A note before we begin,,,
While CULT has a very defined definition, we will be using a more "popular" definition as NXIVM doesn't or hasn't been classified as such. At least not that I can tell. Just to refresh the working definition.
To borrow from Wiki, simply put,,, the term cult usually refers to a social group defined by its religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or its common interest in a particular personality, object or goal.
As Wiki notes,
The term itself is controversial and it has divergent definitions in both popular culture and academia and it also has been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. In the sociological classifications of religious movements, a cult is a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices, although this is often unclear. Other researchers present a less-organized picture of cults on the basis that cults arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. Groups said to be cults range in size from local groups with a few members to international organizations with millions.Many moons ago I read an article that talked of symptoms of cult membership rather than characteristics. Whiston, in attempting to move away from the "negative connotation" that the word cult entails (the bizarre nature of the group's belief), felt that by focusing on characteristics a more accurate picture would emerge. His focus is on the "behavioral, cognitive, and organizational impact the belief system has on the participants."
1] A belief in the core cult dogma that is independent of facts, logic, or even one’s own intuition. In other words an absolute and blind acceptance of any information provided by cult leaders and literature as undeniable fact.I think for our purposes, this definition may fit better and why some are hesitant to call NVXIM a cult. That point centers around this first criteria as some have noted that there is a benefit,
2] tendency to isolate from the rest of society, often justified by the suggestion that those outside of the faith are wicked, lost, etc.
3] A compulsive need to recruit others into the cult.
4] The deriving of most or all of one’s self esteem from the cult collective and the cult dogma. Often cult members will see themselves as worthless (because this is what they are taught) and will insist that only through the practice of the cult’s teachings can they serve the world in any worthwhile manner.
5] The complete loss of individuality, logic, and objectivity. The only reasons for continued existence becomes the serving of the cult’s agenda.
Since the late 1990s, an estimated 16,000 people have enrolled in courses offered by NxivmThere is a big BUT embedded in that idea,
(pronounced Nex-e-um), which it says are designed to bring about greater self-fulfillment
by eliminating psychological and emotional barriers. Most participants take some workshops,
like the group’s “Executive Success Programs,” and resume their lives.
But other people have become drawn more deeply into Nxivm, giving up careers, friends and
families to become followers of its leader, Keith Raniere, who is known within the group
as “Vanguard.”
_
Her traumatic break happened more than three years ago. It happened after Friedman, 41, packed her car and left her two daughters and husband in the spring of 2007 to move to Clifton Park to be closer to NXIVM, something many people from many parts of the United States and other countries have done. The organization is also known as Executive Success Programs. Friedman had been promoted after two years of wearing a white sash as a student to the next level, yellow sash, and was being trained to become an unpaid coach while continuing to pay the $182 monthly fees plus other assorted other costs for extra training, parenting classes and "intensives." http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ex-NXIVM-student-I-think-it-s-a-cult-645823.phpActually there are 2 BUTs if comparison is your thing,,, sounds an awful lot like $ci IMO.
WHAT IS NXIVM?
A pyramid selling organization [and by that I am not suggesting a pyramid MLM scheme as I do not know although Raneire has an alleged history] centered on the provision of classes and seminars that encourage clients to pursue a path of personal and professional development. https://www.thenation.com/article/how-strange-secretive-cult-company-waging-legal-war-against-journalists/
Founded in 1998 by Nancy Salzman and Keith Raniere as Executive Success Programs, the renamed NXIVM, according to its lawsuit, “conducts professional success training programs for executives and other individuals concerned with developing their skills and achieving their goals.” Its seminars “provide training in areas such as internal ethics, logical analysis and problem-solving skills, and are based primarily on a patent pending system, called Rational Inquiry.” A five-day course costs around $3,000; a 16-day course costs $7,500. http://www.nxivm.com/personal_1024.phpReminds me a bit of the Dale Carnegie course of old.
As TimesUnion notes,
Top officers and benefactors have denied that NXIVM is a cult, through their lawyer, Robert Crockett. He said the organization is built around a martial arts theme and is part of the human growth industry that includes the popular Tony Robbins. The philosophies, he said, mirror some found in the writings of Ayn Rand but with more of an altruistic component.According to The Nation,
“Keith Raniere, a multi-level marketing businessman turned self-improvement guru, has peddled himself as a spiritual being to followers, most of them women. A close-knit group of these women has tended to him, paid his bills and shuttled him around. Several have satisfied his sexual needs. And a few have left their families behind to wrap him in their affections.” While Odato noted that Raniere does not believe that NXIVM is “a cult,” he did cite one source comparing Raniere to David Koresh, the leader of the infamous Branch Davidian cult,,,"Uses methods created by Keith Raniere called "Rational Inquiry" technology. He has said his program is a practice based on how the mind handles data with a goal of ethical behavior.
