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written manifesto or Bible-like book, rules, rituals, neologisms or code words, meetings,
internal code of honor, fairly homogeneous group in terms of age/socio-economic
class/education. Terrorist-type groups, those most likely to attempt to bring on an
Armageddon, like the Aum Shinrikyo, have many of these same characteristics.
A sub-group of the American Academy of Religion, called the New Religious Movements
Group, has fairly recently emerged to study these groups, and has its own journal: Nova
Religio: The Journal of Alternate and Emergent Religions (Niebuhr, 1999). Another group
that studies cults or ―new religious movements‖ – the term preferred by sociologists, is the
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, which also has a journal.
Popular culture also attends to these groups. Two fairly recent examples are the TV
program, ―Touched by an Angel‖ on August 29, 1999 (a repeat), and mystery writer Faye
Kellerman‘s novel, Jupiter’s Bones, published in 1999. Both demonstrate most of the
characteristics just described to you with respect to group beliefs and behaviors.
A Variety of Perceptions
Recruits and Recruiters
We tend to think of cult recruits as being in their late teens and early twenties, and indeed
many of them have been recruited as they left high school for the more rarefied atmosphere
of dormitory life at college or to live with a friend as they entered the world of work. As
Levine (1999) asserted anew, ―Youths are remarkably susceptible to ideological and
passionate solicitations‖ (p. 342). In addition, some of those recruited, for their money but
not for the almost monastic life of some groups, have been the elderly living at a distance
from family members. He wasn‘t looking at the senior citizens who are recruited, but many
of them were and are also susceptible to heart-wringing appeals, and are particularly
swayed by the idea that they are (supposedly) doing great good for someone else by their
financial contributions. Just briefly, in terms of the senior citizens who are recruited, on the
one side, the cults are after the assets of the elderly on the other side, the elderly welcome
the attention provided by the recruiters. They are once again made to feel important to
someone (Collins &Frantz, 1994). Without family members nearby, and in some cases
feeling that their adult children have rejected or forgotten them, that feeling of importance
is welcome. In other words, many of the factors that make young people vulnerable to cult
recruiting have the same effect on the elderly. These include: ego-weakness, weak or non-
existent family relations and support systems, stress, unmanageable and debilitating crises,
and inadequate resources for survival (Curtis &Curtis, 1993).
It might be mentioned that there are political and racist groups that operate much like cults
in terms of their deceptive recruiting techniques and some of their activities. A former
leader of the Aryan Nation, for example, speaks to high school students about that hate
group, including why he left it. He describes how these groups begin recruiting at the grade
school level, using comic books or finding something in common about which to start a
dialogue. His reason for leaving was that, following his son‘s operation for a cleft palate, an
officer of the Aryan Nation reminded him that when the group gained power the son would
have to be ―euthanized‖ because of his genetic defect (Halper, 2000). This, too, is violence.
The group not only preaches racism and intolerance of defects, but also practices it.
What else is there in the youthful recruit-to-be and in the group that recruits him or her that
creates a match of the two? Some young people as they approach or arrive at significant
crossroads in life may be beset by feelings of low self-esteem, alienation, even
demoralization (Isser &Schwartz, 1988 Levine, 1999). They seek affirmation of their
existence as they seek to belong and to believe. Even the two youths who created the
tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado sought to belong – to a nebulous association
of ―outsiders‖ since they felt rejected by those who did belong to more acceptable groups in

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 59
the student body. The ―uniform‖ of black coats and their behaviors all spoke to their feeling
of being united, however loosely, with other ―outsiders‖ in an attempt to control their
situation. In the Columbine case, they were asserting their sense of being ―somebody‖ 
their sense of power and control  as they shot their schoolmates. What tragedy a cult
leader could develop with such angry and estranged youths!
Other youths are idealists and have become impatient with and critical of established
institutions in our society. The cults appeal to that cynicism with the assertion that they
have the answers to the world‘s ills (Hunter, 1998). Many of these young people are
alienated from their families, and may not have had a strong relationship with their father
(or a father figure) (Schwartz, 1998 Schwartz &Kaslow., 1982). That may be even more
true today, when there are so many single parent families, than when we surveyed ex-cult
members some 20 years ago. Psychological stress, identity diffusion, rootlessness, inability
or unwillingness to make choices, and lack of consideration of long-term consequences of
decisions made are other factors seen in those successfully recruited. The early all-
enveloping stages of being in the group, of being told how special you are, and of having
someone else make decisions for you can be very seductive to some of these youths.
When it comes to cult leaders, we have a different picture. I doubt that even Levine was
aware when he wrote his article that there would be twin 12-year-olds leading a ragtag
army composed of fundamentalist Christians -named ―God‘s Army‖ -in a largely Buddhist
environment through Thailand and Myanmar in an attempt to right wrongs that they
perceived, particularly against their co-religionists. The swagger that these cigar-smoking
brothers have emerged even in still newspaper photos, and the charisma they must convey
to have hundreds of males  adolescents and adults  following them obediently, is
remarkable
Indeed, their followers ―believe the twins have magical powers that guarantee victory and
ward off harm‖ (McDowell, 2000). They are also believed to be invulnerable to bullets and
otherwise invincible. They are no different than other charismatic cult leaders who must
have a certain ―something‖ to attract and keep a devoted following – usually comprised of
late adolescents and young adults. Even this little army had some of the characteristics of
cults: the self-perception of being ―special,‖ commitment, communal passion, almost super
energy, intolerance of outsiders, a goal to be attained – combating violently wrongs
perceived as having been done to them. When they surrendered to the Thai Army early in
2001 (Associated Press, 2001), the boys admitted that they had no supernatural powers
and expressed a desire to be reunited with their parents, then living in a refugee camp in
Thailand.
In terms of those who become cult leaders, one might well watch the development of one
traveling evangelist in Pennsylvania. He is bearded, wears a long white robe, and preaches
the Gospel as well as offering solutions to his listeners‘ spiritual dilemmas. Some residents
of one community in the Northeast corner of Pennsylvania have already accepted Carl J.
Joseph, who seems to prefer being known as ―What‘s Your Name,‖ as a personal emissary
of Jesus. In appearance, he certainly looks like the drawings of Jesus seen in some religious
books (Florio, 2000). He claims to have been a traveling preacher for nine years, although
there is no indication of how he supported himself in this period. Depending on one‘s
orientation, he might be perceived as just that  a traveling preacher  or as a possible
future cult leader if enough people see him as a miraculous healer, or perhaps as a
reincarnation of Jesus, among other possibilities. The potential for development of a sizable
group of adoring and obedient followers appears to be in place. Indeed, an editorial in the
Philadelphia Inquirer in mid-February 2000 warned Joseph of the possible impact of media
celebrity in these words: ―His season of temptation has begun.‖