Adi Da Samraj's fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism -- similar psychology, but thankfully different spheres of activity and personality types in charge
Posted by former follower of Daism in October 2001
Religious fundamentalism has proven itself throughout history to be a powerful tool and effective motivating force for all kinds of madness and dark activity. The shrewd one(s) in power manipulate the faithful, who exchange their own discriminatory faculties and capacity for independent thought for the comfort and pseudo-certainty of their faith. The scope of this control and the agenda it promotes varies, depending on the ideology and the interests of those in power. But in any case, to the degree that true believers commit themselves to the cause, they are willing pawns for those who control and interpret their world-view. The power to shape the meaning people impose upon their reality translates into the power to influence their actions. Extreme control over beliefs thus facilitates a startling and dangerous control over the actions of others.
The mechanism of fundamentalism is similar, whether it be Islamic fundamentalism, Daism, or any one of the countless other belief systems pandered to the masses for centuries on end. Daism is a relatively innocuous nuisance compared with the violent Islamist factions, and we are lucky Adi Da is afraid of the big world outside his cult. While BinLaden and various Ayatollahs have been aggressive and violent, lusting for power on the world stage, Adi Da has been a weak and dysfunctional leader whose primary motivation has always been the gratification of his own personal desires and interests within his insulated cult. He has systematically undermined the countless half-hearted forays the cult has made into society at large on his behalf, into a domain where he is ill-equipped to function or succeed. He lacks organizational savvy, is fearful of those not under his control, and at the first sign of conflict has consistently withdrawn into a protective shell and broken down (e.g., his response to the 1985 controversies).
So, where Islamists strap bombs on their bodies and run into crowds, or crash planes into buildings, Daists give money, worshipful adoration, and sexual favors to Adi Da, recruiting just enough new cult members to keep the game going. Thank God that Adi Da is the inept, weak and self-indulgent man that he is.