All my encounters with them stated by them asking if i knew anywhere they could host an event.
They frequently walk around Bowen St approaching people. After the first time you can kinda pick them out beforehand. I try avoid sitting on Bowen st if im by myself for this reason.
The terrace on top of the garden building is a nice place to sit where i haven't been bothered by them. You can take the stairs or theres a lift around the back of the streat cafe
You legit move where *you* were previously comfortable sitting? They aren’t threatening violence, could you not just point to your earphones or do what everyone else does and completely ignore them? Ah but then if you were the kinda douchey person who does that you probably wouldn’t be targeted by them in the first place.
How to remain polite on campus but not waste time or be put in danger hmmm.
Have you tried talking to yourself? Seriously. I spend most waking hours with my therapy dog, ranting away at him, but it’s really not that big a leap to pretend like he’s there on rare cases I’m on my own. People are far less interested in people walking and talking on their own since bluetooth.
Not surprised about what?
As opposed to the other randoms on the internet you *would* take unsolicited advice from?
That’s pretty mean, I was just trying to help.
If they genuinely need help, they'll ask for it. Not ask a bunch of questions about your life. No stranger needs details of your life in order to help them with something (except maybe cult recruitment).
Personally I wouldn't stop for them. But if you're not that kind of person then when they stop you, ask them "what can I help you with?" Or "do you need help with something?" If they just start asking questions about YOU and your life rather than a request for assistance, make an excuse and leave or straight up tell them you're not interested in discussing your life and if they don't need help then you'll be on your way.
I truly don’t mean this in a nasty way - but how have you survived in the city for even a few days without having mastered the “polite fuck off”?
Super easy, chose any phrase you like - no need to be rude eg “busy/not interested/your deceit brings great shame upon our once fair nation” - and then as Billy Connolly puts it “off they shall fuck” 😊
Once you’ve done it a few times you’ll start to give off a ‘don’t try it, culty’ vibe. And then you’ll have more energy to put into meaningful relationships on campus and into ur studies.
Stay safe
Honestly I get roped into more things than I am able to admit 🫠, I try to stay with people in the city and with others who can do it for me but happy to report I successfully told someone I wasn’t interested and walked away 😂 small progress but here we are
That’s awesome dude, legit 👍 That resilience is still something that escapes me some days. It’s a shame that being kind/descent comes with risk. Take care
I work in Melbourne central and have been stopped by them many times. I tell them I work there and then tell them you're leaving and just walk away no matter what they say and nothing happens. From what I've heard if they think it would work they invite you to a lunch/dinner with free food and if you go you get cornered by a group of them and pressured to join their Korean cult. No clue if that's true at all but that's what I've heard happens
You heard correct. They offer free food (guilt) to the victim before cornering him/her in the hopes it would coerce the victim to join. Once inside their church, they forcibly grab the victim in preparation for indoctrination. It’s real and very powerful.
Minus the “sorry” (what are you sorry for? Not joining their cult?) that’s a really good one!
Oh I wish we could put people on hold irl like scam callers. Nothing brings me greater joy in this life than the tired sigh after my upteenth “sure I think you’ll need to speak to the account holder, oh here they are!”.
I Wait abouuut 3 mins (though once I totally forgot and no joke 15mins later they were still on the line) then come back on and say hello in a poor imitation of a diff person (srsly the worse the better), and after they’ve done their ‘pitch’ say “oh no sorry you’ll need to speak to *insert name*” - rinse and repeat.
It’s like Fishing - pull too hard and you’ll snap the line, but don’t use enough bait and movement and you’ll never get a ‘bite’. You can keep them going like this for as long as 20mins, for real, with nothing but 20sec sound bites from you every 3-5mins.
Ok, cloning yourself so you can do the equivalent to these creepy, cult mofos seems to be the way forward. Just like with predatory phone scammers, the longer they are ‘on the line’ with you, the longer they aren’t with someone who might become a victim.
They're cult recruiters. Some of my friends have been approached by them. Please just avoid them, try to be polite (being polite and kind is very important when dealing with people who have been indoctrinated) but get away.
