaxation- NO. She talks the ENTIRE time. Anyways, she compliments me. My leg specifically. As she is massaging it. Says it has a great shape and looks nice. And I was like oh uhhh I try?

She straight up ran her hand up my leg and said "oh you don't have to try"

SO I laid there awkwardly for the rest of the HOUR LONG MASSAGE. Cause like WHAT DO I DO? I ain't gonna jump up, titties flying!

She may or may not have also sang a love song to me as she held my hand

She also mentioned twin flames and said we were destined to meet 💀 after I got dressed she brought up the waxing AINT NO WAY SHE SEEING MY V NOW

I laugh about it now, because this would happen to NO ONE ELSE BUT ME. The imagery of me jumping up, titties flying, kills me. I didnt do that but

But then she texted me cause my number was on the form I filled out. Said something about destiny- and hey, maybe it wasn't her maybe it was a fluke cause they didn't say their name but that we had been destined to meet and if I ever wanted to see them again to make an appointment (it may NOT have been her but I mean the likelihood of someone else texting me????)

I blocked the number and moved on.

Coincidentally was watching about that twin flames cult AND SHE WAS ONE OF THE MEMBERS 💀💀💀💀 I COULD HAVE GOTTEN LURED TO A CULT SAV

BESTIE OMFGGGGG 😭😭😭😭😭 thank you for sharing and sorry this happened to you it was def harassment

But also wtf 😭 like how why are so many people in massage therapy and holistic health borderline and/or doing criminal acts???? That lady was def pushing the boundaries

maybe the place you went is also one of those massage places (*sex work is work however these massage places treat the people so badly from my knowledge*)

👀 at least some recruitment place for that cult

Speaking of cults idk if you’ve ever seen the Leah remini show on Scientology but it always baffled me how the former members were scared and getting harassed because I do feel for them but also go and get that 🔥 and they’ll never come back 💀

[suswous]

Honestly, one of the most fascinating groups/phenomena nowadays, particularly in terms of religion, is that of the Freezoners.

Free Zone, as it’s called, is basically a term for various groups/individuals who are not associated with the Church of Scientology, but still follow many Scientologist beliefs and practices. How closely they resemble the current practices of the Church of Scientology, or those of L. Ron Hubbard, varies significantly, but they’re all still based off of this original idea of Scientology, and reject or practice outside of the Church of Scientology.

And, what I find so fascinating about this group is what it says about religion in general. Like, the Church of Scientology is one of the most agreed upon cults. Obviously, not everyone agrees it’s a cult, especially not its members, but it’s still a widely shared opinion. Scientology is one of the most businesslike, least religionlike religions. Other sects that have been called cults are generally either nowhere near the size and scope of Scientology, or, while they may be harmful, are very clearly nowhere near as outwardly profitseeking or capitalistic. It’s based, not on previously existing religious beliefs, or other culturally entrenched ideas, but on Sci-Fi tropes, and on the work of one man, who died in 1986. 

And yet!

This idea, this organization that was founded only in 1953, based off a book and article published in 1950, still is unable to control its beliefs. Hell, one organization claims to have been founded before the Church of Scientology was, on the basis of Hubbard’s works. Even before Church was founded, Scientology did not belong to it!

And I just find it fascinating what this says about religion in general, and how impossible it is to control a religion or belief once it enters the public sphere. Religions belong to the people, not to organizations or the individuals who created it. No matter how rotten the fruit, people will find ways to build on it, to make something that is their own, and is independent. And of course, they’ll often be apologists for previous actions of the Church, as it’s a lot easier to believe in something that was originally good but then corrupted, rather than that which was corrupted from the start, but it also speaks to the lack of control over one’s legacy when it comes to religion. Some of the groups that split after Hubbard’s death lionize Hubbard, and claim that it is the new leadership that is the source of the problems with the CoS, that they’re distorting his work, which ignores a lot of the shitty things Hubbard did. But it also steals Hubbard’s legacy away from him. He’s no longer a person, he’s a religious figure, he no longer exists as a human being, but as a holy mouthpiece. They cite quotes of Hubbard saying “The work was free. Keep it so” and use it to justify practicing Scientology separate of the the Church. And, of course, the Church of Scientology quotes Hubbard back at them to justify their own actions. Hubbard becomes not a person, but a collection of works and quotes used to justify and support one’s beliefs.

