Chapter 3–The Threat: Mind Control Today Imagine, if you will, the following scenes. Saffron-robed men on street corners, dancing and chanting with cymbals and drums. Bedraggled young people running from car to car, selling flowers in the pouring rain. Glassy-eyed men and women confronting people behind folding tables near busy intersections, asking for money to quarantine AIDS victims and build particle-beam weapons. Over nine hundred people—men, women, and children—lying dead, face down in the mud. Mention cults to someone and these might be some of the images you’ll evoke. Yet these images do not accurately represent cults, mind control, and undue influence as they exist today. They represent only a small fraction of these phenomena. Imagine, then, a different set of images. Business executives in three-piece suits sitting in hotel ballrooms for company-sponsored “awareness” training, not permitted to stand up or leave, even to go to the bathroom. Housewives attending “psych-up rallies” so they can recruit friends and neighbors into a multi-level marketing organization. Hundreds of students gathering at an accredited university, being told they can levitate and fly through the air if only they meditate hard enough. High-school students practicing satanic rituals involving blood and urine, being directed by an older leader who claims he will help them develop their personal power. “Troubled” teens being sent off to boot camps by their deceived parents, unregulated by the government, some run by religious groups who seek to convert them.[47] Hundreds of women and men of every description paying huge sums to learn cosmic truths from some channeled spirit. Tens of thousands of women dressed in long dresses, living in harem-type households run by men with long beards. Young girls and women (and men and boys, too) being sold for sex, making their traffickers rich. Young Muslims being trained to kill, rape and even blow themselves up in the name of Allah. _These_ are some of the forms that mind control takes today. The Pervasiveness Of Cults Do you know anyone who has undergone or witnessed a radical personality change because of such a group? The odds are that you do. Someone you know—someone in your family, at work, or in your circle of friends—has likely been directly and profoundly affected by undue influence. In the past decades, the destructive cult phenomenon has mushroomed into a problem of tremendous social and political importance. It is estimated that there are now over three thousand destructive cults in the United States, directly affecting more than three million people.[48] These organizations come in many different types and sizes. Some have hundreds of millions of dollars; others are relatively poor. Some, however, are clearly more dangerous than others. The largest and most destructive are not content to simply exercise their control over the lives of their members. They have an agenda to gain political power and use it to reshape American society—or even the world. Considering how well these cults have been largely able to shield themselves from public scrutiny, it might seem alarmist to regard them as a threat to individual liberty and society as a whole. Yet, some are influencing the political landscape through extensive lobbying efforts and electioneering for candidates.[49] Some are attempting to influence United States foreign policy by lobbying covertly for foreign powers.[50] The Moonies, for example, were a major supplier of money and guns to the Contra forces in Nicaragua.[51] They also invested between $70 and $100 million in Uruguay,[52] in a failed attempt to turn that country into the cult’s first theocratic state—a springboard from which to pursue its declared goal: “to conquer and subjugate the world.”[53] In the United States, cults exert tremendous economic clout by buying up huge blocks of real estate and taking over hundreds of businesses. Some enter corporations under the pretense of offering executive leadership training, while harboring a covert agenda of taking over the company. Some seek to influence the judicial system by spending millions of dollars annually on top attorneys to bend the law to their will. Since all destructive cults believe that their ends justify any means, no matter how harmful, they typically believe themselves to be above the law. As long as they believe that what they are doing is right and just, many of them feel justified to lie, steal, cheat, or to use any and all forms of undue influence to accomplish their ends. They routinely violate, in the most profound and fundamental way, the civil and religious liberties of the people they recruit. They turn unsuspecting people into slaves. When I call a cult “destructive,” I do so because it meets the specific criteria described in detail in the next chapter of this book. Briefly, a destructive cult is a group that violates its members’ rights and damages them through the abusive techniques of unethical mind control. It distinguishes itself from a normal, healthy social or religious group by subjecting its members to systematic control of behavior, information, thoughts and emotions (BITE) to keep them dependent and obedient. When domestic abuse survivors hear this definition, they often describe their relationship with their abuser as a cult with one follower and one leader. A pimp with four women (or men) under his control forms a cult of five. A sweatshop of foreign workers who have been economically lured there, and who now cannot leave, is a labor trafficking cult. A multi-level marketing business that makes its money not from selling products to buyers, but by misleading and recruiting ever more sales associates, is a marketing cult. A corporation that demands obedience and unpaid overtime from its workers, and forces them into “motivational training” sessions that are in fact mind control, is a business cult. Methods of operation are what makes a cult destructive. If I had not personally suffered from mind control for two and a half years, I would probably be a staunch defender of the rights of such groups to practice freely, unhindered by public scrutiny. I am extremely concerned about protecting personal liberty and defending the Constitution’s guarantees of religious freedom. I fully support people’s rights to believe as they choose, no matter how unorthodox their beliefs. If people want to believe that Sun Myung Moon—or Charles Manson, or their dog—is the Messiah, that is their right. However—and this is a crucial point—people need to be protected from processes that _make_ them believe Manson or Moon is the Messiah. This chapter looks at the different areas of society in which cults arise, and the different techniques used to recruit members. How a group recruits and what happens during membership determine whether or not it respects people’s rights to choose _for themselves_ what they do and believe. If deception, hypnosis, or other mind control techniques are used to recruit and control followers, then people’s rights are being infringed upon. Cults 101 Cults are not new. Throughout history, groups of enthusiasts