Do Religious Cults and "Secret Societies" Exist in SL?

[Garnet Psaltery]

14 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

The difference is that Sammy thinks the river is leading to a waterfall off the edge of the world. 

 

4 hours ago, Akane Nacht said:

flat earther spotted! 😜

Erm ... 

[Luna Bliss]

13 hours ago, LottaSinclair said:

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all your replies; I appreciate your discussion and some welcome elaboration on certain points. 

Yes, I would say the main idea behind this thread was to get a feel for the topic at hand, discuss and establish the nature of cults and "secret societies" in SL; how they exist, why they exist and if they exist at all, what they (may) look like and how they may operate. We also discussed what are considered cults, why they are considered cults and the definitions of a cult. Naturally there is some overlap between these, and there have been some good examples provided of "cults" in SL, to the point where most of us can say to some of these examples, "that's definitely a cult, wow." or "that's pretty darn cultish" without too much disagreement. I mentioned religious cults in particular because I felt like that was the most familiar, relevant and common example of cults. But political cults and roleplay cults are also relevant, as are cult-like elements of the social realm in SL and other groups, to a lesser extent.

I alluded to the permissibility of certain groups and activities in SL and the history, the nature and extent of the tolerance of controversial groups and communities because I felt that gave some idea of the above and sets a framework for the nature of cults, "cultish" activities, groups considered to have cult-like elements and other similar things in SL; the nature of the environment in which they exist can say some things about how and why these groups or communities exist, and I believe discussing why things are that way and how it came to be also in turn helps to explain why these groups exist, and how they exist. 

 

Great topic!  As society becomes more chaotic there will be more people looking for salvation and likely to follow groups claiming an easy fix.

*and so good to clarify all this a bit, in RL & SL.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Luna Bliss]

On 6/14/2022 at 12:46 PM, Ayashe Ninetails said:

*whispers* No, that's just a grift, shhhh.

Nah I'm kidding. Real talk - Zuck's not charismatic enough to be considered a cult leader. 😂

The Metaverse thing...well I'm thinking of it more as part of the Transhumanism phenomenon...which seems like a kind of cult to me. People who think we're going to replace the physical world, including the body as in AI, with a simulation, a kind of progression into nirvana not unlike religious fervor. While there's no official person to worship, as I understand some definitions of 'cult' there does not have to be a leader. And the coercion factor might be more indirect.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Ayashe Ninetails]

16 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

The Metaverse thing...well I'm thinking of it more as part of the Transhumanism phenomenon...which seems like a kind of cult to me. People who think we're going to replace the physical world, including the body as in AI, with a simulation, a kind of progression into nirvana not unlike religious fervor. While there's no official person to worship, as I understand some definitions of 'cult' there does not have to be a leader. And the coercion factor might be more indirect.

I think the opposite. I'd consider that way too broad to fit my definition. 

If there are actual groups and communities out there isolated from society and physically modding themselves and creating their own little utopias, then yeah, maybe they might be. But overall, I wouldn't consider it one.

[Luna Bliss]

8 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

34 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

The Metaverse thing...well I'm thinking of it more as part of the Transhumanism phenomenon...which seems like a kind of cult to me. People who think we're going to replace the physical world, including the body as in AI, with a simulation, a kind of progression into nirvana not unlike religious fervor. While there's no official person to worship, as I understand some definitions of 'cult' there does not have to be a leader. And the coercion factor might be more indirect.

I think the opposite. I'd consider that way too broad to fit my definition. 

If there are actual groups and communities out there isolated from society and physically modding themselves and creating their own little utopias, then yeah, maybe they might be. But overall, I wouldn't consider it one.

Ahhh, so your definition rests on how broad a group is and whether they meet in specific spots? What about something like the Catholic Church? Or any religion, really.

