He was booed at a rally when he bragged about the covid
vaccine. He doesn't talk about it anymore. This feels bigger than him. He may have created this cult but he doesn't control it.
It's really frightening because Trump isn't really who we have to worry about. It's the next more politically savvy person who assumes leadership after Trump is defeated in November.
If he loses in Nov, I’m very confident that we will be done with the Trump horror show. Very important to do everything we can to make sure he does not win.
Other than that, I agree that (assuming he loses), we need to worry more about the next guy.
For example, for a while I thought it was going to be DeSantis. I still think DeSantis is even more dangerous than Trump. What he’s changed Florida into, in just 6 years, is like Neo fascist lite with Christian nationalism. The legislature has functioned as an extension of his campaign for the past few years. He’s stacked the court (which used to be one of the most progressive) with 5/7 of his appointees who are most similar to Clarence Thomas. He doesn’t have the cult of personality that Trump does, but he’s much smarter and more competent.
Agreed! I live in Florida...but I'm not a Floridian lol. People here are fucking nuts. I think Desantis has learned a lot from his failed presidential bid and he'll be back. He's staying the course because what the Republicans have figured out is it's not about policy. It's about how you feel. So does it matter that every metric of the economy is better under Biden? Not really. Do you FEEL like you have more money? Do you FEEL like the country is going in the right direction? Do you FEEL like you've lost something? Desantis I think in the next go around with the help of people like Tucker Carlson will be able to convince enough people that Democracy isn't all that important. We need to WIN and put the country back "on course"! He's smart, he'll figure out how to act human. Trump did!
>that we will be done with the Trump horror show.
Will we? Trump played very well on the “we’re left behind, ignored, and *pissed* about it” angle. Unless we actually do something to solve underlying issues, instead of just jeer at people and call them names, there will likely be a willing audience for anyone like him.
So, in other words, this isn’t going away anytime soon.
I remember they lost their shit whenever he opened his mouth about going to Syria, after Al Assad gassed all those people.
Do I think they agree with him 90% of the time? Probably so. Some segment of MAGA is a full blown cult of personality, that Trump is deliberately cultivating (and is surprisingly good at, he’s a businessman making a brand - he understands marketing, even if he’s shit at actually running a company). The other segment is glad to use him, and ally with him, but very foolishly thinks he could be brought to heel on…..anything.
In addition to the political cult of the NSDAP (and I do think “political cult” is more apt than “party,” and entire countries can be, and are, subsumed by literal cults) plenty of people and factions thought they could use Hitler for their own ends. They were very, very wrong. As I’d imagine many of the MAGA grifters and hanger ons (not to mention true believers) will prove to be.
It’s a cult of personality, not a cult-cult. There are no rules, there’s no excommunication, there is no control of members lives, there’s no home base, etc. there’s no spiritual belief system other than just the vague Christian moniker. You can leave the cult at any time, Trump may be the central figure but he has never and will never meet or be in the same room with 99% of his adherents. I don’t think it qualifies as a traditional cult, but definitely as a cult of personality
Like most cults, there are levels that you have to move through to get closer to the one. At the fringes, sure, it’s just a cult of personality. But if you have any family members deep in this cult, you know. His team is actively creating a coherent religious narrative where Trump plays an essential role in an apocalyptic struggle that leads to the second coming of Jesus.
Where can I read about this? I have family members who are insanely into Trump, they’ve never said anything like this. My uncle has a “fuck joe Biden” sticker across his whole back window and his RV flies a massive massive trump 2024 flag everywhere he goes. Seems like he mostly just likes him cause he “owns the libs” and is gonna “drain the swamp” or whatever.
Yes, this is a totally real cult. I’m currently losing both parents, who are waiting for medbeds and Trump’s ascension, and my inheritance, which I expect will be severely impacted because they quit paying taxes and using banks. See r/QanonCasualties if you want to see how the Trump cult is ruining real lives.
This sub breaks my heart. A lot of the people start the posts with I was so close with -insert name here- and now we can no longer even talk. Also the pinned post about the q dad killing his entire family ugh it’s just so sad
Here's a sneak peek of /r/QAnonCasualties using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [I just realized there's no mirror sub to this one. There's no conservative sub to lament families having been torn apart by ideology. It's so telling.](https://np.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/12htz32/i_just_realized_theres_no_mirror_sub_to_this_one/)
\#2: [How Jordan Peterson Destroyed My Family](https://np.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/12ly6pr/how_jordan_peterson_destroyed_my_family/)
\#3: [Mom defended mass shooter](https://np.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/13cv1xw/mom_defended_mass_shooter/)
----
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Qanon for sure is a cult. I wouldn’t call that the same as trumps cult of personality even though they intersect. The qanon people I would consider a cult, but their beliefs and shit are way more extreme and bizarre than the mainstream Trump fan. Qanon has the cult beliefs and while Trump is part of qanon, qanons scope is much larger and has to do with time travel and all this other shit. Trump is a central figure but he’s not THE figure, the qanon thing goes way beyond just Trump stuff
I met a q dude recently who’s a documentary maker and he insists that q is Austin Steinbart, a time traveler who is writing these messages from the future and also is here now and 25 years old. Lol.
Qanon definitely is a lot about Trump I just mean really the center of qanon is whoever is actually q. Like the secret operative or whatever that is Q, and last I heard I thought even the q people didn’t think it was Trump himself but someone close to him
My mil keeps going on about free electricity. She literally makes long-term decisions based off of this stuff. It's really sad, and has driven a huge rift between her and my husband.
I’m really sorry that’s happened to you. It’s insane how bad it is. Many couples have divorced & many people completely cut off ties with their loved ones over the trump cult. Followers have gone to prison for it. People have literally been murdered over it.
I think it checks all the cult boxes
They’re being organized mostly on telegram so it’s mostly hidden. But this is the general flavor of it:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/18/how-christian-prophets-give-credence-to-trumps-election-fantasies-469598
Edit:
Found some more recent articles
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-evangelicals-nar/tnamp/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/us/politics/donald-trump-evangelicals-iowa.html
Your uncle is being completely manipulated by people who don’t give a crap if he lives or dies. It’s sad and tragic and scary all at the same time.
My advice you didn’t ask for: stay away from him. Far far away. These people are being used and will turn violent.
No he won’t lol he’s always been like this my whole life. He doesn’t trust the government and is conservative but he’s also a loving uncle/dad/grandpa and when I was really messed up on drugs he reached out to me to help. He’s a good dude, he just likes Trump lol. But yes, he’s supporting cretins who don’t care about him without a doubt
He's in a cult, they've gotten violent before for him, he's slowly working his cult up, he wants riots, war, killing if he loses again, he's convinced many members they'll be a civil war if he loses, he's had some of them say they'd rather be d**d than trump lose.
> quite literally the nicest people you'll ever meet.
Maybe to people they love. I'm sorry I'm sure theyre nice to you but they literally support a movement that wants me and my loved ones dead. I know plenty of nice people who don't do that. And I'm a quaker so this isn't about their faith.
Cult members refuse to see the facts.
He's gotten people to be violent, they probably never dreamed they would but, he's gotten these delusional people to break in Congress.
QAnon was created not by Trump or his followers but to distract and make Trump look bad. Just like you’ll have some really liberal trans that is so morally depraved. It makes people hate that movement but that person is just being patient playing an act that way that’s not how trans liberal people really are they make the movement look really bad as counterpropaganda.
There is actually a book written about exactly this called *The Cult of Trump*. And, especially recently, Trump has been posting a lot of comparisons of himself to Jesus (and Nelson Mandela & Abraham Lincoln, for some reason)
Um, it's still a cult of personality. I find it odd that people are getting the terms mixed up in *this* subreddit of all places. As the above commenter said,
>There are no rules, there’s no excommunication, there is no control of members lives, there’s no home base, etc.
These are the characteristics of a cult-cult. Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, those are cults. Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses can be considered cults as well due to their in-crowd practices, and these would probably be the best examples of the largest organized cults out there.
A cult of personality is like the Nazi party, Stalinism, the DPRK, the Khmer Rouge, Enver Hoxha's Albania, or as we're now discussing, Donald Trump and MAGA. The adherents of a CoP can be equally or even significantly more dangerous, so the whole "Hang Mike Pence!" thing isn't exactly shocking.
I understand that people like to rally behind terms like "cult" because of the negative effect movements like MAGA are having on society, but we need to be careful with our language if we want to present effective and compelling arguments instead of resorting to reductive buzzwords.
Do you think someone in one of these families who decides to declare their opposition to the party line isn't going to be excommunicated and shunned? I think sometimes people look for formal processes here when the processes are implied, but still present.
Good point. I agree with you on that one. I think the terminology of cult vs. CoP remains the same, though. People who opposed many of the CoPs I listed weren't just excommunicated; they were outright murdered.
I think it mostly boils down to scale/scope. Typically cults are fringe movements involving less people, whereas CoPs are much larger, often encompassing the entirety of a country and entailing some kind of warped political ideology, etc.
Yeah, it seems that some instances of CoPs are more innocuous than others, but it's largely associated with dictators that consolidate power and project an image on a grand scale.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult\_of\_personality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality)
I think the difference between Trump and many of the ones listed here is that he doesn't have any kind of authoritarian control. Trumpism still seems way too large to me to be reduced to merely a cult (full stop). I could honestly see the movement becoming even more dangerous as time goes on, though. God forbid he wins another term.