have sprung up around charismatic leaders of every possible description. But in recent decades, something has been added: the systematic use of modern psychological techniques to reduce a person’s will and gain control over their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. While most people usually think of cults as religious—the first definition of _cult_ in _Webster’s Third New International Dictionary_ is “religious practice: worship”—they are often completely secular. _Webster’s_ also defines _cult_ as “a usually small or narrow circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to some artistic or intellectual program, tendency, or figure (as one of limited popular appeal).” That second definition comes closer to the meaning of a modern cult, but still falls a bit short. Modern cults have _virtually unlimited_ popular appeal. For the sake of brevity, from here on I will refer to any group in which mind control is used in destructive ways as simply a cult. In times past, cult or sect leaders could be very compelling, often abusively so. Charges of mind control against them have a long history. But, until recently, leaders gained their dominance over followers in a relatively hit-or-miss way, learning as they went along. Cult leadership was an art successfully practiced by relatively few. In some cases, groups that were considered cults in their earliest days are now considered to be mainline religions. Of course, even mainline religious organizations can have destructive aspects, use undue influence, or become destructive cults. Cults can arise within major religions, too. Over the past half century, undue influence has become more of a science. Since World War II, intelligence agencies around the world have been aggressively engaged in mind control research and development. The CIA admits to having performed drug, electroshock, and hypnosis experiments since the early 1950s under the code name MK-ULTRA.[54] Research has expanded into other areas since then. Two generations ago, the human potential movement in psychology began to experiment with techniques to direct individual and group dynamics. These techniques were developed with the best of motives: to force people out of debilitating mental ruts and show them how truly different they could become. During the late 1960s, a form of group therapy known as _sensitivity training_ became popular. In such a group, people were encouraged to speak about their most intimate personal matters in front of other members. One technique widely popular at that time was the “hot seat” which was first used by the drug rehab cult, Synanon. A member of the group sat in the center of the circle, while other members confronted them with what they considered to be the person’s shortcomings or problems. Needless to say, without the supervision of an experienced therapist (and sometimes even with it), such a technique opens up considerable possibilities for abuse. Today the “hot seat” is used by some destructive cults to demean and control their members. Another development that began to affect the general population was the popularization of hypnosis. People were introduced to certain techniques for inducing hypnotic trance—but often without adequate consideration of the ethical aspects of working with the subconscious mind. Originally these group process methods were used only on willing participants, and many people reported positive experiences. Soon, though, some of these techniques percolated out into the general culture, where they became available for anyone to abuse. Unscrupulous persons began using them to make money and gain power by manipulating a coterie of followers. (My earlier discussion of Neuro-Linguistic Programming provides one common example.) Unfortunately “Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy to download such information and training and to use it to manipulate and program others into new beliefs, behaviors and even identities. Because of increased media coverage, people in the United States began to become aware of the new cults in the middle to late 1970s. No one of my generation can forget the spectacle of Patty Hearst, the daughter of one of the country’s most powerful newspaper publishers, William Randolph HearstIII, who transformed into Tania, a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a left-wing terrorist cult.[55] As public awareness of the destructive potential of cult membership began to grow, we saw the birth of deprogramming. Professional deprogrammers, like Ted Patrick, hired by a cult member’s family, would forcibly abduct the person and, often in a secluded motel room, try to reverse the cult’s brainwashing.[56] Thousands of cult members, like myself, were indeed de-brainwashed successfully, and later gave dramatic public testimony of how cult mind control worked. But many deprogrammings failed, and members and cults sometimes brought lawsuits against families and deprogrammers. Worst of all, deprogramming could be harmful to the cult member. Many families with members in destructive cults found abduction and forceful detention repugnant. They also found the financial burden great and the threat of lawsuits intimidating. If they didn’t want to try a forcible deprogramming, they had no choice but to be patient and hope that something would happen. As a result their family members or friends remained in cults throughout the 1970s. Then something happened to change the way the whole nation perceived destructive cults: the massacre at Jonestown. Above Jones’s throne was affixed a sign which read, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” While no one can explain why Jones chose this saying from George Santayana as his motto, the truth in the message, ironically, is relevant to us today as we examine the history of cults and think about the implications. The Four Main Types Of Cults News of the Jonestown massacre shocked the world. In the 1970s, there was little general understanding of unethical mind control or of how widespread its use had already become in society at large. In the decades following that massacre, cult groups have continued to grow, unabated. New cults appear and older ones grow more sophisticated. Currently, there are groups using mind control in many different areas of society. These organizations include religious cults, political cults, psychotherapy/educational cults, and commercial cults. *Religious cults* are the best known and most numerous. These groups focus on religious dogma. Some use the Bible or Koran; some are based on an Eastern religion; others draw on occult lore; and some are purely the inventions of their leaders. Although most claim to involve the spiritual realm, or to follow a strict code of religious principles, it is more common than not for these cult leaders to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, with the groups owning millions of dollars of real estate, and/or running extensive business enterprises. Think of ISIS, Boko Haram, the Unification Church, Scientology,[57] Church Universal and Triumphant,[58] The Way International,[59] or the organization of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, rebranded Osho by his followers after his death in 1990).