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Post by harry on Jun 25, 2011 21:27:00 GMT
I have been looking into the church side of mediums/psychics and the more I find out, the more I think Spiritualism is a cult.
What d'ya think?
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Post by Amaris on Jun 25, 2011 22:49:59 GMT
I have been looking into the church side of mediums/psychics and the more I find out, the more I think Spiritualism is a cult. What d'ya think? |
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jun 26, 2011 17:32:41 GMT
I would class spiritualism as many small cults intermingled, so instead of having the one cult leader you have multiple cult leaders who all preach the same bulls*it
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Post by morganp on Jun 27, 2011 9:50:15 GMT
The standard Dictionary definition of a cult includes: • a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister. That certainly describes Spiritualism but then again I have friends who play World of Warcraft for up to ten hours a day and I find that strange  . But to answer your question Harry, I agree with Admin in that Spiritualism is a cult of multiple personalities and slightly odd or charismatic individuals who are united by their strange, irrational beliefs. morganp |
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Post by harry on Jun 27, 2011 18:03:07 GMT
Go into a Spiritualist church and see how long it takes them to promote a workshop, event, circle or whatever, all which cost money. It's money for this, money for that, and if you want to have a vote or learn something from them, you will need deep pockets and an inflated ego.
Scientology is way more expensive, but it's exactly the same type of thing.
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Post by watchman on Jun 27, 2011 18:38:09 GMT
Totally agree ...
Spiritualism ,definitely a cult ,or more accurately as Admin says "many small cults". The small cellular structure is part of what makes it difficult to debunk ,as demolishing one cell only results in others claiming that the debunked cell was somehow "heretic"and therefore not true believers, which is why they were demolished.
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Post by watchman on Jun 27, 2011 18:42:37 GMT
Admin , or anyone please ,
is there a core document for Spiritualist Churches ?(Akin to the Bible in Christianity).
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jun 28, 2011 16:10:04 GMT
There is that 7 principles thing or something like that, but no exact book that i know of, mainly cause non of the buggers can actually agree with each other on whats real or not
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Post by watchman on Jun 28, 2011 18:47:32 GMT
That would account for something I've noticed about the WooWarriors .... I'm used to religious types ducking questions and switching the subject , usually via a bible quote or some piece from the life of a Saint/Jesus.
But with the Spiritualist types , when backed into a corner they seem to just make stuff up , no logic , no reason , pure fabrication ..... almost like pre school children.
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jun 29, 2011 8:05:06 GMT
"The just make stuff up"
That should be the one single quote to refer to all spiritualists, because never a truer sentence has been spoken
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Post by morganp on Jun 30, 2011 8:11:10 GMT
'(insert town/city name here) Spiritualist Church'
"We just make stuff up"
Brilliant ;D
morganp
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Post by watchman on Jul 2, 2011 21:02:24 GMT
Thanks for the link ,I'll check it out later.... The problem with Connan Doyle is that he lost all credibility when he fell for those bloody "fairy photographs" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies |
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Post by harry on Jul 4, 2011 16:45:04 GMT
And about 10% of the people I'm bumping into on Facebook are mediums, psychics or some form of angelic affirmationalists.
Fantasists, in my opinion, but there's the rub. If you are pretending to be something and you half believe it, then when other fantasists confirm to you that you are something doesn't it all become a mutually fuelled fantasy fest of nonsense?
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jul 4, 2011 17:34:08 GMT
I think you got it spot on there Harry.
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Post by watchman on Jul 4, 2011 22:46:43 GMT
Ok Harry, I admit it you got me hooked.
Yes Spiritualism is indeed a group of associated cults .
It displays all the classic signs of a religion.
Founded entirely on faith.
Faith with no foundation in reality.
In fact faith against all the evidence.
Right from its foundation it has been based on fraud ,trickery and exploitation.
Connan-Doyle names 14 individuals as being pivotal to the founding of “Spiritualism” .
Of those 14 I have found that 9 were proven fakes &/or frauds.
(True , Doyle was possibly not aware of some of the fakery ,but he seems to have really wanted to believe despite the evidence .)
By way of illustrating the extent of the chicanery the case of the Fox sisters is exemplary.
The Fox sisters were three sisters from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism. The three sisters were Leah Fox (1814–90).
Margaret Fox (also called Maggie) (1833–1893) and Kate Fox (1837–1892). The two younger sisters used "rappings" to convince their much older sister and others that they were communicating with spirits. Their older sister then took charge of them and managed their careers for some time. They all enjoyed success as mediums for many years.
In 1888 Margaret confessed that their rappings had been a hoax and publicly demonstrated their method.
She attempted to recant her confession the next year, but their reputation was ruined and in less than five years they were all dead, with Margaret and Kate dying in abject poverty. Spiritualism continued as if the confessions of the Fox sisters had never happened. "This pattern of confession followed by retraction, which is not uncommon, has supplied both true believers and sceptics with material to support their case, so controversy never ends."
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Post by harry on Jul 5, 2011 17:35:11 GMT
The history is quite a work of literature. But I'm concerned with the present day Spiritualists who are so full of love and light that they cannot see what they are becoming. The SNU are a money making machine run by dishonest people. They have lots of money tied up in the SNU Trust which is run by an ex-lawyer called Graham Hewitt. If you go to the SNU web site you'll see that Graham is also the deputy secretary of the SNU. Now read the following story from 2002 about Graham's last appearance at the Old Bailey. www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/environment_2_17112/crime_lawyer_s_accounts_were_a_shambles_1_101628 |
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Post by michaelrb on Jul 17, 2011 17:31:41 GMT
Interesting concept - but I think nearly all religions are a cult in some shape or form, not just the spiritualists.
I have been to a Mind Body Spirit Fair for research and have found that the cost of a table to display your wares or do a reading or whatever is astonomically expensive. The readers tables are more expensive than say a crystal table. I did approach one reader who was quick to put me right by saying, 'Listen dear - I don't talk to dead people, I can't - but I can talk to spirit.' ;D
At least I felt this was honest of her but I did decline her offer to read for me.
She was very cheery and in no way did she ever force me to have reading as she said it was down to who I was drawn to. Initially I wasn't drawn to anyone but I guess I found her the most approachable.
Did Jesus rise from the grave or was it his spirit?
Let's be honest - if it wasn't for religion in the name of blah blah, then the world would be a much peaceful place in my estimation
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Jul 18, 2011 10:23:35 GMT
Yeah all religion is cultish, but i think Spiritualism is more about directly conning people, and thats what makes it worse. Most normal religions are purely about stupidity
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Post by gearbox1001 on Aug 12, 2011 22:01:02 GMT
I agree with most of what has been said apart from the opinion that it is irrational and they are fantasists. I believe the drama and funny titles serve a good purpose in separating the mortal from the 'special'. I find most leaders and mediums do this because of money and they seem to do a pretty okay job out of that aspect. I honestly don't believe half the mediums in these churches believe they do what they do behind closed doors. I think when you go into the lower structure of these 'cults', then you get the middle aged woman but not exclusive who are possibly fantasists and trying to fill a void which is occupied with vulnerability. I view Spiritualism as a industry and if the money was taken away then i believe mediums and the like would see the light so fast and become reborn into non gifted human beings who should be selling second hand cars. Thats my view  |
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Post by Mr. Jon Donnis on Aug 13, 2011 7:17:23 GMT
Very good points, and I agree. Take the money away and the spiritualist "industry" would die on its are, and the so called religious aspect would die
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