Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2009, Page 10
seems normal and natural. Indeed, cults as devotional circles are natural to human social
function, and this aspect may indeed be necessary in the larger scheme of human
development. That is my point. Deceptive cults imply that one can break free of this
humdrum hoop of a world, but that to do so, one must join an even tighter, more extreme
form of hoop as defined by that cult. One cannot be normally or naturally circular. Being
intelligently if moderately Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Christian is not good enough. Did not
Jesus say, ―The lukewarm I will vomit from my mouth?‖ Of course, being moderate has
nothing to do with being lukewarm—which is an equivocation—and the point of this third
element of tight circular regulation or ideation.
Over the decades, I have engaged in thousands of intense discussions with members of
hundreds of different cultic groups. Many hundreds of these discussions ranged over a
period of days during interventions, with family members present. Most cult members I
meet are educated, have good reading abilities, and can function rather well as citizens in
the surrounding community. However, they follow a conditioned urge to use their
considerable mental skill to justify being on a controversial path in the face of criticism. The
cult member talks in circles, so to speak, or loops of jargon, to deflect troubling evidence.
Lifton identifies this as the ―thought-terminating cliché.‖ If you dare to challenge fragile but
stubborn beliefs, you may have to deal with equivocation (they persecuted Jesus too),
solipsism (this is my truth and it is my experience that it is true), and tautology (those who
know, know) followed by scientific and historical nonsense (e.g., Tesla‘s invention of free
electricity was eradicated by big oil, and the Catholic Church destroyed the manuscripts that
contain the true teachings of Jesus).
Case History
An elderly doctor who was also a college professor called me to express his frustration that
he could not talk with his thirty-seven-year-old son any longer about his son‘s cult. He had
stopped trying to reason his son out of the group years before because it merely led to ugly
argument. The father used his considerable knowledge of science, religion, and history to no
avail. The son, also a medical doctor, was involved with a New Age cult for six years and
was about to leave his clinic to personally serve the leader, at her suggestion. This was a
much deeper leap of commitment for him on his spiritual journey. He was finally becoming
―serious‖ about his spiritual life.
The family engaged me to try to repair open discussion between father and son. When the
son came home for a short visit, I walked in with one of his sisters for breakfast. The father
introduced me as the surprise guest. I introduced myself and my purpose for being there.
The son agreed to meet for a few hours. After two or three days, with me guiding a family
discussion, and after getting him to talk to an ex-member on the phone, the son left the
group.
When it was all over, the father called me ―a magician‖ because he watched his son change
from a true believer to a former member right before his eyes. But what I did had nothing
to do with magic. I merely drew the young doctor into a wider frame of reference than his
cult allowed. I tapped his suppressed ambivalence about the group—deep inside he
struggled with many of the irrational demands that he could never acknowledge before he
met with me. After accepting the group, he became committed to his commitment thus,
the circular ideation. After six years, he still had a difficult time explaining to his father why
he was loyal to the leader—he just was. The week before I met him, he had proclaimed to
his girlfriend that he would do anything the guru asked. In his mind, he had achieved a
state of total submission, and he stopped questioning why.
During the first five to ten hours of our meeting, it appeared we were getting nowhere with
this young, sensitive doctor. The father had heard all of his defenses before, but this time
there was a difference. I could sympathize with the son‘s philosophy and could add to it by
seems normal and natural. Indeed, cults as devotional circles are natural to human social
function, and this aspect may indeed be necessary in the larger scheme of human
development. That is my point. Deceptive cults imply that one can break free of this
humdrum hoop of a world, but that to do so, one must join an even tighter, more extreme
form of hoop as defined by that cult. One cannot be normally or naturally circular. Being
intelligently if moderately Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Christian is not good enough. Did not
Jesus say, ―The lukewarm I will vomit from my mouth?‖ Of course, being moderate has
nothing to do with being lukewarm—which is an equivocation—and the point of this third
element of tight circular regulation or ideation.
Over the decades, I have engaged in thousands of intense discussions with members of
hundreds of different cultic groups. Many hundreds of these discussions ranged over a
period of days during interventions, with family members present. Most cult members I
meet are educated, have good reading abilities, and can function rather well as citizens in
the surrounding community. However, they follow a conditioned urge to use their
considerable mental skill to justify being on a controversial path in the face of criticism. The
cult member talks in circles, so to speak, or loops of jargon, to deflect troubling evidence.
Lifton identifies this as the ―thought-terminating cliché.‖ If you dare to challenge fragile but
stubborn beliefs, you may have to deal with equivocation (they persecuted Jesus too),
solipsism (this is my truth and it is my experience that it is true), and tautology (those who
know, know) followed by scientific and historical nonsense (e.g., Tesla‘s invention of free
electricity was eradicated by big oil, and the Catholic Church destroyed the manuscripts that
contain the true teachings of Jesus).
Case History
An elderly doctor who was also a college professor called me to express his frustration that
he could not talk with his thirty-seven-year-old son any longer about his son‘s cult. He had
stopped trying to reason his son out of the group years before because it merely led to ugly
argument. The father used his considerable knowledge of science, religion, and history to no
avail. The son, also a medical doctor, was involved with a New Age cult for six years and
was about to leave his clinic to personally serve the leader, at her suggestion. This was a
much deeper leap of commitment for him on his spiritual journey. He was finally becoming
―serious‖ about his spiritual life.
The family engaged me to try to repair open discussion between father and son. When the
son came home for a short visit, I walked in with one of his sisters for breakfast. The father
introduced me as the surprise guest. I introduced myself and my purpose for being there.
The son agreed to meet for a few hours. After two or three days, with me guiding a family
discussion, and after getting him to talk to an ex-member on the phone, the son left the
group.
When it was all over, the father called me ―a magician‖ because he watched his son change
from a true believer to a former member right before his eyes. But what I did had nothing
to do with magic. I merely drew the young doctor into a wider frame of reference than his
cult allowed. I tapped his suppressed ambivalence about the group—deep inside he
struggled with many of the irrational demands that he could never acknowledge before he
met with me. After accepting the group, he became committed to his commitment thus,
the circular ideation. After six years, he still had a difficult time explaining to his father why
he was loyal to the leader—he just was. The week before I met him, he had proclaimed to
his girlfriend that he would do anything the guru asked. In his mind, he had achieved a
state of total submission, and he stopped questioning why.
During the first five to ten hours of our meeting, it appeared we were getting nowhere with
this young, sensitive doctor. The father had heard all of his defenses before, but this time
there was a difference. I could sympathize with the son‘s philosophy and could add to it by
