I find this book by searching for literature on cults on Amazon and I am so glad I found it because the knowledge and insight of Steven Hassan PhD (and former Moonie cult member) is invaluable. Reading this analysis on the psychological manipulation tactics used by cults to indoctrinate and control members has only confirmed the parallels with the literature I have read on narcissistic (domestic) abuse and Totalitarian states. The tactics are nearly identical, the primary difference is scale. I won't lie, I find it all rather depressing - but fascinating, all the same.
Key Quotes
‘One of the most significant changes I have seen over the past decades is the rise of “mini-cults”, which consist of anywhere from two to twelve people. The leader could be a husband or a wife, teacher, a therapist, or even a client. One of my most memorable cases involved a therapist who had fallen victim to the undue influence of her client.’ (page 18)
‘Before the internet, nobody knew where to go for help. Perhaps they would talk with friends, relatives, doctors, or clergy. Or they would use the card catalog at their local library to look for a book. People felt helpless afraid, alone, and confused as they watched a loved one undergo a radical personality change.’ (page 22)
‘The internet has provided an entirely new way to influence people and control them. Totalitarian countries block access to sites they consider to be “dangerous” for their continued control. AI, sophisticated deep data mining algorithms, and social media represent a far greater danger for mass mind control.’ (page 23)
‘Orwell depicted a world where “thought police” maintain complete control over people’s mental and emotional lives, and where it is a crime to act or think independently, or even to fall in love. Unfortunately, such places do exist right now, all over the World. They are mind control cults. In these groups, basic respect for the individual is secondary to the leader’s whims and ideology. People are manipulated and coerced to think, feel, and behave in a single “right way”. Individuals become totally dependent on the group and lose the ability to act or think on their own.’ (page 39)
‘Mind control is any system of influence that disrupts an individual’s authentic identity and replaces it with a false, new one. In most cases, that new identity is one the person would strongly reject, if they had been asked for their informed consent. That’s why I also use the term undue influence – “undue” because these practices violate personal boundaries and human integrity, as well as ethics and, often, the law.’ (page 42)
‘They become trapped in the group, which does everything it can to keep them, as long as they are productive. When they fall sick or are no longer an asset, they are often kicked out. Nowhere is this more evident today than human trafficking.’ (page 48)
‘I believe that people want to be free. They want to read what they want to read, and they want to form their own opinions. They want honesty and do not like being lied to or exploited. They want trustworthy leaders who are responsible and accountable. They want people they can look up to, and who provide good role models. They want love and respect.’ (page 49)
‘When I returned on Thursday night, I was barraged with flattery from all sides, all evening. This practice, I would later learn, was called “love bombing”. I was told over and over what a nice person was, what a good person I was, how smart I was, how dynamic I was, and so forth. No fewer than thirty times they invited me to go with them for a “weekend away from the city for a retreat in a beautiful place upstate”.’ (page 52)
‘My hair was cut short and I started to wear a suit and tie. At the suggestion of a senior member, I had done a 40-day “indemnity condition” – giving up my friends and family for forty days, not seeing them or communicating with them in any way. This is a practice used by several cults and in particular about the two years Mormon ‘missionaries’ are kept from their families.’ (page 61)
‘Moon had an interesting, fairly typical narcissistic way of behaving - nice then nasty, double bind of motivating leaders. He would be nice to us at first, buying us gifts and taking us out for dinner or a movie. Then he would bring us back to his estate and yell and scream about how poorly we were performing.’ (page 64)
‘I believe one of Moon’s major problems was his incredible narcissism and unwillingness to admit he didn’t know everything. He had grandiose plans, but he was often shortsighted, as he thought he was above the law.’ (page 64)
‘When domestic abuse survivors hear this definition, they often describe their relationship with their abuser as a cult with one follower and one leader.’ (page 82)
‘In some cults, members are systematically made to be phobic about ever leaving the group. Today’s cults know how to effectively implant vivid negative images deep within member’s unconscious minds, making it impossible for them to even conceive of ever being happy and successful outside of the group. When the unconscious is programmed to accept such negative associations, it behaves as though they were true.’ (page 96)