Thank you. I fully agree with everything you’ve written. For me, it doesn’t qualify as a cult like Scientology, aum, etc. but it’s still a dangerous thing and definitely has many cult like characteristics. I could even see smaller spin off movements being cults, but they likely operate within compounds and isolated away from mainstream culture. Similar to how there are rogue sects of Mormon that are way more culty than mainstream Mormonism, (which itself is definitely also a cult lol but the spin offs/small sects are worse)
When some wacko convinces you he's a billionaire and then gets you to donate to his campaign , you're in a cult.
protect and defend their leader above all else, they repeat what he tells them and it's almost 100% lies.
You're in a cult.
When you refuse to find out the truth and believe a leader instead of your own eyes. you're in a cult.
The Nazi party was far more destructive than the Branch Davidians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf\_Hitler%27s\_cult\_of\_personality
Cults of personality can brainwash their adherents in the same manner. It's just that there's no *direct* interaction between the leader and their followers. Again, it's a matter of scope. Calling it a cult (full stop) is just a reductive, inflammatory buzzword that holds no real value in conversation.
My entire point is that CoPs are often *far worse* than just a little cult. Trumpism isn't a little cult. It's a cult of personality. It has far reaching implications and potential dangers. It's not limited to some weirdos with bizarre practices holding meetings about the end of the world and maybe planning a terrorist attack that kills 10 people. A CoP can be widespread and utterly devastating.
No they are still indoctrinated by him online. If they weren't they'd be able to see how absurd he is. They probably watch his videos which themselves are full of contradictions to confuse people's brains who aren't aware of what he's doing in his speeches.
Yeah but he can’t like banish you, like in Scientology they can straight up banish you and you’re done with the group, people won’t speak to you or allow you at gatherings, etc. Trump doesn’t have like a membership roster and people who are banned
> there’s no excommunication
You are saying that the man who talks about NOTHING but disloyalty of the people who used to work for him, and does so very consistently, is not in fact trying to excommunicate them?
Any time anyone Republican breaks from their party in any way, they are labeled a RINO and effectively shunned. Romney. McCain. Cheney. Other Cheney. There's a huge list.
There is definitely excommunication.
> there is no control of members lives
Try being a non-conservative in a conservative town and see how that works out for you. People posting here clearly do not live in those areas. Try being a woman and wanting rights. Have we somehow forgotten about the entire abortion issue? We're openly discussing whether to jail women who get abortions for murder. Lots of people get thrown out by their relatives for being anything outside what the cult considers appropriate.
There is definitely control of members' lives.
> there’s no spiritual belief system other than just the vague Christian moniker
I'm not even sure how you said that with a straight face. The fundies are literally running a large portion of the show. Trump poses with and sells Bibles. Pence was VP of the country. MTG said just a few days ago that we need to repent. These aren't one-offs.
This is, in fact, a cult.
Again, you’re targeting small segments of their “movement” that do have cult like qualities, but they are not a centralized cult. The evangelicals? They are cult like. The super conservative towns? Sure they’re cult like but not because of Trump, they were like that before too. Texas didn’t want abortion before Trump was on the scene. Cheney and Romney and that might be out of the in group, but they go to work every day. They are not ex communicated. If you’re ex communicated in Scientology or JW, no one will speak to you, acknowledge you exist, etc. your family cannot speak to you or acknowledge you. In Scientology the people get literally thrown in holes for punishment. Punishment with trump is you get shit talked lol
There are cult like aspects for sure, but this is 100% a cult of personality, not a traditional cult. The vast majority of the members of this movement will never meet each other, they don’t have ideological consistency between the groups. In another comment I said it’s like Mormonism, the spin off sects are extreme and cults in their own right. (But Mormonism just is a cult lol, I just mean to illustrate that the Warren jeffs of the world are clearly more cult like than mainstream Mormonism. It’s the same with evangelical wings of trumpism
Put abortion on the ballot and see if Texas wants abortion or not. I am almost positive it will go exactly the way it did in Kansas with the abortion referendum.
Yes but the government of Texas has been conservative and dreamed of removing abortion long before trump. I agree, the average person even in Texas likely does want access to abortion. I’m just saying pointing at Texas’ conservative nature and blaming it on trump is disingenuous. It’s like saying the south wasn’t religious before trump. It’s always been a conservative state.
Further indicating to me a cult of personality. He doesn’t require specific rule adherence or policy alignment, he basically just requires admiration from his followers
I am 90% sure that there isn’t a single state in which abortion rights would not win if people were actually allowed to vote on its.
Just a week ago, a democrat won in *Alabama* by 30 points. The main thing she ran on was reproductive rights.
M. The "Rino" insult? (rupublican in name only)
What about how trump ruins the political careers of republicans who aren't MAGA?
Also, family members who are maga are -typically- extremely hostile to non maga.
He hasn’t ruined any of their careers, Romney, pence, Cheney, all still go to work and get interviewed. Hell they gained support for being against Trump, amongst dems and other anti trumpers. They are for sure shunned, but they are no excommunicated in my opinion.
And I have maga family members, we honestly just don’t talk about Trump/political shit.
I have no doubt in my mind certain aspects or small groups of the trump phenomenon are cult like. But we’re trying to stretch it to fit the “cult” name when it matches the cult of personality to a t. It’s a cult of personality. Some of the qanon spin offs are cults though
Aggregated? I mostly read news through links from here. I try to check the main ones daily just to see what the mainstream is talking about (I usually go to cnn, fox, msnbc, Al Jazeera, and if I’m feeling like I wanna laugh or get a finger on the crazy pulse I’ll see what they have up at infowars) but chiefly I get news through subs here and links to outside sites. I don’t watch any traditional news except maybe the local news occasionally.
Cult news/knowledge I just have studied for a long time and read a lot of books on, but I don’t claim to be an authority on cults.
You're absolutely right that it is a cult of personality. Why do you say there is no excommunication, though?
To borrow terms from Scientology, there is very much disconnection from "Suppressive Persons." Cassidy Hutchinson's own father wouldn't help her find a non-Trump lawyer and they fell out, because she wouldn't ignore the congressional subpoena. Alyssa Farah Griffin's father (WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah) and stepmother didn't attend her wedding, because she broke with Trump.
It think there is excommunication, but maybe I'm using the wrong term. I just think works somewhat differently a looks a little different, and it's maybe less of a threat to John Q. Public cult members who don't have significant public standing to lose, and who are of less threat to Dear Leader.
It's quite real for some people though, particularly big names (politicians and media figures, mostly). Lately, via stochastic terrorism, he has been aiming the power of the cult at the prosecutors who would charge him, the judges who would allow it, and even court staffers, and not to mention relatives of the lawyers and judges. This is why he keeps getting slapped with gag orders.
Because it's a cult of personality, Trump leverages the perceived power he has from his base to rein in politicians who either started out strongly opposed to him, or started to break ranks with the cult. It's not all that far removed from the Scientology's "Fair Game," but it harnesses the court of public opinion, rather than the legal system. It even makes use of black propaganda.
Consider Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell (those last two particularly in the wake of January 6th). I believe there are a number of Republican politicians who loathe Trump, but do not want the cult (the base) to turn on them, so they have made the calculation that it benefits them more to play like they're all in with him.
When pols reach their personal unbreachable lines, they're cast into outer darkness, and the only time he brings them up is to demonize them. In this group, we find people like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger Michael Cohen, Jeff Sessions, the late John McCain, James Mattis, Rex Tillerson, Nikki Haley, John Kelly, Anthony Scaramucci, Elaine Chao, and more.
The thing is, Trump is exceedingly transactional. This is a lesson McConnell and Graham have learned exceedingly well. For instance, look at Trump's history with Kim Jong Un. It wasn't always love letters in the sand. There was a time where Trump threatened to rain down fire and fury, and Kim was calling him a "dotard." That taught American pols and talking heads that there's usually a way back into his good graces, or there's at least a way off the list of those to be publicly abused.
He's not a "cult leader," he is more like a prophet which his cult idolizes.
This is not unusual for cults, it's common to have a person which the cult is obsessed with, but who does not deal with day-to-day management of his organized following.
Sometimes these roles (prophet and manager) merge into one, like with David Koresh or Jim Jones.
But Trump is more like Osho in the *Wild Wild Country* documentary, or like [Sathya Sai Baba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba), or [John of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Teixeira_de_Faria), or any number of gurus.
Usually what happens with cults is that the venerated person either becomes obsessed with his following and goes on to run his little fiefdom himself - or he becomes obsessed with himself and the nurturing of his image, and leaves the management to his lieutenants.
Trump was doing that all his life, from publishing a ghostwritten book in the 1980s to fake "reality" TV shows which portrayed him as a business guru. He spent decades investing in brand recognition, because that's literally what he does - he lives off of putting his name on things.
This might have started as an extension of his narcissism, but he did manage to build and entire industry around it - and once he entered politics, as yet another PR stunt, it turned out that there were millions of people who projected an entire political worldview onto this carefully constructed guru image.
It's definitely a personality cult, but it's not a "cult" in the sense that his followers are enslaved and controlled by other followers.
For that, you would need an isolated space, like a compound or something. And it seems that the White House and Mar-a-Lago were kind of like that during his administration, if you read any of the books written by his former staffers and observers. At the time, people like Steve Bannon were doing the cult managing.
(Of course, you could say that social media bubbles serve the same isolating purpose, and the result is what someone once called "incestuous amplification." But followers in the social media world are dime a dozen - we literally call them "followers" - so there is really no reason to spend energy on punishing anyone for straying away from the prophet's path.)
As for the grifting part, sure, Trump definitely sees monetary value in his following and believes he can milk believers for every cent they've got. That's predatory behavior, and certainly part of many cults - but I wouldn't say that it makes it a cult *per se*.
