Author Igor Bukker
02.10.2020 17:53 (Updated: 14.10.2020 16:03)
Society
Why has a huge – and this is not an exaggeration – number of different sects “proliferated” in modern society? Why are totalitarian sects and sectarianism in general dangerous?
Pravda.Ru presenter Igor Bukreev talked about this with psychiatrist Sergei Nurislamov.
— A sect is an element of some kind of soul salvation. That is, those who join a sect find there a certain outlet for the soul - such a play on words.
These are mainly people who have psychological problems. And it doesn’t matter what kind: be it personal or with adaptation to society. The main thing is that the state of dissatisfaction is present.
People who have some kind of addiction also fall well into the clutches of sectarians. This is a certain type of character, which is most often aimed at suppressing their own aspirations and desires. These individuals do not have willpower. They have no goal. Therefore, it is enough to simply knock them somewhere aside, convince them that everything can be changed, corrected by some external forces.
A sect is always at the stage of involvement - it is soft power. Initially, these are still ways to find adherents in a non-violent way...
How to understand that a loved one has ended up in a sect
— Sergey, how can you understand that a person has joined a sect? For example, what could be a signal that a loved one has gotten into trouble online?
- Of course, when your loved one falls into such a structure, it is usually noticeable. If you care, of course.
- a convert often becomes thoughtful - he tries to rethink new knowledge and fit it into his worldview;
- someone begins to talk a lot and enthusiastically or start a conversation about things that were not of interest to them before;
- someone invites you to meet “wonderful people”;
- someone, on the contrary, becomes secretive;
- someone withdraws into himself and tries to reduce communication to a minimum;
- musical preferences change;
- some are conducting some kind of negotiations or correspondence.
But everyone usually goes to some kind of meeting, from which they return a little enchanted, as if not from this world, often with empty eyes.
I once attended a sermon in a sect. Since my professional interest brought me there, I carefully observed people. So, in all those present, I saw exactly the same degree of fascination, when all eyes were turned to the stage, to the lecturer. But critical consciousness was completely absent - everything that the “guru” said was not questioned.
In this regard, of course, it must be said that if you see your relative who began to pronounce some statements to you as the ultimate truth:
- he doesn't think about them,
- he is not critical of them,
- He had never made such statements before.
And despite all this, he defends with foam at the mouth, does not allow any doubts, is uncritical, then there are two options:
- or is it a philosophical intoxication associated with schizophrenia,
- or he fell under the influence of someone and some flow of information.
While the “official” religions are slowly unfolding in cyberspace, small and exotic cults are already conducting their online activities with all their might. And first of all – such sects, whose activities can cause serious harm to people.
The traditional meaning of the word “sect” is “a religious community that has broken away from the dominant religious movement.” Although in practice this is the name given to non-traditional cults, including those that “emerged from scratch,” or religious groups of a socially dangerous nature (we will consider the word “sect” precisely in the light of the latter interpretation). The danger is that the internal rules, spiritual and moral norms to which sect members are subject may not only run counter to those generally accepted in society, but also be militant towards the latter. In the so-called “totalitarian” sects, where it is categorically forbidden to reason and one must only carry out the orders of the “leader,” they often move from words to deeds - fanatics are sent to commit acts of vandalism, fight or even kill “opponents of the faith,” and, at a minimum, to spread propaganda or stand at rallies. Within a sect, the rules of behavior can be even more dangerous - some practice “slump sin” or other sexual perversions, some practice drug addiction, and others refuse medical care or, say, blood transfusions (which can lead to death much faster than science allows). Even long fasts or hours of prayer, often characteristic of non-traditional cults, can be harmful to the health of individuals.
Almost always, when the personalities of the leaders of such sects were examined, the question arose about their mental normality. Totalitarian sects, as a rule, are formed by people with a painful thirst for power and submission, very often unsuccessful in “real” life. Often this thirst rests on an unstable foundation of scraps of religious dogma, philosophical teachings and political slogans. However, sometimes sects are headed by people who are completely sane and clearly know their goal - for example, if, under the guise of a sect, completely “earthly” plans are being realized. Sales of drugs, for example. Or – more often – “a relatively honest money grab.” The fact is that a “sect” is often founded with a fraudulent purpose - to extract more money, property, real estate from adherents “for the good of faith” and turn all this to their advantage. When you become as naked as a falcon, you are no longer of interest to the sect - which means you have to steal...
If in real life it is quite difficult for a socially withdrawn person to establish contact with sects (the times of screaming posters on poles are a thing of the past), then on the Internet this is much easier - getting to the website of such an organization is not difficult. The user does not even need to purposefully search for a dangerous site; he can end up on it through a random link or pop-up window. Having become interested in seemingly innocent articles, he will fall into the cycle of “religious” deception and, as a result, may seriously suffer in the above manner.
As practice shows, not only a mentally weak, gullible or religious person is capable of becoming a victim of a sect, but also the most ordinary Internet user surfing the sites. That is why it is necessary to be aware of all the dangers that live on the Runet.
There are a lot of religious information resources on the Internet. In order to be convinced of the variety of content offered, just go to the “religion” section of any search resource. Of course, sites of sects still do not occupy the first places in the ratings - the leaders in religious topics are the sites of “traditional” and much more popular religions - Orthodoxy and Islam (in RuNet). However, for a sectarian resource, even a place in the first hundred of the ratings implies a huge audience reach.
