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The website is remarkable on a couple of counts! | |||
Re: Joy: If You Wish, I Will Fed-ex You My Barf! It's Still Fresh! -- Jonathan | Top of thread | Forum |
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First, it's a "how-to-propagate-to-young-people" website, as opposed to a website a member of the public is supposed to see. Elan Vital is so secretive that rarely, except when it's provided by somebody who leaves the cult, does the public get to see the "stragegy" of how the cult is attempting to recruit college students and young people, and using the tiny number of young Western premies to do it. I don't think I've seen them do this before, although the title of the website says it's a "test site," so maybe we aren't really supposed to be seeing it, and its strategy for propagating at universities, trade fairs (hello?) etc. As we know, the Rawat cult is aging, with most of the active premies in their 50s and older, because they are holdovers from the 70s. They put up with all the cult nonsense because they were indoctrinated that Rawat is God, so they hold on for that reason (and because Prem Rawat consitently if intermittently reinforces their beliefs by giving darshan and the rest) and they (sometimes) can get a high being around him because they believe he is the current Jesus Christ on Earth. Second, as you say, this strategy/website is all amazingly lame. I have a relative who is a Fundamnentalist Christian. He's a very nice guy, middle-aged, with kids and belongs to a Fundamentalist Church in the Midwest. If you go to the website of his church, there is all this effort evident (and links to other sites that do the same), to make Christianity appear hip to younger people. So, for example, there is a Bible Study Group for kids in Middle School called "Rock Pile" that meets every week, and once a month, they even get PIZZA! They listen to Christian Rock Group recordings, and talk about the Bible and I guess get reinforced in their Christian beliefs, after getting polluted by going to secular schools. all day and hanging out with Jewish and other heathen kids. There is another group for High School Kids called "Hard Rock Cafe." (I know, not too original, but you get the idea). Unfortunately, these are run by Middle Aged farts like my relative, and for most kids they are outrageously uncool, and obvious in their ham-fisted attempts to be "hip." Anyhow, this Rawat cult website demonstrates the same mentality, only it's worse, because it is all "style" (bad taste though it is) over substance, because there isn't any substance. Those Christian groups at least attempt to "help" kids deal with the problems they are having in their lives, but the Rawat cult couldn't care less about any of that, and just want people to receive knowledge and get in the cult, and maybe pretend to be going through the motions of "propagation," because that's what Rawat said he was about but does surprisingly little in that regard. Period. It all goes one way. Listen to music and listen to Rawat. Period. As for the "style," check out the simplistic, meaningless, vacuous platitudes of quotes from Rawat as part of a "slide show" with pictures of clothes lines and light bulbs in the background. (I kid you not.) Just read them. They are less than meaningless, but reflect trying a bit TOO hard to be "Zen-like" and "deep." Oooooo. Typical Rawat blather that premies think is so profound but anybody else would look at cross-eyed. Anyhow, remember how scripted the Rawat video events were? You can still find on EPO the exact words that the MC was supposed to say because cults don't like individual initiative. Obviously, the cult is trying to loosen up, but everything is so scripted for the events proposed by this website, including what to wear, what to use as posters (awful, dreck, stuff), how to follow up, for example here is the sample email you are supposed to send to "follow up" with somebody who comes to one of these super cool events, complete with incorrect spellings and bad grammer (one wonders if that is done intentionally for effect): Hi Everyone, We are glad that you made it to the video presentation introducing Prem Rawat, also know (sic) as Maharaji, and his message of finding inner peace. What Maharaji teaches is something practical that you can experience for yourself. It will be great if you can come to the next one. For sure (sic) it will be fun and it is free of charge, so you can't loose (sic). Invite some friends! Anyhow, you get the idea. Rawat, this doesn't work. Stick with what you know. It's really hard to think you are relatable to young people anymore. That time is long, past, both for you and for them. This just makes you look more ridiculous than you already do. Modified by Joe at Tue, Feb 01, 2005, 13:32:58 |
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