Information Cults

Do you think there was a massive voter fraud in the 2020 election and Trump actually won? And election officials and secretaries of state and judges are all in on the plot? Well, if you do, you’re in a cult.

…

Do you think the Covid pandemic was basically a hoax? And that the lock-downs were imposed to destroy the economy and defeat Trump? Do you think we’re being told to wear masks just to get us to comply with arbitrary limits on our freedom? Well, then you’re in a cult.

— Sam Harris

I particularly liked the phrasing and apostrophe within this passage from Sam Harris’ podcast “#229 - A Few Thoughts for a New Year.” The passage provided me a useful conceptual tool for understanding what could compel a number of citizens to perform a storming of ~~Comet Ping Pong Pizza~~ the US Capitol: they were in a cult.

The enormity of the offense of raiding a US federal building (knowing the punishment doing so would occasion) proves the depth of the cult’s programming e.g. “the leader is so powerful those awful punishments won’t come due to me!”.

As a cult-motivated action:

“We will invade the temple of the corrupted government, the Leader will depose them and we, the faithful, will be delivered from judgement and oppression”

fits comfortably with a list of cult reasoning:

“The world is ending on the leader’s predicted date” (William Miller’s October 22, 1844 doomsday)
The plague can be dispelled by the leader’s incantation" (Kenneth Copeland’s “Wind of God” spell to end Covid)
Mass-suicide (and murder of any waverers) is the only way to escape our persecution" (Jonestown)
Mass-suicide is the only way to connect with Higher Beings" (Heaven’s Gate)

The storming reasoning above shares the same literary template as Christ’s storming of the temple. For many in this cult, no doubt, there was probably confirmation in that echo.

This week, the US Senate will consider the second articles of impeachment against former president, Donald Trump. The articles are staggeringly brief. They assert that:

The then-president violated his oath of defense of the Constitution, an impeachable offense
He violated his oath of defense by repeatedly asserting without evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent
He knew his actions could incite violence, death, etc.
His knowledge that the election was legitimate lead him to undertake the corrupt action of pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to “find” enough votes to tilt the election in Trump’s favor

All of these actions are easily available in video and audio recordings. And yet those who have been addled by the cult’s programming view this as baseless! To those who would protest, I would ask: “If this isn’t sufficient grounds to say ‘The Leader did a bad thing,’ what is?”