I'm a natural skeptic because probability is always on my mind. Should I believe that out of 6.5 billion people in this world, this little niche representing less than 1/4 of 1% of that figure has found the answer that the rest of the world hasn't?
I spent some time on the liberating minds forum after reading the feedback page on it. Liberating minds' devotion to FDR is a petty marketing ploy to draw attention. If he were a new rapper, he would be attacking 50 cent to sell records.
"Hey Conrad, I'm sorry that Molyneux said some nasty things about you and portrayed you as a sort of simpering troll. You're a smart guy and you understand philosophy and economics far better than most people I've encountered. Molyneux is hardly more than a trivialized demagogue who feeds on children."
Now, I know it gets touchy when someone says something mean about someone you admire, respect, love, etc. That is why it's important to disprove cult accusations individually, without Stef's input. I know that he can write a much better response than my ADHD-induced ramblings, but we shouldn't rely on a "fearless leader" to post great responses while cheering him on. Robert Anton Wilson suggests you play the role that you disagree with. So I put on my "FDR is a cult" hat on and..
Let's start with the anecdotal. The person that introduced me to this site has literally listened to hundreds of podcasts over the past few months. It has merely strengthened that person's relationship with that person's parents. I have heard no talks of moving away, cutting off communication, joining a movement, or pressuring me to listen to more podcasts or read stef's books in any way at all. In fact, when first mentioned, I put off checking out FDR for weeks. not once was there any insistence that I HAD to listen to this or that.
I saw mentioned one post where a user claimed that FDR met most of the qualifications for this list and that in some response Stef ignored them: http://www.factnet.org/rancho5.htm
As far as I've observed, Stef is not some supreme authority or domineering. People are allowed to disagree with him. The "special mission" criteria is also the very last thing that anyone here would believe, as it defies logic. There are no destructive goals here, there is more emphasis on helping people you are in relationships with than people who are members of FDR. Stef would agree that while it's fun to talk about politics and economics and conspiracy theories and whatnot, a simple cost-benefit analysis would grant higher priority to helping your friends and family out than coming here to make intellectual posts. There are absolutely no standards of diet, dress, etc.The double set of ethics is ridiculous, as the point of this site is to push consistent and UNIVERSAL ethics. At no point does stef suggest it's moral to deceive non FDRers.
The cult has basically only two purposes, recruiting new members and fund-raising. Established religions and altruistic movements may also recruit and raise funds. However, their sole purpose is not to grow larger; such groups have the goals to better the lives of their members
and mankind in general. The cults may claim to make social
contributions, but in actuality these remain mere claims, or gestures. Their focus is always dominated by recruiting new members and fund-raising.
All I can do is laugh at that.
The final item on the list is very interesting, but so vague that it's impossible to fairly apply it to fdr alone. Novel =/= wrong. Every libertarian on that website is proposing something novel. I live in the US, which was founded on a novel concept.
All in all, the big bad intimidating list fails hard, to which they have this to say:
|Regarding Molyneux' defense of FDR not being a cult, I agree it isn't like for example the Scientology cult. However, there are varying levels of cultiness. It is not black and white, but a continuum. And there are certainly some culty things about FDR.|
That is a purely emotional, childish, bitter, defensive response. I will not even bother breaking it down, rather, I will just let it advertise its own absurdity. Their website has completely failed to move me in any way, and I do not have a dog in this fight.
In a final attempt at grasping straws, I saw a few claims that the final stages of brainwashing occur in chatrooms, private conferences, and the donor section, yet no screenshots or recordings were provided.