Mind control: The secret weapon utilised by religious cults to control their followers

Abstract

The aim of this article is to create awareness of the dangers of religious cults. The process utilised by these cults to recruit members and to control their lives is so subtle that members are led to believe that they joined out of their own free will. A brief discussion of what religious cults are as well as how they function is followed by an explanation of mind control and how it is utilised by cults. This article maintains that mind control is the secret weapon with which leaders of cults lure their followers under false pretences to mislead, control and make them dependent on the cult.

Full text

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Mind control: The secret weapon utilised
by religious cults to control their followers
S.P. Pretorius
Registration Administration
UNISA
PRETORIA
E-mail:pretosp@unisa.ac.za
Abstract
Mind control: The secret weapon utilised by religious cults to control their
followers
The aim of this article is to create awareness of the dangers of
religious cults. The process utilised by these cults to recruit members
and to control their lives is so subtle that members are led to believe
that they joined out of their own free will. A brief discussion of what
religious cults are as well as how they function is followed by an
explanation of mind control and how it is utilised by cults. This article
maintains that mind control is the secret weapon with which leaders of
cults lure their followers under false pretences to mislead, control and
make them dependent on the cult.
Opsomming
Psigiese beheer: die geheime wapen wat deur godsdienstige kultes
aangewend word om hulle volgelinge te beheer
Die doel van hierdie artikel is om ’n bewustheid vir die gevare van
godsdienstige kultes te kweek. Die proses wat deur hierdie kultes
aangewend word om lede te werf en uiteindelik te beheer is so subtiel
dat dit die oortuiging by die lede laat dat hulle uit vrye wil betrokke is.
’n Oorsigtelike bespreking van wat godsdienstige kultes is asook hoe
hulle funksioneer word gevolg deur ’n uiteensetting van “mind control”
en die wyse waarop dit deur die kultes aangewend word. Hierdie
artikel handhaaf die beskouing dat “mind control” die geheime wapen
is waarmee die leiers van kultes hulle volgelinge onder valse voor-
wensels lok, mislei, beheer en uiteindelik afhanklik maak van die kulte.

Mind control: The secret weapon utilised by religious cults …
1. Introduction
Religious cults in South Africa, their practices and sophisticated
techniques seem to be a topic greatly lacking the attention it
deserves. Many people when leaving these cults are faced with
serious psychological, emotional, physiological and social con-
sequences. Cult watching groups exist in the United States of
America with the aim of revealing these consequences and alerting
the public and governments to the perceived dangers of cults. In
South Africa similar groups exist, e.g. Cult Information and
Evangelisation Centre (CIEC) and Rights of Individuals Grant
Honour To (RIGHT). Unfortunately these organisations currently do
not receive the recognition and support they need from the
government and the public. Religious cults are no longer only a
phenomenon elsewhere in the world. A number of established
religious cults are also functioning under the South African sky,
protected by the constitution of the country. According to the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Chapter 2, (31)(1)a
Persons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community
may not be denied the right, with other members of that community
(a) to enjoy their culture, practise their religion and use their
language, and
(b) to form, join and maintain cultural, religious and linguistic
associations and other organs of civil society
Most of the South African cults are geographically isolated from the
outside world and as a result function as communes on farms. More
important is the fact that their members are also emotionally isolated
from their known world of reference through subtle techniques,
dependence on, and total commitment to the aims and prescriptions
of the cult.
Members of these cults show a change in personality and
behaviour. Behavioural change in this context mostly results in an
antagonism towards family, friends and institutions in disagreement
with the doctrines and practices of the cult. Members are known to
sell their homes and possessions and pledge the income to the cult
as a sign of total commitment to the aims of the cult – the “work of
God”. More radically, cult members break ties with their family and
friends to be left without any support system outside the cult. The
question can be asked: How is it possible for people to change so
dramatically? And how informed are the public in general about
these groups and their practices, so that they will be empowered to
take drastic preventative steps?
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2. Problem statement
Do members really join a cult out of their own free will? And if so,
why is it so difficult to leave the cult after a few years or even
months? Why do people who leave these cults encounter
psychological, social and physiological problems?
3. Religious cults
In order to explore mind control in a religious cult setting, we need to
consider a description of what a cult is as well as how cults function.