[60] Scientology is unusual, as it began as a psychotherapy cult and also functions as a commercial cult. It functions under the cloak of religion. *Political cults* often make the news, usually with the word “fringe” or “extremist” attached. Rarely do people hear about the deceptive recruitment and mind control practices that distinguish these organizations from run-of-the-mill fanatical groups. These groups are organized around a particular political dogma. One such group’s leader, Lyndon LaRouche, has run for president in the past eight elections, and claims to advise top government and business leaders.[61] Another group, known simply as Move, was bombed by police in Philadelphia after holing up with an arsenal of weapons.[62] Yet another, Aryan Nation, believes in white supremacy, for many years ran survivalist training camps, and has plans to take over the United States or die trying.[63] The now-defunct Democratic Workers’ Party of California was for years an extreme left-wing cult.[64] *Psychotherapy/educational cults* hold expensive workshops and seminars that provide participants with “insight” and “enlightenment,” usually in a hotel conference room. These cults use many basic mind control techniques to provide participants with a peak experience—which is to say hypnotic euphoria, although I don’t think that Maslow would describe such events as ‘peak experiences’. That experience is all that happens to most customers, but others are manipulated to sign up for the more expensive advanced courses. Graduates of the advanced courses may then become enmeshed in the group. Once committed to the group, members are told to bring in friends, relatives, and co-workers, or else cut off relations with them. Recruiters are typically not allowed to disclose much about the program. Many of these groups have caused nervous breakdowns, broken marriages, and business failures, as well as suicides and accidental deaths by reckless accidents. The people who run these groups sometimes have questionable personal backgrounds, and, often, few or no credentials. *Commercial cults* believe in the dogma of greed. They deceive and manipulate people to work for little or no pay in the hope of getting rich. Many such pyramid-scheme or multi-level marketing organizations promise big money, but in fact fleece their victims. They also destroy their victims’ self-esteem so they will not complain. Success depends not on selling products or services, but on recruiting new people, who in turn recruit others. Some commercial cults browbeat people into hawking magazine subscriptions or other items door to door. These cults take out ads in local newspapers, promising exciting travel and lucrative careers. Cult recruiters set up interviews inside their hotel rooms, preying on high school and college students. When people are accepted into the program, they usually have to pay money to be trained, and then are sent far away in vans to sell merchandise. Salespeople are manipulated through fear and guilt, and are sometimes physically and sexually abused. These people sometimes become slaves to the company and turn over their money in order to pay for living expenses. Pimps and human traffickers run their own versions of commercial cults. Since 2013, I have been working with survivors of trafficking, helping them to understand how they were controlled and indoctrinated into slavery. Recruitment: How It’s Done As we will see, there are many different ways people can be ensnared into a relationship or group that uses mind control. Many cults deliberately seek out people who are intelligent, talented, and successful. As a result, its members are often powerfully persuasive and seductive to newcomers. Indeed, the sheer number of sincere, committed members whom a newcomer meets is probably far more convincing than any doctrine or structure. The large cults know how to train their “salespeople” well. They indoctrinate members to show only the best sides of the organization. Members are taught to suppress any negative feelings they have about the group, and to always show a continually smiling, happy face. Recruiters are taught to size up each newcomer, and package and sell the cult in whatever way is most likely to succeed. In the Moonies, I was taught to use a four-part personality model to help recruit new members. People were categorized as _thinkers_, _feelers_, _doers_, or _believers_. Thinkers are people who approach life with their minds, as intellectuals. Feelers lead with their emotions. Doers are action-oriented and very physical. Believers are spiritually oriented. If a person was categorized as a thinker, we would use an intellectual approach. We would show him pictures of Nobel Laureates at a Moonie-sponsored science conference, or philosophers discussing a variety of interesting topics. A deliberate misimpression was given that these giants of the scientific and academic communities were supporters of the movement. In fact, to my knowledge, not one of them actually supported the Moon cause. They were interested in meeting with professional colleagues and friends. Of course, their expense-paid trips and the thousands of dollars paid to them as honorariums were added incentives. Many academics and some celebrated politicians took advantage of these paid holidays with no concern for the allure that their names were adding to an invidious cause. Feelers would always respond well to a loving, caring approach. With these people, my group would accentuate our emotional well-being, as well as the extended family aspect of the group. We would always talk about love with such people, and how there wasn’t enough of the _real_ kind of love in the world. Feelers automatically long to be accepted and loved, so we would go out of our way to provide the person with a warm and enticing feeling of unconditional approval. Doers are action-oriented. They like challenges and strive to accomplish as much as they can. If they saw poverty and suffering in the world and longed to make it end, we would tell them how much we were doing along these lines. Perhaps they were concerned about war, or Communism. We would always make it sound as though we were the only organization with a workable plan of action (even if it was objectively untrue, we believed it was true). We would tell doers about the hundreds of programs we sponsored to heal a broken world. We saw believers as people searching for God, or looking for spiritual meaning in their lives. They typically would tell us about their spiritual experiences—dreams, visions and revelations. For the most part, these people were “wide open,” and often recruited themselves. It was always amazing to me to realize how many people told us they had just been praying to God to reveal to them what He wanted them to do with their lives. Many believed they were spiritually led to meet one of our members. With them it was simply a matter of sharing our testimonies and we would convince them they had been led to us by God. Contrary to public perception, most of the people we recruited did not fall into the believer category. Most were either feelers or doers. Many of the so-called thinkers eventually became leaders within the organization. With this one simple personality model to guide recruiters, and hundreds of front groups to operate behind, the Moon organization cast a broad recruitment net that drew in diverse range of people.