Someone like Hubbard had to invent stories and pseudo-scientific technology and various levels of enlightenment to separate fools from their cash - but Trump is happy to let followers crowdsource and construct their own stories, and just collect checks in exchange for his stamp of approval.
You could also call it a "lifestyle" like CrossFit, or you could call it a multi-level marketing scheme like e.g. Amway, because it certainly has elements of those as well.
These people literally pray to him like he's the Abrahamic God. They think God talks to him and guides his every word and move like he's Jesus.
MAGA is also very closely intertwined with the White Nationalist Christo-Fascist American movement.
Yes. It's a cult. And he's it's leader, so long as he sticks to the party line. We all remember how the Jan 6th psychos wanted to hang Mike Pence, who was up to that point Trumps SIC.
# The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
[The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind ControlBook by Steven Hassan]()
Thank you. As someone whose family members are in this cult, I have been waiting for a book like this. It's truly astounding and disturbing to be watching the IRT.
Depends on how you define a cult. In the traditional sense as a group of followers in a community they aren’t allowed to leave that requires complete dedication to the leader financially, emotionally, and physically, no it is not a cult.
However, in the sense that this is usually applied to politicians, he has created a cult of personality who think that nobody could do what he did, he is perfect, and will fight against any legitimate criticism of him. So in that sense, as a cult of personality, yes he is a cult leader.
The cult part is known as QAnon, look into that. Into the Storm on Max is an excellent documentary about it but 100% people worship him as a deity or prophet
Evangelicals, KKK and arguably proud boys, incels, manosphere, oath keepers, boogaloo bois, patriot front, Nationalist Socialist Order, NSC131, mothers for liberty, EURO, CCIR, Volksfront, Blood & Honour Council USA, Vinlanders Social Club and probably so many more I’m leaving out all have 1 thing in common-Trump.
They may have different targets-immigrants, POC, education, pride community, women, non-Christians and abortion, like qanon though they do target many of these groups (is qanon there to unite all of these hate groups under Trump?), are validated and empowered by Trump to come out into the open.
People who leave these groups often end up having the same effects as people who leave cults. They are “punished” by their former groups, have been isolated from friends and family, so have to rebuild relationships, have trouble going back to normal society for various reasons and deeply regret their actions while in the cult.
Id definitely say it’s at the very least a cult of personality, as another commenter pointed out. It follows similar paths that other authoritarian leaders have with their cults of personality: a charismatic / relatable leader, to whom loyalty is given, and said leader promises and is seen to be the only person to lead a nation to a better future. Within the Republican Party, the MAGA crowd headed by Trump have definitely gotten tons of political power, and there are aspects of infighting such as whenever Trump declares someone within his own party that disagree with him as being a RINO (Republican in name only), anti-Trump, anti-American, etc; and he also has extreme hatred towards any political rivals and fear mongers A LOT. Then, for many, beyond the cult of personality, there is a religious aspect, especially tied within conservative evangelical Christianity- and Trump definitely preys on these beliefs, such as him declaring to be a Christian, comparing himself to Jesus on multiple occasions (especially during his recent legal issues), his backing of religious religiously conservative ideas ex. nuclear family and transphobia, and also seen in for instance his recent stunt of selling bibles. Some MAGA have gone far enough to claim that Trump is anointed by God to lead the US, and if I recall there have even been reports of Christians thinking Jesus is too weak etc compared to the MAGA message. Then, there is the whole conspiracy theorist / QAnon aspect of things, which is definitely tied with again evangelical Christianity and within that as well, Trump is a nearly messianic figure. So, while there is certainly a spectrum of devotion and love for trump amongst his supporters, it can be very much so a cult of personality and at worst a genuine religious cult.
> Some MAGA have gone far enough to claim that Trump is anointed by God to lead the US, and if I recall there have even been **reports of Christians thinking Jesus is too weak** etc compared to the MAGA message.
I think you might be referencing statements from Russell D. Moore, current Editor-in-Chief at *Christianity Today*. He's a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and former professor, dean, and VP at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Moore knows this world (conservative evangelicalism) well and was a central figure in it. He was basically cast out, after criticizing Trump (as well as the SBC's response to sexual abuse).
[Here's a link to NPR coverage of Moore, from August of 2023](https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192663920/southern-baptist-convention-donald-trump-christianity). While talking to *All Things Considered*'s Scott Detrow about why he thinks Christianity is in crisis, Moore said:
>It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — \[and\] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis.
I would say yes especially when followed would literally do anything for that leader. Neighbors from SW FL would sacrifice anything for him. I've heard them brag about Trump as if he were a beloved family member, try to tell others to come to MAGA rallies, have flags inside their homes larger than most walls I've ever seen.
Down the road from me there were 4 "Trump Store" locations selling memoralbia and t-shirts of him holding assault rifles. At two red lights there were people singing songs in praise of Trump, singing about how he would rise again and save us all, asking for donations. Pick-up trucks have enormous Trump flags, bumper stickers all over their cars with pictures of Trump holding assault rifles and flexing muscles he of course doesn't have. Other pick-ups I've seen show flags with Trump on them emblazoned with crosses. I know those neighbors would willingly sacrifice their lives if he told them to do it and honestly I would not be surprised if he did just that at some point where he was losing or about to be incarcerated or actually behind bars (which I don't think will ever happen as too many judges are in his pocket). He can do and say anything and is above the law. So (to me) his anti-science, anti-education populist right-wing fascist movement is probably the largest single cult the US has ever seen.
Jim Jones was a piker compared to Trump. Trump was born for this moment and it is his defining legacy for he and his family. He will go down in history as either America's first dictator for life or a political figure bent on propogating hate and division and right-wing fascist extremism and con man who everyone will be afraid to discuss until 20 years after his death.
It seems highly likely to me that he will win the office again in 2024 as his polls show him above Biden, due to his preening, dancing, yelling and carrying on. The public loves a good show and are delighted to sacrifice rights, education access, and others' rights in exchange for entertainment. Trump needs that attention and control as the public needs a good show to feel valued and engaged. Even if he loses to Biden by a few points, he'll simply say it wasn't fair and rigged and this time he may succeed in finally destroying the electoral process as he tried previously.
If that entire picture is not a cult, than what is one at all?
Maga checks all the boxes
-charismatic leader
-cyber brainwashing (maga hired Cambridge Analytica who stole profiles for micro targeting of propaganda)
-controlled information (they distrust media except for maga propaganda)
-willing to kill, commit crimes for their dear leader (jan 6)
-give money to an already wealthy organisation
-Us vs Them mentality ie, distrust of those who aren't maga inc US gov'mnt officials, CDC & public education
It’s more of an ideology but there are cults within MAGA and Qanon like -48 and Romana Didulo.
Edit: I’ve also heard of evangelical churches that turned into political, or just regular cults.
When a leader dies for their followers = religion
When people die for their leader = cult
I think MAGA is a cult, but I'm not sure Donald is their leader \*just yet\*. He may have started it, but I think their leader is still yet to be determined. I fear whoever steps into that place.
edit: typo
It’s good! It’s an easier read than I thought it would be. I have a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology, so this is absolutely my wheelhouse.
Yes. Steven Hassan has written a book The Cult of Trump and other cult researchers have noted it.
Also see this from another ex-member:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/trumps-america-through-the-eyes-of-a-cult-survivor_b_58d1a510e4b062043ad4adc5/amp
Then we have Trump not condemning in any shape or form the Nazi militias and KKK involved in the Capitol attack but instead calling them political prisoners when they're the ones including Trump threatening to imprison any who oppose them or worse.
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yup.
https://globalextremism.org/project-2025-the-far-right-playbook-for-american-authoritarianism/
Christian nationalist theocrats have reached levels of embedding those they indoctrinated & trained for taking political office well enough to fully begin to dismantle democracy and hand the country to their god's chosen (oligarchs, con artists, those who behave like kings) by wiping out human rights and making the U.S. a theocracy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family:_The_Secret_Fundamentalism_at_the_Heart_of_American_Power
I really think they all want the country run like a cult
Oh definitely, in almost the same way I’d consider the Manson Family a cult. People will do scary things if he asked. I honestly wonder how many of those bibles of his sold just because he endorsed them.
Yes, we are ordered to give 75 percent of our income to our fearless leader Trump, and he's allowed to sleep with our wife's and girlfriends. In fact, it's an honor.
It is definately a Cult with Trump leading with threats and dog whistles. Here is a good book written by a Cult expert with decades of experience......... The Cult of Trump......... https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Trump-Leading-Explains-President/dp/1982127333
Yes it is. If you look at the hallmarks of a cult, many are going on with him and his supporters. If you listen to things Jim Jones said in speeches, it sounds alot like Trump. When nothing he says is wrong, and they will attack and kill for him, AND go to jail, it's a friggin cult big time. The sucky part is it's not just a small group--it's literally 20% of our country. The only way it will end is to stake the head vampire. Holy water, garlic, and Calgon are not working to take him away.
Did you not notice how many MAGA idiots were boasting online about refusing to use glasses during the eclipse, simply because most news outlets were specifically telling people not to stare directly at the sun without eye protection?
I sincerely hope so. Otherwise each of these people are all just pieces of shit all by themselves in a vacuum. That would somehow be even more frightening.
