“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
Carl Sagan
18 comments:
Yes, Carl Sagan was indeed quite the charlatan, maybe not quite as bad as HWA but for sure in that general neighborhood
YES! We see this in both religion and politics. To admit that we've been bamboozled presents an existential threat to our self-respect/ego. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that we have been wrong about something - to admit that we have been foolish - that our judgment is/was flawed. Even worse, to entertain the prospect that our decisions may have caused real harm to ourselves or others is a scary prospect. And, as your quote suggests, our personal investment in our delusion provides us with a powerful incentive to continue in that delusion - to avoid facing responsibility for allowing ourselves to be bamboozled.
Armstrongism was so weird, so out of step with reality, and such a deep, powerful, and pervasive modifier in anyone's life who ever had any involvement with it, that one is never totally rid if it. What must be realized is that even though one wished it had never happened, because as with rape you can never totally undo the damages, it would be far worse to still be practicing it, or worse, to have it be one's life-long practice with daily accumulation of continued damage.
I will say this. One of the positive effects the religion of HWA had on my life was that it made me empathetic towards the minorities who have been historically persecuted by our American society and system. Yes, our representative republic is the best system on planet earth, but like every other system, it does have its defects. Our (religious) minority status was quasi-voluntary for all but those born into it, however, it was exploitation bordering on slavery, our slavery being primarily mental. Sadly, there are some who will never come to full realization of this fact. That's the nature of scams. A good percentage of those scammed never realize that they were scammed.
Great post Dennis. It describes perfectly how this present evil WORLD operates! Any attempt to find truth is labeled rebellion, treason, anti-establishment, anti-science, anti-love, racism, or a conspiracy theory!
Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ for His warning! Matthew 24:4
I remember a friend a long time ago telling me on numerous occasions that something about the pastor and some of the things he was teaching, were not right. He could not put his finger on it, but never set out to prove it. That was 20 years ago. He is still there, I've since left. I've often wondered if his statement was for me, rather than him. Not that he meant it to be, but God did. I left that little HWA offshoot out there in Eugene, OR a long time ago. My friend who no longer speaks to me, is still there, and so is the same minister. Is he bamboozled? Yes, but of his own free will.
Double Standard in the Satanic Cults
The little sheeple are expected to be perfect. They are also expected to be willing to put up with satanic abuse.
Meanwhile, the leaders like Flurry and Pack get to lie and steal like the demoniacs that they really are. Nobody would ever expect them to behave properly and decently.
Great explanation of why I don’t pay attention to atheist pseudo ramblings. Nor those who believe their self defined academic understanding of the Bible is greater than what the book itself actually says. Big sounding theological vocabulary makes them feel so above the average “Armstrongite” (which in reality don’t exist.) But, to them it sounds so good to label sincere Bible students that way.
Mislabeling is another atheistic method of trying to look authoritative when they aren’t.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world............
The word bamboozle allegedly comes from a French word, literally meaning “to make a baboon out of someone.”
The word bamboozle first appeared in the language sometime around 1700.
This is RCG hand-in-glove. It explains a lot why people stay despite mountains of evidence that DCP is a fraud.
The more work one puts in to gain access to a group, the less likely they are to leave it, even if the group is shown to be ultimately not what the person expected. The ego kicks in and they'll do anything to minimize the group's harmfulness in their minds, or rationalize their membership in other ways. Well I'm only here because my family is... well, yes, the prophet was wrong, but they still believe the BIIIIIBLE... okay, yeah, I heard about what they did to the Joneses, but it must have been the Joneses fault somehow...
Bamboozled is one of Dan Hall's favorite words to use in LCG!!!
Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
Which is why people still read the Koran, the Talmud, the Bible, the New York Times and Washington Post.
Yes, Carl Sagan was indeed quite the charlatan ...
I would say he himself was bamboozled.
French? I thought that bam-BOOZLE-d came from Russian for "too much vodka."
"Yes, Carl Sagan was indeed quite the charlatan ...
I would say he himself was bamboozled."
Sound just like you. You bought into all of Armstrong's nonsense.
"Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception."
Deception has been the name of the game in Armstrongism since its early days, and still is.
Reality is that the ACOGS are all GLCOGs, Gas-lighted Churches of God. HWA was a veteran gas lighter before the term actually existed. He was also very skilled in 1984 style double-speak.
Ain't it a shame? We shoulda known the minute we heard them puttin' down the rock n roll! bigtime redflag! So uncool!
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