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I'm shifting any discussion on this topic to a new thread because I don't want to detract any further from the discussion that was already taking place in the thread where
this offshoot developed.
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teejai: I would not go as far as saying the behaviour of the mods there is particularly 'cult like' though i do not disagree that you offer up some valid points.
I'm okay with agreeing to disagree, although I also feel some of your comments only strengthen my assessment. Notably...
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four basic cult behaviors that influence our thinking:
1) compliance with a group: In this case, the group is composed of a specific mindset that you already identified:
the ''genetic'/medicine model of schizophrenia with most posters adhering to that model
2) dependence on a leader: Also identified within your response:
Many there are great supporters of Fuller Torrey to a point that if Fuller Torrey announced that standing on your head and singing the 'Ballad of the green berets ' was an effective treatment for schizophrenia they would most probably believe it.
3) avoiding dissent: My experience and the experiences of others, such as the individual identified as lunar_wire, are an excellent testament to this point. The last time I looked at that discussion, the members themselves we're getting into the fray. lunar_wire was accused of being a "scientologist" who should "get off you ***" and "stop posting all your crap". Apparently, these same actions have been taken against him before and he only returned because he's concerned about others not getting the opportunity to be exposed to anything other than the genetic/medical model.
4) devaluing the outsider: This was evident in the very first response the moderator made to me:
you don't actually read or understand. The implication is that I'm dumb; I'm stupid; I don't know how to read; I'm the new kid on the block and they're going to push me around. The problem was, within the
Them & Us model, I identified myself as a "Them" by my unwillingness to comply with their model and this has been confirmed by the local authority -- the moderator. From here on in, it's open season... on me.
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Within a healthy environment a range of differences are easily tolerated within a broad spectrum. Within an unhealthy environment however, the spectrum narrows considerably and any deviation
must be punished. The dissenter must be brought back under the control of the prevailing mindset for the mere fact that he/she is different could lead others away from the fold, and this would weaken the stability of the core group. For this reason, different is equated with threatening.
I highly recommend the
Them & Us article to everyone for this exact same dynamic unfolds in numerous relationships that are themselves, not necessarily cultlike. Such relationships always rely on a power imbalance as a means of either forcing compliance or punishing non-compliance. In the old days, town authorities might round up a posse while townsfolk would start to gather stones. Within the online environment, moderators-as-authorities use their tools of selective censorship, banning, and scapegoating, while those within the community begin to gather into a henpeck. There is a price to be paid for being different.
Does that mean that individuals who find the "genetic/medicine" model to be most relevant for them
shouldn't get together to swap notes, share stories, and offer support. Not all all. The problem here is that the site presents itself as a model of inclusiveness when it isn't -- it's highly exclusive. If it would advertise itself as the exclusive model it is it might not get as many members and not only would that reduce the potential membership, it might even go so far as to affect ad-generated revenue that the site might be dependant upon to function.
Meanwhile, how many individuals might wander in there who are a little bit different and find themselves bullied, scapegoated, hounded, silenced, and pushed around as a result? I think it's particularly reprehensible when these kind of actions take place in environments that are supposed to be "healing" -- those kind of environments tend to produce a lot of scars.
What's really interesting about this particular little scenario is that right away, I picked up on the theme that "scientologists" are the bad guys, because they're a cult. What the moderators seem blithely unaware of is that they have internalized this exact same dynamic and are possessed by it; their very behavior mirrors that which is the mainstay of a cult dynamic.
Not healthy. Nope. No way.
Meanwhile, I'll be back in a bit to address some of the other excellent points you've made in your post -- I suspect we're very much in agreement in a number of ways.