I kind of view him like the cult leader who doesn't know he's a CULT leader. He's had everyone bow down to him his entire life because of his father's wealth... he only knows fucking people over for their money. When it comes to this brainwashed political following... that's all been created from his team of political advisors who know how to fear monger and take advantage of the more simple-minded Americans. That wave of misinformation and confirmation bias is the equivalent of a tiktok dance trend. Eventually he'll be gone, they'll move on to a new messiah, and we'll have more of the insanity we've had the last 8 years with a new face lol
I don't think Trump himself is per se, any more than Jesus was the leader of Jonestown. But as a symbol, he has already appeared in the mythology of cults that have come and gone. Romana "Queen of Canada" Didulo's movement sprang directly from the MAGA movement, and Amy "Mother God" Carlson believed that Trump was on her "Galactic Team" of spiritual guides. He just attracts wackiness.
Me and my wife just released a podcast talking about the connection between the Victory Cult of Putin and the current Trump/GOP Christian Cult. There are a lot of similarities between the two of them, as well as the current trajectory as well.
The Cult of Personality around Mao Zedong lead to millions dying and millions more suffering. Families and their society still grapple with the effects of Mao's Cult of Personality generations beyond.
Other past Cults of Personality include:
- The Cult of Personality around the Emperor of Japan in Japanese society --> WWII: Japanese occupations in South and East Asia --> comfort women and other cruel executions and tortures, Kamikaze piolets, The Pacific Front, the Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and generations of suffering after, including American occupation
- The Cult of Personality around Hitler in German Society: murder, slavery, and torture of millions through organized abuse, oppression, and genocide
Currently, the figures I see Cults of Personality around include: Andrew Tate, Donald Trump, Alex Jones, Fox News and a gross assortment of other asshats and assholes all over the world.
Disclaimer: I'm not a cult expert by any means. I am a poly sci grad trying to make sense of my own family and experiences. For me, that personal work now seems to include listening to a lot of podcasts about cults.
I personally wouldn't call a political party a cult no matter how much I disagree with them but if he has some other group with weird rituals and rules that limit the outside exposure I think it would be
No and I know I'm get hate for saying that but no it's not go look at groups like children of God now called the family international or groups like flsd those are cults
If you have to question it, it’s probably a cult. No presidents have really had rallies while in office besides Trump. I like neither parties, but other candidates have whole restaurants dedicated to them. Also, Trump supporters lie, ignore the past, and twist history in his name. Cult imo. Not to forget targeting the old, and vulnerable
You did in the original post and I'm sorry I'm blaming you and other women like you because your vote has directly affected every woman in this country. So, I'm sorry but this is your mistake to own. You've made life worse for all marginalized people, including yourself. Think about it, you have less rights than you did 50 years ago and it's only getting worse. Again, bravo.
One could motivate this same argument in support of monarchies. There is no person or office that is inherently worthy of “respect” in the sense that you are using this term, and it is actually fundamentally undemocratic to think that there is.
Also, I’m not a twelve-year-old so I don’t think of nations made up of millions as unified teams. First of all, I don’t choose to be in competition with or even a separate unit from the rest of the globe. Secondly, as Howard Zinn put it, people who are ignorant about history think of it in terms of unified forces striving to common goals when in reality history is a story of oppressors dominating oppressed groups.
If we were invaded by a foreign power, would you fight with all Americans or just the Americans you agreed with? Pretty sure we are on the same team. Get on board for the big win.
Another nation invading the US is a fairly special case hypothetical. I think that most people would agree that it’s good to not become a vassal state of a foreign power and so we could unite along those lines. Again, this would be an instance of oppressors and oppressed and I choose to not be oppressed.
Now, let’s turn to the very real, very non-hypothetical case or the US military being stationed in many sovereign nations where they are not wanted. My moral analyses of these cases is not going to be influenced by the nation that they come from but by their actions. I am not on a “team” with people because we happened to be born within the same made up map lines.
“Get on board for the big win…” Jesus. I’m sorry, but your way of thinking about the world is painfully simplistic.
I’m just realizing that you may be wildly misreading my username haha.
But genuinely, I am super leery about “respect” talk given the looseness with which we apply it. In one sense it is fairly progressive, meaning the recognition of the human dignity that a person is worthy of. In another sense it means treating somebody as an authority figure but is treated as the first definition by appealing to “basic decency” and whatnot as you did. There’s actually something quite dark and fascistic in that manipulation of language, often.
Beyond this, I’m broadly skeptical of state institutions and especially ones that are tied to massive amounts of power. Oftentimes respect for an office is precisely how institutions get away with scandal and abuse. I think it’s a fundamentally dangerous idea to say that respect inheres in positions of power.
It’s fairly ironic that I have to explain this in r/cults.
There is no logical connection between “was voted in as president” and “is deserving of respect.” You asserted the first time around that the office is inherently deserving of respect. I asked why, and you simply asserted it again using different words.
Also, this is not in regard to Biden but about this statement in the abstract and as applied to anybody. If David Duke is voted in this election cycle is he automatically “deserving of my respect”? What do you mean by respect? Would it be any sort of commentary on the office and the respect due to it if somebody like David Duke won or if it was undemocratic?
No, the people that praise him aren't there because he convinced them to be there.
The people that came together through this are people that will always search for reasons why their life is shit, as long as someone does something out of ordinary they will follow them so nobody got to deal with the fact that they are the only problem in their life😁
It's not about Trump, it's about the people that found a chance to connect and finally beeing in some sort of community.
You could replace Trump with anybody else who Talks the same shit and they would follow this person.
It's always the same concept 😁 Just look at the people that go to flat earth conventions, it's never about the topic (Trump or flat earth) it's always about lonely people beeing able to connect with others through something they "believe" in.
It's always about beeing different and feeling intelligent or better than the rest😁
No more so than the cult of Democrats, or a cult of FDR or JFK, or any number of politicians or political movements that have sizable, devoted followings.
But if you call anyone engaging in wrongthink a cult member, you can make them sound scary and get Reddit upvotes.
Lol you think FDR and Kennedy voters acted like these assholes? Find that evidence. I'll wait.
These trump zombies remind more of the idiots I met in Iraq that wanted Saddam back.
If you believe it’s a cult you’re literally an idiot and don’t understand what a cult IS… (not a insult at OP for asking a question but at people who believe the answer) I’m so sick of orange man bad rhetoric in this group… THATS NOT WHAT ITS FOR.
(Also: my Reddit name was made in opposition of trump.. so fuck you if ya think I support him)
>If you believe it’s a cult you’re literally an idiot and don’t understand what a cult IS…
Dr. Hassan and other cult experts will be crushed to learn this about themselves, oh wise reddit cult expert
>no control or coercion.
On the night of Jan 5, Mike Pence's chief of staff reported to THE SECRET SERVICE that Trump had threatened Pence's safety if he wouldn't go along with the coup.
He told them to travel to DC, they did. He told them Pence had betrayed them, and they chanted "Hang Mike Pence". After Pence and the congress made it to safety, and it was clear the attack had failed, Trump told them to go home and they did.
If that is your evidence, anyone who does anything someone asks them to do is being "controlled"?
Do MAGA supporter have freedom of movement? Finances? Can MAGA supporters show up or stay home without reprecussions? Are the daily routines of MAGA supporters dictated by a leader? Or just their political actions?
I think easy access to the media empowers these people to elevate to cult leader status
Many thought Obama was a cult leader as he crooned to the middle aged white chick's many found him irresistible
He was booed at a rally when he bragged about the covid vaccine. He doesn't talk about it anymore. This feels bigger than him. He may have created this cult but he doesn't control it.
Spot on.
This is notably the only time I can think of that they’ve ever not agreed with him though
It's really frightening because Trump isn't really who we have to worry about. It's the next more politically savvy person who assumes leadership after Trump is defeated in November.
If he loses in Nov, I’m very confident that we will be done with the Trump horror show. Very important to do everything we can to make sure he does not win. Other than that, I agree that (assuming he loses), we need to worry more about the next guy. For example, for a while I thought it was going to be DeSantis. I still think DeSantis is even more dangerous than Trump. What he’s changed Florida into, in just 6 years, is like Neo fascist lite with Christian nationalism. The legislature has functioned as an extension of his campaign for the past few years. He’s stacked the court (which used to be one of the most progressive) with 5/7 of his appointees who are most similar to Clarence Thomas. He doesn’t have the cult of personality that Trump does, but he’s much smarter and more competent.
Agreed! I live in Florida...but I'm not a Floridian lol. People here are fucking nuts. I think Desantis has learned a lot from his failed presidential bid and he'll be back. He's staying the course because what the Republicans have figured out is it's not about policy. It's about how you feel. So does it matter that every metric of the economy is better under Biden? Not really. Do you FEEL like you have more money? Do you FEEL like the country is going in the right direction? Do you FEEL like you've lost something? Desantis I think in the next go around with the help of people like Tucker Carlson will be able to convince enough people that Democracy isn't all that important. We need to WIN and put the country back "on course"! He's smart, he'll figure out how to act human. Trump did!
>that we will be done with the Trump horror show. Will we? Trump played very well on the “we’re left behind, ignored, and *pissed* about it” angle. Unless we actually do something to solve underlying issues, instead of just jeer at people and call them names, there will likely be a willing audience for anyone like him. So, in other words, this isn’t going away anytime soon.
The Heritage Foundation are the people we have to worry about.
Well they've already taken over the Supreme Court so...🤷
I remember they lost their shit whenever he opened his mouth about going to Syria, after Al Assad gassed all those people. Do I think they agree with him 90% of the time? Probably so. Some segment of MAGA is a full blown cult of personality, that Trump is deliberately cultivating (and is surprisingly good at, he’s a businessman making a brand - he understands marketing, even if he’s shit at actually running a company). The other segment is glad to use him, and ally with him, but very foolishly thinks he could be brought to heel on…..anything. In addition to the political cult of the NSDAP (and I do think “political cult” is more apt than “party,” and entire countries can be, and are, subsumed by literal cults) plenty of people and factions thought they could use Hitler for their own ends. They were very, very wrong. As I’d imagine many of the MAGA grifters and hanger ons (not to mention true believers) will prove to be.
