By Ox Drover
My own personal opinion is that most humans, as a species, have a component that comprises “spirituality.” Evidence from some of the earlier cultures of our species when our ancestors were still living in caves indicate that these people had some idea that there were unseen gods or spirits in the heavens or in their worlds.
I think for many of us our spirituality is also part of our healing path and helps us to set a moral compass to follow in our actions and thoughts. Most of the sacred writings of several belief systems I have read all indicate that kindness to others, charity, and doing good to your fellow man is primary to following that belief. Though history and ancient evidence also indicate that some belief systems at least in the ancient past induced their followers to sacrifice their children by burning them before the altar of the idol, or offering blood sacrifices of captured enemies to the deity, those seem to be in the minority of belief systems.
Unfortunately, today there are many psychopaths who take advantage of what I believe is human nature to believe in something “higher than yourself” and to seek some one or some way to “contact” that “higher power.”
Tony Alamo presented himself as one of these “prophets of god” starting, along with his wife, Susan, preaching to the downtrodden in California, but eventually recruiting these people who fell under their spell, to work for them in profit making enterprises.
Alamo and his wife Susan came to Arkansas where they made the local news when after a losing bout with cancer, Susan’s body was kept above ground for months, with Alamo claiming that he was going to raise her from the dead. Even after he failed in the task of raising Susan from the dead, those disciples under his emotional and spiritual control did not desert him en mass.
Alamo’s many illegal antics attracted the ire of the IRS and he was convicted of tax fraud and spent about four years of a six-year sentence in federal prison. Though there was a great deal of information coming from those who had left Alamo’s discipleship that his “church” was sanctioning polygamy and underage sex with young women and girls as young as nine, Alamo, subsequently managed to stay un-indicted for these alleged crimes until recently when he was arrested while fleeing from authorities.
The judge ruled that he would not be allowed bail and six minors were removed into foster care from his compound and from his followers. Alamo was The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo by Maria Luisa Tucker, May 13, 2008.
I am relieved that this man is finally behind bars, apparently forever.
Wow, how eerie this Alamo’s picture was, proudly displayed on his recently distributed windshield flier. He wore blacked-out Rayban-type sunglasses to show his transparency I guess…
I just received it on my car and read a few lines of the Bible-speak “cover”, but after a few paragraphs I deciphered it was a recruiting rubric for other men who were accused of sex crimes with children, couched in that familiar “parental alienation” language to attract fellow perps who know this excuse!
It is so boringly predictable how they use this religion thing. Man, I am so tired of that one!
The game is, get the listener so confused by mentioning God enough times so the listener thinks the P is “good” so that when the P does something evil, all will get really confused and just deny it’s evilness.
Man alive!
Paradice, that preatty much answers my question, above.
Dear Paradise,
Where do you live that you got a flier on your car? I know from the Village Voice article (link at the bottom of the above article) that he had an active “cell” in the north eastern US as well as here in Arkansas.
Currently, Alamo doesn’t look so “spritely” but now that he is in prison he apparently doesn’t have sunglasses or hair dye so he is a white-haired mostly balding, fat old “dirty old man” looking guy with this FAKE SMILE on his face and even eats up the attention (apparently) when he was on the perp walk into court each day.
Yea, the pedophiles do the “parental alienation” cry. I realize some disordered women may alienate their children from a normal father, but some normal people try to protect their children from a pedophile (usually father, but NOT ALWAYS the father who is the pedophile)
Go back in the archives here and read about Dr. amy Castillo who tried to “alienate” her children from their father—but the judge didn’t let this “devious” woman get away with it and ordered UNSUPERVISED VISITATION. Her husband KILLED the children on the first viist—just as she had told the judge that he had threatened.
Sometimes a “cult” can be one or two people—when a psychopath “coverts” his/her family to the cult of themselves. Or it can be hundreds or even thousands of people who blindly follow the “leader” (Prophet or whatever the term)
Because spirituality is I think inherent in humankind, this is an easier place to hook vulnerable people—or politics, or any very emotionally charged subject. I think relilgion and politics which are both taken “on FAITH” in a leader of some kind are two of the PRIME places that psychopaths can attach to dupes and victims and lead them down the road to hell. Look at all the politicians who ruined countries and continents and were responsible for “cults” of personality that killed millions and tens of millions—Hitler, mao, Stalin, etc etc. yet their devoted followers saw them as “saviors” and blindly followed, doing things no “sane” human would think about doing, in the name of “the CAUSE.”
Alamo is only ONE of a large number of con men who use religion and acquire a following of the blind and naive, but can you imagine if he was in politics?
It boggles my mind that the women and men in Alamo’s cult would give him their daughters as young as 9 “willingly”—how anyone in our culture could be convinced that was “right” and “good” for the children, but apparently that was the case.
To all,
Sorry but with all the posts about religion, I thought I had logged onto the wrong site :-).
I think OxDrover’s comments from 26 August covers it for me. “Alamo is only ONE of a large number of con men who use religion and acquire a following of the blind and naive, but can you imagine if he was in politics?”.
