Trumps cult animosity shows up how to#

This impacts the sense of the government only listening to elites on the left and business interests, ignoring the common person, and that elected officials are useless. Second, you should become familiar with the decline in representative government, and the rise of unelected regulatory commissions (similar to the EU situation) which is a major force in the decline of congress’ ability to actually influence governance. These are not cultist, but a large number of real people. I suggest you read Charles Murray’s Trump’s America to get an understanding of the forces behind his surprising electoral strength. Voters backing Trump are surprisingly logical and coherent in their reasoning. Sure the cultists represent a fraction, but there are much larger forces driving it. I don’t think you have a clue what is going in the Trump movement. A lazy denunciation with only vague references to supposed “facts” is pointless and can backfire. That could well mean having to do some real homework to be sure you have the facts and evidence you need. That begins to shake the faith of a true believer. It’s helpful to show, in the leader’s own words, how they’ve been misleading or said things that are disingenuous or even lies. Point to the alternative views of other persons the “cult follower” respects. Slogans and mantras shut down critical thinking.Ĭult followers habituate themselves to stop listening to any arguments opposed to their views. The person of concern probably has firm convictions about the bias of other sources. As much as you can, try to introduce them to information from outside their ideological bubble.īe savvy about what sources you suggest, however. Does the leader have a criminal history? Has the leader been sued by former members for things like personal injury? Does the leader have assets like real estate holdings or investments derived from the group that you’re not aware of? Are there former members with similar grievances that you’re not aware of?”Ĭult members are typically accustomed to only receiving information that has been vetted and approved by a field of like-minded believers. What they know about the group and its leader. How well do they understand the impact of their views upon their loved ones?ĭon’t act the therapist don’t act the counselor. Learn and understand the person’s feelings and concerns. “The idea that just stupid people fall for this is just simply not true. Get rid of any false stereotypes about “brainwashing” or “stupidity”. There is no place for smugness or condescension. Otherwise, the person will feel that they have been ambushed, and they will go on the defensive. It is important to frame your intervention as an act of caring and support. How does one approach someone who comes across as “stubbornly resistant to facts” and blind to an “idol’s” hypocrisy? They apply the best of times to any communication attempting to persuade someone to think differently. That was my attempt to make the following points more general. The article addresses Trump followers but I’ve added a tilt towards HRC in my own title.

Trumps cult animosity shows up how to#

The points and the quotations are all taken from David Feguson‘s article, Cult Deprogrammer: Here’s How to Stage an Intervention for Your Trump-Supporting Friend on Alternet. Still, not following the points below is an absolute guarantee that one’s efforts to “deprogram” a person with “cultish” type thinking will fail. But in reality that was only one of my many sins in their view and I am not sure following the points below would have made any difference at all to the animosity they continue to have towards me. My words were construed to mean that I was saying they themselves constituted a cult despite my efforts to explain otherwise. It was not a wise choice of words when I described many of Acharya S’s followers as “cult-like” in their thinking. There’s a big difference between Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Jim Jones, and Charlie Manson, and David Koresh, Shoko Asahara.

Cult deprogramming might sound extreme so first a wise word I wish I had taken on board some time ago:īear in mind the difference between an actual cult and a cult following.