3.1 Definition of religious cults
To define cults is not an easy task, because they are complex
religious phenomena. In the hands of some commentators, cults can
range from doomsday cults such as Heaven’s Gate or the Branch
Davidians to those that scarcely seem to be religious at all and
merely offer strategies of psychotherapy, positive thinking, or some
other means of developing human potential (Hunt, 2003:17).
When investigating religious cults, however, a number of useful
definitions emerge: A cult is a relatively small, often transitory
religious group that commonly follows a radical leader (Mather &
Nichols, 1993:86) who is believed to have a special talent, gift,
knowledge or calling (Singer & Lalich, 1995:7). A cult espouses
radically new religious beliefs and practices that are frequently seen
as threatening the basic values and cultural norms of society at
large (Mather & Nichols, 1993:86; Hexham, 1993:59). Bowker
(1997:247) adds to the definition that cults also systematically
employ sophisticated techniques designed to effect ego-destruction,
thought reform and dependence on the group. Another feature of
cults is that they aim to extend their mission independently of
previous relationships with family, friends, religion, school or career,
employing beliefs, practices and rituals which reinforce cult values
and norms (MacHovec, 1989:10).
We can therefore propose the following working definition: a
religious cult is a group of people zealously following a leader with a
special gift. The cult exhibits radical new religious beliefs and
practices in opposition to traditional Christian beliefs. The leader and
his or her followers believe that they are the final arbiters of what is
or is not the truth. The cult isolates itself from the outside world,
exhibiting inward innovative behaviour that both differentiates and
makes for conformity among group members establishing a group
identity. Sophisticated techniques are utilised in order to bring about
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thought reform (mind control), group identity and dependence on the
group.
3.2 Functioning of religious cults
According to Singer & Lalich (1995:8-10), psychologists and experts
in the field of cults, three main factors are important in assessing the
cultic nature and functioning of a group, namely the leader, the
structure of the group and thought reform (mind control).
Cult leaders are self-appointed, persuasive persons who claim to
have a special mission, gift or knowledge. For example, Lester
Bloomberg of the Mission Church claimed to have the special gift of
prophecy (Botha, 1993:11). He prophesied that the town of Welkom
would disappear into a hole on 18 April 1988; the AWB would carry
out a coup d’état in May 1988; and the Voortrekker monument would
be struck by lightning on 16 December 1987 and be divided into two
parts (Theron, 1993:287). Furthermore they tend to be determined
and domineering and are often described as charismatic. Typically
they have enough personal charm or other cogency to attract
people, control and manage them. Cult leaders centre veneration on
themselves. They keep their followers’ love, devotion and allegiance
focused on themselves.
Cults exhibit an authoritarian structure and the leader is regarded as
the supreme authority. Eugen Houy, the leader of the Houy group in
Mpumalanga, claims to receive his messages directly from God
(Erasmus, 2004:80). Leaders may delegate some power to a few
subordinates in order to ensure that their orders and wishes are
carried out. In this group the structure is clearly identifiable. The
structure is headed by the leader, Eugen Houy; below him are the
seven monarchs, on the next level the priests, then the Levites, and
then the people (Erasmus, 2004:18). There is no appeal outside the
leadership system to greater systems of justice. Cult leaders claim
to be offering something novel and instituting the only viable system
for change that will solve life’s problems or the world’s ills. Almost all
cults make the claim that their members are “special”, “chosen” or
“selected” while non-members are considered lesser beings. Cults
tend to have a double set of ethics. Members are urged to confess
all to the leader, but at the same time members are encouraged to
deceive and manipulate non-members. These actions are explained
by “the end justifies the means”, or the deception is referred to as
“heavenly deception”.
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Cults tend to be totalistic, or all encompassing, in controlling their
members’ behaviour and also ideologically totalistic, exhibiting
zealotry and extremism in their world-view. Eventually cults expect
members to devote increasing time, money, possessions and
resources to the professed goals of the group so that they can
obtain salvation. Cults dictate to members what to wear, eat and
drink, and when and where they may sleep and work. Miller (2003),
a former member of another group in the Limpopo province known
as Alon Christian Community, reports that the women who live on
the farm with their husbands are told exactly what is expected of
them. They must perform specific tasks, which include duties in the
kitchen, looking after children and cleaning all the houses on the
farm. The women are discouraged from wearing long hair and
make-up. They are told that it portrays vanity and will hinder their
spiritual growth and total commitment. (The leader’s wife, however,
is permitted to wear long hair and make-up.) She also told how she
had to sleep outside the house she and her husband occupied when
she was disobedient to him (she and her husband had been
matched up by the leader). She wanted to escape, but was too
afraid to do so. Cult members are taught that it is all or nothing.