He is a con man and, current evidence strongly suggests, a psychopath too. Perhaps articles on why people fall for this kind of thing, as opposed to articles focusing on the cult leaders, would be of benefit to help prevent this kind of thing.
For me, religion replaces a child’s need for order, for the need to be taken care of, to not be ultimately responsible for ones own actions, for something greater than the sum of themselves. Adults can and do buy into cults and also mainstream religions for this reason. And, as anyone who has ever been a victim knows, once you abdicate responsibility for your own actions and give someone else that responsibility, you cease to think for yourself and become an extension of that persons will. That is why those men and women in Alamo’s cult gave their daughters, not because it was their will, they had no will, but because it was Alamo’s will.
well said Nemo.
Has anyone read the 48 laws of power? My daughter bought it at the airport as she was taking an overseas flight and thought it might be an interesting read. When she got home I picked it up and read the back cover. She said, “You can read it” so I opened it up and began reading. I read about a third of it and put it down. I said to my daughter “that reads like a basic primer on psychopathy”. She said,”I know. It made me sick and I couldn’t read it either.” I mention this though because if you want to check it out it is enlightening as to how their minds work. It’s absolutely chock full of historical references, military strategys, etc. I hope this day finds all well, and feeling wonderful.
A real wife and ALL-
You mentioned about the cult followers coming into this forum- I dont know if you read this or not, but the P’s keep up with this site as well- last year, I discovered where “it’ had copied my post, calling this an “anti S site.”
Comments were made from other P’s about what I had posted here. They encourage other P’s to come here- I’d call ’em the PIT’s- Psychopaths in training:
The Study:
-Looks like a human, smells like a Human…BUT it ain’t Even close….
“Putting your MASK on-ITS SHOWTIME- But Dang, THESE Eyes are a DEAD giveaway!” ,
And by popular demand -“How Can I Get A Life, when I’d Rather Steal Yours?”, and Finally-
TIPS on impersonating a warm blooded homosapian.
( voted most impressive- When asked,Why dont you have any facial expressions -Blame it on the BOTOX;
OR Say- I’d be crying for you right now, but my PROZAC won’t LET ME!
.
A friend of mine was in a Dale Carnigie (I hope I spelled that right) course on “how to win friends and influlence people” a popular salesmanship program and “self improvement” ideal back a few decades ago–probably still available. Anyway, he was in this course in a college program and he started QUESTIONING the dogma of ‘INFLUENCING” people to “see things your way” to “WANT TO BUY” etc. and made a few comments about the morality of this kind of “influencing other for YOUR benefit” (i.e. selling something) and he was “thrown out” opf the class essentially for hearacy. LOL
Learning “salesmanship” is about influencing others to see things your way, to “create” a need in them that your product can fulfill…whether that is a “faith” in your status as a “prophet” from god, or as a lover, or whatever the prupose that you have or want to accomplish. What a shame that this kind of “salesmanship” is so rampant in our society.
The “salesman”—like Bernie Madoff for example, “sold” his clilents a vision of a big financial windfall, made them see this, held out the carrot of easy growth of riches—TRUST ME.
The “salesman” who wants to sell you a car/house etc that he knows you can’t afford holds out a vision of the status you will receive with this purchase, encouraging you to purchase, even when he knows that eventually you will bankrupt and default, but in the meantime, he has had his commission.
“The “salesman” who holds out a vision of blissful love, a forever soul mate, to someone, when in reality he is looking for another victim to use, abuse and ultimately discard. He gets his at your expense.
We all fall for these visions of one sort or another, but learning what is realistic will help us to pick the real from the false visions. Protect ourselves. Knowledge=power!
sabrina, where is the web site? I want to see it too!
I tried googling and found this:
http://neurologicalcorrelates.com/wordpress/2009/07/29/frontotemporal-dementias-looking-like-sociopaths-is-it-a-protection-against-elder-abuse/
Play the video. It’s amazing. I may have to break my NC just to try that on my P! LOL!
I’m kidding (I think), but seriously, my P really did exhibit many infantile behaviors. You know how some parents let their toddlers run around with no diaper on, just wearing a little t-shirt? Well, that’s what he did. I found it peculiarly disgusting. And get this: He ate nothing but cheerios all day. with milk or without. Well the clues were all there the whole time but I never knew what they meant.
He told me that he never wanted to grow up. he also said that he shouldn’t have to work and someone else should take care of him. He said love should be unconditional (that would be my love not his). Lots of complaints about being an adult. I just never knew what it meant.
Interesting. My first P hub showed back up into my life via facebook when I divorced this last one. It’s safe now, you know, I raised the kids alone with no support from him at all, in any form…so his money is safe. And he said: he never wanted to grow up.!![I ditched him-no time for P’s anymore and I told him so!]
My XP that I divorced last year showed much childlike behavior-including the cereal eating. He liked me to ‘mother’ him. In fact: his girl friend that dumped him for cheating had been referring to him as ‘her baby’…..little did she know how dang correct she was. 😉 Hahahahahahaha!