I'm not entirely sure convents aren't cults. While I could imagine a legitimate, healthy monastic community, all of the ones I have any experience with are not. They cut people off from family deliberately, they control every minute of members' time, they control all access to outside thought, they make it hard to leave, and so on.
I feel cults get a lot of mileage out of "but the Carmelites do this!" Mine did. I think people are *used* to the concept of convents and cut them more slack than they would if they were hearing of them for the first time.
I liked this post, in that I agree these are warning signs. But I guess it also made me nervous- what if people in high-demand communities are happier? Sheila says she thinks convents can be cults, but if provides a home for happy cultists....
I'm not entirely sure convents aren't cults. While I could imagine a legitimate, healthy monastic community, all of the ones I have any experience with are not. They cut people off from family deliberately, they control every minute of members' time, they control all access to outside thought, they make it hard to leave, and so on.
I feel cults get a lot of mileage out of "but the Carmelites do this!" Mine did. I think people are *used* to the concept of convents and cut them more slack than they would if they were hearing of them for the first time.
I liked this post, in that I agree these are warning signs. But I guess it also made me nervous- what if people in high-demand communities are happier? Sheila says she thinks convents can be cults, but if provides a home for happy cultists....
Image up top is broken.