[65] Indeed, members regard themselves as “fishers of men,” a term taken from Jesus’ metaphor for describing his disciples in the New Testament. Unfortunately, four decades later, the methods of mind control used by many cults are far more nuanced and sophisticated—and potentially far more damaging. The recruiter’s work is made considerably easier because most people have no idea how deep the pockets of major cults can be. Many of the larger ones have grown hugely wealthy through public fundraising techniques, as well as by tapping their own members’ bank accounts and property. They reinvest a huge part of their capital into recruiting more members.[66] Today, it is also quite common for some cult groups to spend huge sums of money on public relations firms and marketing specialists. They pay top dollar to experts to help present a positive image and design recruitment campaigns.[67] The average person doesn’t understand mind control; doesn’t know how cults operate, doesn’t know what questions to ask and what behaviors to watch out for, and doesn’t believe they could ever be sucked in. That’s why so many ordinary people are prime candidates for cult recruiters. Why Do Cults Have So Much Success? Why is there so much complacency about the threat of mind control cults? First, accepting that mind control can be effectively used on almost anybody challenges the age-old notion that human beings are rational, and responsible for (and in control of) all their actions. Such a worldview does not allow for any concept of mind control. Second, we all have _a belief in our own invulnerability_. It is too scary to think that someone could take control of our minds. We all want to have a belief in our own ability to completely control our lives. Third, the processes of influence start from the moment we are born, so it’s easy to take the position that everything is mind control. _Why worry about it?_ We tell ourselves, “It’s a normal part of life.” But, just as sex is a normal part of life but seduction by a womanizer or femme fatale, or rape is not, influence is a natural part of life, but _undue_ influence is not. Let’s dig into each of these preconceptions. First there is the idea that a human being is inherently rational. If people operate from such a viewpoint, they believe that cult members have rationally chosen to live a deviant lifestyle. If the person is an adult, goes the argument, then they have a right to live any way they choose. That argument might be true if no deceptive, social influence techniques were used to unduly influence a person’s choice. But, of course, these techniques are used. Furthermore, we human beings aren’t totally rational creatures. Complete rationality denies our emotional and physical nature. We can’t function without our emotions. We all need love, friendship, attention, and approval. Most of us agree on the wonderfulness of falling in love. Most of us also understand that the condition of our bodies has a tremendous impact on the way we function psychologically. Have you ever gone for a few days with little or no sleep? If so, you probably weren’t functioning rationally and likely weren’t in total control of your every action. Have you ever gone without food for days? The mind begins to hallucinate when the body doesn’t have enough sleep or food. In such circumstances, our physiology undermines our rationality. Then there is the belief in our own invulnerability. We all need to feel that we are in control of our lives. We don’t like feeling that events are out of control, so we put reality into an order that makes sense to us. When we hear that something bad has happened to someone (perhaps being mugged or raped), we usually try to find a reason to explain why that person was a victim. Was he or she walking at the wrong time in a bad neighborhood? People try to ascribe a direct cause-and-effect relationship to what happened: if something bad happened to her, then she must have done something wrong. This kind of behavior is called _blaming the victim_. Although there is value in trying to assess possibly careless behavior (indeed, we must learn from life’s tragedies), the reality is that the person just might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Blaming the victim plays an important psychological role in allowing us to distance ourselves from the person who was hurt. In this way, we say to ourselves, “Such a thing couldn’t happen to me because I am different. I know better.” Often people look at a cult victim and say mistakenly, “What a weak-minded person; he must have been looking for a way to escape responsibility and have someone control his life.” In that way people deny the reality that the same thing could happen to them. People believe that “it can never happen to them” because they want to believe they are stronger and better than the many millions who have fallen victim to mind control. Our need to believe that we are invulnerable, though, is actually a weakness that is easily played upon by cult recruiters. For example, a recruiter could say, “Now, Bill, you strike me as a very intelligent, worldly type of person. You would never allow anyone to force you to do something you wouldn’t want to do. You like to make up your mind for yourself. So you won’t let the biased media scare you with bizarre claims of mind control. You’re too smart for that. So what time do you want to come over for that lecture?” As for the philosophical position that everything is a form of mind control, it is certainly true that we are constantly being influenced by all kinds of people, ideas, and forces. Yet there is actually a continuum of influence. At one end are benign or even helpful influences, such as a friend suggesting that the two of you see a particular movie. At the other end are deeply destructive influences, such as indoctrinating people to kill themselves or harm others. Most of the groups I’m concerned with fall near the destructive end of the continuum. The Influence Continuum https://dweb.link/ipfs/bafybeifgpitrntfc2y3xpjwhwivyh66wpkus3cnyckppqo4hr65f... https://freedomofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Influence-Continuum-202... https://freedomofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Influence-Continuum-202... [the chart in the book has minor informational differences with the web chart, and is described below] Imagine a horizontal line with arrows at each end pointing outward. On the left is ethical, healthy influence. On the right, unethical, unhealthy, destructive influence, or: mind control. Constructive, healthy qualities for individuals include respect that each person has a unique, authentic self; unconditional love; conscience; creativity and humor; and