Have you ever encountered a person with a cult-like mindset?

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Andrew1983

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Perhaps I’m just being paranoid, but this is the second time this year that I feel as though I’ve felt that I’ve been approached by a person someone whom for whatever reason is triggering my spider-sense for lack of a better term.

First it was a co-worker who kept insisting I go to his church after having done a few Bible Studies with. Quite frankly, I’m weird on talking over ANYTHING of a religious nature with him. The other folks at the Bible Study seemed fine for the most part, but I generally refrain from any religious talk.

The next experience has come fairly recently in terms of the church I do attend (yes, it’s Catholic) and while I don’t get any bad vibes from the clergy, I’m kind of put on guard by a parishioner with whom I’ve become acquainted with. I’ve only spoken twice before with him, a nice man to be sure, however I AM weary of people who I interpret as being very rigid, if not eager to nudge me to a place I am not ready to traverse.

I realize I could be jumping to conclusions and that I might be really stressed out from work and familial woes among other things.

However, there were things that annoyed me. I keep being pushed to research Fatima and watch EWTN. I have nothing against either topics, but I either have limited time or higher priorities (I also prefer reading books at the ripe old age of 27 and care for original source material as my primary; I learned the hard way about secondary sources). I also have been quite busy at work and may be relocating down south for a year or two.

Upon hearing that, he was dismayed and said he hoped I wouldn’t have to go. I didn’t say anything, but quite frankly this bugs me even more because I personally DO want to go down south as for me, that is home (despite being born and raised in the northeast for most of my life and then coming here after college which was down there).

I understand that I will be missed and I appreciate that, but I’m not particularly close to anyone at the church I attend nor do I have any burning desire to remain in the northeast.

On a side note, does our religion (Christianity) have a penchant for producing people with cult-like mindsets? I really do take issue with folks that ask me to abrogate my sense of reason to take on blind faith alone. Or I could just be a paranoid whack-job from putting in too many hours.
 
Have you ever encountered a person with a cult-like mindset?

You mean, other than that guy in the Chicago train station who gave me a copy of “Chanting your way to happiness?”
 
JHow said:
Have you ever encountered a person with a cult-like mindset?

You mean, other than that guy in the Chicago train station who gave me a copy of “Chanting your way to happiness?”
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side splitting laughter Surely you jest. I was thinking something more along the lines of what would make you feel uneasy or give you a heightened awareness, not a “What the Heck!?” moment.
 
IMHO, you sound a little oversensitive
  • the people in the study group from the same church seemed like good people, right?
  • Catholics showing friendship and suggesting EWTN IS A good thing.
Heck, I’m LDS and I even watch Sunday Night Live on EWTN (love fr groeschel)
 
I have, but they don’t sound much like the people you describe, who just sound johnny-one-note. I too know people who cannot have a conversation w/o bringing up the 3rd secret, freemasons, or the 3 days of darkness, but as they are otherwise fine people I just put it in the personal quirk category and hope if I disregard theirs, they will disregard mine. The true cultists and actually scary, and the 4 who come to mind immediately are members of certain large fringe “Christian” sects.
 
I too had that “spidey sense”, which isn’t so much a spidey-sense, as mistrust of people’s intentions.

On the other hand, I also noticed that most people worried they were acting weirdly over-enthusiastic and didn’t want to come across as smothering so they kept themselves distant. Which strangely, creates the effect that everyone is in fact distant!

I tend to gravitate towards people I am comfortable around, and those who are comfortable around me. So maybe this fellow just feels comfortable around you. Maybe turn the spidey-sense off and just let the guy be who he is?
 
Andrew, the people with the “cult-like” minds you just mentioned sound harmless enough but you might want to listen to your spider sense. In the first place, you don’t have to socialize (beyond ordinary charity) with some one just because they want to socialize with you. In the second place, there are some scary people out there.

Sounds like you’re going through some stressful things right now. Trust your intuition and stay away from people who drain you rather than charge you up.
 
JHow said:
Have you ever encountered a person with a cult-like mindset?

You mean, other than that guy in the Chicago train station who gave me a copy of “Chanting your way to happiness?”
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II almost fell off my chair on that one…take the train in Chicago often…
 
I met an elderly gentleman who tried to convince me of the falsity of the Holocaust, in addition to some other weird paranoid fantasies which I forget. Then he made me an offer of marriage . . . . .
 
well, if you mean cult-like in the way you described, plenty. though i find them harmless usually.
 
Not sure if I would describe it as cult like, especially the guy in church encouraging you to watch EWTN, I mean, you WERE in church lol! If he would have struck up a conversation of non Catholic stuff, maybe, but that seems appropriate.
That being said, I have the spidy senses with people sometimes & it is usually for a very good reason. I dont get it with many people but when I do, I tend to listen.
 
