Cults: Coercion & Control is a small but important book, to help the many people who get sucked into religious cults, and often spend years engulfed in them, before being able to escape. We may think of ‘the Moonies’ when we think of cults, but they can be everywhere – many people have ‘escaped’ from traditional Christian/Catholic orders (say gay men or those who have suffered abuse). And even some ‘Buddhist’ organisations are not recognised by the Dalai Lama (one with many retreats nationwide only allows its teachers to read the text of one leader who was expelled by Tibetan Buddhist orders). That kind of sounds like a cult!
This book starts of by looking at what a cult is (from Deep South churches that threaten Hell if people practice yoga) to those that have asked people to murder innocent people to secure a place in the afterlife, or even kidnapped and abused children. Cult groups usually form due to someone wanting powder, and has led to child marriages, polygamy (marrying many women at the same time) and even blackmail. Filled with stories of notorious cults, often the victims are people who perhaps have been vulnerable so are more likely to be seduced by offers of inner peace and security.
If you need help, contact Cult Information Centre and To Think Again (services by a qualified counsellor and ex-cult member who spent three eyars attending meetings of a Bible-based cult run by a narccisist wo used unethical methods to entrap and financially exploit its members. This left him unemployed, isolated and with serious psychological damage. Now he uses his experience to help others.