Besides the Ethos program, NXIVM offers "intensives" of 16 days, costing about $7,500, where people work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; or for five days, costing about $2,700. VIP intensives can run as much as $10,000 for the five-day program. Also, one-on-one "EMs", or exploration of meaning, sessions are encouraged to concentrate on "issues" a person may be dealing with, such as relationships.Just to be clear, my information gathering concerning this group is just beginning and I have to solely rely on what others present. IOWs you are getting a very lopsided and potentially biased view. While I am concerned about many things read, I am attempting to focus on the cult like atmosphere. I am not going to delve into the who's who list of names that have been presented as associated nor the legal battles (a twisted web to be sure). But as a further comparison, they are a litigious group like $ci.
SO WHO OR WHAT IS NXIVM
Forbes has a fairly decent article that goes into some detail; a bit of bio as well.
Keith Raniere’s devoted followers say he is one of the smartest and most ethical people alive. They describe him as a soft-spoken, humble genius who can diagnose societal ills with remarkable clarity. They say his teachings as an inspirational executive coach can empower some of the most successful people in the world to attain ever higher levels of status and money. Why, his program can even cure ailments like diabetes and scoliosis.(See also:: http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Secrets-of-NXIVM-2880885.php and http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/From-RPI-to-NXIVM-Keith-Raniere-timeline-12287467.php)
,,,
Raniere, who has no M.B.A., has shrewdly cashed in on the high-profit fad of executive coaching, a booming multibillion-dollar market. It includes established firms and renowned individuals who promise–for a fee–to help people become better executives, improve productivity and navigate office politics,,, They teach executives how to change their“negative behaviors,” to find what drives them and to divine the right goals.
,,,
But some people see a darker and more manipulative side to Keith Raniere. Detractors say he runs a cult-like program aimed at breaking down his subjects psychologically, separating them from their families and inducting them into a bizarre world of messianic pretensions, idiosyncratic language and ritualistic practices.
,,,
His teachings are mysterious, filled with self-serving and impenetrable jargon about ethics and values, and defined by a blind-ambition ethos akin to that of the driven characters in an Ayn Rand novel. His shtick: Make your own self-interest paramount, don’t be motivated by what other people want and avoid “parasites” (his label for people who need help); only by doing this can you be true to yourself and truly “ethical.” The flip side, of course, is that this worldview discredits virtues like charity, teamwork and compassion–but maybe we just don’t get it.
As with any cult-like atmosphere there are allegations of sexual manipulations and power plays.
As I said, from what I have read, this group reminds me of $ci in many ways. There seems to be a lot of hinkiness by enablers, from government agencies to Raniere's protectors to women who should have been protecting other women. Although the gov't officials reaction may be changing as we shall see.
COMPARISON TO $CI
EMs = Auditing
"EMs" -- short for a NXIVM tool called exploration of meaning -- were one-on-one question-and-answer sessions in which a higher ranking NXIVM official queries a subordinate member, sometimes for a charge. The talks are supposed to help the less advanced student deal with a conflict. Friedman had received about 100. Her husband had found articles describing such sessions as manipulative.Hierarchy of sashes = OT levels
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ex-NXIVM-student-I-think-it-s-a-cult-645823.php
Wear patented colored sashes in dozens of different variations that signify rank in the organization.
Members are ranked and assigned colored sashes, adopting something like a martial arts system
“Parasites” are people who suffer, creating problems where none exist and craving attention. (Actually
taken from Atlas Shrugged by Rand)
“Suppressives” see good but want to destroy it. Thus, a person who criticizes Executive Success is showing suppressive behavior.
COMPARISON TO KORESH [Rick Ross]
Like the infamous leader of the Branch Davidians, Ross said, Raniere thinks he knows a way to reorder human existence, believes he is on the cutting edge of the new wave of the future, has followers who see him as a savior and uses his position of power to gain sexual favors from women. http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Secrets-of-NXIVM-2880885.php
While I don't want to delve to far into Raniere, it has been said,
He was concerned that mostly like that there was some kind of conspiracy within the government, that theWhile initially I was hesitant to state that NXVIM was a cult, I would now state without hesitancy it is such a beast. Through the various articles read, that sentiment is widely expressed:: Rick Ross, Cathleen Mann being two experts I am familiar with, and Joseph Simzhart being a third. All three have stated that NXVIM is a cult. Mann going so far as to consider Raniere dangerous, "He doesn't have anybody around him for checks and balances,,, His isolation makes him more unstable."
government was aware of him, was watching him, and looking for reasons to put him out of business or ... do something with him.
