Sorry, but I can’t seem to get enough of this fucking crazy Keith Raniere guy, his NXIVM cult, and the question of why anybody would follow this asshole, join his cult and suffer the abuses they did. Hard as it is to avoid the story (and yes, I wrote about it for us already in this blog) two series on cable, H.B.O. ‘s The Vow and Showtime’s Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult are about the cult and its abuses of various men and women (although lots more was done to women).
I expounded in the first blog about how dangerous it was too good old kinksters when stories like NXIVM’s abuses get made known. Words like “master” and “slave” instantly get stained with negative connotations because of what these cult-sters allowed and perpetrated. No, what people suffered at the hands of this group has nothing to do with good old, consensual kink, believe me.
But what’s got my panties twisted this week are these questions I can’t seem to get my mind: Why do cultured, intelligent men and women go in for this kind of mind-fuckery time and time again? What is it about some folks who get taken in, who want to get taken in, who need affirmation so bad they will lose sight of family and their core values? Why do some people believe, through a blinding conceit, that they can, under the tutelage of some ‘leader,’ better the planet?
As the Jethro Tull lyric from their song “Back Door Angel” postulates, “Who do the faithful have such a will to believe in something? And call it the name they choose.”
What happened to these folks’ critical thinking? Aren’t they aware of the all-too-frequent real-life examples (and all too tragic) of people following self-appointed gurus over and over with disastrous results? What’s missing in these people’s lives that they would so quickly give over to a set of values and platitudes that often sound really spooky and often just wholly illogical? I am not doubting how they could be mind-controlled, what I am asking is, how did it even come to pass that they got to the point where they could be?
I guess a case could be made that those following the various supernatural beings worshiped in the diverse world religions could be seen as just as misguided. I’m not about to go off on that tangent here; this is a fun, naughty podcast blog after all. In the end, Chris and I want to keep things light and fun. And seeing as most of the world’s religions are built on the primary tenant of loving one another, they fall far from what was happening at NXIVM and what all the group’s followers were into.
Followers, I really don’t understand
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