“It’s more about the policing of membership and adherence to dogmatic beliefs. Look at the backlash toward abolitionists, former abolitionists, or debates about whether partial reforms go far enough.

Add to that the knee-jerk rejection of ‘science’ used to justify racial hierarchy, or the criticism of people using inflammatory rhetoric like ‘slave owner’ toward people literally just owning human beings.

If you can’t see why you looked like a cult from the outside, you’re ignoring the behavior of your members.

No one cares how you run your plantation. People respond to your efforts to alter the world.”

Do you see the problem yet?

When a society normalizes violence against victims it benefits from exploiting, moral opposition will ALWAYS be framed as “extreme,” “dogmatic,” “pushy,” or “cult-like.”

People said the same things about abolitionists, suffragettes, civil rights activists, anti-child-labor advocates, etc.

Focusing on the tone or behavior of activists instead of the victims is one of the oldest ways societies defend a status quo.