![]() ![]() They claim to be a deity, or at least closer to the divine/enlightenment than you. The leader is elevated or enlightened in some way.This is a really effective tactic for shutting someone down. They may bring up gaslighting, gatekeeping, policing, invalidation, and other things and accuse an individual or group in order to either guilt the person into acquiescing or vilify them to the other members. Using social justice lingo as a way to control people.You’re discouraged from joining other similar groups. The “outside” may be painted as threatening/the group as a safe haven, and opposing viewpoints should not be given any attention, even to consider them critically. Critics/people on the outside just don’t “get it” like they do. Anybody who chooses not to be a member of the group must have something wrong with them. Anybody who criticizes the group is an enemy. Online, people will often sing the praises of or “lovebomb” the leader after these incidents. Any criticism is quickly punished, labeled as problematic, or otherwise shut down. They are not capable of truly making mistakes, or any misstep they do make is quickly explained away or defended by their followers. Please always be safe and don’t let yourself stay in toxic environments whether they “count” as a cult or not.) This isn’t intended to be a diagnostic tool, just things to analyze and reflect on. None of these on their own make a cult, but a lot of them together can potentially mark a toxic environment at least. (Note: I’m not talking about any specific group or individuals here. Here’s a small, incomplete checklist of things to watch out for, red flags and the like. Things that an in-person group will do, how their control extends into your offline life, but cult behaviors and mindsets can absolutely be used online and may not be as visible or as obvious. A lot of talk about cults and manipulative people in the community is focused on an in-person level. ![]()
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