‘Put a person in a sensory deprivation chamber, and within minutes he will start to hallucinate and become incredibly suggestible. Likewise, put a person into a situation where his senses are overloaded with non-coherent information, and the mind will go “numb” as a protective mechanism. It gets confused and overwhelmed, and critical faculties no longer work properly. It is in this weakened state that people become very open to suggestion.’ (page 99)
‘Our belief system allows us to interpret information, make decision, and act according to our beliefs. When people are subjected to a mind control process, most do not have any frame of reference for the experience, and consequently they often accept the frame of reference given to them by the group.’ (page 99)
‘Like it or not, everyone is vulnerable to mind control. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone needs affection and attention. Everyone is looking for something better in life: more wisdom, more knowledge, more money, more status, more meaning, better relationships, or better health. These basic human qualities and needs are exactly what cult recruiters prey upon. It is important to remember that, for the most part, people don’t join cults. Cults recruit people.’ (page 100)
‘The recruiter starts to learn all about the potential recruit – their hopes, dreams, fears, relationships, job and interests. The more information the recruiter can elicit, the greater their opportunity to manipulate the person.’ (page 101)
‘Once a person joins a destructive cult, for the first few weeks or months they typically enjoy a “honeymoon phase”. They are treated as though they were royalty. They are made to feel very special as they embark on a new life with the group. The new convert has yet to experience what life in the group is really going to be like.’ (page 102)
‘People involved full-time in a destructive cult know what it is like to live under totalitarianism, but can’t objectively see what is happening to them. They live in a fantasy world created by the group.’ (page 102)
‘The essence of mind control is that it encourages dependence and conformity, and discourages autonomy and individuality.’ (page 109)
‘As I have come to see it, mind control can be largely understood by analysis of the three components described by psychologist Leon Festinger, in what has become known as the “cognitive dissonance theory”. These components are control of behaviour, control of thoughts and control of emotions.’ (pages 114-115)
‘Cognitive dissonance theory helps explain why this heightened commitment occurred. According to Festinger, people need to maintain order and meaning in their life. They need to think they are acting according to their self-image and their own value. If their behaviour changes for any reason their self-image and values change to match. The important thing to recognise about cult groups is that they deliberately create dissonance in people this way and exploit it to control them.’ (page 116)
‘Behaviour control is the regulation of an individual’s physical reality. It includes the control of their environment – where they live, what clothes they wear, what food they eat, how much sleep they get, and what jobs, rituals and other actions they perform.’ (page 116)
‘The chain of command in cults is usually authoritarian, flowing from the leader, through their lieutenants, to their sub-leaders, down to the rank and file. In such a well-regulated environment, all behaviours can be either rewarded or punished.’ (page 117)
‘Obedience to a leader’s command is the most important lesson to learn. A cult’s leaders cannot command someone’s inner thoughts, but they know that if they can command behaviour, hearts and minds will follow.’ (page 117)
‘In many totalistic cults, people have minimal access to non-cult newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online information. Certain information may be forbidden and labelled as unhealthy: apostate literature, entheta (negative information), satanic, bourgeoisie propaganda, and so on. Members are also kept so busy that they don’t have free time to think and seek outside answers to questions. When they do read, it is primarily cult-generated propaganda or material that has been censored to keep members focused.’ (page 118)
‘A member can sincerely believe that the outer doctrines are not lies, but just a different level of truth. By creating an environment where truth is multileveled, cult directors make it nearly impossible for a member to make definitive, objective assessments. If they have problems, they are told that they are not mature enough to know the whole truth yet. But they are assured that all will become clear shortly.’ (page 119)
‘Cult language is totalistic and therefore condenses complex situations, labels them, and reduces them to cult clichés. This simplistic label then govern how members think in any situation.’ (page 120)