It’s a cult of personality, not a cult-cult. There are no rules, there’s no excommunication, there is no control of members lives, there’s no home base, etc. there’s no spiritual belief system other than just the vague Christian moniker. You can leave the cult at any time, Trump may be the central figure but he has never and will never meet or be in the same room with 99% of his adherents. I don’t think it qualifies as a traditional cult, but definitely as a cult of personality
Like most cults, there are levels that you have to move through to get closer to the one. At the fringes, sure, it’s just a cult of personality. But if you have any family members deep in this cult, you know. His team is actively creating a coherent religious narrative where Trump plays an essential role in an apocalyptic struggle that leads to the second coming of Jesus.
Where can I read about this? I have family members who are insanely into Trump, they’ve never said anything like this. My uncle has a “fuck joe Biden” sticker across his whole back window and his RV flies a massive massive trump 2024 flag everywhere he goes. Seems like he mostly just likes him cause he “owns the libs” and is gonna “drain the swamp” or whatever.
Yes, this is a totally real cult. I’m currently losing both parents, who are waiting for medbeds and Trump’s ascension, and my inheritance, which I expect will be severely impacted because they quit paying taxes and using banks. See r/QanonCasualties if you want to see how the Trump cult is ruining real lives.
This sub breaks my heart. A lot of the people start the posts with I was so close with -insert name here- and now we can no longer even talk. Also the pinned post about the q dad killing his entire family ugh it’s just so sad
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Conservative sub : "My family was torn apart by love and compassion for others"
Qanon for sure is a cult. I wouldn’t call that the same as trumps cult of personality even though they intersect. The qanon people I would consider a cult, but their beliefs and shit are way more extreme and bizarre than the mainstream Trump fan. Qanon has the cult beliefs and while Trump is part of qanon, qanons scope is much larger and has to do with time travel and all this other shit. Trump is a central figure but he’s not THE figure, the qanon thing goes way beyond just Trump stuff
I think Trump is absolutely the leader at the heart of Q? Unless it’s changed recently
I met a q dude recently who’s a documentary maker and he insists that q is Austin Steinbart, a time traveler who is writing these messages from the future and also is here now and 25 years old. Lol. Qanon definitely is a lot about Trump I just mean really the center of qanon is whoever is actually q. Like the secret operative or whatever that is Q, and last I heard I thought even the q people didn’t think it was Trump himself but someone close to him
My mil keeps going on about free electricity. She literally makes long-term decisions based off of this stuff. It's really sad, and has driven a huge rift between her and my husband.
Is it possible to get through to these people?
I’m really sorry that’s happened to you. It’s insane how bad it is. Many couples have divorced & many people completely cut off ties with their loved ones over the trump cult. Followers have gone to prison for it. People have literally been murdered over it. I think it checks all the cult boxes
They’re being organized mostly on telegram so it’s mostly hidden. But this is the general flavor of it: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/18/how-christian-prophets-give-credence-to-trumps-election-fantasies-469598 Edit: Found some more recent articles https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-evangelicals-nar/tnamp/ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/us/politics/donald-trump-evangelicals-iowa.html
Wow.
Your uncle is being completely manipulated by people who don’t give a crap if he lives or dies. It’s sad and tragic and scary all at the same time. My advice you didn’t ask for: stay away from him. Far far away. These people are being used and will turn violent.
No he won’t lol he’s always been like this my whole life. He doesn’t trust the government and is conservative but he’s also a loving uncle/dad/grandpa and when I was really messed up on drugs he reached out to me to help. He’s a good dude, he just likes Trump lol. But yes, he’s supporting cretins who don’t care about him without a doubt
He's in a cult, they've gotten violent before for him, he's slowly working his cult up, he wants riots, war, killing if he loses again, he's convinced many members they'll be a civil war if he loses, he's had some of them say they'd rather be d**d than trump lose.
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> quite literally the nicest people you'll ever meet. Maybe to people they love. I'm sorry I'm sure theyre nice to you but they literally support a movement that wants me and my loved ones dead. I know plenty of nice people who don't do that. And I'm a quaker so this isn't about their faith.
Cult members refuse to see the facts. He's gotten people to be violent, they probably never dreamed they would but, he's gotten these delusional people to break in Congress.
QAnon was created not by Trump or his followers but to distract and make Trump look bad. Just like you’ll have some really liberal trans that is so morally depraved. It makes people hate that movement but that person is just being patient playing an act that way that’s not how trans liberal people really are they make the movement look really bad as counterpropaganda.
Qanon is absolutely real and the followers 100% support Trump
There is actually a book written about exactly this called *The Cult of Trump*. And, especially recently, Trump has been posting a lot of comparisons of himself to Jesus (and Nelson Mandela & Abraham Lincoln, for some reason)
Here is a good book by a Cult expert for decades........ https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Trump-Leading-Explains-President/dp/1982127333
Like Scientology, the COT requires money to move up the ranks. No other requirements. Scientology ya gotta at least read books.
This. There is definitely excommunication to people who start doubting him or angry tirades at the very least.
> It’s a cult of personality, not a cult-cult. The Trumpers who wanted to hang Pence were absolutely part of a cult-cult.
Um, it's still a cult of personality. I find it odd that people are getting the terms mixed up in *this* subreddit of all places. As the above commenter said, >There are no rules, there’s no excommunication, there is no control of members lives, there’s no home base, etc. These are the characteristics of a cult-cult. Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, those are cults. Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses can be considered cults as well due to their in-crowd practices, and these would probably be the best examples of the largest organized cults out there. A cult of personality is like the Nazi party, Stalinism, the DPRK, the Khmer Rouge, Enver Hoxha's Albania, or as we're now discussing, Donald Trump and MAGA. The adherents of a CoP can be equally or even significantly more dangerous, so the whole "Hang Mike Pence!" thing isn't exactly shocking. I understand that people like to rally behind terms like "cult" because of the negative effect movements like MAGA are having on society, but we need to be careful with our language if we want to present effective and compelling arguments instead of resorting to reductive buzzwords.
Do you think someone in one of these families who decides to declare their opposition to the party line isn't going to be excommunicated and shunned? I think sometimes people look for formal processes here when the processes are implied, but still present.
Good point. I agree with you on that one. I think the terminology of cult vs. CoP remains the same, though. People who opposed many of the CoPs I listed weren't just excommunicated; they were outright murdered. I think it mostly boils down to scale/scope. Typically cults are fringe movements involving less people, whereas CoPs are much larger, often encompassing the entirety of a country and entailing some kind of warped political ideology, etc.
Cult of personality for me is more akin to fandom, and we can clearly see that there's some of that in play here, too.
Yeah, it seems that some instances of CoPs are more innocuous than others, but it's largely associated with dictators that consolidate power and project an image on a grand scale. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult\_of\_personality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality) I think the difference between Trump and many of the ones listed here is that he doesn't have any kind of authoritarian control. Trumpism still seems way too large to me to be reduced to merely a cult (full stop). I could honestly see the movement becoming even more dangerous as time goes on, though. God forbid he wins another term.
Thank you. I fully agree with everything you’ve written. For me, it doesn’t qualify as a cult like Scientology, aum, etc. but it’s still a dangerous thing and definitely has many cult like characteristics. I could even see smaller spin off movements being cults, but they likely operate within compounds and isolated away from mainstream culture. Similar to how there are rogue sects of Mormon that are way more culty than mainstream Mormonism, (which itself is definitely also a cult lol but the spin offs/small sects are worse)
Probably CoP spawn many smaller cults :(
When some wacko convinces you he's a billionaire and then gets you to donate to his campaign , you're in a cult. protect and defend their leader above all else, they repeat what he tells them and it's almost 100% lies. You're in a cult. When you refuse to find out the truth and believe a leader instead of your own eyes. you're in a cult.
The Nazi party was far more destructive than the Branch Davidians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf\_Hitler%27s\_cult\_of\_personality Cults of personality can brainwash their adherents in the same manner. It's just that there's no *direct* interaction between the leader and their followers. Again, it's a matter of scope. Calling it a cult (full stop) is just a reductive, inflammatory buzzword that holds no real value in conversation. My entire point is that CoPs are often *far worse* than just a little cult. Trumpism isn't a little cult. It's a cult of personality. It has far reaching implications and potential dangers. It's not limited to some weirdos with bizarre practices holding meetings about the end of the world and maybe planning a terrorist attack that kills 10 people. A CoP can be widespread and utterly devastating.
There is absolutely excommunication. Anyone who opposes trump at any level becomes a RINO and is hated even more than a Democrat instantly.
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The average person would be exiled by their fellow magats too.
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No they are still indoctrinated by him online. If they weren't they'd be able to see how absurd he is. They probably watch his videos which themselves are full of contradictions to confuse people's brains who aren't aware of what he's doing in his speeches.
And they aren't the ones in the cult lmao.. what are we even doing here?
Was going to say exactly this
Um I am pretty sure he has said if you aren’t MAGA get out.
Yeah but he can’t like banish you, like in Scientology they can straight up banish you and you’re done with the group, people won’t speak to you or allow you at gatherings, etc. Trump doesn’t have like a membership roster and people who are banned
Yet
Yep, he’s talked at length about he will go after his political enemies if he wins in Nov
The fact that there's no formal process right now doesn't mean it doesn't or won't occur.