People often say that the difference between a Religion and a Cult is whether the founder is still alive or not. Obviously that’s quite a simplification, and doesn’t entirely apply to this, as many organizations split before Hubbard died, but it still makes sense, I guess? When Hubbard was alive, he could say things, he could say what his opinion of a situation was, he could object to someone using his words, he could denounce someone as Wrong. But, now that he’s dead, he can’t. People are free to pick and choose his words to argue what he would think, or what he did think, and quite often they can find evidence that they can interpret as supporting their beliefs. People can argue over how to interpret something, and they can project their own beliefs onto him, without him being able to dispute it. So there sorta is some truth to the saying. Obviously, that’s not the sole difference, and Cult, in its most common usage, is a subjective term, that’s mostly just a value judgement, but still. When someone puts an idea into the world, they no longer control it, but they still hold control over people who put faith in them to interpret and express that idea. Others can disagree, and interpret it differently, but, for most, what’s the point of following a religion, when you disagree with the founder, who based the religion off of nothing but himself? But, when the founder is dead, there’s no one left to further explain the idea. People are left to interpret what is left, and I’d argue, that’s when it goes from being a Movement, or a Religious Movement, to a Religion (which, of course, doesn’t mean it’s not a cult, or that was before, or anything).

It’s sorta like this feeling I get when people try to simplify widespread religions into being, like, One Thing. Like claiming that Christianity has always been about X thing, or Y thing, whether that’s good or bad. And it’s like, it has been around for over two thousand years, and has been practiced so many different ways by so many different people in so many different places. Like, if a Religious Idea that was founded 60 years ago still has breakaway sects and splinter groups who don’t follow the Centralized Church, it seems ridiculous to claim that any more widespread or older religion is any one thing. Any religion that survives will be split apart and have disagreements, whether the religion is centralized or not. And, I think, if Scientology does continue to exist into the far future, it won’t be because the Church of Scientology, but because of individuals who follow the ideas and beliefs of Scientology, and incorporate it into their daily life, syncretizing it with folk beliefs and whatnot as they go, without solely dedicating their lives to a moneymaking scheme. Although, considering how small the Free Zone movement is, and how few people know about them, it’s not very likely to happen.

[oldmilfenjoyer]

revamp of hot celeb goss as entitties

Last time my post didn’t show in the tag so I threatened to revamp it and add ******* ****** ** ****** ****. Anyways there’s been quite frankly too many pandemic pregnancies. Still not touching t*yl*r sw*ft or b*y*nc*/j*y-z/k*nye goss & warning for mentions of drugs, sex, cults, gross stuff involving dogs, and a weird kink I think that’s it?

The Lonely:

neil gaiman left his WIFE and CHILD during the pandemic

in honor of Petey Lukas: billie eilish’s parents were gentrifiers and got fucked up by the 2008 housing crisis HA (also they helped commit money laundering that the FBI later investigated)

The Flesh:

the catering of the new power rangers movie being just “a pile of coke w a little spoon” to quote

The Corruption:

as the only tma entity w horny eps corruption gets the timothee chalamet/sprouse twins/eddie redmayne chlamydia saga they’re the origins of chlamydia in new york. have any of them done the treatment for it yet who knows

chris pratt, elizabeth moss, justin bieber, the kardashians, and idk who else are all in the Hillsong cult (the kardashians may not be in it anymore tho?)

also will and jada smith are probs ex scientologists given their hard core mentioning of scientology in past interviews so they get blacklisted by the cult (side note thanks will for bearding jada for all these years + they have an open relationship)

jameela jamil vs bee (every version)

so many celebs have lyme disease despite not living on the east coast but I’m specifying yolanda + bella + anwar hadid bc yolanda wrote a whole ass book abt it. also j biebs did live in Canada so maybe but also considering the timing, drug stuff, and him also writing a book Makes You Think 👀👀👀👀👀…

The Slaughter:

mitskis dad is a cia agent and probs def a war criminal

I think the exact wording from theocseason4’s blog is: “zoey deschanel sings quietly during sex and will not stop if asked”

