This book was interesting and included some relevant points on the language of cults to incorporate in my research paper. I really hated the writing style, which seemed overly casual compared to the higly academic books I have been reading recently - it felt like she was trying to write in a "personal memoir" style, however, she personally didn't have much of a story to tell. I therefore felt that the content would have better suited a more formal/academic presentation. A lot of the content also wasn't terribly relevant, about Multi Level Marketing Schemes and fitness/wellness cliques - so I skim read a lot of it.
Quotes
‘Language is a leader’s charisma. It’s what empowers them to create a mini universe – a system of values and truths – and then compel their followers to heed its rules.’ (page 13)
‘because words are the medium through which belief systems are manufactured, nurtured, and reinforced, their fanaticism fundamentally could not exist without them.’ (page 14)
‘”Cult” hasn’t always had ominous undertones. The earliest version of the term can be found in writings from the seventeenth century, when the cult label was much more innocent. Back then, it simply meant “homage paid to divinity,” or offerings made to win over gods.’ (page 29)
‘Creating special language to influence people’s behaviour and beliefs is so effective in part simply because speech is the first thing we’re willing to change about ourselves… and also the last thing we let go. Unlike shaving your head, relocating to a commune, or even changing your clothes, adopting new terminology is instant and (seemingly) commitment-free.’ (page 43)
‘code-switching can be used to connivingly gain trust. This was Jim Jones’s speciality. Like a Machiavellian version of my twelve-year old self slipping into evangelicalese at my friend’s mega-church. Jones learned how to meet each follower on their linguistic level, which sent an instant signal that he understood them and their backgrounds uniquely.’ (page 59)
‘To match his credo. Applewhite concocted a whole Heaven’s Gate vocabulary of niche, sci-fi-esque terms. There was a severe regimentation of daily life in the mansion, and the lingo helped keep things in order.’ (page 74)
‘Year after year, we ask: What makes people join cults like Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate? What makes them stay? What makes them behave in wild, baffling, sometimes gruesome ways? Here’s where the answer starts: Using systematic techniques of conversion, conditioning, and coercion, with language as their ultimate power tool, Jones and Applewhite were able to inflict unforgettable violence on their followers without personally laying a finger on them.’ (page 77)
‘Then, a different set of language tactics get people to feel dependent on the leader, such that life outside the group doesn’t feel possible anymore. This is a more gradual operation, and it’s called conditioning – the process of sub-consciously learning a behaviour in response to a stimulus. It’s what makes people stick by the group far longer than anyone on the outside can understand.’ (page 78)
‘This goal of isolating followers from the outside while intensely bonding them to each other is also part of why almost all cultish groups (as well as most monastic religions) rename their members… The ritual signifies a member’s shedding of their former skin and submitting wholly to the group.’ (page 80)
‘It would be irresponsible, I think, not to mention the oratorical similarities between Trump and Jim Jones, who shared the same love of coining zingy, incendiary nicknames for their opponents. (“Fake News” and “Crooked Hilary” were Trump’s analogs to Jones’s “Hidden Rulers” and “Sky God.”)’ (page 81)
‘These pithy mottos are effective because they alleviate cognitive dissonance, the uncomfortable discord one experiences when they hold two conflicting beliefs at the same time.’ (page 85)
‘Both Applewhite and Jones kept their followers from conversing not only with the outside world but also with each other. It didn’t take long after settling in Jonestown for Peoples Templers to notice that this Promised Land was a sham. But bonding over their shared misery? Not allowed.’ (page 87)
‘Techniques like us-versus-them labels, loaded language and thought-terminating clichés are absolutely crucial in getting people from open, community-minded folks to victims of cultish violence’ (page 94)
‘The behavioural economic theory of loss aversion says that human beings generally feel losses (of time, money, pride, etc.) much more acutely than gains; so psychologically, we’re willing to do a lot of work to avoid looking defeats in the eye… It’s an emotional example of the sunk cost fallacy, or people’s tendency to think that resources already spent justify spending even more.’ (page 103)
‘After Cathy started paying for courses and further intertwining her life with Scientology, she certainly didn’t do any independent digging, because the rules explicitly forbid it. “I was told not to look on the internet, the newspaper, or any ‘black PR’ on Scientology,” Cathy said.’ (page 116)
‘Scientology’s intro courses – Overcoming Ups and Downs in Life, Communication – are all quite broad, and delivered in plain English. To ease you into the ideology, the vernacular is introduced bit by bit.’ (page 134)
‘When language works to make you question your own perceptions, whether at work or at church, that’s a form of gaslighting. I first came across the term “gaslighting” in the context of abusive romantic partners, but it shows up in larger-scale relationships, too, like those between bosses and their employees, politicians and their supporters, spiritual leaders and their devotees. Across the board gaslighting is a way of psychologically manipulating someone (or many people) such that they doubt their own reality, as a way to gain power and maintain control. Psychologists agree that while gaslighters appear self-assured, they are typically motivated by extreme insecurity – an inability to self-regulate their own thoughts and emotions.’ (page 137)
‘In Scientology, by far the most exotic form of gaslighting shows up in a process called Word Clearing. I could not believe my eyes the first time I read about this dizzying exercise, through which a follower strips their vocabulary of what the church calls misunderstood words, or MUs.’ (pages 138-138)
‘Upon launching his presidential campaign in 2016, Trump’s rants about self-reliance took a more paranoid turn. Early that year, when asked who he consults on foreign policy he replied, “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things. I know what I’m doing… My primary consultant is myself.”’ (pages 176-177)
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