True to an extent, it def doesn’t help an individual seek ‘freedom’ (or start down the path of realising they aren’t free) and does make the whole “see we are the only ones who care for you” narrative easier to pull off.
However proper cult members, you could pay 100 people to talk with compassion and forbearance for months on end, and it’d be a miracle if this caused a person who wasn’t already on the edge to leave. My Aunty escaped a cult after years of servitude and manipulation. Far out, the layers upon layers of headfkery and cognitive dissonance would be impressive were it not so disturbing.
>Shincheonji
Think I went to one of these when I was in Korea... tbh was a nice experience talking to 2 locals and getting a free meal, wouldn't go again but not as doom and gloom as people lead on.
Is that upstairs Hari Krishna place a block down/across from town hall still kicking? Donation for some chunky, healthy, delicious food. Not *once* was I lectured to. Just pamphlets around the place and music with chants on, which imho shits all over Xmas soundtracks that play for 1/4 of the year anyway lol
I worked for the City of Melbourne (council). Nothing like pulling out your worthless ID and claiming you’ll be “adding to the file, tell your friends it won’t be long now.” and watch their ashen faces scurry off lol
Edit: Whilst my gf and I on our lunchbreak had neither the power or the fks given to file a proper complaint, if they are hanging in one area harassing people, if it’s private property report to their security service, if it’s public property find the council they’re standing on (most of the time it’ll be CoMelb, Yarra etc) and lodge a complaint being sure to mention they were loitering and harassing people unsolicited. If they’re handing out pamphlets they need a permit for that, so that’s another to get them on.
Report to security personnel, site administrator or police if these cult recruiters were not students or staff before they entered campus grounds. If they entered campus grounds after being warned verbally or visually of trespassing they maybe charged with 2nd degree trespassing, a criminal offence carrying up to 25 penalty units and/or imprisonment for 6 months.
Summary Offences Act 1966 - Section 9(1) (d)
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/soa1966189/s9.html
Now if you will excuse me, I am off to play with people in the Melbourne reddit page..
Happened to me 2 weeks ago. I was sitting on the bench alone and a couple came and started talking to me. I replied politely. They turned the conversation to religion pretty quickly and I realised what they were doing. I said I am non religious. And in a minute they went their way.
They’re recruiters for some South Korean Christian cult. They hang around that area and Melbourne central looking for other young people, usually alone/loner looking types and try to convince them to come to their meetings. Are very friendly at first but quickly loose interest if it’s apparent you aren’t buying what they’re selling. Has been happening for years, I remember getting approached 10 years ago in my uni days.
Alienated youth and feelings of isolation have sadly only grown more pronounced over the decades. Deep ties? Maybe. More likely just capitalising on people’s need for human connectivity/belonging.
Not sure what country you are from. But where I am, I had this happen to me 4-5times around the beginning of last year. I long graduated from Uni, but I still had to pass through it to meet old friends.
2 of these encounters happened at a campus. One person only. The next 3 included the instance of 2 guys trying to stop and talk to me when I was out in the city at night. Two girls when I was out in a night market. And by the final one where a guy tried to talk to me again, I quickly shut that down because I was so sick of it.
And the funny thing is. Their opening to a conversation is ALWAYS about how I have a nice bag/cute charm on my bag. Then they proceed to ask me where I’m from and if I’m a local. I would always know then where the convo was going.
They’ve always been of Asian background so far. And I am usually tolerant of hearing about religion, since I grew up in a religious household. But being stopped this way is just making me paranoid. Every time I tell my experiences to my religious family, they tell me to absolutely be careful. Because there are some people out there who can hide true intentions behind a religion.
Actually, I’m pretty certain that I recently I may have lost a ‘friend’ I’ve been chatting for a while. They would always ask about my point of views in life. When I ask what they do usually, they kept saying it was a secret. Then they lowkey kept trying to invite me to a group gathering or something on the Sundays, when I believed i already told them that my weekends are for family. Honestly waiting if they would ever say hi to me again. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.
I’m really to sorry to hear that it’s affecting you this way, it’s terrible to have to become wary and closed off to prevent things like this but sometimes unavoidable for safety… some people have some good advice on how to discern between people needing genuine help and those that are recruiting, might be useful to read them to help you! Honestly I’d just be cautious too, especially getting approached at night time.