‘Since the doctrine is perfect and the leader is perfect, any problem that crops up is assumed to be the fault of the individual member. They learn to always blame themselves and simply work harder.’ (pages 121-122)
‘People are often kept off balance, praised one minute and tongue-lashed the next. In some groups, one day you’ll be doing public relations before TV cameras in a suit and tie; the next, you’ll be in another state doing manual labour as punishment for some imagined sin. This misuse of rewards and punishment fosters dependency and helplessness. Such double-bind behaviour is a commonplace in cults.’ (page 123)
‘Each component of the BITE model: behavioural control, information control, thought control, emotional control – has great influence on the human mind. Together, they for a totalistic web, one that can be used to manipulate even the most intelligent, creative, ambitious and strong-willed person. In fact, it is often the strongest-minded individuals who make the most involved and enthusiastic cult members.’ (page 124)
‘as people are weakening, most cults bombard them with the idea that they are seriously flawed – incompetent, mentally ill or spiritually fallen. Any problems that are important to the person, such as doing poorly in school or at work, being overweight, or having trouble in a relationship, are blown out of proportion to prove how completely messed up the person is. Some groups can be quite vicious in their attacks on individuals at this stage, often humiliating them in front of the whole group.’ (page 127)
‘To help refreeze the member’s new identity, some cults give them a new name. Many also change the person’s clothing style, haircut, and whatever else would remind them of their past. As mentioned, members often learn to speak a distinctive jargon f loaded language of the group.’ (page 131)
‘People are able to recall horrible things, like being raped by the cult leader or being forced to lie, cheat or steal. Even though they knew at the time that they were doing something wrong or were being abused, they couldn’t deal with the experience or act on it while their cult identity was in control. It was only when their real self was given permission and encouragement to speak that these things came back into consciousness.’ (page 133)
‘Indeed, this real self is responsible for creating the frequent psychosomatic illnesses that cult members experience. I have met people who have developed severe skin problems, which excused them from the normal gruelling work schedule and gave them a chance to sleep. I have seen people develop asthma and severe allergic reactions in order to seek outside medical attention and help.’ (page 134)
‘When I was a leader in the Moonies, we selectively recruited “valuable” people – those who were strong, caring and motivated. Indeed, a cult will generally target the most educated, active and capable people it can find.’ (page 137)
‘Leaders of different cults have come up with strikingly similar tactics for fostering dependency. They transfer members frequently to new and strange locations, switch their work duties, promote them and then demote them on whims, all to keep them dependent and off balance. Another technique is to assign impossibly high goals, tell members that if they are “pure” they will succeed, and force them to confess their impurity when they inevitably fail.’ (page 143)
‘Although many cult leaders demand material opulence, what they require above all is attention and power. In fact, power can and does become an extreme addiction. Over time, cult leaders develop a need for more and more power. Three things make these people terribly dangerous: 1) their psychological instability, 2) that they actually believe their own propaganda and 3) that they surround themselves with loyal devotees who are unlikely to disagree with them, so promote their narcissism. They are not merely cunning con artists who want to make money or sexually dominate their followers. Most genuinely believe they are God, or the Messiah, or have gained enlightenment.’ (page 184)
‘mind control never succeeds in fully erasing a person’s authentic self. It merely imposes a dominating cult identity that suppresses the real self. It merely imposes a dominating cult identity that supresses the real self. Cult indoctrination downloads a mind control virus – a virus that can be cured. Once the virus is gone, a person’s mental and emotional hardware can be repaired, and the person’s real self can come forward once again and integrate the cult experiences, hopefully in a healthy way.’ (page 215)
‘Nightmares are a good indicator that a former cult members needs to receive additional counselling in order to work through their cult experience. These unpleasant dreams come from the unconscious mind, which is still wrestling with the issues of cult involvement. Nightmares indicate unresolved conflicts within the mind.’ (page 282)
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