This was a previous comment that should be placed as a post for it provides some interesting insights from a individual that was not in ESP but has been watching revelations about it unfold…
Guest View:
I’m not baffled by the people who are based outside the Vancouver or Albany communities, and not as directly connected to this. They all have the “don’t listen to what the mean media says about Keith!!!” basic level of classes under their belt – it’s a knee jerk response.
My question is about the ones who actually ARE informed – Lucas Roberts and India Oxenberg, for instance, {Both wrote defenses of ESP following the major New York Time expose] are closer to this, and should be aware the New York Times story is based in true events, yet both are just shrugging it off. I’ve seen a handful of other comments from people still in, along the lines of “YOU DON’T HAVE THE DATA I HAVE” or “IF YOU BELIEVE THE NEW YORK TIMES THEN YOU’RE THE ONLY TRUE VICTIM HERE” and I’m just wondering if anyone here can provide any clues on how those inside are still justifying this to themselves when they’re branded themselves or close to someone who is?
As an outsider who was never involved with ESP directly myself, both SOP and DOS seem really weak on the “saving the world” illusion, so it seems like a harder mental hurdle to keep jumping. At least with ESP, you have something tangible to aim for with the stripe path to provide a sense of accomplishment (while DOS just seems like it’s about never ending humiliation and punishment and collateral) it’s never been quite clear to me quite how DOS was “serving the mission,” aside from the vague comment in the New York Times article that it was intended to influence elections somehow – it seems fairly transparent that it’s all about serving Keith.
I get on some level that “everything is great because Keith says so” might be enough of an answer in itself once you’re in long enough, and a lot of the DOS girls also probably feel like they don’t have a choice anymore once they’ve passed off enough collateral. I see the thought process behind joining DOS in how it was sold, I get that once you’re hungry and sleep-deprived enough, some weird shit starts making perfect sense in your head, and I think that Keith is a soulless monster capable of anything, and that everyone he’s broken down into upholding his sham of a cult are his victims. But the branding being shrugged off by people who “know” it’s real, is just a hard jump for me to make. Even though I know objectively that there’s hypnosis and serious brainwashing in play here, and victim-blaming is always going to be the default response since anything inconvenient to Keith gets waved off with “well, that’s your issue”… Still, I’m left wondering what “data” could possibly make a person still believe they’re totally in the right and “ethical” to keep perpetuating the branding in their own community? It’s not like it’s being done to strangers, these people were your friends… It’s so heartbreaking.

