TT #12 - HOW TO EXPLAIN CULTS

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my Thursday Thirteen #12, and hopefully still going strong. We’re always hearing on the news about some cult or other. We are usually shocked by their extreme behaviour, but what exactly is going on with them?
In this post I thought I’d try to shed a bit of light. Indeed, most cults follow a standard path. Also, you’ll find a couple of pieces for Three Word Wednesday.

COUNTDOWN

13. Cults are thought of as on the fringe of society. Whilst this may be true, I think they hold importance to understanding society. This is because I am convinced they highlight the extreme end of the spectrum of normal social interaction.

12. A definition of a ‘cult’ is vague. I class it as a small grouping of people who follow a ‘guru’. As the cult grows, it can become an ‘alternative’ religion. And if it really takes off, it can enter the area of world religions.

11. Who joins a cult? It is easy to say they are not very bright, and maybe from deprived backgrounds. Evidence says this is not so. Rather, the average cult member is intelligent and middleclass. The defining point is that they seem to have seen searching for meaning – a meaning a guru has provided.

10. Are cult members ‘brainwashed’?

No such thing. A process of sleep deprivation and bombardment with Scripture CAN reinforce the disciple’s beliefs, but, bearing in mind the point above, evidence suggests they really do want to be there.

9. The central element of the ‘success’ of a cult is the guru himself. He invariably has a charisma that is almost hypnotic in nature. Part of this is based on his absolute belief in his ‘rightness’, but equally it is a product of his life path.

8. Gurus tend to have an identical life path. Growing up in some form of adversity, they don’t seem to fit, and they begin to question the world. This leads to a form of mental breakdown, which they interpret as a spiritual experience. They exit this period of life convinced they have a spiritual truth and authority.

7. This makes the guru charismatic.

But more than this, his theology places him at the centre of devotion. In essence, he is ‘god-like’, and thus he is absolute law, with absolute power.

6. It is through this process that a cult can begin to go wrong. Power corrupts. And it is through this process that genuine ‘goodness’ can turn into a perverted totalitarianism.

5. The cultish system becomes a vicious circle, with disciples increasingly requiring meaning, and the guru increasingly needing the adoration. In this way, the process becomes, in a sense, ‘vampiric’ with each and every member insatiably feeding their soul.

4. This process increases self-esteem all round. But self-esteem is really a need for validation, born from a person with distinct insecurities. And so, too, with the ‘system’ of the cult. In this way, it becomes increasingly paranoid, unable to take criticisms and want to explode in the occasional violence.

3. Most cults do not get to the above extreme stage.

But those that do have become dangerous. It drives them to become more and more insular, taking themselves more and more out of the world. The cult becomes all.

2. Holding inherent insecurities, as noted above, if the cult is then overly challenged, the search for meaning can turn in on themselves. The cult can require itself to prove itself through ultimate sacrifice. The cult has become mass-suicidal. And we are all aware of what that means.

1. There are thousands of cults in the world, and although it can be painful for families of members, the reality is, most are innocuous and do good work. But in the above, I have tried to highlight the processes involved, and how, in the extreme, they can become highly dangerous.

© Anthony North, May 2008

FOCUS

Come on, now, think, we’re a focus group,
we want your opinion on this can of soup;
Does it taste nice, do you like the can?
There’s no additives or colourings for people to ban;
What do you mean there’s no real ingredients in?
Are you saying it isn’t what’s said on the tin?
Well never mind the soup, how about this car?
It’s really got the edge to take you far;
What do you mean it isn’t very green?
In what colour do you want to be seen?
Okay, thanks a lot, we’ve got your opinions now,
we’ll tell it how it is; of that we’ll vow;
We’re going elsewhere now, to see what others say,
opinions we love, analysis not delayed;
So come on, now, think, we’re a focus group,
and we’ve lots of people to convince, persuade,
and dupe

(c) Anthony North, May 2008

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THE DEATH OF YOU

‘Delayed again, I see,’ he said.
‘Well, yea, mate. But you know me. It’s always the same.’
He laughed. ‘One day,’ he said, ‘it’ll be the death of you.’
We liked extreme sports. Today we’d been out on the motorbikes. You got real speed there, and you could live on the edge. That’s what we both liked.
He’d had more focus than me today, though – raced ahead.
‘So what took you so long?’ he asked.
‘Oh, I had to take a detour,’ I said.
‘Really? But we planned the route perfectly.’
‘Yea,’ I said, ‘but you can never be sure of the traffic now, can you?’
‘True.’ He laughed. Said again: ‘It’ll be the death of you.’
I smiled – a kind of crooked smile. The same sort of smile I had on my face when that truck took the bike and tossed it in the air.
The detour to the morgue was kind of gruesome.
But it was nice that his spirit had stayed to remind me of old times. And it seems he was wrong about the delay.
You didn’t think it was me who was dead, did you?

© Anthony North, May 2008