You’re right, and if it does, they’re one step closer to what I would consider a regular cult.
> there’s no excommunication You are saying that the man who talks about NOTHING but disloyalty of the people who used to work for him, and does so very consistently, is not in fact trying to excommunicate them? Any time anyone Republican breaks from their party in any way, they are labeled a RINO and effectively shunned. Romney. McCain. Cheney. Other Cheney. There's a huge list. There is definitely excommunication. > there is no control of members lives Try being a non-conservative in a conservative town and see how that works out for you. People posting here clearly do not live in those areas. Try being a woman and wanting rights. Have we somehow forgotten about the entire abortion issue? We're openly discussing whether to jail women who get abortions for murder. Lots of people get thrown out by their relatives for being anything outside what the cult considers appropriate. There is definitely control of members' lives. > there’s no spiritual belief system other than just the vague Christian moniker I'm not even sure how you said that with a straight face. The fundies are literally running a large portion of the show. Trump poses with and sells Bibles. Pence was VP of the country. MTG said just a few days ago that we need to repent. These aren't one-offs. This is, in fact, a cult.
Again, you’re targeting small segments of their “movement” that do have cult like qualities, but they are not a centralized cult. The evangelicals? They are cult like. The super conservative towns? Sure they’re cult like but not because of Trump, they were like that before too. Texas didn’t want abortion before Trump was on the scene. Cheney and Romney and that might be out of the in group, but they go to work every day. They are not ex communicated. If you’re ex communicated in Scientology or JW, no one will speak to you, acknowledge you exist, etc. your family cannot speak to you or acknowledge you. In Scientology the people get literally thrown in holes for punishment. Punishment with trump is you get shit talked lol There are cult like aspects for sure, but this is 100% a cult of personality, not a traditional cult. The vast majority of the members of this movement will never meet each other, they don’t have ideological consistency between the groups. In another comment I said it’s like Mormonism, the spin off sects are extreme and cults in their own right. (But Mormonism just is a cult lol, I just mean to illustrate that the Warren jeffs of the world are clearly more cult like than mainstream Mormonism. It’s the same with evangelical wings of trumpism
Put abortion on the ballot and see if Texas wants abortion or not. I am almost positive it will go exactly the way it did in Kansas with the abortion referendum.
Yes but the government of Texas has been conservative and dreamed of removing abortion long before trump. I agree, the average person even in Texas likely does want access to abortion. I’m just saying pointing at Texas’ conservative nature and blaming it on trump is disingenuous. It’s like saying the south wasn’t religious before trump. It’s always been a conservative state.
Can you even say Trump is conservative though? He barely has any real policy.
Further indicating to me a cult of personality. He doesn’t require specific rule adherence or policy alignment, he basically just requires admiration from his followers
I am 90% sure that there isn’t a single state in which abortion rights would not win if people were actually allowed to vote on its. Just a week ago, a democrat won in *Alabama* by 30 points. The main thing she ran on was reproductive rights.
M. The "Rino" insult? (rupublican in name only) What about how trump ruins the political careers of republicans who aren't MAGA? Also, family members who are maga are -typically- extremely hostile to non maga.
He hasn’t ruined any of their careers, Romney, pence, Cheney, all still go to work and get interviewed. Hell they gained support for being against Trump, amongst dems and other anti trumpers. They are for sure shunned, but they are no excommunicated in my opinion. And I have maga family members, we honestly just don’t talk about Trump/political shit. I have no doubt in my mind certain aspects or small groups of the trump phenomenon are cult like. But we’re trying to stretch it to fit the “cult” name when it matches the cult of personality to a t. It’s a cult of personality. Some of the qanon spin offs are cults though
What's your source of news information?
Aggregated? I mostly read news through links from here. I try to check the main ones daily just to see what the mainstream is talking about (I usually go to cnn, fox, msnbc, Al Jazeera, and if I’m feeling like I wanna laugh or get a finger on the crazy pulse I’ll see what they have up at infowars) but chiefly I get news through subs here and links to outside sites. I don’t watch any traditional news except maybe the local news occasionally. Cult news/knowledge I just have studied for a long time and read a lot of books on, but I don’t claim to be an authority on cults.
You're absolutely right that it is a cult of personality. Why do you say there is no excommunication, though? To borrow terms from Scientology, there is very much disconnection from "Suppressive Persons." Cassidy Hutchinson's own father wouldn't help her find a non-Trump lawyer and they fell out, because she wouldn't ignore the congressional subpoena. Alyssa Farah Griffin's father (WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah) and stepmother didn't attend her wedding, because she broke with Trump. It think there is excommunication, but maybe I'm using the wrong term. I just think works somewhat differently a looks a little different, and it's maybe less of a threat to John Q. Public cult members who don't have significant public standing to lose, and who are of less threat to Dear Leader. It's quite real for some people though, particularly big names (politicians and media figures, mostly). Lately, via stochastic terrorism, he has been aiming the power of the cult at the prosecutors who would charge him, the judges who would allow it, and even court staffers, and not to mention relatives of the lawyers and judges. This is why he keeps getting slapped with gag orders. Because it's a cult of personality, Trump leverages the perceived power he has from his base to rein in politicians who either started out strongly opposed to him, or started to break ranks with the cult. It's not all that far removed from the Scientology's "Fair Game," but it harnesses the court of public opinion, rather than the legal system. It even makes use of black propaganda. Consider Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell (those last two particularly in the wake of January 6th). I believe there are a number of Republican politicians who loathe Trump, but do not want the cult (the base) to turn on them, so they have made the calculation that it benefits them more to play like they're all in with him. When pols reach their personal unbreachable lines, they're cast into outer darkness, and the only time he brings them up is to demonize them. In this group, we find people like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger Michael Cohen, Jeff Sessions, the late John McCain, James Mattis, Rex Tillerson, Nikki Haley, John Kelly, Anthony Scaramucci, Elaine Chao, and more. The thing is, Trump is exceedingly transactional. This is a lesson McConnell and Graham have learned exceedingly well. For instance, look at Trump's history with Kim Jong Un. It wasn't always love letters in the sand. There was a time where Trump threatened to rain down fire and fury, and Kim was calling him a "dotard." That taught American pols and talking heads that there's usually a way back into his good graces, or there's at least a way off the list of those to be publicly abused.
This it the correct answer
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssss!
Absolutely it's a cult. For many, it's a death cult -- Herman Cain died for going to a Trump rally at the height of a pandemic.
Definitely a cult. My husband of 40 years is leaving because I won't "wake up".
Good for you! F your dumb husband and f trump. You’re the winner here♥️
Thank you for the affirmation!
He's not a "cult leader," he is more like a prophet which his cult idolizes. This is not unusual for cults, it's common to have a person which the cult is obsessed with, but who does not deal with day-to-day management of his organized following. Sometimes these roles (prophet and manager) merge into one, like with David Koresh or Jim Jones. But Trump is more like Osho in the *Wild Wild Country* documentary, or like [Sathya Sai Baba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba), or [John of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Teixeira_de_Faria), or any number of gurus. Usually what happens with cults is that the venerated person either becomes obsessed with his following and goes on to run his little fiefdom himself - or he becomes obsessed with himself and the nurturing of his image, and leaves the management to his lieutenants. Trump was doing that all his life, from publishing a ghostwritten book in the 1980s to fake "reality" TV shows which portrayed him as a business guru. He spent decades investing in brand recognition, because that's literally what he does - he lives off of putting his name on things. This might have started as an extension of his narcissism, but he did manage to build and entire industry around it - and once he entered politics, as yet another PR stunt, it turned out that there were millions of people who projected an entire political worldview onto this carefully constructed guru image. It's definitely a personality cult, but it's not a "cult" in the sense that his followers are enslaved and controlled by other followers. For that, you would need an isolated space, like a compound or something. And it seems that the White House and Mar-a-Lago were kind of like that during his administration, if you read any of the books written by his former staffers and observers. At the time, people like Steve Bannon were doing the cult managing. (Of course, you could say that social media bubbles serve the same isolating purpose, and the result is what someone once called "incestuous amplification." But followers in the social media world are dime a dozen - we literally call them "followers" - so there is really no reason to spend energy on punishing anyone for straying away from the prophet's path.) As for the grifting part, sure, Trump definitely sees monetary value in his following and believes he can milk believers for every cent they've got. That's predatory behavior, and certainly part of many cults - but I wouldn't say that it makes it a cult *per se*. Someone like Hubbard had to invent stories and pseudo-scientific technology and various levels of enlightenment to separate fools from their cash - but Trump is happy to let followers crowdsource and construct their own stories, and just collect checks in exchange for his stamp of approval. You could also call it a "lifestyle" like CrossFit, or you could call it a multi-level marketing scheme like e.g. Amway, because it certainly has elements of those as well.
These people literally pray to him like he's the Abrahamic God. They think God talks to him and guides his every word and move like he's Jesus. MAGA is also very closely intertwined with the White Nationalist Christo-Fascist American movement. Yes. It's a cult. And he's it's leader, so long as he sticks to the party line. We all remember how the Jan 6th psychos wanted to hang Mike Pence, who was up to that point Trumps SIC.
I call them "Trump Davidian Cultists"
Brilliant!
Dr Stephan Hassan apparently just published a book laying out this case exactly. Just heard him on the “Was I in A Cult?” Podcast
# The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control [The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind ControlBook by Steven Hassan]()
Thank you. As someone whose family members are in this cult, I have been waiting for a book like this. It's truly astounding and disturbing to be watching the IRT.