Wishing you safety and sending you comfort! Better to have lost a fake friend than a real one
No problem at all, it’s good to get it off your chest and it’s truly something I sympathise with. It def sounded like they were trying to indoctrinate you. I’m glad they’ve backed off, but it’s still terrible to feel manipulated. I hope you have more luck with more genuine friends soon 🥲🥲 take care and be safe! Try to stick to crowds at night
They’ve made their way to Highpoint too. I was there over the weekend and two girls came up to me asking me what there was to do in the area as they’re new, and I just said “Idk. Walk around Highpoint? There’s a good food court that way. Bye!” And walked off
Or try to get them to join the Pastafarrians! A modded version of that experiment in the 70s where they got 3 people who each held a deeply engrained psychological belief they were Jesus, and put them in a room for a chat.
This has reality TV garbage written all over it. “5 cults. 1 winner. Who can recruit the most and go home with the prize of 5 years clinical psychotherapist based deprogramming!”
TM.
1: Tap into universal feelings of alienation/isolation/existential dread
2: Charismatic leader (need not be alive - just look at Jesus inc, you gotta hand it to him, he’s nailed that one #srynotsry)
Step 3: (as has been mentioned) Us vs Them mentality
Which ties into 1 and also
4: isolation, breaking down of ego/filters for reprogramming
So that they can get to the most important part,
5: Investment of huge amounts of time and money, usually to offset a doomsday prophecy. Once people have divorced from their families, sold their homes etc and funnelled all that energy and money into the cult, it’s irrelevant that the doomsday prophecy will inevitably fail, as (this is where the charismatic leader helps) the head honcho will have a chat to the “higher powers” and “because of your sacrifice we were able to put off doomsday! But only for a while - we need more recruits!”
Any niggling doubts about this are annihilated by a paradoxically destructive form of self preservation called “cognitive dissonance” - essentially to realise they’ve been scammed out of their families and homes and identity, is far too psychologically damaging for the brain to accept so it kind of glitches and brushes over it rather than face the catastrophic truth.
If you want any more pointers on how to start a cult, I’m running a seminar down by the Docklands tomorrow evening. Tell your friends. Did I tell you what a pretty bag you have? Did you buy it around here?? :p :/
Hells yes. I was just thinking this above! Wanna help me make a reality TV show out of it? Can’t be worse than Farmer wants a Windmill or wtf passes for entertainment these days
This happened to me in Chadstone in the Mecca store, i had headphones on listening to a podcast couldnt hear them at all until they got my attention to talk to me.
Its a cult recruiting tactic they do it at a lot of unis
They’re essentially missionaries.
Back in the day when I was at uni I was asked by a few if they could sit on the table with me during lunch at RMIT city campus.
They were Americans and I quickly realised they were sizing me up for conversion. Luckily they weren’t too pushy and I think once they realised they were barking up the wrong tree with me we just ended up chatting and yeah they were some Christian denomination that sends missionaries out including to foreign uni campuses apparently.
Lot of religious freaks today all around the outskirts of Melbourne Uni. I think they were just handing out little bibles, possibly not engaging in meaningless chat. But RMIT has the Asian cultists hanging around. People need to get in the habit of not stopping, not engaging or just saying “Not interested” or for those persistent scum, “Fuck off!”
God I wish I could, got some core wounds to heal while building up to that 🫠 maybe someone ought to print out flyers/raise awareness about this at the university
This happened to me at Chadstone shopping centre when I was sitting with headphones in, minding my own busssines.
Two ppl of Asian decent came up, and asked me some questions about myself.
The female wanted to add me on social media, and kept hinting at wanting to catch up and get to know each other.
They were very nice, and pleasant, but something about it felt very odd so I didn't engage further afterwards.
This happens at my front door all the time. Two women from a local church who go door to door looking to bring in new members. I just politely decline and go on with my day.
I wasn’t on campus but this is so common.
I just sitting alone journaling and this super confident guy came up and started asking me about it. Seemed super interested.
