I'm interested to learn about cults.
Not necessarily the famous ones that everyone has heard about at some point in their lifes, but lesser known ones.
If anyone here has personal experience to share, that would be great. But links to hard to find articles or pointers are welcome, too.
I also have some some questions like:
- How do YOU define a cult?
- In your opinion, are cults always "bad"?
- Religion/soirituality - a necessary part of a cult?
soon we realize we'll have a suicidal cult
--- Shady's Fox in The Abyss, Chapter XIX, post #893 ---
Not long ago I found myself in one of those funny internet research spirals where I was learning about cults... mostly by watching a lot of videos by cult experts and those who have escaped cults.
My main takeaways are that cults are defined by:
1) The leader. Usually charismatic and on the cluster B spectrum. The life of the cult tends to revolve around the leadership and his/her personality. He is the founder of the ideology and therefore the direct source. There is usually an inner circle that only the most devout members get access to, and those members get more control of members not in that circle. Closer access to the leader is highly coveted. The more personal time a member gets to spend with the leader, the closer they are made to feel to "the truth." The authority of the leader and upper echelons is absolute.
2) The cult community is isolated from the rest of the world, either physically or socially or both. There is no outside contact so that there is no chance that the outside world can contradict or critique the beliefs of the cult. Outside influence is forbidden and members are usually denied knowledge of the goings-on of the normal, everyday world (i.e. no TV, internet, community contact, etc).
3) They are super controlling and manipulative, especially of newcomers, to break down their free will. They find your weaknesses and prey upon them. They usually create a high-demand environment where all you do and think about is cult related stuff. Newcomers are often deprived of sleep and survival security in order to break them down so they can be reprogrammed, and they are never allowed to be alone and without another cult member present. They usually target vulnerable, isolated people without a lot of family and friends, because those people are more likely to develop a dependency on the cult. They use fear and intimidation (negative reinforcement) along with praise and reward when you echo their beliefs (positive reinforcement).
4) Secrecy. They usually don't widely share their beliefs with the outside world. You have to join to find out, and then once you join it's very hard to leave. They may even use blackmail or threat of violence to keep you in. Kidnappings tend to go hand in hand with cults.
5) Tribalism. All cults create exclusivity, or us vs. them, so that its members are programmed to believe that the outside world is either degenerate compared to the values of the cult, or that the outside world is directly against them and cannot be trusted. Only the cult can be trusted as being the most righteous and true.
People often compare religion to cults. Religion, as an institution, is not a cult, if you think about the above features. Some religious individuals do go and create cults, but religion as a whole is different than cults.