The Dark:

Kerry Washington ultimate fake relationship w her husband they don’t even LIVE TOGETHER

jessica biel’s gay but specifically the photo of a woman grabbing jessica biel’s ass while justin timberlake is standing in front of her not looking

The End:

I don’t care about the YT shane/tati/jeffree/that other one (john?) gossip I really don’t there’s so much more interesting goss out there so I Do Not See It 🙄🙄🙄 that being said sh*n* d*ws*n poop knife

also jeffree said he lets his dog lick his teeth every night before going to sleep bc dog saliva has “anti aging properties”

also also on dogs: influencer Caroline Calloway’s dog shit on her bed once before a party and instead of cleaning it up she put the sheets in her OVEN. idk who you are but caroline you HAVE the money for laundry detergent.

The Desolation:

almost all the glee celebs being in that one sex club it makes me want to scream who looks at lea michele and has like. Any positive emotions. also the implications of a whole circle of Hollywood having a glee kink.

that one sub on theocseason4’s blog abt lea cutting off a chick’s hair @ a sleepover when they were in middle school or smthg bc of theater drama competition

also the lea michele is illiterate video series Makes You Think 👀👀👀👀👀…

The Hunt:

ok…did john hamm haze a dude to death. did lady Gaga kill that chick and steal her identity. how involved were the Olsen twins (coke dealer) in heath ledger dying in Mary Kate’s apartment.

The Eye:

however jonny depp absolutely killed joaquin phoenixs brother.

george clooney married amal clooney to get a leg up in eventually running for president. also they’re secret divorced.

angelina jolie being v vocal about pegging her bf

on that note this isn’t goss but I just want to know what’s going on with the danai gurira/lupita nyongo/tessa thompson/janelle monae love quadrangle

The Web:

shakira evades spanish taxes.

this isn’t a conspiracy the queen definitely orchestrated princess diana’s death. also meghan and harry leaving the royal family for a netflix or amazon deal that’s going to get them $$$$$$$$$.

I lied I’m bringing t*yl*r sw*ft in. I’m not a swiftie and I refuse to get involved w swift discourse. but taylor in 50 years will be remembered for being The Beard for fake dating closeted gay celebs (ex tom hiddleston, joe alwyn, joe jonas, I cant remember who else) and also for giving everyone involved hella publicity

The Vast:

bella thorne getting carded when she didn’t have her ID, asking the bartender “don’t you recognize me”, him saying no, her exiting stage left

The Buried:

the jameela jamil munchausen theories (sorry jameela but like…the cancer thing)

I’ll say one thing about b*y*nc*/j*y-z and that is beyonce and jay-z had separate security teams in the met gala 2014 elevator

The Stranger:

this isn’t gossip. please look at a time lapse of ariana grandes eyebrows WHERES she putting her forehead.

whatever tf yolanda hadid is doing w gigi and bella in like general. also one of them is experiencing major nose bridge collapse bc of all the plastic surgery but I can’t remember which.

brie larson staging whole foods paparazzi pics w her (fake) bf. like we know all pap pics are fake but staging whole foods/ trader joes pics?? why??

Dailymail lily james post where she’s in the park CLEARLY snorting smthg but the article’s like “aaw she has allergies”

The Spiral:

me writing this post TWICE

Bonus Extinction:

the absolute worst goss: Freddie Prinze Jr, husband of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has a diaper kink and she, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, changes his diapers.

[warmheartworm]

things you might also be surprised to learn are cult things: that one video about the doubl-slit experiment people got excited ove ronline a few years ago, and the “What the Bleep Do We Know” phenomena as a whole. NARCONON is a scientology front. also like, any given usa political group, R or D, has like, a 70% chance of being owned by the fuckin Moonies by my estimate. Oh Forever21 might be too? but yeah the moonies def have everyone apart from maybe the CoS beat in terms of number of fronts like, fucking LOOK at this lmao https://culteducation.com/unif121.html

[fashion-and-film]

Do you have any film recommendations about people in or joining a cult?

I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME

Documentaries:

Scientology - Leah Remini’s A&E series, Going Clear, My Scientology Movie, Scientology and Me, The Secrets of Scientology

FLDS - Sons of Perdition, Prophet’s Prey, Banking on Heaven, 

Jonestown - Paradise Lost, Deceived: The Jonestown Tragedy, The Life and Death of the People’s Temple, Jonestown (PBS) 

Manson Family - The Man Who Killed the 60s, Six Degrees of Helter Skelter. If you like Podcasts, You Must Remember This did a great series on Charles Manson (and is a great podcast that does other topics if ur not into true crime)

Branch Davidian’s - A New Revelation, Waco: The Rules of Engagement, Waco Siege (these are more about the disastrous fallout w/ the FBI but I had to shoutout to my hometown cult lol)

Aum Shinrikyo - A (1998), A2 (2001), The Last Podcast on the Left has a great series about this (and a ton of other cults). Their humor is very like shock jock bro-y though, so def. not for everyone. 

Other misc documentaries: Tickled (this is technically not about a cult…. but it’s about a rich dude who sets up “tickle cells” to make tickle fetish porn and it’s fucking crazy!!!!) Jesus Camp, Inside Story: Heaven’s Gate (BBC Doc), The Source Family, Holy Hell, God Willing, The End of the World Cult, Fear is the Master, Death of the Solar Temple

Narrative films about cults: Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Master, Red State, Children of the Corn, Ticket to Heaven, The Sacrament

[aion-rsa]

The 100 Season 7 Episode 8 Review: Anaconda

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This THE 100 review contains spoilers

The 100 Season 7 Episode 8

Anaconda is almost entirely a backdoor pilot for a prequel spinoff set during and shorty after the first end of the world, over on dear old planet Earth. It rewrites the Grounder origin story and answers some questions you probably never had about the Second Dawn from way back in season 3, but mostly it’s great to see Becca in action again, to catch some early show Easter eggs, and to meet a couple of compelling new characters who are actually trying to do the right thing, however hard that might be on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Sound familiar? Let’s dive in.

Cadogan’s story only occasionally explains how and why he is on Bardo, though of course the setup for these things is so rarely why they’re actually happening. Perhaps the biggest flaw is Cadogan himself. That this story is meant to be from his perspective strains at believability, considering how much of it was clearly a secret from him or even took place after he left planet Earth. But more importantly, I’m none too eager to spend time with him in flashback (or possibly in the present tense?) in the possible spin-off.

Once again, this season continues the theme of revisiting a story we thought we knew to reveal a new truth. Only, I’m not so sure all of it works. Much of Grounder culture is wiped away and retconned as coming from basically one person, Callie (Lola Evans). While she is a good person and a worthwhile character to follow, it changes the calculus of how The 100 treats Grounders to retroactively take their agency and cultural property away from them, instead ascribing much of it to a simple handoff. Perhaps just the language would have worked, but also having “Tree Crew” be an inherited name makes it feel like something has been taken from them. It’s hard not to picture the face Indra would make if she saw some punk rolling up his sleeve to show off a tattoo sand saying, “OG Tree Crew!”

It’s always good to see Erica Cerra again, especially as Becca. She makes an excellent foil for Cadogan, but as much as I loved her role here, it’s such a pity knowing that her ability to be in the prequel is limited to flashbacks. Callie and Becca had a great rapport, so it’s too bad that we’re losing that relationship in addition to Callie’s relationship with her best friend that opened the story – and seemed like it might be more than just friendship. If Callie is going to have women to hang out with during this prequel other than her mom, they’ll need to be established after the show is greenlit, because she’s surrounded by men. Her love interest, her brother and the other henchmen Tristan, her fascist father. It’s not enough to make a show starring an interesting young woman of color and call it a day – she needs to have others to interact with.

Callie’s mother Gemma (Crystal Balint) flies a bit under the radar, but she has the greatest potential. She makes three surprising, about-face decisions over the course of the story – to go to the bunker, to stay with Bill Cadogan, and to help her daughter escape – but each time it felt earned. That’s the kind of character I want to spend more time with, someone who can have a completely genuine reason for making each of those seemingly contradictory choices in the space of just one episode. I’m glad we saw her putting on a suit and not simply irradiated to death.