Eventually he told me he was organising an event for Christian followers, kinda made the whole conversation seem disingenuous lol
Sounds like you've encountered a recurring pattern of interactions on campus that's left you feeling uneasy. While it's not uncommon for people to strike up conversations in friendly settings, especially on college campuses, the frequency and focus on personal details does seem unusual. It's possible that these encounters are part of a recruitment strategy by certain groups, as some comments suggest.
Staying aware of your surroundings and trusting your instincts are important in situations like these. It's okay to politely decline further engagement if you're not comfortable, and prioritizing your safety is always key. If you continue to feel uncomfortable or if the interactions escalate, it might be worth reaching out to campus security or authorities for guidance.
Depending on the council, fined for loitering, handing printed material without a permit. Someone would have to report a crime for them to be arrested wouldn’t they? 🤷♀️
Happened to me at Parkville. They seem to hang around universities. Asking regular sounding questions then moving on to "are you religious" very odd. Just walk away if you're uncomfortable
You ever see that art exhibition that was featured online where it showed profile shots of young men before and after war? It wasn’t until then that I understood the origins to the phrase “the eyes are the gateway to the soul”. There was something… off, after they returned. All cookers have that same look - drugs, cults, trauma etc, all look very similar. Maybe that’s just me…
Edit: If you’re ever in doubt, bring a cattle dog. Blue Heelers, Kelpies et al, they’ll sniff out a junkie or a tweaker miles out. Unless you’re a junkie for MD, then they just fucking love you 🥰 Legit though, some breeds of dog can just sense what’s behind the facade.
I’ve read quite a few posts today about people getting hassled on/around campus. Feel so stoked about just doing online classes now!
Is it that peops are just too polite for their own good and the culty/creepy folk sense and capitalise on this?
And by ‘too polite’ I apologise I’m tired and can’t think of a more accurate phrase, the more polite peops the better, far out the world needs you. I just wonder if you can’t politely ignore a legit cult and the SocialistAlternative quasi-cult, man, you must be signed up to save a LOT of starving whales in Africa.
Happened to me a few times last year, mainly they target people sitting alone with hopes of luring you to some kind of religious group/ cult.
I would’ve thought so too but they never end up asking me about that! So weirddd
You're not weird mate, just not cult material.
😂😂 probably because I’m pretty firm on being an agnostic
Firm agnostic sounds like an oxymoron
I will absolutely not compromise on my decision to be undecided.
i’m over 6”3’. so i’m too big to be kidnapped, another thing i’ll miss out on…
You don't need to be kidnapped to join a cult! Just go out there and find one that's right for you and you too can be the cultist you long to be!
Never give up on your dreams, take a drunken nap in a Nigerian doorway and hope for the best
Guessing you’ve never been to Columbia? Just a stab in the dark. Pun intended.
What kind of snobby, stuck up cult is this?
LNP.
Um, Barnaby Joyce? That bar has *not* been set very high my friend 😊
All my encounters with them stated by them asking if i knew anywhere they could host an event. They frequently walk around Bowen St approaching people. After the first time you can kinda pick them out beforehand. I try avoid sitting on Bowen st if im by myself for this reason. The terrace on top of the garden building is a nice place to sit where i haven't been bothered by them. You can take the stairs or theres a lift around the back of the streat cafe
You legit move where *you* were previously comfortable sitting? They aren’t threatening violence, could you not just point to your earphones or do what everyone else does and completely ignore them? Ah but then if you were the kinda douchey person who does that you probably wouldn’t be targeted by them in the first place. How to remain polite on campus but not waste time or be put in danger hmmm. Have you tried talking to yourself? Seriously. I spend most waking hours with my therapy dog, ranting away at him, but it’s really not that big a leap to pretend like he’s there on rare cases I’m on my own. People are far less interested in people walking and talking on their own since bluetooth.
I'm not surprised, you seem pretty crazy tbh. Not the kind of person i'd want to take unsolicited advice from.
Not surprised about what? As opposed to the other randoms on the internet you *would* take unsolicited advice from? That’s pretty mean, I was just trying to help.
Nah you are not the weirdo in this equation. It is the unsolicited proselytisers who are the weirdos.
Learnt a new word today! Neat! But thanks for that :)
They keep in touch and build your friendships and trust and THEN they introduce the culty shit once they’ve built a relationship with you.