Cults expect their members to undergo a major disruption or change
in lifestyle. Great pressure is placed on new members to leave their
families, friends and jobs, sell their belongings and pledge their
income to the group in order to become immersed in the group’s
major purpose. This isolation tactic is one of the cults’ most powerful
and common mechanisms to control their members and enforce
dependency.
The sophisticated techniques used to bring about thought reform
and behavioural change that ultimately result in isolation and
dependence, are of particular interest to this article. These
techniques are generally referred to as mind control.
4. Mind control
There are different forms of mind control. Mind control in this context
refers to the techniques utilised by leaders of religious cults to
ensure control over their followers.
4.1 What is mind control?
Some definitions of mind control include: A system of influences that
disrupts an individual’s identity and replaces it with a new identity
(Hassan, 1988:7); A step-by-step process designed to break a
person’s independence and individuality and to substitute it with the
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characteristics of a pawn (McManus & Cooper, 1984:27). Mind
control is the shaping of a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and personality
without the person’s knowledge or consent (www.FACTnet.org.:1).
Mind control is also a concerted effort to change a person’s way of
looking at the world, which will change his or her behaviour (Singer
& Lalich, 1995:62). A person has been made receptive to new ideas,
because his or her critical facilities and ego strength have been
eroded by techniques including information control, over-stimulation
of the nervous system, forced confessions and ego destruction
(Snow & Machaleck, 1984:178).
4.2 The aim of mind control
The aim of mind control is to suppress an individual’s own
personality (ambitions, opinions, critical thinking and ability to make
decisions) and to replace it with an identity acceptable to the
religious leader. A person who develops this new identity does not
think critically, is indecisive, dependent and lacks ambition, thus
ensuring that the leader gains control. In this manner the follower is
also made dependent on the guidance of the leader and the group.
4.3 The danger of mind control
Mind control takes place in a seemingly friendly environment. This
friendly environment is created by what purports to be interest in the
well-being of the individual. But, on the contrary it is dangerous in
view of the fact that the aim is to gain control over the individual. In
this environment the individual is more susceptible to such influence,
and the establishment of a new identity is more readily achieved.
The victim is unknowingly led and manipulated to make certain
choices (Hassan, 1988:56). The behaviour changes that take place
are viewed as the result of a person’s own free will. The subtlety of
mind control is clear from the following quotation:
… cults can do it (mind control) better because it’s easier to get
people to do your bidding through manipulating their guilt and
anxiety and by never directly confronting them and frightening
them, but to make their own inner guilt and anxiety change their
behaviour (McManus & Cooper, 1984:27).
Another important aspect of the subtlety of mind control is the fact
that the leader can never be identified as the culprit in changing the
behaviour of his or her followers. Through mind control individuals
are unwittingly forced to do what the leader expects of them under
the pretence that they have independently decided to do it. When
leaders are confronted, they claim innocence on the basis that the
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S.P. Pretorius
individuals acted from their own free will. Outsiders unfamiliar with
the subtle process of mind control, do not suspect any wrongdoing
inside cults. Mind control programs successfully attack the person’s
central stability, self-concept and capacity for self-evaluation.
Moreover, this attack is carried out under a variety of guises and
conditions, and only rarely includes forced confinement or direct
physical coercion (Singer & Lalich, 1995:60).
4.4 Cognitive dissonance
In order to understand the process of mind control, it is important to
explain the principle underlying the process. Cognitive dissonance
occurs when an individual is confronted with two or more
contradicting cognitions or ideas. The result is that the individual
experiences discomfort (Gouws, Louw, Meyer & Plug, 1982:154).
This does not mean that a difference between two cognitions
creates dissonance, but rather that a difference exists between
cognitions about the self and specific behaviour that nullifies that
self-concept (Venter, 2002:141.). In order to obtain consonance an
individual will attempt to change one or both of the cognitions
(Gerard, 1992:323). An example used by Festinger (1957) may
assist in elucidating the theory: A habitual smoker who learns that
smoking is bad for his health will experience dissonance, because
the knowledge that smoking is unhealthy is dissonant with the
cognition that he continues to smoke. He can reduce the dissonance
by changing his behaviour, that is, he can stop smoking, which
would be consonant with the cognition that smoking is bad for
health. Alternatively, the smoker can reduce dissonance by
changing his cognition about the effect of smoking on health, and
choose to believe that smoking does not have a harmful effect on
health (eliminating the dissonant cognition).
