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Jung

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  1. Jung

    Farewell

    I received several private messages in the past week and I felt that I owed those individuals the courtesy of a reply. It has been suggested by some that my colleague Freud and I have been "run off" by hostile posters. Speaking only for myself this is not the case. It has also been suggested that I must be going through a "huge range of emotions" trying to reconcile the Craig I know with the Craig I have read about on this site. Let me offer some perspective. Craig was an acquaintance. To me he seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary middle aged man with a min wage type job. Finding out he was formerly a cult leader was interesting but not emotionally troublesome for me. I was not in the Way. I was not dominated nor abused by him. I suspect veiwing him as a fairly innocuous person is more difficult for many of the former Way members who post on GSC and remember him as a powerful man. I have no interest in Craig and frankly given what I now know about him that is probably wise. What I have found compelling are the many stories of GSC posters. I have spent hours reading through multiple threads. I have listened to some of the interviews. It is clear to me that many of you have suffered because of your involvement with the Way. Some seemed to have moved on, while others are clearly still trying to "find themselves" in a post Way world. I think it is great that you have this online community for support and friendship which brings me to the point of this post. This is not my world, these are not my issues. I do not intend to continue on this board, not because I have been put off by the skepticism regarding Freud and myself, but because I simply don't think I have anything else to offer. If I may, I would like to offer one last piece of advice. In a thread from 2005 someone mentioned a book "Influence: Science and Practice". The poster incorrectly listed the author as "Richard" Cialdini. The author's name is Robert Cialdini. I would highly recommend this book if you are struggling to figure out how you were persuaded to join the Way and why you went along with all kinds of stuff you would not put up with now. The book explains how ordinary people can be persuaded to do things they would rather not do. It also teaches you how to recognize those techniques and defend yourself against them. Cialdini is widely recognized by scholars as an expert on the topic of social influence. I hope the book helps those of you who need it find some closure. Wishing you all the best ... Jung.
  2. As I mentioned in my first post I have been good friends with Freud for many years. Freud belongs to many discussion boards and frequently uses that screen name. You would have to ask him why he chose that name but I assure you it had nothing to do with this board and its topic. I on the other hand have little interest in discussion boards. In fact this is only the second board I have ever posted on in my life. I chose the name Jung simply because I am Freud's friend. I can tell you that Freud has been fascinated by the social dynamics of cults for years. Imagine you are a baseball fan and you meet some guy at a party and spend the evening talking baseball. You have no idea who he is. Later you find out that the guy was a hall of fame baseball player. Wouldn't you get excited? Wouldn't you call you best friend and say guess what happened? As for me, I'm not interested in cults, I'm not even religious. I only posted to let you know Freud is legit. I can undertand that being abused, manipulated, etc by LCM some of you may be cautious, you don't want to get hurt again. I would probably be the same way. My sense is that Freud's initial motivation was to share what he had discovered with a group who might be interesed. Obviously that information struck a nerve since there have been over 150 replies to these two threads in just a few days. I believe that Freud's continued presence on this board has been to try to help those who may take some comfort in the information he has provided. By no means is he trying to soften Craig's image. I believe if asked directly Freud would condem what Craig has done as do I.
  3. I have been good friends with Freud for many years. When he told me that both of us had encountered a former cult leader I was intrigued. I was acquainted with this man who I only knew as Craig (no last name) in a completely different context than any type of religious group. When Freud directed me to this sight and I looked at some of the pictures I am sure that the man we both met is LCM. My conversations with Craig were mostly superficial (usually about football, occasionally about religion). My impression was that he was pleasant but reserved. He often walked with a limp (perhaps an old football injury?) and frequently carried around a small book in which he would make notations (perhaps a personal journal?) I did not get to know him as well as Freud did but I would not disagree with Freud's impressions of Craig. In reading these many posts I can see that LCM hurt many people. Some posts were skeptical that Freud's post was legit. I sincerely hope that those who are suffering can find some comfort in knowing that Freud's description of Craig is an accurate one.
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