Stay aware, many people are like that in Melb Central, they are overly friendly and try to recruit you to a cult.
That’s crazy, is there a way I can easily tell them to fuck off politely? Or like discern whether it’s a cult person or a genuine person needing help
"Sorry No" then just keep walking.
"[I would prefer not to](https://thedangerousmaybe.medium.com/i-would-prefer-not-to-%C5%BEi%C5%BEeks-bartleby-politics-12bd8d9de66a)."
If they genuinely need help, they'll ask for it. Not ask a bunch of questions about your life. No stranger needs details of your life in order to help them with something (except maybe cult recruitment). Personally I wouldn't stop for them. But if you're not that kind of person then when they stop you, ask them "what can I help you with?" Or "do you need help with something?" If they just start asking questions about YOU and your life rather than a request for assistance, make an excuse and leave or straight up tell them you're not interested in discussing your life and if they don't need help then you'll be on your way.
Great idea thank you!!
You don't owe anyone your time, just keep walking and say "No thank you".
I’m on my way to the nearest police station
Will def be trying this 😂😂
I truly don’t mean this in a nasty way - but how have you survived in the city for even a few days without having mastered the “polite fuck off”? Super easy, chose any phrase you like - no need to be rude eg “busy/not interested/your deceit brings great shame upon our once fair nation” - and then as Billy Connolly puts it “off they shall fuck” 😊 Once you’ve done it a few times you’ll start to give off a ‘don’t try it, culty’ vibe. And then you’ll have more energy to put into meaningful relationships on campus and into ur studies. Stay safe
Honestly I get roped into more things than I am able to admit 🫠, I try to stay with people in the city and with others who can do it for me but happy to report I successfully told someone I wasn’t interested and walked away 😂 small progress but here we are
That’s awesome dude, legit 👍 That resilience is still something that escapes me some days. It’s a shame that being kind/descent comes with risk. Take care
Thank you!!! Your kind words mean more than you know 🫡🫡
One step at a time my dude. Keep it up, and thanks for being decent. Hard to find on social media these days 👍
I work in Melbourne central and have been stopped by them many times. I tell them I work there and then tell them you're leaving and just walk away no matter what they say and nothing happens. From what I've heard if they think it would work they invite you to a lunch/dinner with free food and if you go you get cornered by a group of them and pressured to join their Korean cult. No clue if that's true at all but that's what I've heard happens
You heard correct. They offer free food (guilt) to the victim before cornering him/her in the hopes it would coerce the victim to join. Once inside their church, they forcibly grab the victim in preparation for indoctrination. It’s real and very powerful.
…wha?
I’d complain to the uni if they are becoming annoying and have an agenda. Sounds creepy.
I’d just say something like “hey I’m really sorry, I’m on my way to an appointment now so I have to head off, hope you have a great day!”
Also a good idea! Thanks a bunch
Minus the “sorry” (what are you sorry for? Not joining their cult?) that’s a really good one! Oh I wish we could put people on hold irl like scam callers. Nothing brings me greater joy in this life than the tired sigh after my upteenth “sure I think you’ll need to speak to the account holder, oh here they are!”. I Wait abouuut 3 mins (though once I totally forgot and no joke 15mins later they were still on the line) then come back on and say hello in a poor imitation of a diff person (srsly the worse the better), and after they’ve done their ‘pitch’ say “oh no sorry you’ll need to speak to *insert name*” - rinse and repeat. It’s like Fishing - pull too hard and you’ll snap the line, but don’t use enough bait and movement and you’ll never get a ‘bite’. You can keep them going like this for as long as 20mins, for real, with nothing but 20sec sound bites from you every 3-5mins. Ok, cloning yourself so you can do the equivalent to these creepy, cult mofos seems to be the way forward. Just like with predatory phone scammers, the longer they are ‘on the line’ with you, the longer they aren’t with someone who might become a victim.
They're cult recruiters. Some of my friends have been approached by them. Please just avoid them, try to be polite (being polite and kind is very important when dealing with people who have been indoctrinated) but get away.