I used to say if you’re depressed, you become a Baptist.
If you hear voices, you become a Charismatic.
j/k (really)
:D:D:D

In all seriousness I think you need to define your terms. “cult-like mindset” is rather vague. Who defines what a cult is? And what ‘mindset’ are we speaking of? People with psychological problems exist in every religion on earth, they are attracted to whatever will enable their issues (hence the joke above). I have encountered many a Catholic with a “cult-like mindset”, meaning they were simply using their religion for their own purposes.
 
Andrew1983 said:
…On a side note, does our religion (Christianity) have a penchant for producing people with cult-like mindsets? I really do take issue with folks that ask me to abrogate my sense of reason to take on blind faith alone. Or I could just be a paranoid whack-job from putting in too many hours.
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In all religions are found zealots who are truly committed to specific facets of their chosen church. They can be Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Mormons, Southern Baptists, Jews, Muslims, etc. At times people just get too serious.

What is great in your example is that you felt something and pushed back. HOWEVER, we should be careful about what we are reacting to. An encouragement to seek a deeper understanding of Fatima, Padre Pio, St. Bernadette, or any of the other great pilgrimage sites is worthwhile. It may not be time today, but tomorrow may be a better time for you.

Overlook the careless thoughts of others. Recognize that they are only expressing their desires for you; they are not wishing ill will for your life.

Learn from the negative examples of others so that you might become a brighter example of the Light of Christ in the lives of others. God Bless and keep you close to His Spirit.
 
Hmm… after reading several of the posts here, I think I may have been overreacting a bit and blowing things out of proportion.

I thank you all for the gentle rebuke.

As for a “cult-like” mindset, perhaps that is too harsh a description. Perhaps suspecting people of being pushy might be it, as well as simply being overworked and having a bit on my plate already.

Though in all fairness, the aforementioned coworker in the first incident has occasionally tried to proselytize a few times by stating “well you certainly know God’s word, but are you living it?”

Bear in mind I know I’m not perfect and perhaps far from it (and after having gone through the entire Roman Catechism’s explaining of the Ten Commandments, I realize I have perhaps broken each one to different extents, some without really having understood it), but I AM seeking to correct myself, though a tedious process it may be.

What I do resent is that this individual is “offering help” without even really understanding his own faith and tends to get all panicky if I bring up a history of a book’s authorship, or even of the heresies from yester-millenium. Simply put, he couldn’t even understand what Sabellianism (Monarchist Modalism) was and yet insists I go to his church, though this was a few months ago. It bothered me more when he claimed that it didn’t matter as to how a person believed the Trinity.

If you can’t even dispel basic heresies, why should I believe you know what it is you preach?

Maybe I’m seeping into arrogance of a sort and just need to step back and collect myself.

Thanks again for listening to this rant.
 
When you say cult-like mindset I think of the people that prefer to talk about what they’ve been taught, rather than what they understand. I’m still not done with RCIA, but what I find interesting is that when someone rebuts the CC’s teaching it’s ALWAYS the same arguments with the same rehearsed scripture and reasoning as to why the CC is evil (and vice-versa). Those people, who only repeat what they’ve heard in stead of using common sense to reason with me, remind me of brainwashed cult members. (I hate using the word brainwashed, but I can’t think of another word for it.)

I like to think of myself as a smart cookie, I listen to facts, study them, and then make my decisions (decisions which, so far, have been pretty much what the CC teaches). It drives me bananas to bump into someone who can only tell me what “the preacher said…”.

🤷
 
I deal with one on a daily basis. She’s a Pentecostal neighbor of mine. Basically she takes her pastor’s every word on theology and morality as though it were an infallible declaration of the Pope. It’s sickening really. It’s next to impossible to get her to even look at a book or other document with an alternative view! :rolleyes:
 
Holly3278 said:
I deal with one on a daily basis. She’s a Pentecostal neighbor of mine. Basically she takes her pastor’s every word on theology and morality as though it were an infallible declaration of the Pope. It’s sickening really. It’s next to impossible to get her to even look at a book or other document with an alternative view! :rolleyes:
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hi holly. her pastor IS her POPE! lol! Peace to you and yours. 🙂
 
Being_Brave said:
It drives me bananas to bump into someone who can only tell me what “the preacher said…”.

🤷
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When I was a Baptist preacher I never met these people. I had scores of people who couldn’t wait to disagree with me. 😃
 
Anytime someone comes on CAF and asks a question about having sex with his or her spouse, and the question begins with, “Are we allowed to…”

That is an example of a cult-like mindset.
 
Holly3278 said:
I deal with one on a daily basis. She’s a Pentecostal neighbor of mine. Basically she takes her pastor’s every word on theology and morality as though it were an infallible declaration of the Pope. It’s sickening really. It’s next to impossible to get her to even look at a book or other document with an alternative view! :rolleyes:
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I deal with one on a daily basis too. She’s a Catholic neighbor of mine. Basically she takes the pope’s every word on theology and morality as though it were an infallible declaration of God. It’s sickening really. It’s next to impossible to get her to even look at a book or other document with an alternative view! :rolleyes:
 
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