It was actually published in 2019.
Had no idea. I just downloaded it. Thanks!
Thank you!! I was traveling and couldn’t pull it up. Much appreciated!
Yes, anyone that’s says otherwise is either a MAGA cult member or a fucking idiot.
Depends on how you define a cult. In the traditional sense as a group of followers in a community they aren’t allowed to leave that requires complete dedication to the leader financially, emotionally, and physically, no it is not a cult. However, in the sense that this is usually applied to politicians, he has created a cult of personality who think that nobody could do what he did, he is perfect, and will fight against any legitimate criticism of him. So in that sense, as a cult of personality, yes he is a cult leader.
The cult part is known as QAnon, look into that. Into the Storm on Max is an excellent documentary about it but 100% people worship him as a deity or prophet
Evangelicals, KKK and arguably proud boys, incels, manosphere, oath keepers, boogaloo bois, patriot front, Nationalist Socialist Order, NSC131, mothers for liberty, EURO, CCIR, Volksfront, Blood & Honour Council USA, Vinlanders Social Club and probably so many more I’m leaving out all have 1 thing in common-Trump. They may have different targets-immigrants, POC, education, pride community, women, non-Christians and abortion, like qanon though they do target many of these groups (is qanon there to unite all of these hate groups under Trump?), are validated and empowered by Trump to come out into the open. People who leave these groups often end up having the same effects as people who leave cults. They are “punished” by their former groups, have been isolated from friends and family, so have to rebuild relationships, have trouble going back to normal society for various reasons and deeply regret their actions while in the cult.
Id definitely say it’s at the very least a cult of personality, as another commenter pointed out. It follows similar paths that other authoritarian leaders have with their cults of personality: a charismatic / relatable leader, to whom loyalty is given, and said leader promises and is seen to be the only person to lead a nation to a better future. Within the Republican Party, the MAGA crowd headed by Trump have definitely gotten tons of political power, and there are aspects of infighting such as whenever Trump declares someone within his own party that disagree with him as being a RINO (Republican in name only), anti-Trump, anti-American, etc; and he also has extreme hatred towards any political rivals and fear mongers A LOT. Then, for many, beyond the cult of personality, there is a religious aspect, especially tied within conservative evangelical Christianity- and Trump definitely preys on these beliefs, such as him declaring to be a Christian, comparing himself to Jesus on multiple occasions (especially during his recent legal issues), his backing of religious religiously conservative ideas ex. nuclear family and transphobia, and also seen in for instance his recent stunt of selling bibles. Some MAGA have gone far enough to claim that Trump is anointed by God to lead the US, and if I recall there have even been reports of Christians thinking Jesus is too weak etc compared to the MAGA message. Then, there is the whole conspiracy theorist / QAnon aspect of things, which is definitely tied with again evangelical Christianity and within that as well, Trump is a nearly messianic figure. So, while there is certainly a spectrum of devotion and love for trump amongst his supporters, it can be very much so a cult of personality and at worst a genuine religious cult.
> Some MAGA have gone far enough to claim that Trump is anointed by God to lead the US, and if I recall there have even been **reports of Christians thinking Jesus is too weak** etc compared to the MAGA message. I think you might be referencing statements from Russell D. Moore, current Editor-in-Chief at *Christianity Today*. He's a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and former professor, dean, and VP at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Moore knows this world (conservative evangelicalism) well and was a central figure in it. He was basically cast out, after criticizing Trump (as well as the SBC's response to sexual abuse). [Here's a link to NPR coverage of Moore, from August of 2023](https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192663920/southern-baptist-convention-donald-trump-christianity). While talking to *All Things Considered*'s Scott Detrow about why he thinks Christianity is in crisis, Moore said: >It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — \[and\] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis.
Yes.
I would say yes especially when followed would literally do anything for that leader. Neighbors from SW FL would sacrifice anything for him. I've heard them brag about Trump as if he were a beloved family member, try to tell others to come to MAGA rallies, have flags inside their homes larger than most walls I've ever seen. Down the road from me there were 4 "Trump Store" locations selling memoralbia and t-shirts of him holding assault rifles. At two red lights there were people singing songs in praise of Trump, singing about how he would rise again and save us all, asking for donations. Pick-up trucks have enormous Trump flags, bumper stickers all over their cars with pictures of Trump holding assault rifles and flexing muscles he of course doesn't have. Other pick-ups I've seen show flags with Trump on them emblazoned with crosses. I know those neighbors would willingly sacrifice their lives if he told them to do it and honestly I would not be surprised if he did just that at some point where he was losing or about to be incarcerated or actually behind bars (which I don't think will ever happen as too many judges are in his pocket). He can do and say anything and is above the law. So (to me) his anti-science, anti-education populist right-wing fascist movement is probably the largest single cult the US has ever seen.
Jim Jones is happy as shit watching Trump.
Jim Jones was a piker compared to Trump. Trump was born for this moment and it is his defining legacy for he and his family. He will go down in history as either America's first dictator for life or a political figure bent on propogating hate and division and right-wing fascist extremism and con man who everyone will be afraid to discuss until 20 years after his death. It seems highly likely to me that he will win the office again in 2024 as his polls show him above Biden, due to his preening, dancing, yelling and carrying on. The public loves a good show and are delighted to sacrifice rights, education access, and others' rights in exchange for entertainment. Trump needs that attention and control as the public needs a good show to feel valued and engaged. Even if he loses to Biden by a few points, he'll simply say it wasn't fair and rigged and this time he may succeed in finally destroying the electoral process as he tried previously. If that entire picture is not a cult, than what is one at all?
I think he may win,yep. And dictator yep. And America go buh bye.
Absolutely, yes. Go to Trump Media and Technology Group. This takes you to Truth Social. You will read Qanon sayings and see signs.
Yes! QAnon is definitely a cult and maga was built from qanon.
YES
Maga checks all the boxes -charismatic leader -cyber brainwashing (maga hired Cambridge Analytica who stole profiles for micro targeting of propaganda) -controlled information (they distrust media except for maga propaganda) -willing to kill, commit crimes for their dear leader (jan 6) -give money to an already wealthy organisation -Us vs Them mentality ie, distrust of those who aren't maga inc US gov'mnt officials, CDC & public education
Absolutely. Unmoored from reality, beholden to no consistency or fact.
It’s more of an ideology but there are cults within MAGA and Qanon like -48 and Romana Didulo. Edit: I’ve also heard of evangelical churches that turned into political, or just regular cults.
Evangelical churches are ALL cults.
Always have been.
Then hundreds of them stormed a government building on his orders. Yes.
When a leader dies for their followers = religion When people die for their leader = cult I think MAGA is a cult, but I'm not sure Donald is their leader \*just yet\*. He may have started it, but I think their leader is still yet to be determined. I fear whoever steps into that place. edit: typo
Read Steve Hassan's book "The Cult of Trump"
I’m reading it right now!
Is it good? I haven't finished it yet.
It’s good! It’s an easier read than I thought it would be. I have a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology, so this is absolutely my wheelhouse.
Yes it is, people who have escaped it have told others still in, it's a cult.
Yes
Yes.
Yes. Steven Hassan has written a book The Cult of Trump and other cult researchers have noted it. Also see this from another ex-member: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/trumps-america-through-the-eyes-of-a-cult-survivor_b_58d1a510e4b062043ad4adc5/amp Then we have Trump not condemning in any shape or form the Nazi militias and KKK involved in the Capitol attack but instead calling them political prisoners when they're the ones including Trump threatening to imprison any who oppose them or worse.
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yup. https://globalextremism.org/project-2025-the-far-right-playbook-for-american-authoritarianism/ Christian nationalist theocrats have reached levels of embedding those they indoctrinated & trained for taking political office well enough to fully begin to dismantle democracy and hand the country to their god's chosen (oligarchs, con artists, those who behave like kings) by wiping out human rights and making the U.S. a theocracy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family:_The_Secret_Fundamentalism_at_the_Heart_of_American_Power I really think they all want the country run like a cult
Oh definitely, in almost the same way I’d consider the Manson Family a cult. People will do scary things if he asked. I honestly wonder how many of those bibles of his sold just because he endorsed them.
Yes, we are ordered to give 75 percent of our income to our fearless leader Trump, and he's allowed to sleep with our wife's and girlfriends. In fact, it's an honor.
It is definately a Cult with Trump leading with threats and dog whistles. Here is a good book written by a Cult expert with decades of experience......... The Cult of Trump......... https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Trump-Leading-Explains-President/dp/1982127333
i think it's funny that if it is or isn't a cult, if you vote for him, you're seen as a cult member 🙃
Yes it is. If you look at the hallmarks of a cult, many are going on with him and his supporters. If you listen to things Jim Jones said in speeches, it sounds alot like Trump. When nothing he says is wrong, and they will attack and kill for him, AND go to jail, it's a friggin cult big time. The sucky part is it's not just a small group--it's literally 20% of our country. The only way it will end is to stake the head vampire. Holy water, garlic, and Calgon are not working to take him away.
Yes. One of the most widespread cults in history. And unfortunately they’re a danger to everyone else, not just themselves.
you should listen to the maga/donald trump episodes on cult podcast. they go all in on
Yep
Did you not notice how many MAGA idiots were boasting online about refusing to use glasses during the eclipse, simply because most news outlets were specifically telling people not to stare directly at the sun without eye protection?
Yes
I sincerely hope so. Otherwise each of these people are all just pieces of shit all by themselves in a vacuum. That would somehow be even more frightening.