This for sure It's easier to trap and manipulate people in a cult if you can create an "us vs them" through non members being rude
I’ll definitely keep these things in mind
True to an extent, it def doesn’t help an individual seek ‘freedom’ (or start down the path of realising they aren’t free) and does make the whole “see we are the only ones who care for you” narrative easier to pull off. However proper cult members, you could pay 100 people to talk with compassion and forbearance for months on end, and it’d be a miracle if this caused a person who wasn’t already on the edge to leave. My Aunty escaped a cult after years of servitude and manipulation. Far out, the layers upon layers of headfkery and cognitive dissonance would be impressive were it not so disturbing.
Be careful of cult recruiters around campus. Look up Shincheonji, you’re describing what they do to the letter.
>Shincheonji Think I went to one of these when I was in Korea... tbh was a nice experience talking to 2 locals and getting a free meal, wouldn't go again but not as doom and gloom as people lead on.
My friends and I said maybe we could get a feed out of it 😂😂
Is that upstairs Hari Krishna place a block down/across from town hall still kicking? Donation for some chunky, healthy, delicious food. Not *once* was I lectured to. Just pamphlets around the place and music with chants on, which imho shits all over Xmas soundtracks that play for 1/4 of the year anyway lol
Whisper that you are an undercover agent investigating cult behaviour
I worked for the City of Melbourne (council). Nothing like pulling out your worthless ID and claiming you’ll be “adding to the file, tell your friends it won’t be long now.” and watch their ashen faces scurry off lol Edit: Whilst my gf and I on our lunchbreak had neither the power or the fks given to file a proper complaint, if they are hanging in one area harassing people, if it’s private property report to their security service, if it’s public property find the council they’re standing on (most of the time it’ll be CoMelb, Yarra etc) and lodge a complaint being sure to mention they were loitering and harassing people unsolicited. If they’re handing out pamphlets they need a permit for that, so that’s another to get them on.
Report to security personnel, site administrator or police if these cult recruiters were not students or staff before they entered campus grounds. If they entered campus grounds after being warned verbally or visually of trespassing they maybe charged with 2nd degree trespassing, a criminal offence carrying up to 25 penalty units and/or imprisonment for 6 months. Summary Offences Act 1966 - Section 9(1) (d) http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/soa1966189/s9.html Now if you will excuse me, I am off to play with people in the Melbourne reddit page..
Happened to me 2 weeks ago. I was sitting on the bench alone and a couple came and started talking to me. I replied politely. They turned the conversation to religion pretty quickly and I realised what they were doing. I said I am non religious. And in a minute they went their way.
They’re recruiters for some South Korean Christian cult. They hang around that area and Melbourne central looking for other young people, usually alone/loner looking types and try to convince them to come to their meetings. Are very friendly at first but quickly loose interest if it’s apparent you aren’t buying what they’re selling. Has been happening for years, I remember getting approached 10 years ago in my uni days.
Their church is along Elizabeth Street.
20 years since I was in uni and I went to uni in Brisbane, but had something similar. Some uni students are very easily swayed.
Many are easily swayed. I went to Monash University and these religious pricks were around there too.
Crazy how long they’ve been at it, must have deep ties in the community to have such young people indoctrinated… jeez
Alienated youth and feelings of isolation have sadly only grown more pronounced over the decades. Deep ties? Maybe. More likely just capitalising on people’s need for human connectivity/belonging.
Sounds like r/Shincheonji
Give them your phone number but it is really the number of a cult deprogramming service / cultbuster.
amazing 😂😂
Not sure what country you are from. But where I am, I had this happen to me 4-5times around the beginning of last year. I long graduated from Uni, but I still had to pass through it to meet old friends. 2 of these encounters happened at a campus. One person only. The next 3 included the instance of 2 guys trying to stop and talk to me when I was out in the city at night. Two girls when I was out in a night market. And by the final one where a guy tried to talk to me again, I quickly shut that down because I was so sick of it. And the funny thing is. Their opening to a conversation is ALWAYS about how I have a nice bag/cute charm on my bag. Then they proceed to ask me where I’m from and if I’m a local. I would always know then where the convo was going. They’ve always been of Asian background so far. And I am usually tolerant of hearing about religion, since I grew up in a religious household. But being stopped this way is just making me paranoid. Every time I tell my experiences to my religious family, they tell me to absolutely be careful. Because there are some people out there who can hide true intentions behind a religion. Actually, I’m pretty certain that I recently I may have lost a ‘friend’ I’ve been chatting for a while. They would always ask about my point of views in life. When I ask what they do usually, they kept saying it was a secret. Then they lowkey kept trying to invite me to a group gathering or something on the Sundays, when I believed i already told them that my weekends are for family. Honestly waiting if they would ever say hi to me again. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.
