Wait a second, is this a cult?

[badgersprite]

Simple question: have any of you out there encountered some kind of relatively normal, inconspicuous thing where people who are a part of it act like creepy cult members and try to brainwash people into it?

I have. Chiropractors. Or at least my one.

I used to go to a chiropractor to treat a neck injury, but God damn sitting in that waiting room was like an indoctrination. They had all the chairs facing towards this screen that flashed up pseudoscientific "facts" about chiropractic medicine being able to do things like cure autism. Every month they'd have me fill in a survey (which was really a test) where they basically forced me to fill in answers about how spinal adjustments "improved the flow of life-energy" and "helped the body heal itself". It was serious brainwashing shit. I kid you not.

So, yeah, I think I may have been part of a cult for a while there. Anyone else?

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

While chiropractic medicine can be considered complete bull to most people, it isn't considered a cult. Though your experience is rather creepy, a little like the Unitology church.

 

[Ironrose]

I work at a cat shelter and while we don't cram our message down people's throat we do have some rather guilt enducing posters, such as one set up as a mug shot of a cat that says 'Is Your Cat A Sex Offender?' and below info about desexing, and our reception id plastered with info on microchipping, desexing, keeping cats indoors etc..
Thankfully not too much on animal cruelty; I guess anyone bothering to get to reception isn't exactly the guy cutting his kittens ears off.

 

[Blood Countess]

I find PC gamers to be a little cultist sometimes joking joking
I have seen this in various people but think it's mostly the person than any group outside of a real member of a cult

 

[badgersprite]

Any field that relies on customers can fit a cult like description.

Mechanics, Dentists, Teachers....

Going to be perfectly honest, I considered mentioning cosmetics salespeople in the OP too. They'll accost you for half an hour until you believe in their miracle product.

A loose recollection of a real incident:

(After twenty minutes of a sales pitch) "Ah, but, miss, you really must buy this hand sanitiser! It contains salt from the Dead Sea, and is full of many ancient microscopic organisms that bleach and replenish your skin, and the beads in the cream exfoliates your skin and washing your hands with this prevents disease by cleaning away all the germs and dirt you didn't even know was there!"

"...If I buy it will you leave me alone?"

"Yes."

"How much is it?"

"$300!"

"Walking away now."

 

[Omikron009]

My mum is kind of interested in homeopathic "medicine", and she subscribes to some online newsletter from a quack "nutritionist". I've tried to tell her that it's all garbage, but she won't listen.

 

[Anarchemitis]

You wouldn't believe how literal the phrase "Tricks of the trade" applies to Trades work and Engineering.

"Tricks" in this context involves things like Construction methods, design theory, Contracts, and Payment, not just Practical jokes.

 

[SimuLord]

Someone needs to tell your chiropractor that these days, chiropractors are really trying hard to shed that quack image they've got. And yours isn't helping matters.

Cure autism? If that were the case, I should've become a social butterfly when I threw my back out. Instead I just became even more insufferable.

 

[Altorin]

I actually was a member of a cult when I was a kid, although it isn't what the regular population would consider a cult. It's basically a fringe cult of the Pentacostal Christian belief called the United Pentacostals, that believe they have the only key into heaven - anyone who is not a United Pentacostal goes to hell.

*shrugs* Scared the shit out of my parents when they learned about it's "cult status", but it seems like a pretty shitty cult to me, although I'm not sure about their rituals.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Any field that relies on customers can fit a cult like description.

Mechanics, Dentists, Teachers....

Going to be perfectly honest, I considered mentioning cosmetics salespeople in the OP too. They'll accost you for half an hour until you believe in their miracle product.

A loose recollection of a real incident:

(After twenty minutes of a sales pitch) "Ah, but, miss, you really must buy this hand sanitiser! It contains salt from the Dead Sea, and is full of many ancient microscopic organisms that bleach and replenish your skin, and the beads in the cream exfoliates your skin and washing your hands with this prevents disease by cleaning away all the germs and dirt you didn't even know was there!"

"...If I buy it will you leave me alone?"

"Yes."

"How much is it?"

"$300!"

"Walking away now."

Wow, talk about a BS pitch. If it's full of microorganisms, it can't be all that great of a hand sanitizer, can it?

OT: Can't say I've ever been a member of any cults, either real cults or something like what the OP mentioned. I will say that Steve Jobs markets his products in a very cult-like manner, and the people who buy them tend to have a stronger than usual sense of brand loyalty. For example, I don't know of any Windows users who would own a PC, a Microsoft Zune, and a Windows 7 phone, but Mac owners tend to go for the iPhone and, if they need the extra space, an iPod in addition to the Mac computer.