What is wrong in the USA?

[brisbane buddy]

Percapita the USA has more cults than any other country on earth. The USA appears to be a magnet to every warped perception that has ever been projected on Mother Earth.

Certainly there is a direct correlation between drug use (highest in the western world) which is known to distort human association patterns (perceptions) and the American Constitution, "Freedom of Religon," but there has to be something else.

I know that many will say money, and others will say the evils of religion, but I am hoping for serious answers, not other delusions.

When I read articles like this, it really makes me glad I am not a Yank and that Australia hasn't reached this level...... yet. And I sincerely hope it never does.

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Cheers.

[Conan]

The USA is probably the most evil place on the planet, and in the history of humanity.

[Diogenes]

Percapita the USA has more cults than any other country on earth. The USA appears to be a magnet to every warped perception that has ever been projected on Mother Earth.

That's only because the US has a more diverse immigrant base...the more cultures you have living together the more diverse the ideology.

Other Countries have immigrants...but not like the US and even Canada...we don't have thousands of years of in-breeding...the US was only founded in 1776, Canada in 1867...we are still very much immigrant Nations.

[Jack]

Freedoms granted by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as not having a state religion, also contribute to the number of cults in America.

[Sonart]

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The USA is probably the most evil place on the planet, and in the history of humanity.

Yeah, I know... those guys Hitler, Stalin and Mao were nothing compared to the U.S. Heck, it's America's fault they're not speaking Japanese in Australia today, damn Yanks.

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[commonsense]

Having a prosperous economy with lots of people with plenty of time on their hands combined with a generally accepting, open-minded populace fostered by education system.

Unfortunately, the positive aspects of this combined with the deliberate obfuscation and perversion of the tenets that made it all possible in the first place by those wanting to increase and perpetuate their political and economic power results in it coming full circle to complete ignorance.

Just look at the cult of Obama!

[SoylentGreen]

brisbane buddyPercapita the USA has more cults than any other country on earth.

Is this a fact or is it just a matter of perception?

Certainly there is a direct correlation between drug use (highest in the western world) which is known to distort human association patterns (perceptions) and the American Constitution, "Freedom of Religon," but there has to be something else.

What is that direct correlation? Are you suggesting the founding fathers lit up a huge joint before writing in, freedom of religion?

The Guardian

The revelations just keep on coming. Secretive and controlling Christian fundamentalist organisations fronting as mainstream services and businesses have hit the headlines of the Sydney dailies lately. Mercy Ministries promotes itself as a lifeline operated by qualified staff for young women battling drug addiction, eating disorders and mental illness. Instead, clients are locked down in suburban houses and "treated" with exorcisms, prayer and scripture sessions by Bible students who impose a bizarre disciplinary regime.

The Common Ground Café at the Royal Easter Show is actually one of a chain of businesses run by unpaid labour financing the Community Apostolic Order (aka the Twelve Tribes). That sect isolates its devotees on a property at Picton after having got them to sign over all their worldly goods. They show their love for their children with beatings with a stick kept above the door in every room.

One thing they seem to have in common, these cults that like to beat and kill children. They give christianity a bad name.

[commonsense]

I met those "Twelve Tribes" people and actually lived among them for two weeks on one occasion and a long weekend on a second occasion.
They were proselytizing at a Grateful Dead concert I attended alone because I was fighting with my wife.

I went to Sunday School as a kid, completed protestant "confirmation" at my mother's behest although I was not much of a "believer". My father was a devout atheist and only suggested I attend so I knew thoroughly what I was rejecting, and also probably felt that its "moral teachings" were worthwhile even if not attributed to any divine inspiration.

Well, my marriage was in turmoil (I wanted kids, she told me she lied during our courtship and never did--telling me she only married me to escape her mother who always reminded me of Mrs White (the religious fanatic) in the movie "Carrie" ) although I didnt go right away, I kept them in mind and a week or so later I decided to take these people up on their offer to "clear my head" and "recharge my spiritual batteries" at their compound in Vermont. My car broke down and I was "captive" there for over a week awaiting parts.

Of all the religious people I have ever known, they were by far the coolest and most sincere. They had a working farm, an honest social structure according to their interpretation of the new and old testaments, etc. They homeschooled their kids. They had taken over a beautiful but long deserted mill town by gradually buying up entire neighborhoods. Their members (they say) come to them with their assets as well as their debts that the "church" pays off so that they are free from obligations to the outside world, as the case may be.

They were gracious and giving, kind of hippyish, into natural foods and health. I bantered theology with them and like their views, but of course, would never "cop out" from society to join them. Their kids were not abused.

They were the least hipocritical of any religion I've ever seen.
I may visit one of their outposts in Argentina just for the experience and to practice my Spanish.

[Goyboy]

Before discussing cults, it would be helpful to first define the word cult.

Here is a WordNet definition:

cult - followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

[GeminiBrian]

I met those "Twelve Tribes" people and actually lived among them for two weeks on one occasion and a long weekend on a second occasion.
They were proselytizing at a Grateful Dead concert I attended alone because I was fighting with my wife.... etc.

It all sounds idyllic, commonsense (although I find it hard to picture you as a lentil-eating hippie, somehow) - but since they perceived you as a heterosexual guy, (presumably), you wouldn't have necessarily encountered the sort of lack of acceptance in their midst that I would expect to find as a gay guy.

I may be wrong, and these particular Christians aren't as narrowly judgemental as the Christians I always seem to encounter, but there would, I believe, still be an undercurrent of reproach, because being gay seems to threaten believers so much, hide it as they will.

I am not being paranoid, but such has always been my personal experience.

[brisbane buddy]

That's only because the US has a more diverse immigrant base...the more cultures you have living together the more diverse the ideology.

Other Countries have immigrants...but not like the US and even Canada...we don't have thousands of years of in-breeding...the US was only founded in 1776, Canada in 1867...we are still very much immigrant Nations.

Diogenes, that is a perception. Australia has just as many diverse cultural bases as the US, England and New Zealand a similar number.

Cheers.

[brisbane buddy]

Freedoms granted by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as not having a state religion, also contribute to the number of cults in America.

Yes they are factors which are clearly identified. I have a belief that the American education system is mixed up in this somehow, simply by answers some people give me, albeit I have never undertaken a full study on this.

Cheers.