Web cult tears son from family.
This is one unbelievable story that I’ve ever read.
The Times on line ran a story about Tom Whipple, an eighteen year old. Tom is a typical pre-adult who spent a lot of time on the Internet until one day when he became hooked to the website Freedomain Radio (FDR), run from Canada by Stefan Molyneux. Molyneux describes himself as “the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web”. But Tom’s mother has a different description for it. She calls it a cult.
Tom religiously listened to Molyneux’s radio show and participated in the website. He even called in to discuss his “problem” with his family. One day, Tom decided to leave his family home in accordance with the process he heard on the radio show as “defooing” – freeing himself from his “family of origin”. This term was coined by the founder of the website. Now he wants absolutely no contact with his parents or his siblings. Throughout this article it appears that Tom is going through a growning up crisis. It also appears to me that Tom is very self-centered and perhaps a narcissist. Everything seems to revolve around him and he leaves no room for comprimise or understanding.
I can relate somewhat to this family’s situation. You see when my sons were at this age, they were going through feelings of imminent emancipation and ready to take on the adult world. At this age, the parent-child relationship has to grow from being authoritative to working on relationships. Acknowledging that your child has grown up and is moving into adulthood and providing support and guidance in their decision-making is a good way to handle eighteen to twenty-one year olds.
Is Molyneux creating a cult with his website? According to the article, Molyneux said about 20 young adults “defooed” from their family. You can make the decision if this is a cult by reading the full article at http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article5485325.ece.
Until later,
Linda
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