8.3.4.1. Orange Papers (橙色文件)
Amazing website talking about Cults and many other things!
The key page of the website is the "Cult Test": https://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html. This is a must read. It is basically the TV Tropes of Cults.
Down as of 2020-04 archive:
-
2016 "Cult Test" archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20160205090248/https://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html
-
latest working homepage archive from 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20190925201137/https://www.orange-papers.org/
TODO who is the author? Copyright says by "A. Orange". Is it the real name, or just a pun for "I ate an orange"?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Orangepapers/comments/5sh7kg/any_info_on_what_happened_to_the_orange_papers/ mentions the creator’s first name is "Terry", and that the website went down due to financial trouble.
Claimed interview with him on the 2013 SAFE RECOVERY podcast: https://podfanatic.com/podcast/safe-recovery/episode/orange-papers-founder-terry-talks-about-the-truth-about-aa-1
The website also offered compressed archives, but Ciro could not find any of those on the Wayback Machine, although it is hard to be sure because there are many different timestamps available, the section reads:
Get this entire web site in a set of compressed packages so that you can read it later offline (and burn CDs and give copies to friends).
Archives are available in both Unix/Linux tarred-gzipped format, or Micro$uck Windoze winzip format.
Current as of 2016-12-07 (yyyy-mm-dd).
Total Size = 900 MB compressed (1.7 GB uncompressed), but no file is larger than 14 MB, to prevent file size problems with some systems, like Comcast.
Get either set; you don’t need both, as the files contained are identical.
File names are of form:
-
Orange_Papers-alpha-2016-12-07.tar.gz
-
Orange_Papers-imgs000-2011-01-01.tar.gz
A mirror with many broken links and images: http://aorange1.tripod.com/
And the website also has a Free Tibet flag at the bottom.
Many of the points highlighted at are very very interesting and Ciro feels that they apply strongly to Falun Gong (法轮功, Qigong new religion/cult):
-
"Instant Community" and "Instant intimacy": you instantly join the cult family, and are very very likely to believe or at least consider anything anyone else in the cult says about their religious experiences, no matter how far-fetched, even though it is not canon
Conversely, this also poses a risk for the Cult Leader, as new community ideas can spread very quickly, and if you try to fight them off, they might create a Schism.
-
"Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations": yes, Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) does this all the time, see: Zhong Gong (中功, 中华养生益智功, Qigong religion)
-
"Personal testimonies of earlier converts": see "experience sharing" at Is Falun Gong a religion? 法轮功是一个宗教吗？
-
"The group and its members are special", "Enemy-making and Devaluing the Outsider": see: "ordinary people (常人)" at Does Ciro Santilli believe in or practice Falun Gong? (三西猴信仰或者练法轮功吗？)
-
"Front groups, masquerading recruiters, hidden promoters, and disguised propagandists": Falun Gong media (法轮功媒体)
-
"The Guru is always right", "You are always wrong", "No Graduates", "The Guru Is Extra-Special", "Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around", "The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru.": obviously: Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet)
-
"Group-think, Suppression of Dissent, and Enforced Conformity in Thinking"
-
Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith: notably visible during in experience sharing
There are also however some points which Ciro feels don’t apply, and Ciro praises Falun Gong for those:
-
"Dual Purposes": not much of that, most of their propaganda is "we are persecuted unfairly by China", not "let’s help the poor"
-
"The End Justifies The Means": Li has made it clear that believers must follow the laws of their countries. Cults that violate this tend to not last as long, this is the smart move for cult leaders.
And some points which Ciro feels apply which were mentioned in some other article, (or maybe in Orange Papers but he couldn’t find them, TODO find reference?)
-
"No time for fun": how could you possibly spend leisure time watching television, etc. when you could be saving the world instead?
-
"Focus on the persecution of the Cult": while obviously people who have been persecuted have the right, and almost an obligation, to look for help and share their stories, it is also clear that this is a selling point for the Cult.
Why would a nation state attack a Cult? This could give the impression that it is because there is something powerful and true in the Cult, and actually menaces this nation state.
For example, Falun Gong puts huge emphasis on its persecution in China, much like the Martyrdom of the Catholic Saints is highly emphasised.
This is especially interesting, because the website does not mention Falun Gong at all it seems: it really seems that all those cults are very similar.
It should also be mentioned though that these points extend to any type of human organization, e.g. other religions, political parties, job associations, etc.
