Cults...AHHHHHH!

[Tom Foppiano]

Whats going on with Ian and his new tactic of calling everyone but Free Staters cult members? From an outside perspective, it looks like Ian got tired of being called a cult leader and started leveling the same charge against everyone else.

On the show, Ian was continually mentioning "jargon." Which, according to dictionary.com, means, "the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group." Don't Free Keeners use all kinds of jargon? I'm not against using these terms but I think they definitely constitute jargon. Things like....

Man in the robe/man in a dress=judge
Cages=Jail
Criminal gang=government, especially police
Peaceful Person=person not in government
Gang member=police officer
Cult members=citizens who believe in government
Indoctrination camps=school
Extortion= taxes
The Shire=something hard for me to define

Again, I don't disagree with these terms, not one bit, but how are they not examples of jargon?

And how about all of the free keeners who've changed their name to Freeman, Lawless, or Voluntaryist? Think about how weird it is to people who don't know much about the free state project to read something like, "Ian Freeman, Derrick Freeman, and Kelly Voluntaryist were peacefully protesting the criminal gang's putting peaceful persons in cages for being peaceful peaceful peaceful peaceful." Sounds pretty damn culty, right?

I love this show and I love the FSP, but how about we stop calling people cult members? To an outsider, it may sound like a closeted homosexual calling everyone gay.

[alaric89]

State is to big and excepted to be a cult. It is a religion. I don't like the name change thing either. Reminds me of the town Rock Ridge from the movie Blazing Saddles.

[SeanD]

Just for clarification since it seems you never read Tolkein - the Shire is where all the Hobbits live.

[dalebert]

And how about all of the free keeners who've changed their name to Freeman, Lawless, or Voluntaryist?

Lawless is actually his real name. How cool is that?!

[Tom Foppiano]

And how about all of the free keeners who've changed their name to Freeman, Lawless, or Voluntaryist?

Lawless is actually his real name. How cool is that?!

I stand corrected. Thanks.

[Tom Foppiano]

Just for clarification since it seems you never read Tolkein - the Shire is where all the Hobbits live.

haha

I have the Lord of the Rings books on the shelf, but I've only read about half of the first one. I need to get back to it, but I want to continue reading Game of Thrones prior to my finishing LOR.

[One two three]

And how about all of the free keeners who've changed their name to Freeman, Lawless, or Voluntaryist?

What does Lawless have to do with Free Keene?  I think he only comes to Keene during the Pumpkin Festival.

[ChristianAnarchist]

Haha... I have to claim at least a bit of responsibility.  I told Ian years ago that "government" was simply a cult.  I've believed and taught this for many years.  "God" is replaced by something called "government" which the cult members believe is all powerful and from which they are endowed with "power" to inflict their "rules" on all of mankind.  Of course, since they are the fake "god's" agents, they themselves are exempt from those same rules...

So "government" = "false religion"...

[ChristianAnarchist]

Regarding the previous post, I certainly don't want to sound as if I'm the originator of the "Govt = Cult" position, I suppose some people have known and taught this position since the beginning of the cult...

[analogkid]

I agree completely. Ian loves his jargon.