free will / critical thinking. Destructive, unhealthy qualities for individuals include false (cult) identity; conditional “love”; doctrine; solemnity, feat and guilt; and dependency / obedience. Constructive, healthy qualities of leaders include psychologically healthy; knows own limits; empowers individuals; trustworthy; and accountable. Destructive, unhealthy qualities of leaders include narcissistic / psychopathic ; elitist / grandiose; power hungry; secretive / deceptive; and claims absolute authority. Constructive, healthy qualities for organizations and relationships include checks and balances; informed consent; individuality / diversity; means create ends; encourages growth; and free to leave. Destructive, unhealthy qualities of organizations include authoritarian structure; deceptive / manipulative; clones people; ends justify means; preserves own power; and no legitimate reasons to leave. An organization that provides helpful or constructive influence has these essential traits: It routinely seeks the informed consent of its members. Checks and balances are built into its systems of governance, so that no one person or sub-group can seize control. It is transparent about its mission, its finances, its governance, and its decision-making processes. It encourages the growth, health and sanity of its members. Leaders of these organizations are honest, trustworthy, accountable and transparent about what they do and decide, and why. Their approach to leadership respects all group members’ individuality, choice, and free will. They provide members and others with free and open access to information about the group. Ideally, they are also sincerely loving, compassionate, wise (or at least reasonably intelligent) human beings. If we look at a typical organization on the opposite end of the continuum, we find that it exhibits these traits: No informed consent. Information is manipulated and controlled. It has a top-down structure, with a single leader at the top and a small inner circle immediately below. It is authoritarian: orders are issued from the top, sometimes without explanation or rationale, and those below must follow them without question. It has no guiding ethical principles; all goals justify the use of any means. It focuses on controlling, preserving, and acquiring power and information, but shares little of these with rank and file members—and none with outsiders. People at the top of these organizations do not lead through wisdom, consensus, compassion, or even brainpower. They lead by making their followers frightened and dependent. They demand obedience and subservience. They often require their followers to dress, act, and think exactly alike. As we will see in Chapter 4, one highly effective way to determine where an organization falls on this continuum is to apply the BITE model. As I mentioned, this model looks at four aspects of potential control: behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotion control. These four components are inherently neither good nor evil. If mind control techniques are used to empower an individual to have integrity and more choice, and the authority for his life remains within himself, the effects can be very beneficial. However, if mind control is used to change a person’s belief system _without informed consent_ and make him _dependent on outside authority figures_, the effects can be devastating. The more a group seeks to control any or all of these aspects of its members lives, the closer to the extreme end of the influence continuum it falls—and the more likely it is to be a cult. Authoritarian, Destructive Cult Structure https://dweb.link/ipfs/bafybeibav5boyclsrbhhqnqd35ct5v7ay5cyegwsjgg5nf7cq5mh... https://freedomofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Destructive-cult-struct... [the chart in the book has minor formatting differences with the web chart, and is described below] Imagine a pyramid-like structure with different tiers going from the bottom up to the apex. From the base of the pyramid, imagine concentric circles emanating outward. People at the top of the pyramid are the leaders of the group, or the top leader; then sub-leaders, and leaders of different entities within the organization. Another important model to help discern the core characteristics of a group is this diagram of a destructive cult. When I evaluate a group and its use of the BITE model, it is important to use information that is descriptive of the pyramid and not the circle outside the pyramid—I refer to these people as “fringe members.” A person who is affiliated very loosely in a behavioral sense may still be indoctrinated into the belief system through sleep deprivation, trance states, intensive workshops, time on discussion boards, YouTube video indoctrination, not to mention telephone calls, texts, webinars and more. They are influenced and involved with the destructive cult, but not to the extent of someone who works on staff 80 hours a week and has no vacation time. That individual may be evaluated as less extremely mind controlled than the staffer, but is still in a destructive experience. Sometimes I am asked to consult with a person who is just beginning to get involved with the group and has yet to experience the extremes of the BITE model. By showing them the “bigger picture” and helping them to see the “whole elephant” and not just the tail, it empowers them to reality-test. Stepping back to visualize the entire entity is important. People are being incorrectly described as “self-radicalized” into becoming terrorists. These folks can be better understood as being on the fringes of a destructive cult—but in the “sphere of influence” of mind control. They are absolutely being recruited—by people in person and online. Cult recruiters are expert at targeting vulnerabilities and activating motivation. Political and religious cults that use terrorist tactics are aggressively recruiting and some people are being sucked into their vortex. Before we move on to a more comprehensive description of mind control, there are a few more major points I wish to cover. Phobias: The Force That Robs Cult Members’ Freedom[68] We all know someone who has had a phobia. Yourself, perhaps? The most common phobias include fears of flying in airplanes, public speaking, taking elevators, driving in tunnels or over bridges, and children commonly develop phobias about certain animals like snakes, spiders, and even dogs. Basically, phobias are an intense fear reaction to someone or something. A phobic reaction can range from very mild to very severe. An intense phobic reaction can cause physical responses like racing heartbeat, dry mouth, sweating, and muscle tension. Phobias can immobilize people and keep them from doing the things they truly want to do. Indeed, phobias can rob people of free choice. Often people develop phobias as a result of a traumatic life experience. For example, a friend dies in a plane crash. An elevator someone is traveling in gets stuck for hours without light. Someone is bitten by a snake. We learn to associate extremely negative feelings with the object. After