14 ICSA TODAY
Controlling Feelings. Emotional reactions are interpreted in the
light of the group’s teaching, so that everything one feels deeply
is connected to the system. All emotional highs and lows are
related to one’s standing within the system and serve to provide
an often mystical experience that proves the claims of the group
are valid. This process is what Lifton calls Mystical Manipulation.
When one does something that the group considers “right,” there
is great appreciation, shown here as pumping up the inductee.
When the group or its leader is unhappy with the follower, he may
“pop the bubble,” bringing
the follower down to size.
Gradually, nearly all one’s
emotional life as an inductee is
based on one’s relationship to
the group. Connection to the
group just feels right.
Moral Reasoning: Redefining
Right and Wrong. The victim’s
moral compass is gradually
reset to indicate that most things the victim does or says that
oppose the system are bad, intrinsically evil, and generally
unpopular with those who matter. Things that are done or said
that support the system are by definition good, meaningful, and
moral. There are no gray areas. All of life is divided into black
and white categories. In addition, the goals of the group are
presented as having cosmic or ultimate significance. Therefore,
since so much is at stake, there is what Lifton calls the Demand
for Purity. Absolute perfection is expected, and any deviation is
unacceptable and must be confessed, usually in a prescribed way.
This is Lifton’s Cult (or proper way) of Confession. Any inability to
find something to confess is ignorance of the truth and should,
itself, be confessed as failure to meet the standard. Under these
conditions, balanced, thoughtful views are not to be tolerated
because those who hold them do not understand the eternal
significance of what the group is doing.
Creating a State of Distraction. Thinking, feeling, and moral
reasoning tend to remain distracted in an absence of outside data.
It is believed that outside ideas and opinions are held by persons
without special knowledge or revelation and, as such, represent a
threat to the sanctity and peace of members. All members should
protect themselves from this threat by being cut off in some way
from direct, unmediated contact with the outside world. In Lifton’s
terms, the milieu or surroundings of the inductee are controlled.
Milieu Control may be physical, as in living in a remote compound,
or functional, as in frequently moving so that inductees interact
only with other members. Milieu control removes the “reality
check,” the input that disinterested third parties may provide.
Outsiders are referred to by mildly derogatory terms such as “the
unenlightened,” “the worldly,” or “enemies of God.”
Thinking, feeling, and moral reasoning are three basic aspects of
our humanity that in large part enable us to know who we are
and how we are related to others. These facets enable us to find
meaning in our lives. In a thought-reform system, the group is
defining who we are.
Redefining the Self. The teaching or philosophy of the group
or the opinions of the leader gradually subvert the thinking
and observations of the victims, who now regard the group’s
philosophy as higher than their own perceptions of reality.
This is Lifton’s Doctrine Over Person. Members’ allegiance to the
group’s philosophy makes them unable to hear or respond to any
reasoning against that philosophy.
The victims of thought reform gradually realize that any resistance
to prescribed beliefs will result in banishment from the group and
in some form of cosmic or eternal consequences far beyond that.
Fortunately for the victims, dedication to the group’s teaching and
loyalty to its leadership confirm their right to exist. The group’s
ability to determine the victims’ right to exist is what Lifton calls
Dispensing of Existence. Connection with the group now has the
urgency of a survival need.
Thought-reform victims
perceive that the price to be
paid for being wrong is so
high that they will not make
a choice without consulting
another member of the group.
Followers live in an alternate
reality, complete with its
own rules, incentives, taboos,
responsibilities, punishments, and rewards. This reality may be
hard, but it is always on the edge of the ultimate, “the spiritual
Marines,” the “remnant,” the agape force, the forever family. Heady
stuff, until they discover that the emperor has no clothes, there is
a man behind the curtain, and there is no great and powerful Oz,
because it was all a lie.
Getting Out Is Not Enough
Intervention, whether external or internal, usually involves a
breakdown of the milieu control, which allows outside ideas and
perceptions to provide a reality check to inductees. In retrospect
for some former members, their joining a cultic group seems like
a bad life decision that didn’t affect their lives in major ways. But
for others, their joining a cult destroyed a family, or prevented
the former members from forming a family or stopped them
from following the dream of a career that would have given life
meaning. For these victims, the feeling of failure is excruciating.
Fear of starting over is palpable. Restarting life after a cult is
terrifying for those who believe they brought all this meaningless
suffering on themselves. The depression and guilt can be
debilitating.
Paul’s gift to those he treated and to those of us he mentored was
to show how cultic leaders use inductees’ best qualities against
them, to convince them to give up all for a cause that is based on
a lie. When thought-reform victims recognize what was done to
them and how it was done, they can see that, regardless of the
original intentions of the leader, it was usually done selfishly, for
the leader’s personal aggrandizement. At that point, their recovery
begins with a healthy anger, followed by a realistic measure of
humility. The former members begin a journey into taking accurate
responsibility for what they may have done to others, and into
holding leaders accountable for what was done to them.
The Downside of Freedom
Aldus Huxley said “a man’s worst difficulties begin when he is
able to do as he likes” (Lippmann, 2009, p. 6). Freedom for former
members often starts well enough. There are questions and the
wrong answers from leadership, doubts about doubts, deciding
to decide to leave. Some have to make terrible choices: “I know I’m
Freedom after a cult can be a
lonely, confusing, and
discouraging experience.
