Why do spiritual seekers always settle for crap like the Manson Family, Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate....?

Question

They couldn't have been seeking very hard, could they?

Yes, I am being rational. I am using the word "always" in the idiomatic sense. Like "I always drink Diet Coke." You can often see me with a Diet Coke. My friends say I drink too much. So I say "I always drink it." But, I drink, milk, regular Coke, and occasional Pepsi, beer, you get the point.

logicalwon23 I find your story quite interesting.

Answer 1

I'm Agnostic, so I can't speak as a Christian or any other believer, but I don't think all seekers fall into such traps. Those are the worst case scenarios, way off on the other side of the pendulum.
Those people must have been needy for direction, more so than most people in their spiritual quests. They probably, I think, had some emotional problems and were brainwashed much easier than most.
It's really sad that people become drawn into these situations and most of the time, no one can pull them out, once there hooked.

See, I know this personally. My mom and dad were involved in an extremely strict Christian church, a group of around 400 who refused doctors, wouldn't take meds or vitamins, gave up most of their money, treated each other horribly, some literally dying with their faith, and still stuck together for years. I could go on for weeks telling you what wasn't allowed. My parents were there for nine years simply because they had so many emotional needs. My grandmother only left after the leaders were exposed for milking the people and the IRS. Most of these people, they just were needy, frightened and depressed. Brainwashing will increase the fears and depression. They were terrified of hell and damnation. They feared losing friends who wouldn't follow. Once your are hooked, you are really stuck. I never look down on those people, it happens to the best of us.

Answer 2

i'm never stunned at this remark, i grew to become into in certainty looking forward to it. the certainty that somebody else's tragic grief is now front web page information and that the Jones' have the sympathy of the country could somewhat be irking them. I knew they might discover some thank you to muscle in on the story. that's deplorable that he could make one in each of those assessment, actually with the help of suggesting that they gained't have closure shows he has some reason to think of that they the two won't discover Maddy, or what occurred to her. What occurred to all this on no account giving up desire they have been banging on approximately. honest sufficient to assert they have been a great deal stunned on the information and that they provided their sympathies to the Jones's, yet he could have left it at that. accepted of him to objective and get extra sympathy. Rhys grew to become into 11, a superbly nice age to stroll living house along with his buddies from soccer prepare, no person might desire to assert that his mom and father have been in any way negligent. The Jones' did no longer leave him living house on my own with 2 youthful siblings, they have lost their son, as you assert, shot with the help of a bullet and long previous in an instant, by no doing of their very own. I doubt any human beings can think of the grief and senselessness they could be feeling acceptable now. this occasion has no longer something to do with him.

Answer 3

What you mean always? Some seekers become Buddha or Jesus Christ or Mohammed or Abraham or Mahatma Ghandi or Martin Luther or Martin Luther King or Tirthankar or Nanak or A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada or Paramahansa Yogananda or my neighbor Sri Chinmoy etc. etc etc

Answer 4

The reason that this is so is that many people can not think for themselves and fall for these soul-less and evil humans and who do nothing but exploit the human condition . Insanity is usually the heavy fate that they must at some time work out. The law of karma takes care of these problems.If you **** around then you lay around.

Answer 5

Spirituality is crap for most religious people, as its doors have not opened up for them.

All the enlightened souls, moved on the path of spirituality and not religion. However a new religion followed them, whether it was Buddha, Nanak, Christ or any other.

Answer 6

I think that Drugs usually play a large part for the manipulation. They also tend to prey on the beaten down people of society.

Answer 7

"Spiritual seekers" don't "always settle" for these type of situations. But there is a combination of people out there who are desperate for answers they can't find (for many reasons) .. .and charismatic people who are willing to use them. Its a sad state ... but don't judge those who go there, you have not walked in their shoes!

Answer 8

They don't, chritianity is at the core, and there is no way any of those had to do with Atheists, as they don't believe in anything supernatural which would command dumb things like god.

Answer 9

Or they were naive and the leaders of the cults were very good pitchmen. I bet ignorance trumps laziness here.

Answer 10

I would say for the same reason people call Sylvia Brown