According to Yandex data, approximately 13,830 searches for the word “sect” are carried out per month. The most popular answers to this query are Reiki, Roerichianism, Scientology, Osho and Hare Krishnas. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are not deprived of attention. It is worth taking into account that not all sects call themselves openly. Many lure users with harmless sites about “psychological training,” so that the victim often does not suspect until the very end that he has ended up with sectarians. After all, many people are interested in various things like yoga, cosmoenergetics and meditation. The psychocults of Norbekov and Sinelnikov are no less popular on the Internet. One can only assume that such organizations earn a lot of money by conducting various “spiritual courses” and “self-improvement programs.” Sites dedicated to magic, fortune telling, witchcraft, the evil eye and casting spells are of great interest. Children and teenagers come to them in search of information about their favorite fantasy series, but they receive information not about cartoon witches, but about the rituals of deadly curses and summoning spirits. So the child has to not watch TV, but look for “magic” ingredients for spells like the dead man’s soap.
Oddly enough, the “religious Runet” also includes a hunt for popular domains. Let's say the domain names bog.ru and god.ru lead to a site about the Indian creator of a separate cult, Sai Baba. The enterprising leaders of the sect managed to register these high-profile domain names for themselves in time, thereby securing themselves a share of the “random” audience for many years. The domain evangelie.ru is more “lucky” - it belongs to the religious movement of the same name, albeit unconventional for Russia. But the Satanists managed to achieve “complete agreement” - and on their fairly popular website they discuss their views without “ideological censorship.” Any user, even a child, can familiarize themselves with their discussions about sacrifices and burning churches. There are also funny sites on the Internet - for example, the “Oris page” invites users to familiarize themselves with materials received by Oris via a telepathic communication channel.
But most of these resources still belong to the “unusual” section. It is recommended to open the “dangerous” section from the Internet resources of Satanists. They do not conduct aggressive propaganda; their resources are rather aimed at internal communication and are often similar to “suicide clubs.” However, of course, some of the information is aimed at attracting new adherents to the ranks - mainly people with a depressive worldview. For old adherents are sometimes caught by law enforcement agencies after vandalism in cemeteries, and the gap must be filled. The “Hit Parade” is continued by Scientologists, a trend founded by the “multi-stationist” L. Ron Hubbard (by the way, a pretty good science fiction writer). In a number of countries, the activities of Scientologists as a totalitarian sect have already been banned, and some Hollywood actors have to answer about their connections with this organization. It is Scientologists who are “unsurpassed masters of disguising themselves” as various secular psychological centers, say, for the study of “Dianetics.” As a “religion of science,” Scientology makes very good use of the Internet and all its capabilities.
There is also such a “nice” movement as “Aum Senrike”, whose leader in Japan was sentenced to hanging for a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. Feeling a certain “religious freedom” in Russia, the leaders of the sect tried to actively recruit supporters in our country, also using Internet resources for this. However, the court did not share the enthusiasm, and our legal attitude towards this sect is now the same as in Japan.
The list can be continued indefinitely - including, say, Islamic extremists, whose activities sometimes turn into terrorism, those who like to sit in underground caves like the famous Pyotr Kuznetsov or the ancient “Khlysty”, to which Grishka Rasputin once belonged. The Internet is as rich in examples as the human imagination. Brainwashing is especially dangerous for children and adolescents whose value system is just being formed. Since the “boring bearded god” most often does not interest this category, their path most often leads to original and dynamic sects, often similar to hooligan groups, but at the same time mystical. Satanists are just one of the popular trends among young people, and far from the only one. For those who are not formally ready to break with, say, Christ, there is something formally Christian - say, 15 years ago there was such an “Invasion Church.”
But the child is a member of such organizations relatively consciously and he is already a relatively “adult” (usually from 14 years old). It is worse when a child is involved in the activities of a sect by his relatives against his will. In addition to artificial and forced brainwashing, the child is often deprived of the opportunity to receive a normal education, and sometimes medical care - there are known cases of relatives refusing to have doctors give a child a blood transfusion “for religious reasons,” and the court had to intervene. If he had time, of course. After all, the right to life is the highest human right, which even relatives have no right to take away.
Despite all the examples given, there are many more anti-sectarian sites on the Internet. It is enough to enter the name of the sect in any search engine - in response we will receive many links to resources that are actively fighting it. For example, antiSECT, “Information and Consultation Center named after St. Irenaeus of Lyons” or a site of polemics with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Such resources, as a rule, highlight the weakness of the enticing propaganda of sectarians, publish information about real affairs in sects and the consequences of membership in such organizations using examples of specific people. Often such resources help a person refrain from taking the last step and, at worst, look for safer religious like-minded people.
In any case, you need to be more careful when reading unknown content, do not allow yourself to be misled and always maintain a cool head. After all, the Internet is just a tool, not a means to an end.
Can we help?
Here the actions are as if a carcinogenic tumor began to mature in your body. What action would you then take in such a situation? You won’t go to the kitchen, take a knife, slam some vodka to numb it and remove it from your body? No.
And in this situation, even more so, you should not get emotional at this “stupefied” person: scream, say that he is wrong, that “who told you all this nonsense?!”
It is important to remember: everyone who told him this is an enemy! In such a situation, you will simply pit him against you.
You can't change the way he thinks. You need to understand where this comes from. You need to warm up to him, become, in fact, a psychologist for this person, and in some cases even an independent doctor.
Offer him support in all his endeavors, but at some point you will need to turn to a specialist. Until his “beginnings” move into the material phase, when he starts selling an apartment/car/something else/registering it to someone else/donating it as a gift.
Because after this the sect with its sectarian self-knowledge swallows it.