Controlling Feelings. Emotional reactions are interpreted in the
light of the group’s teaching, so that everything one feels deeply
is connected to the system. All emotional highs and lows are
related to one’s standing within the system and serve to provide
an often mystical experience that proves the claims of the group
are valid. This process is what Lifton calls Mystical Manipulation.
When one does something that the group considers “right,” there
is great appreciation, shown here as pumping up the inductee.
When the group or its leader is unhappy with the follower, he may
“pop the bubble,” bringing
the follower down to size.
Gradually, nearly all one’s
emotional life as an inductee is
based on one’s relationship to
the group. Connection to the
group just feels right.
Moral Reasoning: Redefining
Right and Wrong. The victim’s
moral compass is gradually
reset to indicate that most things the victim does or says that
oppose the system are bad, intrinsically evil, and generally
unpopular with those who matter. Things that are done or said
that support the system are by definition good, meaningful, and
moral. There are no gray areas. All of life is divided into black
and white categories. In addition, the goals of the group are
presented as having cosmic or ultimate significance. Therefore,
since so much is at stake, there is what Lifton calls the Demand
for Purity. Absolute perfection is expected, and any deviation is
unacceptable and must be confessed, usually in a prescribed way.
This is Lifton’s Cult (or proper way) of Confession. Any inability to
find something to confess is ignorance of the truth and should,
itself, be confessed as failure to meet the standard. Under these
conditions, balanced, thoughtful views are not to be tolerated
because those who hold them do not understand the eternal
significance of what the group is doing.
Creating a State of Distraction. Thinking, feeling, and moral
reasoning tend to remain distracted in an absence of outside data.
It is believed that outside ideas and opinions are held by persons
without special knowledge or revelation and, as such, represent a
threat to the sanctity and peace of members. All members should
protect themselves from this threat by being cut off in some way
from direct, unmediated contact with the outside world. In Lifton’s
terms, the milieu or surroundings of the inductee are controlled.
Milieu Control may be physical, as in living in a remote compound,
or functional, as in frequently moving so that inductees interact
only with other members. Milieu control removes the “reality
check,” the input that disinterested third parties may provide.
Outsiders are referred to by mildly derogatory terms such as “the
unenlightened,” “the worldly,” or “enemies of God.”
Thinking, feeling, and moral reasoning are three basic aspects of
our humanity that in large part enable us to know who we are
and how we are related to others. These facets enable us to find
meaning in our lives. In a thought-reform system, the group is
defining who we are.
Redefining the Self. The teaching or philosophy of the group
or the opinions of the leader gradually subvert the thinking
and observations of the victims, who now regard the group’s
philosophy as higher than their own perceptions of reality.
This is Lifton’s Doctrine Over Person. Members’ allegiance to the
group’s philosophy makes them unable to hear or respond to any
reasoning against that philosophy.
The victims of thought reform gradually realize that any resistance
to prescribed beliefs will result in banishment from the group and
in some form of cosmic or eternal consequences far beyond that.
Fortunately for the victims, dedication to the group’s teaching and
loyalty to its leadership confirm their right to exist. The group’s
ability to determine the victims’ right to exist is what Lifton calls
Dispensing of Existence. Connection with the group now has the
urgency of a survival need.
Thought-reform victims
perceive that the price to be
paid for being wrong is so
high that they will not make
a choice without consulting
another member of the group.
Followers live in an alternate
reality, complete with its
own rules, incentives, taboos,
responsibilities, punishments, and rewards. This reality may be
hard, but it is always on the edge of the ultimate, “the spiritual
Marines,” the “remnant,” the agape force, the forever family. Heady
stuff, until they discover that the emperor has no clothes, there is
a man behind the curtain, and there is no great and powerful Oz,
because it was all a lie.
Getting Out Is Not Enough
Intervention, whether external or internal, usually involves a
breakdown of the milieu control, which allows outside ideas and
perceptions to provide a reality check to inductees. In retrospect
for some former members, their joining a cultic group seems like
a bad life decision that didn’t affect their lives in major ways. But
for others, their joining a cult destroyed a family, or prevented
the former members from forming a family or stopped them
from following the dream of a career that would have given life
meaning. For these victims, the feeling of failure is excruciating.
Fear of starting over is palpable. Restarting life after a cult is
terrifying for those who believe they brought all this meaningless
suffering on themselves. The depression and guilt can be
debilitating.
Paul’s gift to those he treated and to those of us he mentored was
to show how cultic leaders use inductees’ best qualities against
them, to convince them to give up all for a cause that is based on
a lie. When thought-reform victims recognize what was done to
them and how it was done, they can see that, regardless of the
original intentions of the leader, it was usually done selfishly, for
the leader’s personal aggrandizement. At that point, their recovery
begins with a healthy anger, followed by a realistic measure of
humility. The former members begin a journey into taking accurate
responsibility for what they may have done to others, and into
holding leaders accountable for what was done to them.
The Downside of Freedom
Aldus Huxley said “a man’s worst difficulties begin when he is
able to do as he likes” (Lippmann, 2009, p. 6). Freedom for former
members often starts well enough. There are questions and the
wrong answers from leadership, doubts about doubts, deciding
to decide to leave. Some have to make terrible choices: “I know I’m
Freedom after a cult can be a
lonely, confusing, and
discouraging experience.
