A PREQUEL TO BEYOND BELIEVING, MY MEMOIR OF STRUGGLING WITH FAITH, FINDING CLARITY, AND AVOIDING SELF-DESTRUCTION
Those who are unable to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.
~ Plato
Introduction
About a year ago, I was ready to die by my own hand. That was not an idle threat—I made several serious suicide attempts and obviously failed at them all.
Beyond Belief– the name of this novel– comes from my experience and observation that many respected, recognized, and organized religions practice many of the same attitudes and rules that cults do– first and foremost– denying their members the right or ability to question and debate their leaders, beliefs, practices, and history.
As psychologist and cult expert Dr. Steve Eichel explains on his website[1]: “Open debate and free speech are not only necessary for a democratic society, but they are also at the very root of scientific inquiry. Open debate and free speech are anathemas to cultic organizations...just as censorship, deception, and closed-mindedness are contrary to the true cult critic”.
According to Eichel and the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), the signs you or someone you know may be involved in a cult may include (italics mine):
● The group is focused on a living or otherwise revered leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment.
● Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
● Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, praying, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s) and/or cultures.
● The leadership sometimes dictates in great detail how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married, attend outside events, etc.; leaders may prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth).
● The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider society.
● The group's leader is not accountable to any authorities (as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, many Imams and Muslim Scholars, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations).