Religion & Spirituality

So You Think You'd Never Join A Cult?


Thanks to social media, we as a society have begun to hear a lot of stories from people who were brought up in cult life, and have escaped cults as adults. Thanks to movies and a lot of horror fiction, there has been this prevailing idea from the outside world, that cults come and kidnap you, or sit you in a dark room and splash water on you for 8 hours and force you to somehow join under duress, but you might be surprised.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

Who Do Cult Members Look For

The answer is just about anyone. Maybe you've been complaining to a work mate about your financial issues, or you're a guy who's sick of dealing with women after a third painful break-up and you're venting online, or you're frustrated with your current religion and how you feel you have no place in it, or you're a young lonely college student away from home. These are all very normal people that exist any and everywhere online and in the real world, and all a cult needs is a way in, and most of us, thanks to social media, and posting our entire lives online, give them an in.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

How Do They Find You

Cults recruit anywhere from the grocery store, the the gym, to churches, to support groups, to online chat groups. All they are looking for, as previously mentioned, is an in, into what you are looking for in life. Whatever problem you have be it your lack of upward mobility, to addiction problems, to dealing with your unruly kids, they come to meetings, groups, your college, social events, parks, anywhere where you are.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

How Do They Hook You

Again, the actual cult recruitment process is not a scary thing. Who the heck is going to want to join anything where they are literally afraid from the jump. Ever heard the phrase, "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." That principal definitely applies. They may simply invite you to a meeting or social gathering where the appeal is that they know you, and what you're struggling with, and here are people who went through the same things. Hate your family, this here group is a family and look at how everyone shows up and helps everyone else, and everyone is smiling and having a good time and is being supportive unlike the people in your life. They flatter you, they validate you and your feelings and stress and pain all the time. You're alone, you're struggling to get dates, here is a room filled with men and women who through the group have found relationships. How about a job? You're broke, come work for them. They can set you right up and you can be your own boss. All of it sounds good because it's designed that way.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

How Do They Keep You There

Not everyone drinks the Kool-Aid right away. There are of course people who are a bit shaky with joining, but once you start showing up to meetings and gatherings, the real work begins. Let's say the issue is your kids who you've been complaining about --"well, look how well behaved our children are through discipline taught here. You want that right? Your kids have way too many computers and phones that keep them angry at you and more involved with people they don't know online, than with what matters, the family." You see how easy it is to start appealing to someone in a situation. The cults then begin to gaslight you about situations like, "Your kids grandparents ignore your parenting wishes. You should be in control. They are spoiling them when they should be teaching them how to behave which is part of the problem." Then, it's how about the school. "Your kids aren't getting the tools or education they need because it's crowded and underfunded, but here in our facilities, we offer free education and a 10 to 1 ratio of students to teacher." Any problem you have, they have a shiny solution.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

What Happens Once You're Almost In

Once they start isolating you from anyone who can possibly see the problem with the cult, then they fully start immersing you in their doctrine. You might go to an all week seminar or vacation retreat where only the members are invited. There begins the emphasis on how you can contribute and gain social standing by moving up some arbitrary ladder with several steps, and how of course, you can financially contribute, and how to distance yourself from people trying to stop you from positive growth because of course everyone out there is just jealous that you've found a way to better yourself. At any point, if you seek to pull away, everything the cult has given you is threatened to be ripped away including all that emotional support, the job they've given you, the family they are providing and on and on.

So You Think Youd Never Join A Cult?

The reality is that cult members were just like you at one point. A person with some issues, like everyone else on the planet, given a sugar coated solution to all of life's problems by joining. They build you up and build you up, and let you feel like you've found your place, and then all the often disturbing, humiliating, physically painful, isolating from friends and family, and taking of your money, begins in earnest.

So You Think You'd Never Join A Cult?
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