Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 74
The Cult Experience: An Overview of Cults, Their Traditions and Why
People Join Them. John J. Collins. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1991, 133
pages.*
John Collins describes his books as an introduction to the major related topics and an
attempt to explain why people join cults. He offers a few definitions of the word cult but
then proceeds throughout the book to describe a wide variety of religious sects, utopian
societies, tribal groups, and the like that he considers representative of the diversity
available in the “supermarket of cults” (p. 110). However, his own definition demonstrates
the bias of his perspective. According to Collins, “Cults are small, new, innovative, and
marginal religious groups based on a charismatic founder/leader who, based on some
special supernatural knowledge and/or experience, is capable of helping followers deal with
their individual and/or societal dissatisfactions” (p. 104).
This definition certainly does not apply to the religious organizations that Collins believes
typify the cult experience in the United States (e.g., the Church of Scientology, the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness [Hare Krishnas], and the Divine Light
Mission) or to the other well-known cults such as the Unification Church, the Children of
God, the Church Universal and Triumphant, Rajneesh, or the Peoples Temple. Collins cites
only selected anthropological and sociological literature. Meanwhile he discounts or ignores
the findings of many other scholars, ex-cultists, investigative journalists, law enforcement
agencies, and legislative inquiries, all of which have documented harmful exploitation and
control occurring in such cults. For example, with respect to Scientology, Collins quotes only
a few very tolerant sources (the most recent from 1976) and ignores major exposés such as
L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman? (B. Corydon &L. R. Hubbard, Jr. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle
Stuart, 1987), Bare-faced Messiah (R. Miller London: Michael Joseph, 1987), and A Piece of
Blue Sky (J. Atack Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1990).
Collins also ignores the vast and relevant literature on hypnosis and suggestibility, on
coercive persuasion and thought reform, and on the symptoms of dissociation and
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently observed in former cult members. Collins
considers brainwashing to be merely a rationale for deprogrammed ex-members to account
for how “silly and naive” they were to join the cult. Thus, rather than hold the cult
responsible for its depredations, he blames those victims—ex-members—who become
anticult activists for their fervor, in contrast to the noninvolved former cult members who
“simply drop out of their cults” (p. 45).
Collins's book suffers from other serious flaws. He minimizes the role of deception in
recruitment by cults, the manipulative techniques used to ensnare and hold new members,
and the venal motives of so many cult leaders and their lieutenants. He fails to address the
psychological problems of members who have been harmfully exploited and the trauma
involved in coming out of a cult. He ignores the medical literature on PTSD and dissociative
disorder seen in cult refugees. Finally, by discrediting the claims of cult victims and ignoring
the past 40 years of work on coercive persuasion, thought reform, and the psychology of
totalism, Collins lends legitimacy to destructive cults as they continue in their greedy and
ruthless pursuit.
Louis Jolyon West
Professor of Psychiatry
Neuropsychiatric Institute
University of California, Los Angeles

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 75
Mystical Diets. Jack Raso. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 1993, 291 pages.**
Jack Raso, M.S., R.D., presents Mystical Diets which exposes paranormal, spiritual, and
occult nutrition beliefs and practices. Chapter One, “From believer to skeptic: my personal
odyssey,” is worth the price of the book as Raso describes his past experiences as a
supplement junkie, health food store “nutritionist,” health seeker, and his eventual
acceptance of reality. Raso identifies the thread that runs through most of the healing
systems covered by the book as a belief in a “vital force” (“healing power”) that goes by
many names. Included among the mystical diets are Macrobiotics, Natural Hygiene
(naturopathy, T.C. Fry, Harvey Diamond), Edgar Cayce (A.R.E. Clinic), Ayurvedic Medicine,
FAIM (Atkins, Huggins, Schachter, Wright, McGrady), Anthroposophical Medicine, Gerson
cancer treatment, Matol Km, Nature's Sunshine, Nutripathy, mail order nutrition (a survey
of products advertised in popular publications), chiropractic nutrition, nutrition diploma mills
(“nontraditional” health education), [along with] a useful glossary to help sort out terms.
The individuals, products, and services named in this short review are only a sampling of
what this book covers. The book is available through NCAHF Book Sales, P.O. Box 1747,
Allentown, PA 18195, for $24 +$2 p&h.
NCAHF Newsletter
Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult. George A. Mather and
Larry A. Nichols. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993, 342 pages.
From A.A. (abbreviation for the occultic Argentium Astrum) to Zwinglianism (of Christian
origin), the numerous listings in the Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult
present an impressive, encyclopedic composite of religious and pseudoreligious groups
found in America today.
The book is coauthored by the Reverends George Mather, founder and director of the New
England Institute of Religious Research, and Larry Nichols, an ordained minister in the
Lutheran Church and a philosophy instructor, with a Foreword by Ronald Enroth, an
authority on current religious movements in America. According to Enroth, it is critical,
especially for Christians, to develop discernment skills and a basic knowledge concerning
the multitude of conventional and unconventional religious organizations found in a society
encouraging religious pluralism.
In 1989 I was exposed to a religious group within a traditional Protestant church whose
terminology and behavior were foreign to anything I had ever witnessed in my lifelong
Christian experience. I became so frustrated with the buzzwords and strange nomenclature
that I began compiling a list of the alien verbal expressions and “Christian” notions. Later, I
determined, I would convert my list into a “religious talk” dictionary for the enlightenment
of others—once I could decipher the mumbo-jumbo myself. After conducting a bit of
research, I sent questionnaires composed of religious groups and terminology to several
ministers as well as a group of Christian laypeople. Though my mailing list was restricted,
the responses to the questionnaire indicated a definite need for a dictionary of current
religious movements—one including terminology used by the groups.
I was delighted when I saw the first advertisement for the Dictionary of Cults, Sects,
Religions and the Occult, four years after wishing for one. I ordered it immediately and put
my project aside. After perusing my new dictionary, I initially felt disappointed. Some major
authoritarian, “shepherding” groups I am personally interested in were not included neither
was their lingo. However, the authors explain in their introduction that they were only able
to select a small percentage of groups for inclusion in their first volume as there are
thousands of groups in existence. The selection process was based on two criteria: the
choosing of groups most accessible through availability of information and those perceived