The only thing scarier than people like Paul Mackenzie Nthege is that there are people out there who are not only willing to listen to his crap, but are equally willing to do anything he tells them to do, completely disregarding their own common sense and judgment. Like Donald Trump, Nthege probably just LOVES the poorly educated, of which there are likely plenty to find in and around Kenya.
The Kenyan government appears to be taking action on this twit. Personally, I vote that they put him in jail and throw away the key.
Starving to death is a terrible, tortuous way to go. It’s very difficult to do it to yourself intentionally if you have access to food. The children were killed for certain since they couldn’t decide this for themselves and had to have their food kept from them. But I would bet there was more influence than just a charismatic leader convincing the adults to die this way. It is possible that someone physically kept the adults in a state where they couldn’t break down and eat when it got to be too much. I doubt this guy did this on his own.
We needn't limit the discussion to "cults." Over the course of history, 100s of millions of people have been sacrificed to the god of war. Not just the Crusades: clergy men bless the troops in every war.
I'd guess the chances of him getting convicted of wrongdoing in the case of adult followers truly starving themselves to death is low.
But hiding the dead bodies. Killing people who decide to leave the cult.. Starving children he or his group are legally responsible for...hopefully there will be no problem getting him on those things.
There is no horror that cannot be, and has not been, justified in the name of religion. The herd instinct may have been what allowed our distant ancestors to survive, but it is also something that can be horribly destructive in the modern age.
It finally became official yesterday. Gov. Inslee of my state signed Bill 1240 into law. The law bans the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale or offer to sell AR-15s or any other assault rifles. It went into effect immediately.
It is, of course, being fought by the gunnies who decided that assault rifles are their best defense in home protection. Exsqueeze me? You don't need a weapon of war to defend yourself. Or to hunt. Assault rifles are good for only one thing: mass destruction.
And so the Good News International Church went down in history beside Heaven's Gate and Jonestown- and it will happen again, and again, because nothing was learned.
Faith is believing something in the absence of supporting evidence, or even in the presence of refuting evidence. It is a seductive and addictive poison of the mind.
It can be used to manipulate people in small steps: Once you get someone to believe a pleasant thing without any evidence, then you can get them to believe innocuous, neutral things. Then, slowly, you can get them to believe increasingly unpleasant, ghastly, and even monstrous things. Along with their beliefs, you can also get them to DO pleasant, then innocuous, neutral, unpleasant, ghastly, and even monstrous things. Having that kind of power over people is ITS OWN seductive and addictive poison of the mind.
Skepticism is a rare and precious virtue. It's not the stubborn refusal to believe; it's the WILLINGNESS to withhold belief until acceptable evidence is presented. Even then, accepting the evidence should always be conditional, always subject to review. Unfortunately, skepticism is not seductive and addictive, it's challenging at the very least, and it can cause disappointment. But it can mean the difference between life and death.
Practice skepticism diligently, like a personal discipline. Make it one of your primary values, like compassion, truthfulness, fairness, and integrity.
Horrific, truly. I don’t even have words. It’s too bad so many Americans will wring their hands over this and then go attend a church that is only marginally better.
The Kenyan starvation cult case is tragic. It's also all too familiar.
The only thing scarier than people like Paul Mackenzie Nthege is that there are people out there who are not only willing to listen to his crap, but are equally willing to do anything he tells them to do, completely disregarding their own common sense and judgment. Like Donald Trump, Nthege probably just LOVES the poorly educated, of which there are likely plenty to find in and around Kenya.
The Kenyan government appears to be taking action on this twit. Personally, I vote that they put him in jail and throw away the key.
Good News International Church
I'm struggling to find the good news here.
Starving to death is a terrible, tortuous way to go. It’s very difficult to do it to yourself intentionally if you have access to food. The children were killed for certain since they couldn’t decide this for themselves and had to have their food kept from them. But I would bet there was more influence than just a charismatic leader convincing the adults to die this way. It is possible that someone physically kept the adults in a state where they couldn’t break down and eat when it got to be too much. I doubt this guy did this on his own.
No true christians. Jesus would never tell people to give up their earthly goods and follow him.
Well, except that one time, but other than that...
We needn't limit the discussion to "cults." Over the course of history, 100s of millions of people have been sacrificed to the god of war. Not just the Crusades: clergy men bless the troops in every war.
I'd guess the chances of him getting convicted of wrongdoing in the case of adult followers truly starving themselves to death is low.
But hiding the dead bodies. Killing people who decide to leave the cult.. Starving children he or his group are legally responsible for...hopefully there will be no problem getting him on those things.
There is no horror that cannot be, and has not been, justified in the name of religion. The herd instinct may have been what allowed our distant ancestors to survive, but it is also something that can be horribly destructive in the modern age.
He is a repeated offender and yet was able to be released upon paying bond. I hope this time Kenyan legal system will learn this lesson.
OT
It finally became official yesterday. Gov. Inslee of my state signed Bill 1240 into law. The law bans the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale or offer to sell AR-15s or any other assault rifles. It went into effect immediately.
It is, of course, being fought by the gunnies who decided that assault rifles are their best defense in home protection. Exsqueeze me? You don't need a weapon of war to defend yourself. Or to hunt. Assault rifles are good for only one thing: mass destruction.
Let the ammosexuals fight. They'll lose.
You have to be a complete fool to think you'll meet Jesus if you starve yourself to death. Everyone knows the way to do it is to handle rattlesnakes.
And so the Good News International Church went down in history beside Heaven's Gate and Jonestown- and it will happen again, and again, because nothing was learned.
OT - The Mouse Strikes Back
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢, 𝐅𝐋 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 '𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧'
https://patch.com/florida/orlando/disney-sues-desantis-florida-over-government-retaliation-report
"But what harm can religious belief cause?"
To any religious slug who still has this notion, read this article and disabuse yourself of it.
Faith is believing something in the absence of supporting evidence, or even in the presence of refuting evidence. It is a seductive and addictive poison of the mind.
It can be used to manipulate people in small steps: Once you get someone to believe a pleasant thing without any evidence, then you can get them to believe innocuous, neutral things. Then, slowly, you can get them to believe increasingly unpleasant, ghastly, and even monstrous things. Along with their beliefs, you can also get them to DO pleasant, then innocuous, neutral, unpleasant, ghastly, and even monstrous things. Having that kind of power over people is ITS OWN seductive and addictive poison of the mind.
Skepticism is a rare and precious virtue. It's not the stubborn refusal to believe; it's the WILLINGNESS to withhold belief until acceptable evidence is presented. Even then, accepting the evidence should always be conditional, always subject to review. Unfortunately, skepticism is not seductive and addictive, it's challenging at the very least, and it can cause disappointment. But it can mean the difference between life and death.
Practice skepticism diligently, like a personal discipline. Make it one of your primary values, like compassion, truthfulness, fairness, and integrity.
Horrific, truly. I don’t even have words. It’s too bad so many Americans will wring their hands over this and then go attend a church that is only marginally better.
OT - So now they're going after churches in order to stop drag queens
𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬
https://news.yahoo.com/man-charged-trying-burn-down-191432513.html