1. It has a set canon of books that are studied redundantly.

2. The canon has a few good ideas, but much of it is archaic, garbled, over-generalized, subjective, culturally biased and sometimes even flat out wrong.

3. Followers’ understanding of life begins and for the most part remains within the framework taught by teachers as opposed to each individual systematically figuring out life for themselves starting with what’s most important and working down from there.

4. Insanity and incomprehensibility are often mistaken for genius.

5. People who criticize the ideas taught in the canon are ridiculed and ostracized.

6. Any criticism of the canon’s shortcomings can be dismissed by saying, “You just don’t understand our ideology. If you were smarter and studied it more you’d get it.”

7. Winning an argument is more important than arriving at truth.

8. What cannot be disproven is given equal standing with what is provable… when it’s convenient.

9. The ability to quote great thinkers is mistaken for being a great thinker.

10. The people within the group are considered the elite, chosen or ubber. People outside the group are considered unworthy, subhuman and not worth living.

11. Violently and dogmatically defending prepackaged beliefs is only viewed as being close-minded when someone outside the group does it.When someone inside the group does it they are viewed as strong.

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