Cults, Cats, and McDojos

Last Redoubt -

Cataline draws some interesting parallels between how both the move Cats, and McDojos, share culthood.

Actually he’s right, this is how a cult does operate. And it’s pretty much what the character of Victoria went through.

  1. Invitation to a non-threatening event.

  2. Love Bombing.

  3. Dangling “the Prize” in front of you

  4. Extracting an Agreement that you want “the Prize”.

  5. Shutting down dissent by threatening to remove the prize.

  6. Establishment of Guilt

  7. Carrot/Stick

  8. Control of Identity

Of course, most organizations that are recruiting do something similar to one degree or another. But most aren’t trying to create a delusion bubble and keep people locked inside of it.

Part of what makes a cult work is the recruit himself.

First, find an Omega. Omegas are by their nature extremely isolated. They are the kid who no one sits next to at the cafeteria. They are the one who has no friends or his few friends have abandoned him once it was clear that he is the designated Untouchable. An Omega is the chicken at the bottom of the pecking order.

And a cult offers the Omega a way out of that pecking order. I admit, I shudder to think how vulnerable I was in my Omega days. However, I didn’t end up in the Moonies or the Hari Krishnas. Nope, I ended up in a McDojo.

I have not had the misfortune of getting sucked in by a McDojo, but have seenother similar sorts try to use me and others in that manner.

Oh, another sign of a McDojo - pandering to women about how they can beat up any guy.