John Lofland > Quotes

“High protection against discrediting and disconfirmation is, however, a peculiar quality and is perhaps only found among certain types of deviant world views...the meaning, explanation, or significance of any empirical object, event, or experience is not to be found in antecedent empirical reality, but rather in their significance to the superimperical cosmic war. It is not denied that one can find empirical antecedent causes (e.g, a nail in a flat tire), but these can be understood only by reference to the working of spirits (i.e., Satan’s work).”
― John Lofland, Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith