Copeland's Corner: September 1, 2023

How to spot a cult

Sep 1, 2023

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Former President Donald Trump has been criminally indicted by a grand jury for the fourth time in five months. Despite this normally disqualifying situation (most politicians would be finished after just one criminal indictment), Trump has actually gone up in he polls for the Republican Presidential nomination.

So, to keep score here: Trump has been indicted four times on 91 criminal counts and is facing 717 years in prison if he’s convicted, he has been impeached twice, he has been found liable for sexual assault in the E. Jean Carroll case in Manhattan and formally declared by the judge to have raped the woman, he’s facing two more defamation suits from Carroll in the coming months, his business has been found to have committed fraud and was fined, and he’s facing state fraud charges regarding the operations of the Trump Organization in the State of New York. Despite what can best be described as a crime spree, every indictment and every criminal and civil charge against the man results in a bump in the polls. His support grows.

I’ve said many times that the MAGA crowd lacks common sense and critical thinking skills. More importantly, I often said that the movement is a cult, so I decided to do some research to see if I was right. Hanan Parvez, an MBA in psychology and a contributor to publications such as Forbes and Business Insider, recently wrote an interesting piece for psychmechanics.com on cultists, cult leaders and how to spot them. Parvez never mentions Donald Trump. He simply lays out factually what a cult is and who cult leaders are psychologically.

Here's what Parvez says. My comments are in italics.

“A cult leader and his followers are bound together by shared beliefs, practices and rituals that are considered deviant by the mainstream belief of systems of a society.”

The very bedrock of Trumpism is the tearing down of social, cultural, and political norms. From the way Trump conducted himself as president to the rhetoric at his campaign rallies, there are beliefs espoused that most of the mainstream find abhorrent.

“Cult leaders, unlike other leaders, eventually incur some kind of harm to their followers.”

From the foot soldiers doing jail time for the January 6th insurrection, to the plotters given years in prison this week, to the people who died of Covid because they listened to Trump instead of medical professionals, to the co-conspirators who have been indicted with Trump in Georgia to politicians like Jeff Sessions whose mere association with Trump cost him his career, MAGA followers have been harmed.

“A cult leader may genuinely believe what he believes and draw followers in with his convincing power. Other cult leaders aren’t so delusional. They’re manipulative and know full well they’re conning their followers.”

There is a mountain of evidence that Trump knew and acknowledged that he lost the 2020 election, yet he continues to spread the “Big Lie” to this day because his followers will send him money to fight the forces of evil that stole the election from him.

“…joining a cult and believing what the cult believes satisfies the basic human need of wanting to make sense of the world.”

MAGA followers don’t like or understand the changing world of multiculturalism and the advancement of equal rights and opportunities. They long for a “simpler time.” When asked in a poll when America was last “great,” most MAGA followers answered the 1950s—a time when the world was ruled by straight white men to the exclusion of everyone else.

“…joining a cult satisfies the basic need to belong to a community. People who see themselves as misfits in their current social environments are more likely to join deviant groups that better reflect who they are.”

MAGA is a movement of people who believe that whites are “under attack” and “being replaced” by Blacks, Latinos, Jews, and others. In the past, they had to keep such views to themselves or face social ostracism. With Trumpism, they can shout their bigotry from the mountaintops with like-minded people.

“Lastly, people find it much easier to be a follower than to think for themselves or become a leader.”

I have watched many interviews with MAGA participants at Trump rallies, GOP political events and the Iowa State Fair where Republicans go to get a leg up on the primaries. When asked about Trump’s legal issues they ALL say basically the same thing: “I don’t need to read, watch or investigate anything that doesn’t confirm what I already believe. Donald Trump is the one with the truth. He’s the only straight talker.”

Parvez then describes cult leaders.

“…you have to think of them as someone trying to boost their status in society by projecting dominance. Status and dominance go hand in hand.”

Trump has been chasing these goals his entire public life, going back to the days when he would call New York tabloids pretending to be his own publicist named “John Barron” and plant bogus stories about Trump’s exciting life.

“Projecting dominance and confidence has a magnetic effect. It makes people believe that you’re high status. People want to follow those who have confidence and firmly believe what they believe. People believe that by following a dominant alpha male, they’ll be able to raise their own status somehow. They’ll be able to better their lives and be better off than rival human groups.

The MAGA movement and Trumpism in a nutshell.

Parvez goes on to list the characteristics of cult leaders.

They’re narcissistic.
They’re charismatic.
They’re dominant.
They demand obedience.
They’re arrogant and boastful.
They’re sociopaths/psychopaths
They’re delusional.
They’re persuasive.
They’re authoritative and controlling.
They’re exploitative.
They’re underdogs. Remember, EVERYBODY is out to get Trump. HE’S the injured party in all of this.
They’re intolerant of criticism.
They’re visionaries. We can make America great again.

I think that Parvez nails it. Keep this information in mind this Thanksgiving when you have to sit across the table from your whack job uncle spouting conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines and “The Deep State.”