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name: "Hugh," a Star Trek series character who was "exit-counseled"
and set free from his collective.
race: The "Borg," a species which "assimilates" all other life forms and is seemingly unstoppable. All drones are controlled by a central mind.
favorite saying before abduction: "Resistance Is Futile."
Favorite saying after freedom: "My name is [pause] Hugh."
For some of us in the cult education field, our first response is to attempt to destroy the destructive group at all costs. We may have a vendetta against a particular group which has become a raison d’être for our lives, a cause that consumes our time and energies. This is understandable and valid in the case of one who has been seriously wronged by the collective. Yet the "vendetta approach" is more and more being seen as unwise and impractical for the following reasons:
Our ideas of destroying such a collective/cult may involve illegal activities on our part.
Someone may get hurt or killed.
It may feed the peculiar fuel that drives the group, meaning you have inadvertently made the situation worse!
Anger and hatred may consume us, leaving no room for joy or tolerance for others not like us. We are hardly better off than the ones we are trying to extricate. Their collective is controlling us, which is presumably what we had hated the most!
We are seemingly offering nothing attractive in their eyes. They do not want to be like you! and they certainly don’t want "your" Jesus or "your" Catholic Church! (What may be precious to us is loathsome in their eyes.) Imagine yourself back in the collective, and what would be your response if someone said that in two years you would be actively trying to lead people out of your group? A loathing feeling! The devotee similarly loathes you, if you have such an approach. Why waste your time? Overcome their barriers first, unless they are outright interested in a spiritual sharing. [It does sometimes happen!]
It may not be possible to destroy a destructive group due to its size and influence. If the cause seems overwhelming, one can always work for ways to curb the power and influence of the group. Accurate media attention, printed materials to educate (but please don’t foster the "us versus them" mentality), Internet access, and even recovery and self-help organizations can be most effective in this. While not compromising the reason we are fighting the collective, we can alter our goals, which will result in much greater gains in the end, both to us and the people we are trying to extricate. If we do it right, we will help many people along in life on the road to happiness and true spirituality. We will be happy, and they will see that happiness and confidence on our part, giving them hope that there is life after group.
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Terminology |
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Notes on the Collective |