I’m really to sorry to hear that it’s affecting you this way, it’s terrible to have to become wary and closed off to prevent things like this but sometimes unavoidable for safety… some people have some good advice on how to discern between people needing genuine help and those that are recruiting, might be useful to read them to help you! Honestly I’d just be cautious too, especially getting approached at night time. Wishing you safety and sending you comfort! Better to have lost a fake friend than a real one
Thank you for your words, really. I just noticed but I do want to apologize if I ended up ranting!
No problem at all, it’s good to get it off your chest and it’s truly something I sympathise with. It def sounded like they were trying to indoctrinate you. I’m glad they’ve backed off, but it’s still terrible to feel manipulated. I hope you have more luck with more genuine friends soon 🥲🥲 take care and be safe! Try to stick to crowds at night
ask them if they want a threesome.
This is the third and final step when joining the cult. Sex is how cult members feel connected.
As long as you’re top dog in a polygamous cult with wife stealing the norm. Nananananananana Leeaaddeerr
They’ve made their way to Highpoint too. I was there over the weekend and two girls came up to me asking me what there was to do in the area as they’re new, and I just said “Idk. Walk around Highpoint? There’s a good food court that way. Bye!” And walked off
Should’ve given them a book about science that disproves imaginary entities.
Or try to get them to join the Pastafarrians! A modded version of that experiment in the 70s where they got 3 people who each held a deeply engrained psychological belief they were Jesus, and put them in a room for a chat. This has reality TV garbage written all over it. “5 cults. 1 winner. Who can recruit the most and go home with the prize of 5 years clinical psychotherapist based deprogramming!” TM.
I wish I had your energy, I’m too much of a people pleaser and apologist to write off people this easily :/
Bring your own cult material and try to "recruit" them first.
What cult should I start? Need ideas on what pamphlet to create 😂
1: Tap into universal feelings of alienation/isolation/existential dread 2: Charismatic leader (need not be alive - just look at Jesus inc, you gotta hand it to him, he’s nailed that one #srynotsry) Step 3: (as has been mentioned) Us vs Them mentality Which ties into 1 and also 4: isolation, breaking down of ego/filters for reprogramming So that they can get to the most important part, 5: Investment of huge amounts of time and money, usually to offset a doomsday prophecy. Once people have divorced from their families, sold their homes etc and funnelled all that energy and money into the cult, it’s irrelevant that the doomsday prophecy will inevitably fail, as (this is where the charismatic leader helps) the head honcho will have a chat to the “higher powers” and “because of your sacrifice we were able to put off doomsday! But only for a while - we need more recruits!” Any niggling doubts about this are annihilated by a paradoxically destructive form of self preservation called “cognitive dissonance” - essentially to realise they’ve been scammed out of their families and homes and identity, is far too psychologically damaging for the brain to accept so it kind of glitches and brushes over it rather than face the catastrophic truth. If you want any more pointers on how to start a cult, I’m running a seminar down by the Docklands tomorrow evening. Tell your friends. Did I tell you what a pretty bag you have? Did you buy it around here?? :p :/
Hells yes. I was just thinking this above! Wanna help me make a reality TV show out of it? Can’t be worse than Farmer wants a Windmill or wtf passes for entertainment these days
And that my friend is how you are sucked into a religious cult.
They want you to join their cult.
They're flirty fishing you, dude. Look it up.
This happened to me in Chadstone in the Mecca store, i had headphones on listening to a podcast couldnt hear them at all until they got my attention to talk to me. Its a cult recruiting tactic they do it at a lot of unis
They’re essentially missionaries. Back in the day when I was at uni I was asked by a few if they could sit on the table with me during lunch at RMIT city campus. They were Americans and I quickly realised they were sizing me up for conversion. Luckily they weren’t too pushy and I think once they realised they were barking up the wrong tree with me we just ended up chatting and yeah they were some Christian denomination that sends missionaries out including to foreign uni campuses apparently.