Amazing website talking about Cults and many other things!
The key page of the website is the "Cult Test": https://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html. This is a must read. It is basically the TV Tropes of Cults.
Down as of 2020-04 archive:
-
2016 "Cult Test" archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20160205090248/https://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html
-
latest working homepage archive from 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20190925201137/https://www.orange-papers.org/
TODO who is the author? Copyright says by "A. Orange". Is it the real name, or just a pun for "I ate an orange"?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Orangepapers/comments/5sh7kg/any_info_on_what_happened_to_the_orange_papers/ mentions the creator’s first name is "Terry", and that the website went down due to financial trouble.
Claimed interview with him on the 2013 SAFE RECOVERY podcast: https://podfanatic.com/podcast/safe-recovery/episode/orange-papers-founder-terry-talks-about-the-truth-about-aa-1
The website also offered compressed archives, but Ciro could not find any of those on the Wayback Machine, although it is hard to be sure because there are many different timestamps available, the section reads:
Get this entire web site in a set of compressed packages so that you can read it later offline (and burn CDs and give copies to friends).
Archives are available in both Unix/Linux tarred-gzipped format, or Micro$uck Windoze winzip format.
Current as of 2016-12-07 (yyyy-mm-dd).
Total Size = 900 MB compressed (1.7 GB uncompressed), but no file is larger than 14 MB, to prevent file size problems with some systems, like Comcast.
Get either set; you don’t need both, as the files contained are identical.
File names are of form:
-
Orange_Papers-alpha-2016-12-07.tar.gz -
Orange_Papers-imgs000-2011-01-01.tar.gz
A mirror with many broken links and images: http://aorange1.tripod.com/
And the website also has a Free Tibet flag at the bottom.
Many of the points highlighted at are very very interesting and Ciro feels that they apply strongly to Falun Gong (法轮功, Qigong new religion/cult):
-
"Instant Community" and "Instant intimacy": you instantly join the cult family, and are very very likely to believe or at least consider anything anyone else in the cult says about their religious experiences, no matter how far-fetched, even though it is not canon
Conversely, this also poses a risk for the Cult Leader, as new community ideas can spread very quickly, and if you try to fight them off, they might create a Schism.
-
"Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations": yes, Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) does this all the time, see: Zhong Gong (中功, 中华养生益智功, Qigong religion)
-
"Personal testimonies of earlier converts": see "experience sharing" at Is Falun Gong a religion? 法轮功是一个宗教吗？
-
"The group and its members are special", "Enemy-making and Devaluing the Outsider": see: "ordinary people (常人)" at Does Ciro Santilli believe in or practice Falun Gong? (三西猴信仰或者练法轮功吗？)
-
"Front groups, masquerading recruiters, hidden promoters, and disguised propagandists": Falun Gong media (法轮功媒体)
-
"The Guru is always right", "You are always wrong", "No Graduates", "The Guru Is Extra-Special", "Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around", "The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru.": obviously: Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet)
-
"Group-think, Suppression of Dissent, and Enforced Conformity in Thinking"
-
-
Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith: notably visible during in experience sharing
There are also however some points which Ciro feels don’t apply, and Ciro praises Falun Gong for those:
-
"Dual Purposes": not much of that, most of their propaganda is "we are persecuted unfairly by China", not "let’s help the poor"
-
"The End Justifies The Means": Li has made it clear that believers must follow the laws of their countries. Cults that violate this tend to not last as long, this is the smart move for cult leaders.
And some points which Ciro feels apply which were mentioned in some other article, (or maybe in Orange Papers but he couldn’t find them, TODO find reference?)
-
"No time for fun": how could you possibly spend leisure time watching television, etc. when you could be saving the world instead?
-
"Focus on the persecution of the Cult": while obviously people who have been persecuted have the right, and almost an obligation, to look for help and share their stories, it is also clear that this is a selling point for the Cult.
Why would a nation state attack a Cult? This could give the impression that it is because there is something powerful and true in the Cult, and actually menaces this nation state.
For example, Falun Gong puts huge emphasis on its persecution in China, much like the Martyrdom of the Catholic Saints is highly emphasised.
This is especially interesting, because the website does not mention Falun Gong at all it seems: it really seems that all those cults are very similar.
It should also be mentioned though that these points extend to any type of human organization, e.g. other religions, political parties, job associations, etc.