By Carl S ~
"Letting go - Letting God," is the way they told you it would come about. Glowing, mind-blowing and satisfying, yes? You bought this. It's all psychological. No god there. A relationship by proxy.
The need to be loved is a need to be shown love; in affection, personal attention, gifts occasionally. To be emotionally supported, involved with others who appreciate you, while expressing yourself, with others who apparently give a damn about you. Purely psychological, which is neither good nor bad, but open to making the wrong choices in re friends and/or lifestyles.
You might be one of those individuals who is very insecure, not trusting yourself perhaps because you've made some bad decisions in relationships, but maybe you're naturally that way. So, you might be one of many who believe others have the answers, share your experiences, deepest needs, hopes. And Jesus is their answer, or some other who speaks for God. Whatever; you're involved. You want this? Tell me. Many of your fellow members become fixated, dedicated, rabid, and with them you are conjoined in enthusiasm and passion, chemically bonded in each other's brain, vulnerable in need and desire.
What began as answers become responsibilities to maintain through more involvement, commitment, and dependency. Decision making is out of your hands. That initial ecstasy is not repeated, although enough but less intent joys occur to keep involvement ongoing.
The pleasure cruise of promise and fulfillment has floated out, meanwhile, and unawares, one is far out at sea, far from terra firma. Isolated and, as they say, "shanghaied". All of the needs and necessities must be met "on board;" all former relationships are back there on land. The ship of Hope, camaraderie, absolute belief and trust, is ruled by those in charge. Demonstrations of one's loyalty and love, willingness to sacrifice, are demanded, where before these things were assumed. There is an intensity, perhaps thrill, in such reanimation of first zeal. Does not greater sacrifice equal the reasons for it, and the less reason to question them? Not only a renewal, but a revival of them. lt's pure emotion, whether for God, Jesus, Mohammed, Hitler, David Koresh, the Taliban. It's all psychological manipulation. And it goes on continually. These are the, "beautiful, uplifting, socially supported, fulfilling, spiritual" environments?
So intense can they become that babies are left to die for the cause, friends brutalize and denounce friends, to punish their lack of dedication and hesitancy to be fully committed. Such "slackers" are treated as traitors for being independent.
To be fair, things don't get that out of hand, though they did when religions ruled societies. As a rule, believers are dedicated to getting high, because belief systems consist of people of like mind, "telling themselves stuff" over and over and over, and rejecting any thoughts which roil the waters, and those who are "missing out."(They want you to experience their psychological bliss.)
Personally: No thank you. Been there, done that. Heard all the testimonies, like, “Don’t you understand that you don't fall in love by thinking about it; that what you don't see is more real than what you do, that life is a gift for which we must thank the Giver, that you have to kind of lose your mind and abandon thinking in order to connect with the spiritual? Look around you at all the newly born again and see their joy! They know in their hearts.”
To get you hooked, the first one is free.
Psychological, not spiritual, is what it is. And watch what happens when the manipulators smilingly welcome you in. Compassion is eroded, conscience is hijacked by degrees, hypocrisy becomes acceptable, and contradictions don't exist in doctrines - no matter what the faith. No thank you.
If I give up my self, I give up on myself. To give up on oneself is to allow some other self to take over. Psychologically, that's unhealthy and destructive.
The need to be loved is a need to be shown love; in affection, personal attention, gifts occasionally. To be emotionally supported, involved with others who appreciate you, while expressing yourself, with others who apparently give a damn about you. Purely psychological, which is neither good nor bad, but open to making the wrong choices in re friends and/or lifestyles.
You might be one of those individuals who is very insecure, not trusting yourself perhaps because you've made some bad decisions in relationships, but maybe you're naturally that way. So, you might be one of many who believe others have the answers, share your experiences, deepest needs, hopes. And Jesus is their answer, or some other who speaks for God. Whatever; you're involved. You want this? Tell me. Many of your fellow members become fixated, dedicated, rabid, and with them you are conjoined in enthusiasm and passion, chemically bonded in each other's brain, vulnerable in need and desire.
What began as answers become responsibilities to maintain through more involvement, commitment, and dependency. Decision making is out of your hands. That initial ecstasy is not repeated, although enough but less intent joys occur to keep involvement ongoing.
The pleasure cruise of promise and fulfillment has floated out, meanwhile, and unawares, one is far out at sea, far from terra firma. Isolated and, as they say, "shanghaied". All of the needs and necessities must be met "on board;" all former relationships are back there on land. The ship of Hope, camaraderie, absolute belief and trust, is ruled by those in charge. Demonstrations of one's loyalty and love, willingness to sacrifice, are demanded, where before these things were assumed. There is an intensity, perhaps thrill, in such reanimation of first zeal. Does not greater sacrifice equal the reasons for it, and the less reason to question them? Not only a renewal, but a revival of them. lt's pure emotion, whether for God, Jesus, Mohammed, Hitler, David Koresh, the Taliban. It's all psychological manipulation. And it goes on continually. These are the, "beautiful, uplifting, socially supported, fulfilling, spiritual" environments?
So intense can they become that babies are left to die for the cause, friends brutalize and denounce friends, to punish their lack of dedication and hesitancy to be fully committed. Such "slackers" are treated as traitors for being independent.
To be fair, things don't get that out of hand, though they did when religions ruled societies. As a rule, believers are dedicated to getting high, because belief systems consist of people of like mind, "telling themselves stuff" over and over and over, and rejecting any thoughts which roil the waters, and those who are "missing out."(They want you to experience their psychological bliss.)
Personally: No thank you. Been there, done that. Heard all the testimonies, like, “Don’t you understand that you don't fall in love by thinking about it; that what you don't see is more real than what you do, that life is a gift for which we must thank the Giver, that you have to kind of lose your mind and abandon thinking in order to connect with the spiritual? Look around you at all the newly born again and see their joy! They know in their hearts.”
To get you hooked, the first one is free.
Psychological, not spiritual, is what it is. And watch what happens when the manipulators smilingly welcome you in. Compassion is eroded, conscience is hijacked by degrees, hypocrisy becomes acceptable, and contradictions don't exist in doctrines - no matter what the faith. No thank you.
If I give up my self, I give up on myself. To give up on oneself is to allow some other self to take over. Psychologically, that's unhealthy and destructive.
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