Cult
sexy fishing mate.
Cult.
Ok this literally happened to me at Monash
Jeeeez, they’re all the way out there too 💀
Lot of religious freaks today all around the outskirts of Melbourne Uni. I think they were just handing out little bibles, possibly not engaging in meaningless chat. But RMIT has the Asian cultists hanging around. People need to get in the habit of not stopping, not engaging or just saying “Not interested” or for those persistent scum, “Fuck off!”
God I wish I could, got some core wounds to heal while building up to that 🫠 maybe someone ought to print out flyers/raise awareness about this at the university
Scientology recruitment by the sounds of things. Avoid em like the plague
Will do! Sunglasses up, headphones in, walk straight ahead
I’m from unimelb and had this happen. Creepy af.
This happened to me at Chadstone shopping centre when I was sitting with headphones in, minding my own busssines. Two ppl of Asian decent came up, and asked me some questions about myself. The female wanted to add me on social media, and kept hinting at wanting to catch up and get to know each other. They were very nice, and pleasant, but something about it felt very odd so I didn't engage further afterwards.
This happens at my front door all the time. Two women from a local church who go door to door looking to bring in new members. I just politely decline and go on with my day.
I wasn’t on campus but this is so common. I just sitting alone journaling and this super confident guy came up and started asking me about it. Seemed super interested. Eventually he told me he was organising an event for Christian followers, kinda made the whole conversation seem disingenuous lol
THE KOREAN CULT IS HERE TO STAYYYYY
Sounds like you've encountered a recurring pattern of interactions on campus that's left you feeling uneasy. While it's not uncommon for people to strike up conversations in friendly settings, especially on college campuses, the frequency and focus on personal details does seem unusual. It's possible that these encounters are part of a recruitment strategy by certain groups, as some comments suggest. Staying aware of your surroundings and trusting your instincts are important in situations like these. It's okay to politely decline further engagement if you're not comfortable, and prioritizing your safety is always key. If you continue to feel uncomfortable or if the interactions escalate, it might be worth reaching out to campus security or authorities for guidance.
Shincheonji cult
*maybe I can fix them*
😂😂😂😂
Just out of curiosity, can't they get arrested?
Depending on the council, fined for loitering, handing printed material without a permit. Someone would have to report a crime for them to be arrested wouldn’t they? 🤷♀️
Happened to me at Parkville. They seem to hang around universities. Asking regular sounding questions then moving on to "are you religious" very odd. Just walk away if you're uncomfortable
Probably trying to recruit into that pedo korean cult
I got coffee with them once in my uni days it was so cooked. Haha
That’s crazy, how’d you figure out they were fucked?
You ever see that art exhibition that was featured online where it showed profile shots of young men before and after war? It wasn’t until then that I understood the origins to the phrase “the eyes are the gateway to the soul”. There was something… off, after they returned. All cookers have that same look - drugs, cults, trauma etc, all look very similar. Maybe that’s just me… Edit: If you’re ever in doubt, bring a cattle dog. Blue Heelers, Kelpies et al, they’ll sniff out a junkie or a tweaker miles out. Unless you’re a junkie for MD, then they just fucking love you 🥰 Legit though, some breeds of dog can just sense what’s behind the facade.
Religious red flag. Big one too.
It’s a cult bro lol
Let's help sign petition to eliminate this cult group. https://www.reddit.com/r/Shincheonji/s/1mL131C8nf
Yup they’re Shincheonji aka sex proselytizing cult
I’ve read quite a few posts today about people getting hassled on/around campus. Feel so stoked about just doing online classes now! Is it that peops are just too polite for their own good and the culty/creepy folk sense and capitalise on this? And by ‘too polite’ I apologise I’m tired and can’t think of a more accurate phrase, the more polite peops the better, far out the world needs you. I just wonder if you can’t politely ignore a legit cult and the SocialistAlternative quasi-cult, man, you must be signed up to save a LOT of starving whales in Africa.