In cults, members are confronted in the first instance with a different
view and life style that confronts their idea about the self and their
behaviour. The view and lifestyle of the cult is presented as “pure”
and novel compared to the bad, evil, unfulfilling world-view of the
individual. As a result, cognitive dissonance is created. The
individual is now forced to make choices or act in order to relieve the
discomfort. Throughout the whole process of mind control, this
redefining of the self and the member’s world-view takes place in
order to establish a new identity − the cult identity, to fit the cult
world-view.
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4.5 The process of mind control
It is clear from the description above that mind control takes place
systematically. Different theories exist to account for the process of
mind control in religious cults. We will discuss the mind-control
process that consists mainly of four phases: first contact, loosening,
change and establishment in the cult life style to gain control over
followers.
4.5.1 First contact
First contact refers to the first time an individual makes contact with
the leader or members of a cult. This contact can occur as a result
of a friend or family member’s introduction to the group. It can also
take place during a recruitment exercise of the group. The first
contact will be extended by an invitation to an event of the cult
(Singer & Lalich, 1995:112). In cults recruitment and expansion are
viewed as part of their mission. “Love bombing”, a powerful tool in
recruitment of cult members, refers to a feigned show of affection
and caring for the sole purpose of influencing behaviour and
indoctrinating new members (MacHovec, 1989:82). Love bombing is
a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of the leadership,
that involves long-term members flooding recruits with flattery,
verbal seduction, affectionate but usually nonsexual touching, and
lots of attention to their every remark (Singer & Lalich, 1995:114).
During the recruiting the predisposition of new members is also
addressed. Predisposition factors refer to aspects such as feeling
“different” from others, or not really belonging somewhere. In the
potential members’ contact with the cult, they experience that these
factors are addressed. They feel loved and understood and are
listened to (Whitsett, 1992:363). The utilisation of these techniques
creates the perception of affectionate interest in the well-being of the
individual. This perception not only causes an emotional desire to
return and make more contact, but also creates a seemingly safe
environment which influences the critical facilities of the person. The
first contact has the aim of stimulating an interest in the group and
its activities. Once that interest is established, the next phase can
take place.
4.5.2 Loosening
Loosening is the phase during which the leader starts to loosen the
individual from his or her existing way of life. A successful way of
achieving this is through inducing guilt. All the recruit’s former
personal connections are deemed evil by the cult and are shown to
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be against “God’s chosen way” (Singer & Lalich, 1995:118). It is also
established by sowing seeds of doubt about the correctness of the
individual’s identification structures. For example, it is almost
impossible for adolescents and young adults not to have mixed
feelings about their parents, their church, politics, educational
institutions and the world in general. Many cults make a point of
tapping into these unresolved feelings, by exploiting and playing
them down in order to attract and recruit members. Control is
systematically gained over the prospective members by increasing
anxieties and fears exploiting dependency needs and provoking
feelings of guilt and inferiority (Meerlo, 1956:73). With the prospect
that the cult has the answers to all life’s questions, even to
addressing unresolved feelings, the prospective member is subtly
induced to get more involved in the cult practices.
4.5.3 Change
The new member’s gradual commitment to the activities of the group
creates the opportunity for change. In order to bring about real
change in attitude and behaviour, certain techniques are introduced.
Some of the most powerful techniques will be discussed.
• Change is brought about through confession sessions. Through
public confession sessions new members are led to reveal past
and present behaviour, contacts with others, and undesirable
feelings, seemingly in order to unburden themselves and become
free. The member is stripped of his or her private and intimate
feelings. Whatever is revealed is subsequently used to further
mould the member and to make him or her feel closer to the
group and estranged from non-believers. The information can
also be used against the member to make him or her feel more
guilty, powerless, fearful and in need of the cult and the leader’s
goodness. A strong emotional tie is also formed between the
member and the cult as a result of the self-revealing confession
(Singer & Lalich, 1995:72; MacHovec, 1989:82). Through the
confession sessions and instruction in the group’s teaching,
members learn that everything about their former lives, including
friends, family and non-members, is wrong and must be avoided.
Outsiders will pull the member away from God and pollute him or
her.
