Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 week agoThe Psychology of Toxic Devotion
Cultic control relies on hierarchical totalistic authority and psychological management of behavior, information, thoughts, and emotions.
Appel grew up in the Lamb of God, a patriarchal Christian covenant community. As he recounts in his newly released memoir, Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic, members "pledge[d] fealty to a small group of self-appointed leaders," men served as "coordinators," women as "handmaids" (yes, that is what they were called), and wives were required to obey their "husband-masters."
Protagonist Sam has extricated herself from the clutches of the rest of her MFA cohort, a group of women who transform rabbits into desirable men, setting the stage for this not-quite-a-sequel sequel. Told in part from the point of view of Sam's nemeses, the Bunnies, We Love You, Bunny also includes the point of view of Aerius, the first bunny they transformed into a man, who is hell bent on escaping the Bunnies' clutches.
In 1958, Charles Dederich, a recovering alcoholic, launched a program for addicts in Santa Monica, California, based on the Synanon Foundation. Those admitted had to cut their ties with family and friends and faced shock therapy that included public humiliation. The idea was to destroy people in order to rebuild them, and in the 1950s and 1960s, it was very successful, says Jaime del Corral, director of the Addictions Unit at the San Juan de Dios Clinic in Madrid.
The trial heard the women sometimes referred to as the Lycra Lovelies or the Lycra Nuns were on a rota to help then-Reverend Brain with his every need. Some gave him sensual massages which he told the jury were to relieve tension headaches. He was charged with one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault relating to 13 women between 1981 and 1995. On Wednesday, jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women.