,,,
In that testimony, it was stated that] "Raniere and his group had two missions, a public one to spread a science-based philosophy to students of NXIVM who paid up to $10,000 a week; the other being what only Raniere's closest followers knew.
What was discussed was that Keith being an evolved human being before he came into this lifetime had made a commitment to some of the people in the inner group to help them become enlightened or help them evolve in this lifetime,,, Because of that it was important that we worked together as a group.
The legal aspect of whether NXIVM is a MLM pryamid scheme is a legal quagmire
- The pryamid structure comes with recruiting
- Several students have achieved a high enough rank to qualify for a 20% commission on their new recruits.
THE BRANDING
Each woman was told to undress and lie on a massage table, while three others restrained her legs and shoulders. According to one of them, their “master,” a top Nxivm official named Lauren Salzman, instructed them to say: “Master, please brand me, it would be an honor.”
A female doctor proceeded to use a cauterizing device to sear a two-inch-square symbol below each woman’s hip, a procedure that took 20 to 30 minutes. For hours, muffled screams and the smell of burning tissue filled the room.
“I wept the whole time,” Ms. Edmondson recalled. “I disassociated out of my body.”
,,,
It is not clear how many women were branded or which Nxivm officials were aware of the practice.
A copy of a text message Mr. Raniere sent to a female follower indicates that he knew women were being branded and that the symbol’s design incorporated his initials.
“Not initially intended as my initials but they rearranged it slightly for tribute,” Mr. Raniere wrote, (“if it were abraham lincolns or bill gates initials no one would care.)”
THE SISTERHOOD
Submission and obedience would be used as tools to achieve those goals, several women said. The sisterhood would comprise circles, each led by a “master” who would recruit six “slaves,” according to two women. In time, they would recruit slaves of their own.
“She made it sound like a bad-ass bitch boot camp,” Ms. Edmondson said.
,,,
A Nxivm follower, Soukaina Mehdaoui, said she reached out to Mr. Raniere after reading the post. Ms. Mehdaoui, 25, was a newcomer to Nxivm, but the two had grown close.
She said Mr. Raniere told her the secret sorority began after three women offered damaging collateral to seal lifetime vows of obedience to him.
While Ms. Mehdaoui had joined the sorority, the women in her circle were not branded. She was appalled.
“There are things I didn’t know that I didn’t sign up for, and I’m not even hearing about it from you,” she texted Mr. Raniere.
Mr. Raniere texted back about his initials and the brand.
THE STUDY
State medical regulators also declined to act on a complaint filed against another Nxivm-affilated physician, Brandon Porter. Dr. Porter, as part of an “experiment,” showed women graphically violent film clips while a brain-wave machine and video camera recorded their reactions, according to two women who took part.This article says it all, we now have a hint of Joseph Mengele,,,sigh!!
The women said they were not warned that some of the clips were violent, including footage of four women being murdered and dismembered.
TimesUnion offer another look at what transpired.
As I said, these are only allegation, very troubling allegation especially in regards to the branding and "the study". While no official investigation has been undertaken, that MAY be changing.
Caplan said that he was not familiar with this case beyond accounts from the media. But in general, he said, a physician may not conduct human experiments or studies without approval from outside committee or the hospital where they may be assigned, Caplan said.As I noted during BTTP, there was quite a bit of information to be digested. Our goal tonight was to present an overview and raise some red-flags. Although not relied upon for information per se, as I considered as too biased in one direction, Frank Parlato's site - The Frank Report - provides further information. As I learned after the fact, my assumption was most likely very wrong, Mr Parlato began writing concerning Raniere in 2015.
"The doctor can declare anything to be a study, (but) it doesn't mean it's a legitimate study," Caplan said. "If you're doing research... you can't use 'I'm doing research' as an excuse to abuse your patients."
A doctor's role in branding multiple women, even if they consented to it, could also fall outside the scope of appropriate conduct by a physician, Caplan said.
,,,
On Tuesday, state Health Department officials told the Times Union they could not comment on the agency's handling of the complaints filed by Edmondson and Kobelt. But the governor's office issued a statement Wednesday evening characterizing the allegations about the brandings and brain study as "disturbing."
"Counsel's office will be reviewing this matter to determine if applicable laws, regulations, and procedures were followed ... (and) will determine if further action is warranted," the statement from a spokesman for the governor said.
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/NOV12/bronfmanRaniere.html
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/NOV19/fbis.html
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/NOV27/bron.html
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/DEC03/NXIVM.html
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/DEC10/cult.html
- http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/DEC17/cult.html
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