such an experience, our fears can then take on a life of their own and, in minutes or over several years, can become full-blown phobias. The structure of a phobia involves several internal components that interact to cause a vicious cycle. These components include worrisome thoughts, negative internal images, and feelings of dread and being out of control. Just thinking about the object can sometimes trigger the cycle into action. The person may say to himself, “Oh, I hope the teacher doesn’t call on me to give my report.” That thought is enough to cause them to start feeling tense and anxious. They see—usually unconsciously—a picture of themselves going to the front of the class and freezing up. In this vivid “motion picture,” they see themselves sweating and fidgeting, and their minds turning blank. Everyone is laughing and the teacher starts yelling at them. This imagined ridicule causes them to feel even more upset and fearful that they will be called upon. Such a person could be well on their way toward having a fully developed phobia. People who were sexually abused as children often have crippling phobias about themselves programmed into them by their perpetrators. Many children have no conscious memories of the phobia installation. However they suffer deep trauma issues about identity and sexuality. They are unable to visualize themselves being healthy and valued as a unique human being. Not surprisingly, a large number of sex trafficking victims were sexually abused as children, making them especially vulnerable to recruitment and continued abuse. This childhood mind control abuse set them up for being abused again and again. What do phobias have to do with cult groups and mind control? In some cults, _members are systematically made to be phobic about ever leaving the group_. Today’s cults know how to effectively implant vivid negative images deep within members’ unconscious minds, making it impossible for them to even conceive of ever being happy and successful outside of the group. When the unconscious is programmed to accept such negative associations, it behaves as though they were true. The unconscious mind of the typical cult member contains a substantial image-bank of all of the bad things that will occur if they, or anyone, were to ever betray the group. Members are programmed, either overtly or subtly, to believe that if they ever leave, they will die of some horrible disease, be hit by a car, be killed in a plane crash, or perhaps cause the death of loved ones. Some cults program members to believe that if they leave the group, planetary nuclear holocaust will be the result. Yet cult-induced phobias are so cleverly created and implanted that people often don’t even know they exist. Of course, these thoughts are irrational and often nonsensical. However, keep in mind that _most_ phobias are irrational. Most planes don’t crash, most elevators don’t get stuck, and most dogs aren’t rabid. Imagine what it would be like if you believed that mysterious people were determined to poison you. If this belief were implanted deep in your unconscious, do you think you would ever be able to go to a restaurant and enjoy your meal? How long would it be before you only ate food that you bought and prepared yourself? If, by chance, someone you were eating with in a restaurant suddenly became ill, how long would it be before you stopped eating out altogether? Such a belief—whether conscious or unconscious—would substantially limit your choices. If the belief were not conscious, you might try to rationalize your behavior by telling your friends that you don’t like eating out because you are on a diet, or because many restaurants are unsanitary. Either way, your choices no longer include simply going to a restaurant and enjoying a good meal. In the same way, cult phobias take away people’s choices. Members truly believe they will be destroyed if they leave the safety of the group. They think there is no way outside the group for them to grow—spiritually, intellectually, or emotionally. However, once they become conscious of their desire to leave, it is usually only a matter of time before the authentic self develops a stronger and stronger voice. Why? Because mind control groups constantly change their doctrines and policies. Members are constantly exiting, and leaders need to keep lying and change policies to try to maintain control. NOTE: Working with extremist cult members and victims of human trafficking, it is essential to professionally evaluate threats of harm. They might not be all phobias. Unfortunately, for these cult survivors, threats of harm to themselves or loved ones are often real. Special steps must be taken to make sure they are safe. The Unconscious Mind: The Key To Creativity—And Vulnerability What makes us all so vulnerable to these influence processes? The answer lies in the nature of the mind itself. The human mind has been described as an extraordinarily sophisticated biocomputer that is oriented for learning patterns for survival—and much more. It is remarkable in its ability to creatively respond to a person’s needs, as well as to their environment. Our mind filters out floods of information every second, so that we can cope with those things that we consider important. Our minds are huge reservoirs of information, stored as images, sounds, feelings, tastes and smells. All this information is systematically connected in meaningful ways. Our sense of self develops over years of life experience. As we grow and change, our beliefs about ourselves and the world change, too. Our beliefs serve as the major means of processing information—and of determining our behavior. We have a certain degree of conscious control, but most matters are controlled unconsciously. The conscious mind has a narrow range of attention. The unconscious does all the rest, including regulating all body functions. Imagine having to tell your heart to beat 72 times every minute. You would never have time for anything else. The unconscious mind is the primary manager of information. It is our creative unconscious that allows us to make mental pictures and to experience them as “real.” Try this experiment. Take a moment and allow your mind to transport you to a beautiful tropical paradise. Feel the warmth of the sun, a cool breeze, and the smell of the ocean. Even if you have never been to such a place, it is still possible to perform this experiment. Did you go somewhere else for that moment? Our imagination can be channeled in other ways too. For example, professional basketball players visualize the ball leaving their fingers and going through the net before they shoot. These capacities to fantasize and visualize exist within everyone and are an essential component of being human. We all have dreamed about happier times in our lives—perhaps meeting the “perfect” person, perhaps winning the lottery. But hypnosis can also be used to create in our unconscious minds a fantasy world that can be used to enslave us. As we grow, the mind does not erase previous memories: it layers new experiences over them in a very systematic way. It is amazing