As villains go, Cadogan sits somewhere between Russell Prime and Dante Wallace, the spinal fluid-hungry son of the president of Mount Weather, which makes it hard not to feel like we’ve been here before. He fancies himself a genteel savior, but he’s clearly all underbelly. He doesn’t want his people to be safe; he wants to be their savior. The use of “Level 12s,” aside from being fun cult lingo a la Scientology, seemed to signify that to Cadogan, it’s not about saving his people, who became his through shared experience, but about saving some arbitrary definition of “the best” people, which likely translates to the usual unfair interpretation of elites.

It’s hard to say which is less interesting right now, Cadogan or the Disciples. But on a season where screen time feels precious and so much else pops, it’s hard to justify spending much more time with a snoozer of a replay villain like Cadogan and perennial CW re-hire Anders (Neal McDonough). If the prequel happens, we need more of the Beccas, Callies, and Gemmas, whether they’re heroes or villains, not reduxes of the same old thing.

As for the present tense, the decision to nix the cold open and instead allow the characters, especially Clarke and Raven, to mourn (what they think) is Bellamy’s death was a good one. Eliza Taylor and Lindsey Morgan do an excellent job here in overcome closeups that allow their grief to breathe before moving on to the business of the episode. Miller’s stuttered orders are a perfect character moment: holding the room is his way of affording Clarke and Raven that moment. He will mark his own later, privately.

One of my pet peeves is when shows don’t even pretend that a “dead” character is dead by allowing the others time to mourn them. The writers know it isn’t real so they don’t “waste” their time. It always takes me out, but it also feels like a missed opportunity to mark relationships and potentially move them forward. On The 100, a show that’s so run and gun, it’s a big deal to slow down and take a moment, but Bellamy warrants it. Now, even if he (inevitably) comes back, it will land differently, and we might even see characters respond differently than we expected, especially those who have had three months believing he’s dead, compared to those who just lost him.

Speaking of, on the other end of the episode there was a great reveal of Echo, Octavia and Diyoza as Bardo’s newest EDM warrior DJs. I’m sure three women as capable as them (a literal spy, a former navy hero/terrorist and a former commander) are playing along so they could train, learn about the Disciples, and do right by their people. Judging by the absence of Hope, she could be elsewhere doing another job, or perhaps being used as leverage against them. It’s easy to imagine Diyoza and Auntie O saying they would only fight if Hope was on the sidelines.

What I’m looking for moving forward, though, is the cracks in the façade for these three women. None of them are the hardened titles they once were. They had all grown beyond that in a positive way, but losing Bellamy could certainly turn Octavia or (more likely) Echo into someone a bit more hopeless, dark, and embittered. Octavia at one point seemed driven mad by what the Disciples had done to her. Diyoza has never been more vulnerable than she is now that she has a daughter that someone else controls. How have their mental states held up? What is Clarke really walking into? Is it the judgement day Becca saw?

Other notes…

Interesting that calling Clarke “the key” was actually very literal! Can’t wait to see how they deal with it when they learn she doesn’t have it!

Cadogan, babe, you were def a cult!

Of course Cadogan stole the Anomaly stone from under Macchu Picchu.

“I’m not 10, William, using my full name won’t stop me.” OK I quite like Callie!

What are the odds Bill stays over on Bardo once he leads his people through, and the prequel doesn’t follow them? Asking for a friend.

Finally, I want to send some love out to the fandom of The 100 as a whole, but especially to all survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As you may or may not know, actor Bob Morley was accused of abuse this past week. It was implied that Eliza Taylor played an active role as well. Take care of yourselves, whether that means stepping away from the show for a while, seeking comfort in the knowledge that Bellamy and Clarke are not the actors who portray them, or something else entirely.

The post The 100 Season 7 Episode 8 Review: Anaconda appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[leakedinlondon]

Yeah Scientology is def a cult not a religion. There are documentaries posted on YouTube also. Some of the main things about scientology is that they believe that aliens are their deity, if you leave them or are kicked out everyone that knows you must pretend to never know you and must never speak to you again, abilist af, shady af, they see children as tiny adults so children are expected to act like adults and are often subjected to harsh mental abuse, victim blaming 24-7, and so much more.

!!!!