Sirona
Hindu Wannabe
Falling Down the TM Rabbit Hole, How TM Really Works, a Critical Opinion
I was curious about a certain religion (Transcendental Meditation), so I came across this anti-cult website. The author’s main point is that he was manipulated / deceived into joining said religion after having attended some “intensive course”. He wasn’t forced to attend that course, nor was he hindered from leaving.
I am willing to concede he has a point as I do recognize some of the techniques he describes in the community I have been attending (Hare Krishna) but I just wondered whether his claim to have been manipulated holds water.
I think the “brainwashing” techniques (if you want to call them that way) of commercial advertisement are much more intense. You are told that you will become younger, more successful, more likable, in a word, have a “perfect life” if you just buy product X. As the simplest example, in advertisements, the name of product X may be repeated over and over and over again, to get it hammered into your mind. Nobody objects to this, it’s how markets work. So, if people are held capable of deciding whether they want rice or noodles with lunch, why should it be any difference with religions?
I also wondered whether joining a controversial religion is comparable to falling in love. Many people fall in love with a person because they remind them, let’s say, of their mother/father. Then, with time, they become disillusioned because their lover may look like one’s mother/father, but has a totally different character. Is this the lover's fault?
So, what is your opinion about manipulative “advertising” methods of religions? Do you think there should be a line which must not be crossed? In your country, are there or should there be laws or authorities which regulate manipulative recruitment methods?
As a side note, in Germany, it is forbidden to advertise for a religion or worldview on TV, supposedly because the authorities don’t hold people capable of of making a decision in the “rice or noodles” issue. Some years ago this led to a ban of TV ads for a Christian book (Power for Living), which was not directly advertised as a Christian book. Instead, it was suggested that it was a secular self-help book. You only found out about its true content when you actually started reading it.
Power for Living - Wikipedia
I was curious about a certain religion (Transcendental Meditation), so I came across this anti-cult website. The author’s main point is that he was manipulated / deceived into joining said religion after having attended some “intensive course”. He wasn’t forced to attend that course, nor was he hindered from leaving.
I am willing to concede he has a point as I do recognize some of the techniques he describes in the community I have been attending (Hare Krishna) but I just wondered whether his claim to have been manipulated holds water.
I think the “brainwashing” techniques (if you want to call them that way) of commercial advertisement are much more intense. You are told that you will become younger, more successful, more likable, in a word, have a “perfect life” if you just buy product X. As the simplest example, in advertisements, the name of product X may be repeated over and over and over again, to get it hammered into your mind. Nobody objects to this, it’s how markets work. So, if people are held capable of deciding whether they want rice or noodles with lunch, why should it be any difference with religions?
I also wondered whether joining a controversial religion is comparable to falling in love. Many people fall in love with a person because they remind them, let’s say, of their mother/father. Then, with time, they become disillusioned because their lover may look like one’s mother/father, but has a totally different character. Is this the lover's fault?
So, what is your opinion about manipulative “advertising” methods of religions? Do you think there should be a line which must not be crossed? In your country, are there or should there be laws or authorities which regulate manipulative recruitment methods?
As a side note, in Germany, it is forbidden to advertise for a religion or worldview on TV, supposedly because the authorities don’t hold people capable of of making a decision in the “rice or noodles” issue. Some years ago this led to a ban of TV ads for a Christian book (Power for Living), which was not directly advertised as a Christian book. Instead, it was suggested that it was a secular self-help book. You only found out about its true content when you actually started reading it.
Power for Living - Wikipedia
