Cult members come from all walks of life, all age groups and all personality types. However, one common thread among most cult recruits is heightened stress: Research indicates that a majority of people who end up joining a cult were recruited during a particularly stressful period. People undergoing significant stress can be more susceptible when a person or group claims to have the answer to all of their problems. Michael Langone, Ph.D., a psychologist who specializes in cults, also identifies some psychological traits that can make a person more likely to be successfully recruited, including:
- dependency - an intense desire to belong, stemming from a lack of self-confidence
- unassertiveness - a reluctance to say no or question authority
- gullibility - a tendency to believe what someone says without really thinking about it
- low tolerance for uncertainty - a need to have any question answered immediately in black-and-white terms
- disillusionment with the status quo - a feeling of marginalization within one's own culture and a desire to see that culture change
- naive idealism - a blind belief that everyone is good.
- desire for spiritual meaning - a need to believe that life has a "higher purpose"
Cult recruiters hang out in places where you might find people in a period of extreme stress or possessing the above personality traits - which is anywhere. Some particularly fruitful recruiting locations might include college campuses, religious gatherings, self-help and support groups, seminars related to spirituality or social change and the unemployment office. In a 1990 article in the San Francisco Examiner, a unnamed ex-cult member commented on how easy it is to get sucked in: "People don't realize how susceptible we all are. Those smiling faces lead you to buy it when you're naive and accepting." She was recruited on the UC San Diego campus when she was 19. Her parents arranged for her to be "deprogrammed" eight years later.
The main methods of cult recruitment revolve around deception and manipulation. Potential recruits are not told the true nature or intentions of the group. Instead, recruiters portray it as something mainstream, low-pressure, and benign. They may tell people at a church gathering that their group meets once a week to brainstorm ways to raise money for a new homeless shelter. They might invite a high school student to a talk about how public service can enhance a college application. Recruiters identify the specific needs or desires of their targets and play to them. They learn to pick up on a person's fears and vulnerabilities and portray the cult accordingly. For instance if a young woman just went through a bad breakup, and she is feeling depressed and alone, a cult member might tell her that his group helps people to overcome interpersonal problems and rebuild their confidence for a fresh start. If a man just lost his wife in a car accident, and he can't bear that he didn't get to say goodbye to her, a recruiter might claim that his group helps people reach peace in the wake of sudden death.
It might seem strange that someone would accept these types of invitations, but there are a couple of factors that make it seem more palatable. First, the recruiter might be someone these people know. He could be in that young woman's college dorm or that man's survivor's support group. And someone who is sad, lonely or desperate might be more inclined to trust someone who claims to know the path back to happiness. Also, cults typically isolate recruits so they can't get a "reality check." They may hold meetings or services at times that would normally be spent with family and friends; they may hold "retreats" that submerge the recruit in the group's message for days at a time; and they may ask recruits not to discuss the group with others until they know more about it, so they don't mislead people or give them only part of the story. This kind of isolation narrows a person's feedback structure drastically for a period of time, to the point that the only people they're really communicating with are the members of the cult they're being invited to join. Their doubts about the group, therefore, are never reinforced, and they end up turning into self-doubt, instead. Looking around them at all of the smiling, friendly people who have obviously found peace and happiness by following this path, it appears that it must be the right way.
Once a person attends one meeting or service or lecture, he's invited to another, and another, and another. He's welcomed into the cult family and invited to commit himself to the group. From day one, it's a process of manipulation and deception. And for those who stay on, the recruiting process culminates in the submission of their own personalities to the "will of the group."
Cult Leadership Structure
There is no cult without a powerful, charismatic leader. A charismatic leader has the uncanny ability to get people to follow him unquestioningly. The phrase "cult of personality" refers to this type of group dynamic. Cult members are devoted to the leader not to the leader's ideas. The leader has complete control over his followers -- there is no questioning of his decisions, and he is accountable to no one within the group.
Most destructive religious cults demand absolute devotion to a single person who is considered to be God or connected to God, the Messiah, a prophet or possessing some other holy status. This is a critical component in maintaining absolute devotion: To the members of a cult, only this single person can lead them to salvation. Without this single person, they will spend eternity in Hell.
How does a person fall into a role like this? One common scenario is the preacher or church member who gets "banished" from a mainstream church for preaching extreme or unconventional ideas or showing signs of corruption or instability. When he leaves, his followers go with him, or else he joins an already existing cult and eventually vies for control.
Many of these religions are founded by a single person who retains a position of exclusive power within the organization, and power tends to corrupt even the most ethical among us. Because these groups operate outside the mainstream, there is usually no one checking up on their operating procedures, so a corrupt or mentally unstable leader is free to exploit his followers to his heart's content. In addition to this authoritarian leadership structure, some primary characteristics of a destructive cult include:
- Charismatic leadership
- Deception in recruiting
- Use of thought-reform methods
- Isolation (physical and/or psychological)
- Demand for absolute, unquestionning devotion and loyalty
- Sharp, unsurpassable distinction between "us" (good, saved) and "them" (bad, going to Hell)
- "Inside language" that only members fully understand
- Strict control of members daily routines
In the end, it's all about subjugating members' individuality to achieve the desires of the leader(s), whether that means reinforcing a self-proclaimed messanic status or simply filling the leader's pockets with their hard-earned money. Destructive religious cults target people with certain vulnerabilities and then play on those vulnerabilities to keep them "in the fold." The end result is a "convert" who will try to get all of his loved ones to buy into the same deal that he is losing his life savings on, or keep signing up for an unending series of lectures, seminars and retreats that promise psychological and spiritual healing but really only drain his bank account.
-- Julia Layton
Growing the Business at BVC
Hare Krishna used to send its converts out on the streets to sell flowers. BVC is sending out its "worker bees" for 7 weeks to bring in more potential targets to the cult. Income must be down - people must be leaving. Praise God!
When you go door-to-door be sure to tell them when you invite them to BVC, that BVC worships the new and improved Faith Movement Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible. You should also make sure to inform them that you believe in the Health and Wealth gospel. Also tell them how much of their income (likely half or more) they will need to give when they convert as well as how much of their now free time will be gobbled up by BVC. But you won't tell them that because your recruitment is deceptive and manipulative. PM has you well-trained.
Make sure you tell them that PM is directly connected to God. He must be! He uses the phrase "God told me" all the time. This is his biggest deception. He needs you to think he's connected to God so that you will do what he wants unquestionningly. In your eyes, he is God. But he isn't! He's just a master manipulator. A deceiver and his smile and funny little laugh has you convinced that this can't be true. You don't want it to be true because you feel so good about yourself and life's one big party.
Knock knock. Who's there? It's your local cultist calling, looking for money for our divine revelator to line his pockets with. Don't forget to tell them, you can teach them to do the gibberish -- PM likes that, anybody can learn. But you won't tell them this for fear of having the door slammed in your face.
This is my prayer on behalf of the neighbourhood around BVC. I pray that all doors around BVC will be locked or slammed shut for the next 7 weeks and that people will finally "wise up" and begin to leave BVC.
Remember, the plan is to keep all these things a secret until you get them in the door and PM's smile (and DM's) will do the rest, just like he's doing to you every week. Isn't being a convert fun!!
Be prepared, on Sunday, for PM to say that this is an attack of Satan. Nothing could be further from the truth. God gave me this post!
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
