With Trump, the right wing has become a cult
I got this list out of my files, you can also find it on various anti- and ex-cult websites and groups, let's apply it to Trump and today's Republican Party...
1. The Guru is always right.
2. You are always wrong.
3. No Exit.
4. No Graduates.
5. Cult-speak. ("Drain the swamp", "Lock her up"
6. Group-think, Suppression of Dissent, and Enforced Conformity in Thinking
7. Irrationality.
8. Suspension of disbelief.
9. Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations.
10. Personal attacks on critics. (Haha, yes)
11. Insistence that the group is THE ONLY WAY. (Trump is the only one who can fix it... Trump is the only one who can stop ISIS...)
12. The group and its members are special.
13. Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate group members. (I would say this is different here, guilt is used, but now it's about NOT feeling guilty, calling it "not being politically correct", everyone else feels guilty according to them)
14. Unquestionable Dogma, Sacred Science, and Infallible Ideology.
15. Indoctrination of members.
16. Appeals to "holy" or "wise" authorities. ("I have money, therefore I must be an expert on whatever I am talking about.)
17. Instant Community.
18. Instant Intimacy.
19. Surrender To The Group.
20. Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith.
21. Personal testimonies of earlier converts.
22. The group is self-absorbed.
23. Dual Purposes, Hidden Agendas, and Ulterior Motives.
24. Aggressive Recruiting.
25. Deceptive Recruiting.
26. No Humor.
27. You Can't Tell The Truth.
28. Cloning — You become a clone of the group leader or other elder group members.
29. You must change your beliefs to conform to the group's beliefs.
30. The End Justifies The Means.
31. Dishonesty, Deceit, Denial, Falsification, and Rewriting History.
32. Different Levels of Truth.
33. Newcomers can't think right.
34. The Group Implants Phobias.
35. The Group is Money-Grubbing.
36. Confession Sessions.
37. A System of Punishments and Rewards.
38. An Impossible Superhuman Model of Perfection.
39. Mentoring.
40. Intrusiveness.
41. Disturbed Guru, Mentally Ill Leader.
42. Disturbed Members, Mentally Ill Followers.
43. Create a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, guilt, and dependency.
44. Dispensed existence
45. Ideology Over Experience, Observation, and Logic
46. Keep them unaware that there is an agenda to change them
47. Thought-Stopping Language. Thought-terminating clichés and slogans. ("But they know how to make money" was the response when people complained that Trump is onboarding Goldman Sachs people after months of railing against them is one of these)
48. Mystical Manipulation
49. The guru or the group demands ultra-loyalty and total commitment.
50. Demands for Total Faith and Total Trust
51. Members Get No Respect. They Get Abused.
52. Inconsistency. Contradictory Messages
53. Hierarchical, Authoritarian Power Structure, and Social Castes
54. Front groups, masquerading recruiters, hidden promoters, and disguised propagandists
55. Belief equals truth
56. Use of double-binds
57. The group leader is not held accountable for his actions. (We will soon see this if you already can't find examples of this)
58. Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around.
59. The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru.
60. Dispensed truth and social definition of reality ("Alternative Facts"
61. The Guru Is Extra-Special.
62. Flexible, shifting morality
63. Separatism
64. Inability to tolerate criticism
65. A Charismatic Leader
66. Calls to Obliterate Self
67. Don't Trust Your Own Mind.
68. Don't Feel Your Own Feelings.
69. The group takes over the individual's decision-making process.
70. You Owe The Group.
71. We Have The Panacea.
72. Progressive Indoctrination and Progressive Commitments
73. Magical, Mystical, Unexplainable Workings
74. Trance-Inducing Practices
75. New Identity — Redefinition of Self — Revision of Personal History
76. Membership Rivalry
77. True Believers
78. Scapegoating and Excommunication
79. Promised Powers or Knowledge
80. It's a con. You don't get the promised goodies. (Trump University)
81. Hypocrisy
82. Lying. Denial of the truth. Reversal of reality. Rationalization and Denial. ("I never said that..."
83. Seeing Through Tinted Lenses
84. You can't make it without the group.
85. Enemy-making and Devaluing the Outsider (The Muslim, the refugee, the immigrant, the minority)
86. The group wants to own you.
87. Channelling or other occult, unchallengeable, sources of information.
88. They Make You Dependent On The Group.
89. Demands For Compliance With The Group
90. Newcomers Need Fixing.
91. Use of the Cognitive Dissonance Technique.
92. Grandiose existence. Bombastic, Grandiose Claims.
93. Black And White Thinking
94. The use of heavy-duty mind control and rapid conversion techniques.
95. Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who leaves the group.
96. Threats of bodily harm or death to someone who criticizes the group. (Death threats that follow after Trump goes against someone on Twitter)
97. Appropriation of all of the members' worldly wealth.
98. Making cult members work long hours for free.
99. Total immersion and total isolation.
100. Mass suicide.
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