• Group pressure is another effective means to get people to fit
their behaviour to group norms. Cult leaders use the innate
tendencies toward group conformity that people bring with them
as a powerful tool for change. No one announces the rules, but
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Mind control: The secret weapon utilised by religious cults …
people look around them, discern what they are and behave
accordingly. For example, a number of women in a cult, without
being instructed to do so, changed their clothes to dark colours,
long skirts, flat heels and no make-up in order to fit in (Singer &
Lalich, 1995:168). People tend to believe that the majority is
always right. When confronted with information contradictory to
the individual’s own world-view, the reaction of the other
established members is observed in order to assist in dealing
with the information. The positive reaction by these established
members causes new members to re-evaluate their own
response. In most cases the new members believe that they must
be wrong because all the other members accept the information.
The pressure by the group subtly persuades the new member to
accept the information.
• Sensory deprivation is also a powerful means to bring about
change. Under extreme sensory deprivation people often show
decreased intellectual functioning and mood shifts, and even
visual and auditory hallucinations. Sensory deprivation can
diminish an individual’s ability to resist attitude and belief
changes. Stress that is experienced during deprivation makes
some individuals especially sensitive to social influence
(Suedfeld, 1975:60-69). Singer and Lalich (1995:132) mention
two important sensory deprivations common to cults, namely
prolonged dietary changes and prolonged sleep loss. Members of
the Alon Christian Fellowship are expected to participate in all
activities. One such important activity is prayer meetings.
Members living on the farm are expected to pray at 05:00 every
morning. Those who miss these meetings are told to look for
another place to stay because they are not committed and do not
belong on the farm. On Friday nights they are expected to pray
for the Jews. These prayer meetings can last up to midnight and
even later. At three the next morning they are expected to start
praying again. Those who have difficulty in doing that are
accused of being lazy or not committed (Miller, 2003). Many cults
institute vegetarianism as a requirement for their members. At
Alon Christian Fellowship, members are mostly fed
carbohydrates and a small amount of protein (Miller, 2003). Cult
members are put on low-protein, improperly balanced diets with
no concern for proper nutrition; this causes odd sensations in the
lower digestive tract. A spiritual explanation for this is that it is
“doing battle with Satan”. The lower intestinal pains they
experience are evidence of their sinfulness and their need to
learn the group’s ways of battling with Satan.
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In many cults the members are involved in exhausting work
routines, often going for months on three to five hours of rest a
night, with occasional total collapses into sleep, for which they
are berated, because they were “lazy” or “sinful” (Singer & Lalich,
1995:134). Some former cult members reported that as a result of
deprivation they were unable to perform more or less routine
tasks or to concentrate on anything other than their private
religious experience (Pavlos, 1982:24).
Sensory deprivation and the obvious physical responses to it can
be reinterpreted and reframed as desired by the group leader and
presented as evidence of whatever the leader says (Singer &
Lalich, 1995:135).
• Information overload is also used. During regular sessions the
cult members are bombarded with loads of information. A human
being can only absorb a limited amount of information in an
analytical way. When too much information is given, a person will
simply absorb it uncritically. With gross overstimulation, the
person may have a psychotic episode (LeBar, 1989:188).
Together with this overload of information, two other techniques
are also used. One such technique is purposeful confusion – the
leader will, for example, make the following statement, well
knowing that members are starting to get confused: “The more
you try to understand what I am saying the less you will
understand, do you understand?” What this actually means, is
that the members should not listen critically to what they are told,
but must trust and accept whatever the leader presents as the
truth. Eugen Houy taught his followers to consult him for the
clarification of any Biblical Scripture. He also discouraged critical
evaluation by saying to them: “if you think you will sink” (Erasmus
2004:80). Another technique is known as two-sided persuasion –
a technique that subtly confirms the special calling of the leader
in order to make members accept what he or she says and obey
it. For example, the leader will tell the followers: “Those of you
who doubt my calling – you should know that the doubt is sown
by me and because of my knowledge of that doubt, you should
know that I am really from God.”
The ultimate goal of the change phase is to produce a new social
identity. When the cult refers to the new identity they speak of a
member who is converted, transformed or reborn. The new identity
is demonstrated by coherence with the prescribed behaviour of the
cult. Once the member is converted, he or she needs to be
established in the cult lifestyle.
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4.5.4 Establish in cult lifestyle
During this phase the follower has already redefined his or her life
as part of a new movement dedicated to God and has internalised
this new life through the teachings and techniques of the group. The
members are completely committed to the group and the leader.
Members have sacrificed their finances, possessions, family and
friends in order to be totally committed to the calling of God. All
bridges have been burned, and with the realisation that no support
networks exist outside the group, they are inwardly focused.
The followers are also kept in this new behaviour pattern by means
of other subtle techniques such as fear, guilt, internal spying and
punishment if someone does not act according to the rules of the
group or leader (Singer & Lalich, 1995:77). Punishment includes
above all to be ignored or rejected by the other members, until the
victim confesses. It also includes doing the dirty work in the group.
Hennie van Niekerk of the Emmanuel Fellowship punishes his
followers physically. One lady who was disobedient to God had to
plant potatoes in a piece of land with her own hands. After the plants
bore fruit, he ploughed them into the soil again with the words:
“Don’t think that you or anybody else will eat the fruit of your hands”
(Van Niekerk, 2004a). Another male member of the same group was
excommunicated when he asked to be excused from one Friday
night’s youth meeting because he was very tired. The leader reacted
furiously, accusing him of being lazy and not committed and stating
that he would never be allowed in any meeting again. This particular
member went back to the leader after a while, begging him for
forgiveness and a second chance (Van Niekerk, 2004b). On the
other hand there are also rewards for those who are obedient, which
mainly consist of praise given to the specific members by the leader.
It is evident that after undergoing the process of mind control, a cult
member is caught up in a situation that is difficult to escape for the
following reasons:
• The internalised belief that it is God’s way and will for them and
the commitment they have made already.
• Loyalty and the fact that people want to achieve something and
do not easily renege on a commitment.
• Respect for the authority figures that give answers.
• Peer pressure. Nobody is allowed to speak out. All the others
seem to be going on; if I want to leave the group something must
be wrong with me.
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• Exhaustion and lack of information increase cult members’
inability to act.
• Separation from the past.
• Fear of possible punishment, but also that they could not survive
in the world outside the cult.
• They feel guilty about turning their backs on the group, especially
after they have actively participated.
5. After-effects for cult members
Leaving the cult is extremely difficult for many former members,
especially if they have to do it alone. The hold on members obtained
through the sophisticated techniques mentioned above has lasting
effects on members who leave a cult. Having left the cult, they have
to face the challenge of re-entering the society they once rejected.
According to MacHovec (1989:80-81) and Singer and Lalich
(1995:301), the following general after-effects are experienced by
former cult members:
• depression and sense of alienation;
• loneliness;
• low self-esteem and low self-confidence;
• phobic-like constriction of social contacts;
• fear of joining groups or making commitments;
• distrust of professional services;
• doubt of own ability to make good choices;
• problems in reactivating a value system to live by.
Singer and Lalich (1995:301) identified the following areas in which
such people need assistance. The former cult member needs
adjustment in five major areas: practical living, psychological-
emotional, cognitive, social-personal and philosophical-attitudinal.
6. Summary and conclusion
Why is it important to know about cults and their activities? No one
joins a cult of their own free will. Cults take away people’s freedom
through the application of unethical techniques. Cults take away
people’s possessions. Cult leaders have succeeded in getting
wealthy and not so wealthy people to turn over amazingly large
amounts of money and even more possessions. Cults escape
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scrutiny because they hide behind the country’s constitution. This
not only frees them from paying taxes, but also provides cults with
certain privileges they surely have never earned.
The right to be part of the religion of your choice should also be
protected when cults subtly, under the guise of religion, intrude on
that freedom. By the utilisation of sophisticated techniques, people’s
good intentions of committing their lives to the service of God lead to
their becoming slaves to the aims of a cult. Cults function quite
unhindered and with great ease, mainly because the techniques
utilised by them are not visible to the untrained eye. In most cases
the outward appearance of cults even creates the impression of
utopia. If leaders are confronted about their practices, the common
answer is that the followers are of age and are there out of their own
free will. This loophole in the freedom of religion should be brought
to the attention of the government. Precautionary measures must be
put in place from government level in order to guard against religion
becoming a platform for human rights abuses. Church leaders
should also educate their congregations in this regard.
A greater awareness in general on all levels, accompanied by action
will ensure that these groups are exposed for who they really are.
The chances of damage to innocent people will be minimised and
the victims that fell prey to these groups will be supported with
greater understanding, in order to restore worth and belonging in
their lives.
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Key concepts:
behavioural change
cults
mind control
religious cults
Kernbegrippe:
gedragsverandering
godsdienstige kultes
kultes
mind control
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Mind control: The secret weapon utilised by religious cults …
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