ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS…

• Am I from an economically sound family background?

• Do I have average to above average intelligence?
• Do I have a good education?
• Am I idealistic?
• Could I be considered intellectually or spiritually curious?
• Am I a good candidate for a cult?
HTTPS://WWW.TED.COM/TALKS/EX_MOONIE_DIANE_BENSCOTE
R_HOW_CULTS_THINK

• People of all ages are influenced and many are professionals. It appears that
anyone can be recruited. For rather than joining a cult they are actively
recruited. No one wakes up in the morning and says “It’s about time I got
involved in a cult" and goes out looking for one. Instead they become
unwitting victims of deception and subtle techniques of psychological
manipulation.
• Ian Haworth,
General Secretary, Cult Information Centre
UNDERSTANDING CULTS
BREAKING DOWN THE STEREOTYPES AND ARMING YOU FOR RESISTANCE
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CULT AND
RELIGION?

• Brainstorm at least three key ways that a cult is different

from a religion – create a working definition of a cult
• Btw noggins only -- don’t cheat by using your phones!
WE CAN DEFINE A CULT AS BEING A GROUP
HAVING ALL FIVE OF THESE COMPONENTS:
• It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its
members
• It forms an elitist totalitarian society.
• Its founder/leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not
accountable and has charisma.
• It believes the end justifies the means in order to solicit funds and recruit
people.
• Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.
• People’s Temple (Jonestown)
• Branch Davidians (Waco
Texas)
• Heaven’s Gate (San Diego)
 IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT INITIAL INDOCTRINATION
CAN TAKE AS LITTLE AS 3-4 DAYS?

• A Class Divided (the blue

eyes/brown eyes) video can
illuminate matters…
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
onKVeZaDzWg
NOTE THAT HOW YOU START IS NOT HOW YOU
CONTINUE

• People coerced into cult involvement usually find they are isolated
from all that they stood for before, whether it is school, beliefs,
careers, families or friends.
• The impact not only on the cult victim and their family can be
devastating. Some family members have described it as being
harder to deal with than death as it is a "living bereavement"
 HOW HARMFUL CAN IT BE?

To remain within the strict mental and social confines of a cult even for a
short time can lead to:

•Loss of choice and free will.

•Diminished intellectual ability, vocabulary and sense of humour.
•Reduced use of irony, abstractions and metaphors.
•Reduced capacity to form flexible and intimate relationships.
•Poor judgement.
•Physical deterioration.
•Malnutrition.
•Hallucinations, panic, dissociation, guilt, identity diffusion and paranoia.
•Neurotic, psychotic or suicidal tendencies.
 HOW ARE CULTS ABLE TO
OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN
CONTROL OVER
MEMBERS
• The average cult uses a combination of the
majority of these techniques, which result in a
potential recruit being broken down physically
and mentally
• Recruits become highly vulnerable to suggestion
and experience sudden personality changes
• Change of personality and the lack of critical
evaluation provokes many family and friends to
react but without guidance in how to cope, the
cult member will rapidly become more and more
alienated from them.
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=C3WTTMRFQXI
REMEMBER…
• People don’t join cults. They are recruited.
• People are recruited by a method not a message.
• People do not stay in cults because they have nothing better to do with their
lives, but because psychological coercion holds them there.
• Cults intend to retain a hold on people for life, or for as long as they are
valuable to the cult. It is not a fad or a phase.
• Normal people from normal families are recruited into cults.
• Cult leaders should be blamed for the problems caused, not the individual
members, ex-members or their families. (Blame the victim syndrome). It can
happen to anyone.
KEEP REMEMBERING THAT…
• Cult members are sincere. (Sincere victims, but sincere.)
• Cult members are victims and need to be treated with love. They are people
who need help, not hostility.
• Cults recruit people of all ages, not just young people.
• Cult recruiters are rarely visually identifiable. They usually look like quite
normal people who appear to be very friendly.
• Anyone can become a victim of cult techniques of psychological coercion. The
safest people seem to be the seriously mentally ill, or those that know how to
recognise a cult.
• Accurate information on cults is not best obtained by trying to infiltrate a cult.
This is far too dangerous
AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION…
• Cults use sophisticated mind control techniques that will work on anyone with
the right circumstances. Thinking you’re immune only makes you more
vulnerable. Remember the assault is on your emotions, not on your intellect.
• The two basic principles of psychological coercion are:
• If you can make a person BEHAVE the way you want, you can make that
person BELIEVE the way you want.
• Sudden, drastic changes in environment lead to heightened suggestibility
and to drastic changes in attitudes and beliefs.
USE YOUR THINKING SKILLS
• Why do you think we generally don’t discuss how to avoid joining cults?
• How far should we go as a society to prevent cults? Where do human
rights fit into the discussion? What should government intervention look
like?
• If cults are so dangerous, why aren’t they illegal? Should they be illegal? What is
the best approach for our society to take with respect to cults and
protection/safety of the individual?
• How wise is it to visit a Scientology centre downtown and take the free
personality assessment?