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Post by lilybbb on Oct 8, 2021 9:17:30 GMT -5
Ha, the only reason I read this book is for GDT Book Club IDK if there's been an increase in these types of books in recent years, or they are popular for book clubs, lists, whatever... but I was a little wary of reading it. I think I actually enjoyed it more being from a journalist perspective than I would have had it been memoir? Not sure, but for me, writing style heavily influences me on these sorts of things. I also enjoyed reading it precisely because I wasn't familiar with this particular organization. My main takeaway from this book as well as books/podcasts on similar topics is the very close relationship among religious groups, cults, MLMs, and the shared techniques of each. I don't even like when people at work refer to themselves as family! #skeptic
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Post by bernelli on Oct 8, 2021 10:18:08 GMT -5
OMG, lilybbb, my company used to (maybe they still do, I haven't been to "New Hire Training" in 6.5 years) used to invite us all to our jobs saying "welcome to the xx familyyyyyy! RAH RAH RAH" I never felt part of "the family", and I had just left a company that held "layoff season" at least annually and sometimes more. I just do not believe that a company cares about the individual UNLESS that individual is delivering. So anyway -- that comment made me nod real hard. I was excited this book was published this year because I have been curious about "what the hell IS this". So it and the other stuff I read/listened to really answered my questions. And this goes along so much with my shock & awe that something like Scientology can exist so publicly, largely and be defended by successful people. I liked that it was written by a journalist because I felt that the delivery would be non-biased.
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Post by honeybzzzs on Oct 8, 2021 10:37:50 GMT -5
These are the types of books I like to read. I knew I’d be interested in this topic. Not only was it an organization that happened near my region, and I ‘knew’ of it, I really didn’t ‘know’ much about it. I thought it was well written and understandable. I like the journalist style of writing. I’m not a fan of memoirs. I also liked the Cast of Characters list in the beginning of the book. While I don’t read those, it’s a comfort to know that if I’m drawing a blank on a character I can easily turn to that page. “Oh! THAT Guy!!!” (I was first introduced to this in the Ann Rice books Interview With The Vampire.) The DOS section was interesting to me as it more closely followed the rules of a cult. Food deprivation, sleep deprivation, secrecy, blackmail, etc. I learned from the Jeff Guinness books about Charles Manson and Jim Jones how these are common techniques of getting people to compile. So it was interesting to me to watch these techniques start to emerge. I wonder…without the happening of DOS would there have been legal action against this group? What do you guys think? bernelli Another podcast that you might enjoy is The Perfect Scam. It’s hosted by Frank Abagnale, of Catch Me If You Can fame, as well as AARP. Incidentally, I’m old enough to remember when Frank got caught doing these crimes. I remember my parents talking about it. They related as my Mom was an RN and my Dad flew small planes. That Frank could hoodwink people into believing he was a pilot and a doctor was mind boggling to them. Thank you Bernelli for hosting and a great discussion.
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Post by bernelli on Oct 8, 2021 10:40:43 GMT -5
I know we had a tiny discussion group, but thanks for your input and thoughts, and thanks also for the fun podcast recommendations.
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Post by lilybbb on Oct 8, 2021 12:14:57 GMT -5
OMG, lilybbb, my company used to (maybe they still do, I haven't been to "New Hire Training" in 6.5 years) used to invite us all to our jobs saying "welcome to the xx familyyyyyy! RAH RAH RAH" I never felt part of "the family", and I had just left a company that held "layoff season" at least annually and sometimes more. I just do not believe that a company cares about the individual UNLESS that individual is delivering. So anyway -- that comment made me nod real hard. I'm going to go wildly off-topic here, but... I am a trainer and responsible for new hire training. We've recently started a new program where I closely partner with two sales manager to develop reps ready for our field sales team. These two managers are SO rahrahrah we are family blahblahblah. One of them just told the team "I work long hours and wake up every day with the sole purpose of changing your lives" BARFFFFFFFFFFFFF and the other one totally disclosed SOOOOO much personal stuff in an "I am" exercise (I posted about it in the main thread.) Now they are telling me they are concerned about some of the folks' interviewing skills because they are being too personal... I just told them yesterday that perhaps they should consider the messaging they are giving in team meetings... Anyway, I had told several friends that the over-disclosure meeting reminded me of church camp or an MLM environment where people are whipped into a frenzy and may later regret the things they shared.
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Post by honeybzzzs on Oct 8, 2021 12:57:57 GMT -5
lilybbb I believe it was on The Perfect Scam that they mentioned that millennials and younger are even easier to scam then seniors because the younger set grew up with computers and are used to ‘clicking a link’ without a second thought. I just started listening to an audiobook. Hype: How Scammers, Grifters, and Con Artists Are Taking Over the Internet and Why We’re Following by Gabrielle Bluestone. I just started it so I don’t have an opinion yet.
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sal
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Posts: 13,425
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Post by sal on Oct 8, 2021 19:45:52 GMT -5
I know we had a tiny discussion group, but thanks for your input and thoughts, and thanks also for the fun podcast recommendations. I was swamped at work and totally forgot we were discussung this week! I was fascinated by this book, and am glad it was a journalist writing it.
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sal
This space for rent
Posts: 13,425
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Post by sal on Oct 9, 2021 13:23:55 GMT -5
Okay, I read last night and commented from my phone, but have now read all the subcomments on my laptop and since its easier to type here, I can tell my brush with a cult story. When I was in college in St. Louis, two of my friends got sucked into this fiasco: tolc.org/wydownThey dragged me to some bible study and one church service and oh, HELL NO. I tried to explain to a few others that they were "too nice" and people didn't get it, but it was so very obvious to me that they were essentially playing on the fears of insecure people to rope them in with love and then go all doomsday on them. Lynn had just started dating this guy who also joined, and they basically made them break up so they could pair them with established church folks, and they finally saw the light and got out (not sure if Chris ever did, and he kept telling me I was going to hell, but whatever). They have now been married for close to 30 years, so are what I consider a true success story. I have a feeling they're a bit Trump-y these days and I unfollowed her on FB, but at least they got out of this nonsense. But might have a personality type that just goes for that sort of crap. Clearly, I did not share this personality type and am sure I had facial expressions of WTF that could have been read from across the room at the two things they got me to.
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Post by bumblebuzz21 on Oct 11, 2021 7:31:22 GMT -5
Hey guys, I took Thursday and Friday off from work and couldn't bring myself to log in to my computer. My only other comment is that I didn't really like the way the book was written. I'm not sure what about it I didn't like, but it was something. I read another non-fiction book right after this for my in person book club and that to me was much better written, but I don't think he is a journalist to maybe that is the difference.
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