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Do You Have Experiences of Cults You Would Like To Share?

From the lens Cults The Power Of Mind Control.

Do you have experience of the power of cults? Do you know someone in a cult? What advice would you give to resist the power of a cult?

  • Tipi Feb 29, 2012 @ 8:16 am | delete
    What a heavy topic for an article, but you covered it well.
  • Cinnamonbite Jul 13, 2011 @ 10:51 am | delete
    I was in a cult for a couple of years (mormon) and I think I got out because, as a teen and college student, I didn't have as much invested in the cult as an adult. As a girl, I was a second class citizen anyway so I wasn't expected to lose 2 years of my life as a missionary. As I got older, I knew I was worth more than just a breeder. If I had followed through with a proper mormon marriage in the temple with a RM (returned missionary) and started having kids, having required meetings throughout the week and all day on Sunday, leaving the cult would have been nearly impossible. Having the energy to even THINK about leaving the cult would have been difficult, but of course, that's the point of the endless indoctrination.
  • chuckhodi Jun 30, 2011 @ 11:22 pm | delete
    A very well done lens!
  • HealthyBodee Jun 4, 2011 @ 5:07 pm | delete
    Well done on your lens. It is good to be educated about such things and to be aware of the dangers of joining such organisations.
  • yourgoldenfuture Apr 21, 2011 @ 3:54 pm | delete
    very good selection of infos
  • alexkazam Jan 10, 2011 @ 12:30 pm | delete
    Excellent lens- I heartily recommend reading "Combatting cult mind control" by Steve Hassan- it explains how anyone could be recruited and how to recognise a cult, how to avoid be coerced and how to rescue a friend or familly member from a cult. Fascinating and terrifying in equal measure!
  • norhaan Jan 9, 2011 @ 1:28 am | delete
    I have read about some cults. Yes. They are very manipulative. So we need to always watch out for their threats.
  • jmwe29 Dec 21, 2010 @ 7:20 am | delete
    My main advice would be to question whether you are following God or following man? Look at those around you- are they "brown nosing" to the end of time to curry favor? Are people in your church encouraged to enter into aspects of ministry or are they told that they're just not ready? Is everyone dependent on the leadership for everything or is there truly delegated authority in there?

    Thank you a thousand times over for posting this lens; there seems to be very little on the dangers of the worship of man and on cults in general.
  • jmwe29 Dec 16, 2010 @ 7:18 am | delete
    I just came out of a church that is leaning toward cult-dom. Very, very deceptive; it looks very good on the surface, and it took me, as a born-again Christian for decades, 12 years to catch on to what was going on in there. Essentially, they encourage pursuing the honor of men, not God. I've posted a lens on what I've learned since.
  • Twmarsh Nov 28, 2010 @ 3:04 pm | delete
    Nice topic for a lens. I love that 'Devoted Followers' picture!
  • Margo_Arrowsmith Nov 19, 2010 @ 12:31 pm | delete
    These are not the only kinds of cults. Glen Beck is a cult leader, for example
  • reasonablerobinson Jan 25, 2010 @ 3:27 pm | delete
    Thanks Robin, I've been on 2 ISA programmes and know Ole and Louis from those sessions. yes nice people indeed.
  • RobinManuell Jan 25, 2010 @ 12:36 pm | delete
    Actually you mention- ISA, the Institute for Self Actualisation- while there are definately some elements of what they do that are cult like I have had some experience of this organisation and I have to say that it is quite charming really, you can meet some lovely, well meaning people. A cult I would recommend you join- temporarily of course :-)
  • alexkazam Dec 22, 2009 @ 8:15 pm | delete
    The Stanford prison experiment, the MIlgram obedience experiement and the principal of cognitive dissonance show that anyone could be recruited into a cult if they don't understand how easy it is to be influenced.
  • Varelli Nov 1, 2009 @ 3:34 am | delete
    Very interesting and informative.
  • Laniann Jul 25, 2009 @ 8:26 am | delete
    That does seem like very good advise - "Beware of people who claim to have all the answers". 5*s
  • Atomika07 Nov 1, 2011 @ 3:07 pm | delete
    I agree
  • reasonablerobinson Jul 6, 2009 @ 2:50 am | in reply to Felix-Fix | delete
    Thanks for this, I'll check the Circle and Geoff out and add some info.
  • Felix-Fix Jul 4, 2009 @ 5:14 pm | delete
    Great job. Another cult leader is Geoff Hoppe of the Crimson Circle. Scary.
    Thanks for your insightful lens.
    http://www.squidoo.com/CrimsonCircle
  • reasonablerobinson Apr 4, 2009 @ 4:33 am | delete
    I agree Mulberry, thanks for commenting too. Philosopher Eric Fromm wrote ' beware of people who claim to have all the answers' - good advice I think
  • mulberry Mar 29, 2009 @ 2:10 pm | delete
    Scary and powerful stuff. I guess I'm a born skeptic. I can't imagine following anyone who asks for my money, my life, and so forth, to support them as some type of messiah.

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