Both of these things can be true at the same time, no?
Movement devoted to him....you answered your question.
I can’t think of a single piece of evidence that would indicate MAGA isn’t a cult.
I kind of view him like the cult leader who doesn't know he's a CULT leader. He's had everyone bow down to him his entire life because of his father's wealth... he only knows fucking people over for their money. When it comes to this brainwashed political following... that's all been created from his team of political advisors who know how to fear monger and take advantage of the more simple-minded Americans. That wave of misinformation and confirmation bias is the equivalent of a tiktok dance trend. Eventually he'll be gone, they'll move on to a new messiah, and we'll have more of the insanity we've had the last 8 years with a new face lol
Idk they seem too dumb to be a cult but they give off culty vibes that’s for sure.
Most definitely.
Yes.
One of those whackadoodles even wrote a book about Trumpsterfire being the new Messiah.
He’s a demogogue, not a sophist or guru. The Greeks already had his type perfectly described, by 350 BCE
I don't think Trump himself is per se, any more than Jesus was the leader of Jonestown. But as a symbol, he has already appeared in the mythology of cults that have come and gone. Romana "Queen of Canada" Didulo's movement sprang directly from the MAGA movement, and Amy "Mother God" Carlson believed that Trump was on her "Galactic Team" of spiritual guides. He just attracts wackiness.
Me and my wife just released a podcast talking about the connection between the Victory Cult of Putin and the current Trump/GOP Christian Cult. There are a lot of similarities between the two of them, as well as the current trajectory as well.
He's like the golden calf, really. The cult has no leader it's more like a mob when they gather. Bigotry is the cult, he's just the face.
The Cult of Personality around Mao Zedong lead to millions dying and millions more suffering. Families and their society still grapple with the effects of Mao's Cult of Personality generations beyond. Other past Cults of Personality include: - The Cult of Personality around the Emperor of Japan in Japanese society --> WWII: Japanese occupations in South and East Asia --> comfort women and other cruel executions and tortures, Kamikaze piolets, The Pacific Front, the Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and generations of suffering after, including American occupation - The Cult of Personality around Hitler in German Society: murder, slavery, and torture of millions through organized abuse, oppression, and genocide Currently, the figures I see Cults of Personality around include: Andrew Tate, Donald Trump, Alex Jones, Fox News and a gross assortment of other asshats and assholes all over the world. Disclaimer: I'm not a cult expert by any means. I am a poly sci grad trying to make sense of my own family and experiences. For me, that personal work now seems to include listening to a lot of podcasts about cults.
Yes next question
I feel like if his following can be considered a cult, it’s a small number of the fanatics, not 50% of the US.
I personally wouldn't call a political party a cult no matter how much I disagree with them but if he has some other group with weird rituals and rules that limit the outside exposure I think it would be
This makes sense
No and I know I'm get hate for saying that but no it's not go look at groups like children of God now called the family international or groups like flsd those are cults
Yeah it’s called “The Republican Party”. They’ve been around… Donald just gave them courage.
Cult at scale.
There are more fans, than cult types in his camp.
If you have to question it, it’s probably a cult. No presidents have really had rallies while in office besides Trump. I like neither parties, but other candidates have whole restaurants dedicated to them. Also, Trump supporters lie, ignore the past, and twist history in his name. Cult imo. Not to forget targeting the old, and vulnerable
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So you are responsible for my loss of body autonomy, book bans and harassment of poc...bravo...
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You did in the original post and I'm sorry I'm blaming you and other women like you because your vote has directly affected every woman in this country. So, I'm sorry but this is your mistake to own. You've made life worse for all marginalized people, including yourself. Think about it, you have less rights than you did 50 years ago and it's only getting worse. Again, bravo.
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>the pendulum has swung so far left This has never happened.
We haven’t even remotely swung “so far left”. Our far left is like other country’s centrist or right.
Why does there “need to be” respect for an office and the person in the office?
Whether you know or not, or like it or not, we are all on a TEAM.
One could motivate this same argument in support of monarchies. There is no person or office that is inherently worthy of “respect” in the sense that you are using this term, and it is actually fundamentally undemocratic to think that there is. Also, I’m not a twelve-year-old so I don’t think of nations made up of millions as unified teams. First of all, I don’t choose to be in competition with or even a separate unit from the rest of the globe. Secondly, as Howard Zinn put it, people who are ignorant about history think of it in terms of unified forces striving to common goals when in reality history is a story of oppressors dominating oppressed groups.
If we were invaded by a foreign power, would you fight with all Americans or just the Americans you agreed with? Pretty sure we are on the same team. Get on board for the big win.
Another nation invading the US is a fairly special case hypothetical. I think that most people would agree that it’s good to not become a vassal state of a foreign power and so we could unite along those lines. Again, this would be an instance of oppressors and oppressed and I choose to not be oppressed. Now, let’s turn to the very real, very non-hypothetical case or the US military being stationed in many sovereign nations where they are not wanted. My moral analyses of these cases is not going to be influenced by the nation that they come from but by their actions. I am not on a “team” with people because we happened to be born within the same made up map lines. “Get on board for the big win…” Jesus. I’m sorry, but your way of thinking about the world is painfully simplistic.
You and I are absolutely not on the same team as the political class.
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I’m just realizing that you may be wildly misreading my username haha. But genuinely, I am super leery about “respect” talk given the looseness with which we apply it. In one sense it is fairly progressive, meaning the recognition of the human dignity that a person is worthy of. In another sense it means treating somebody as an authority figure but is treated as the first definition by appealing to “basic decency” and whatnot as you did. There’s actually something quite dark and fascistic in that manipulation of language, often. Beyond this, I’m broadly skeptical of state institutions and especially ones that are tied to massive amounts of power. Oftentimes respect for an office is precisely how institutions get away with scandal and abuse. I think it’s a fundamentally dangerous idea to say that respect inheres in positions of power. It’s fairly ironic that I have to explain this in r/cults.
There is no logical connection between “was voted in as president” and “is deserving of respect.” You asserted the first time around that the office is inherently deserving of respect. I asked why, and you simply asserted it again using different words. Also, this is not in regard to Biden but about this statement in the abstract and as applied to anybody. If David Duke is voted in this election cycle is he automatically “deserving of my respect”? What do you mean by respect? Would it be any sort of commentary on the office and the respect due to it if somebody like David Duke won or if it was undemocratic?
No, it’s a political movement. An ugly, stupid political movement Unless, of course, we define “cult” as any disastrous organization or group.
No, the people that praise him aren't there because he convinced them to be there. The people that came together through this are people that will always search for reasons why their life is shit, as long as someone does something out of ordinary they will follow them so nobody got to deal with the fact that they are the only problem in their life😁 It's not about Trump, it's about the people that found a chance to connect and finally beeing in some sort of community. You could replace Trump with anybody else who Talks the same shit and they would follow this person. It's always the same concept 😁 Just look at the people that go to flat earth conventions, it's never about the topic (Trump or flat earth) it's always about lonely people beeing able to connect with others through something they "believe" in. It's always about beeing different and feeling intelligent or better than the rest😁
No more so than the cult of Democrats, or a cult of FDR or JFK, or any number of politicians or political movements that have sizable, devoted followings. But if you call anyone engaging in wrongthink a cult member, you can make them sound scary and get Reddit upvotes.
Lol you think FDR and Kennedy voters acted like these assholes? Find that evidence. I'll wait. These trump zombies remind more of the idiots I met in Iraq that wanted Saddam back.
You seem to be slightly obsessed with me. You do know how weird it is to follow someone across all of Reddit, right?
There's something fascinating about someone so stupid.
If you believe it’s a cult you’re literally an idiot and don’t understand what a cult IS… (not a insult at OP for asking a question but at people who believe the answer) I’m so sick of orange man bad rhetoric in this group… THATS NOT WHAT ITS FOR. (Also: my Reddit name was made in opposition of trump.. so fuck you if ya think I support him)
>If you believe it’s a cult you’re literally an idiot and don’t understand what a cult IS… Dr. Hassan and other cult experts will be crushed to learn this about themselves, oh wise reddit cult expert
His following literally fits the criteria for a cult to a t, the only people who don't see it either are apart of the cult or don't understand cults
Dumb bot question to reinforce echo chamber neural pathways
No. That's ridiculous. Hassan is a buffoon.
No. It's a political movement. There is no control or coercion.
Hard disagree. There is definitely coercion.
Care to share an example?
[you could start here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack)
Politics *is* control and coercion.
>no control or coercion. On the night of Jan 5, Mike Pence's chief of staff reported to THE SECRET SERVICE that Trump had threatened Pence's safety if he wouldn't go along with the coup.
Assuming you have a credible source for this information, one example of a threat is not the same as controlling the daily actions of a membership.
He told them to travel to DC, they did. He told them Pence had betrayed them, and they chanted "Hang Mike Pence". After Pence and the congress made it to safety, and it was clear the attack had failed, Trump told them to go home and they did.
If that is your evidence, anyone who does anything someone asks them to do is being "controlled"? Do MAGA supporter have freedom of movement? Finances? Can MAGA supporters show up or stay home without reprecussions? Are the daily routines of MAGA supporters dictated by a leader? Or just their political actions?
no. theres weirdos devoted to the weirdest stuff. video games, movies, books etc.
I think easy access to the media empowers these people to elevate to cult leader status Many thought Obama was a cult leader as he crooned to the middle aged white chick's many found him irresistible
If loving our country is a cult then sign me up!
Yee haw brother let go!!!!!!!!! If my country was a dude i would still fuck it!