Church	Self Help
1 Community	1 Community
2 Sense of Belonging	2 Sense of Belonging
3 Friends	3 Friends
4 life lessons	4 life lessons
5 north star for hard times	5 north star for hard times
6 something to believe in	6 something to believe in
7 sense of purpose	7 sense of purpose
8 sense of hope for better future	8 sense of hope for better future
9 charismatic leader	9 charismatic leader
10 some charity	10 some charity
11 leader often flawed	11 leader often flawed

I was watching TV this morning and stumbled across a televangelist. It’s amazing how far we’ve come. But what sets someone like Tony Robbins apart from Jim Bakker? The answer is nothing.

Sorry if I am impugning the good that many do. But even in the good that they do, dont they all say “listen to me, I have the answers, pay me, do as I say, I am not perfect, I will teach you lessons, find peace friendship in our community, do not spread blasphemy amongst our herd or you will be expelled.” I could go on literally all day.

By the way only Osho said dont follow me if you are not following yourself you are already on the wrong path, Pure genius. He didnt even write a book because he didnt want anyone to follow. All his books are his speeches transcribed. Had to insert him because he is the only on in all of history that I know of that doesnt say “follow me”

I am not saying the others are doing bad work. In fact I know both the church and self help gurus have inspired countless monumental success stories. All I am saying is that they fullfill the same basic human needs,.

They all have their stars and their crooks. I just like honesty and transparency. I also believe most of them have a good heart and are sincerely doing their best. I still own my own brain, so I do have questions.

Blind faith has its upsides and its downsides. I made the comparison recently to house flipping or the “no money down craze”. Many who got rich had Shit For Brains. (PS guess who owns SFB inc). I noticed forty years ago the most successful were not necessarily smart they just did exactly as they were told becasue they didnt have the ability to discern.

In fact most super intelligent people are plagued by their brains. I remember thinking in my early twenties. I wish I could just be happy joining the union making $50,000 a year buying a house in Staten Island, having 2 and a half kids and a dog. Unfortunately I would rather kill myself then be that bored with life, and I almost did countless times. But I didnt succeed. So I guess we will figure out what is next in life for us all.

Sorry for the segue. The brain is too active. The point of this blog is whether you belong to a church a cult, or a self help group, we humans all want, no NEED, community, family, a sense of belonging, a map for life, and hope. There is nothing wrong with seeking it, just dont drink poisoned Kool Ade. Some Kool Ade might be the price of admission. Its too bad the leaders of the churches and self help courses are not into growth. They fear that their kingdom will be toppled if anyone tries to improve what they are doing, because that means they are no longer the sole arbiter of everything.

PS once again I am acknowledging that I learn from all of them. I love to learn. I am also smart enough to understand the way their ecosystem must operate. They can not tolerate everyone questioning them.

Can you imagine if Christianity allowed every parishioner to question everything every day? LOL

Maybe they all use religion as their model, it’s pretty obvious how to run a community of “learning” “Self help” “Self growth” or even “Salvation” “Hope” and “life skills” and “life lessons”

I guess they are all like the McDonalds LOL. McDonalds is famous for creating protocols that anyone can follow. So is religion or self help any different than McDonalds? oops on to the next blog.

To be successful, you must be like McDonald’s: replicable, unquestioning, identical. Actually, hotel chains are like that, too. You know what to expect. Meeting expectations gives people safety. We can even get into the neurology of that and how David constantly reminds us that the amygdala must feel safe.

The amygdala is really interesting must do a blog on that too.

Oops almost forgot AA. But AA is only 2 million compared to two billion in Christianity. Maybe they need to borrow more from the church. PS I learned a lot from AA as well. Serenity prayer is about every single issue in every day of your life. So is HALT. Are you hungry angry lonely or tired? I would bet if HALT was hanging in every household 99% of all arguments would never happen.

But we all need to belong to something, unless you lucky enough to have a dozen siblings and a family bigger than a football team. I wonder how large families fare psychologically? I am sure depending on their leader and rules, they are either fantastic or fantastic disasters too.