[Luna Bliss]

Yikes!  (but I think we don't really have to worry as we're getting ready to have very low living standards as the ice caps melt, and so no resources for these lofty visions):

Transhumansim: A Religion For Postmodern Times

"We are witnessing the birth of a new faith. It is not a theistic religion. Indeed, unlike Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, it replaces a personal relationship with a transcendent God in the context of a body of believers with a fervent and radically individualistic embrace of naked materialistic personal recreation.

Moreover, in contrast to the orthodox Christian, Judaic, and Islamic certainty that human beings are made up of both material body and immaterial soul – and that both matter – adherents of the new faith understand that we have a body, but what really counts is mind, which is ultimately reducible to mere chemical and electrical exchanges. Indeed, contrary to Christianity’s view of an existing Heaven or, say, Buddhism’s conception of the world as illusion, the new faith insists that the physical is all that has been, is, or ever will be.

Such thinking leads to nihilism. That’s where the new religion leaves past materialistic philosophies behind, by offering adherents hope. Where traditional theism promises personal salvation, the new faith offers the prospect of rescue via radical life-extension attained by technological applications – a postmodern twist, if you will, on faith’s promise of eternal life. This new religion is known as “transhumanism, ” and it is all the rage among the Silicon Valley nouveau riche, university philosophers, and among bioethicists and futurists seeking the comforts and benefits of faith without the concomitant responsibilities of following dogma, asking for forgiveness, or atoning for sin – a foreign concept to transhumanists. Truly, transhumanism is a religion for our postmodern times.
.....
This is where transhumanism becomes truly eschatological. Transhumanist prophets anticipate a coming neo-salvific event known as the “Singularity” – a point in human history when the crescendo of scientific advances become unstoppable, enabling transhumanists to recreate themselves in their own image. Want to have the eyesight of a hawk? Edit in a few genes. Want to raise your IQ? Try a brain implant. Want to look like a walrus? Well, why not? Different strokes for different folks, don’t you know?

Most importantly, in the post-Singularity world, death itself will be defeated. Perhaps, we will repeatedly renew our bodies through cloned organ replacements or have our heads cryogenically frozen to allow eventual surgical attachment to a different body. However, transhumanists’ greatest hope is to eternally save their minds (again, as opposed to souls) via personal uploading into computer programs. Yes, transhumanists expect to ultimately live without end in cyberspace, crafting their own virtual realities, or perhaps, merging their consciousnesses with others’ to experience multi-beinghood".

https://www.acton.org/religion-liberty/volume-28-number-4/transhumanism-religion-postmodern-times

[Ayashe Ninetails]

9 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Ahhh, so your definition rests on how broad a group is and whether they meet in specific spots?

Not exactly that. Transhumanism on its own is an ideology or philosophy, really. Many people write about it, read about it, discuss it, debate it, argue the ethics surrounding it, etc. It's a topic (an interesting one, but that's besides the point!). Like many ideas, people are conflicted and go back and forth on it.

For me, a cult in general is a bit different. I see those as groups (so in this case, a group of Transhumanists) that adhere to whatever chosen ideology for whatever purpose. For something to qualify in my eyes as a cult (in the negative sense), there'd need to be some coercion, influence, control, manipulation, etc. to keep members in line. And isolation is one way that's accomplished (hence why I said community living off on their own). If you've ever seen interviews with former cult members, sometimes they mention being gradually pulled away from friends/family.

Now yeah, there are online groups that might fall into the cult definition despite not being clustered together on a commune somewhere, but isolation and manipulation could still apply. They tend to have their own websites, chat channels, Discord servers, forums, etc. that are generally not the most welcome to outsiders.

 

17 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

What about something like the Catholic Church? Or any religion, really.

I personally wouldn't call religion or regular practitioners a cult. However, there are religious cults.

[Ceka Cianci]

4 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I personally wouldn't call religion or regular practitioners a cult. However, there are religious cults.

I dent kell them anythen when theh trey teh recret meh..

eh jest scrrem lek em crezy tell theh ren eweh

Lek thess

weks lek eh chem

[Akane Nacht]

10 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Erm ... 

I am DnD cult. I see Dragon turtle, Dire Elephants and Tenser's floating disk.