how easily we can shift back into past memories. For example, try to remember playing with your favorite toy when you were a child, or eating your favorite food. Our memories of childhood form a vast storehouse that can be tapped and exploited by hypnotic techniques. It is not accidental that many destructive cults tell their members to “become like little children,” mimicking Christianity: “You must be as one of these to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Adults can easily be age-regressed to a time when they had little or no critical faculties. As children, we were helpless and dependent on our parents as the ultimate authority figures. The mind, despite all of its strength and ability, has weaknesses too. It is dependent on a stream of coherent information to function properly. Put a person in a sensory deprivation chamber, and within minutes he will start to hallucinate and become incredibly suggestible. Likewise, put a person into a situation where his senses are overloaded with non-coherent information, and the mind will go “numb” as a protective mechanism. It gets confused and overwhelmed, and critical faculties no longer work properly. It is in this weakened state that people become very open to suggestion. The mind needs frames of reference in order to structure reality. Change the frame of reference, and the information coming in will be interpreted in a different way. Take, for example, the Jewish rite of circumcision. If you take away the cultural meaning, it looks like an assault on a defenseless infant. Our belief system allows us to interpret information, make decisions, and act according to our beliefs. When people are subjected to a mind control process, most do not have any frame of reference for the experience, and consequently they often accept the frame of reference given to them by the group. When we make decisions, we usually base them on information we believe to be true. We don’t have the time to verify every piece of information that comes at us. When we shop, we tend to believe it when we are told that a particular item is cheaper here than at any other store. After all, why would the salesperson lie, particularly if you can come back and complain? If we distrusted everything, we would be paranoid. If, at the other extreme, we were to trust everything and everybody, we would be naive and taken advantage of for the rest of our lives. Therefore, we strive to live our lives in a balance between skepticism and trust. A person with an open mind seeks to live within that healthy balance. Mind control techniques seek to upset that balance. Con artists are professional liars. Their greatest assets are their looks and their ability to ‘charm’. Many victims of con artists remark that they trusted the person because they “didn’t look like a criminal.” The successful ones—Bernie Madoff, for example—never do. They convey a humanness that bypasses a person’s defenses. They are usually great talkers but do not appear to be too slick. Slickness would give them away. Con artists size up their victim, make the con, get the money, and leave. Cult recruiters use many of the same skills, but they don’t leave. They want you to join them. Almost all of them were victims themselves at one point. They believe that what they are doing is truly beneficial for you. However, they want something more valuable than your money. They want your mind! Of course, they’ll take your money too, along the way. But they don’t run away like common criminals. They want you to move in with them. Not only that, they want you to go out and do the same to others. Like it or not, everyone is vulnerable to mind control. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone needs affection and attention. Everyone is looking for something better in life: more wisdom, more knowledge, more money, more status, more meaning, better relationships, or better health. These basic human qualities and needs are exactly what cult recruiters prey upon. It is important to remember that, for the most part, people don’t join cults. _Cults recruit people_. Basic Recruitment Approaches How can one become more aware of cult recruitment? The best way is to be able to instantly recognize the ways in which cults make their appeals for membership. People being recruited by cults are approached in four basic ways: 1) by a friend or relative who is already a member; 2) by a stranger (often a member of the opposite sex) who befriends them;3) through a cult-sponsored event, such as a lecture, symposium, or movie; or 4) through social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, websites, blogs, and so forth. Even Wikipedia is now being actively manipulated by wealthy cult groups. Google, Bing and other search engines are routinely manipulated by some of the wealthier cults, which have small online armies that bury critical information or mount disinformation campaigns against critics. Usually an individual does not suspect he or she is being recruited. The friend or relative wants to share some incredible insights and experiences. Or they say they “just need your opinion,” in order to trick you into an indoctrination session. If the recruiter is a stranger, more often than not you think you’ve made a good friend. Surveys of present and former cult members indicate that the majority of people recruited into destructive cults were approached _at a vulnerable time of stress in their lives_.[69] The stress is often due to some kind of major transition: moving to a new town, starting a new job, breaking off a relationship, experiencing financial instability, or losing a loved one. People in such situations tend to have defense mechanisms that are overloaded or weakened. If they don’t know how to spot and avoid destructive cults, they are easy prey. It is important to recognize that recruitment doesn’t just happen. It is a process imposed on people by other people. High-powered business executives pressured by competition and driven by a need to succeed are recruited by _colleagues_, who tell them about the incredible benefits to be obtained from taking the “course.” College students pressured by academic work and a need for acceptance make friends with a _professional cult recruiter_, or go to a group’s presentation on some current social issue. A housewife driven by the need to do something with her life follows the example of a _friend_ and buys into a pyramid-style household supplies company. A high school student is dared by _peers_ into dabbling in satanic rituals. Other people are initially brought into contact with a cult through an impersonal medium. Some people begin by buying a cult book advertised on TV as a bestseller. Others receive in the mail an invitation to a seemingly harmless Bible-study session. Some people answer a want ad. Some are recruited when they take a job with a cult-owned business. Whatever the approach, personal contact is eventually made. The recruiter starts to learn all about the potential recruit—their hopes, dreams, fears, relationships, job and interests. The more information the recruiter can elicit, the greater their opportunity to manipulate the person. The recruiter then strategically plans how to bring the person into the group, step by step. The plan might include effusive praise and flattery; introducing the person to another member with similar interests and background; deliberate deception about the group; or evasive maneuvering to avoid answering questions. Virtually anyone can be seduced into a mind control relationship or recruited into a cult, especially if they don’t understand what to watch out for. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the typical cult member was college-aged, but by the late 1980s it had become commonplace for people of all ages to fall victim. Elderly people are quite likely to be recruited.[70] The elderly tend to be solicited for heavy financial contributions or public-relations endorsements. Many middle-aged people are recruited for their professional expertise, to help set up or run cult-owned businesses. Still, young people, for the most part, represent the core workers. They can sleep less, eat less and work harder. Although the white middle class is still the main target of recruitment, several groups are now actively seeking out blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. As they gather individuals from these communities, they use them to design programs that will bring in others. The big cults have already developed indoctrination programs in Spanish, for example. Another target population is made up of Europeans visiting, going to school or working in the United States. After a few years of training and indoctrination (usually with expired visas), they are sent home to recruit in their own countries. Cults also reach into foreign countries to provide workers. For decades, Scientology has recruited in Africa, eastern Europe and Asia to provide staff for its U.S., UK and Australian organizations. Recruits are offered a ‘scholarship’ which in reality is a 90-hour work week. Interestingly, cults generally avoid recruiting people who will burden them, such as those with physical disabilities or severe emotional problems. They want people who will stand up to the grueling demands of cult life. If someone is recruited who uses illegal drugs, they are usually told to either stop using them or leave. To my knowledge, there are few people with disabilities recruited in cults, because it takes time, money, and effort to assist them. People born into cults who develop disabilities are often distanced and sent to government welfare programs. Cult Life: Illusion And Abuse Once a person joins a destructive cult, for the first few weeks or months they typically enjoy a “honeymoon phase.” They are treated as though they were royalty. They are made to feel very special as they embark on a new life with the group. The new convert has yet to experience what life in the group is really going to be like. Even though most cult members say publicly that they are happier than they’ve ever been in their lives, the reality is sadly different. Life in a destructive cult is, for the most part, a life of sacrifice, pain and fear. People involved full-time in a destructive cult know what it is like to live under totalitarianism, but can’t objectively see what is happening to them. They live in a fantasy world created by the group. Some destructive groups essentially make addicts out of their members. With alcoholism and substance abuse treatment so much in the national spotlight today, it is important that mental health professionals pay attention to this former cult member population. People indoctrinated to perform excessive (hours-long) meditation or chanting techniques every day can become psychologically and physiologically addicted to the mind control technique. Such mind-stilling generates strong releases of brain chemicals which cause not only a dissociated mental state but also a “high” similar to that created by drugs and other addictions. Some former members who have used these techniques for several years report a wide variety of deleterious side effects, including severe headaches, involuntary muscle spasms and diminution of cognitive faculties like memory, concentration, and decision-making ability. Of course, some pimps get their victims hooked on heroin or meth or other drugs to control their minds, make them dependent so there are serious health effects and long rehabilitation is needed. Cult members tend to spend all their time either recruiting more people, fundraising, or working on public relations projects. When people are fully hooked, they donate large amounts of their own money and assets to the group—sometimes everything they own. In exchange, they are promised care and meaning for the rest of their lives. This transaction leaves the person dependent on the group for everything: food, clothing, shelter and health care. In many groups, however, this care is less than adequate. Medical neglect is rampant. People are made to feel that any medical problem is the result of some personal or spiritual weakness. All they need to do is repent and work harder, and the problem will go away. Few cults carry health insurance for their devotees, so when a person becomes critically ill, they are often sent as an indigent to a hospital or free clinic. People who worked devotedly for years, sometimes making hundreds of thousands of dollars for the group, are told that the group can’t afford to pay their medical bills. Often they are asked to leave the group until they have healed. A person who requires expensive treatment will often be asked to go back to their family, so that the family will pay the bills. If the person doesn’t have a family who will help, they may be driven to a hospital and abandoned. Some cults, like the Followers of Christ,[71] advocate faith healing as the sole treatment for medical problems. The outcome can be great suffering, or even death. People are told that their illness has a spiritual cause, and are made to feel guilty for not totally devoting themselves to the group. Some cults tell members that going to a doctor would show their faithlessness. A few will even threaten to excommunicate members if they seek medical attention. A related problem is child abuse. Many children have died or been scarred for life because of their parents’ involvement in destructive cults.[72] Many people have forgotten that nearly 300 children were murdered during the Jonestown massacre. Those children had no choice but to drink the poisoned Kool-Aid. The public also doesn’t know that many of these children were the wards of the state of California and had been adopted by Peoples Temple members to provide more income as well as serve as cheap labor. Some groups advocate beating and even torturing children to enforce discipline. At Jonestown, at night, some children were put into dark pits that they were told were filled with snakes. Members would dangle ropes from above to scare them. Although Jonestown was an extreme example, several groups do use rods and sticks to beat children, at times for hours and sometimes all over their bodies. Some groups subject children to sexual abuse as a matter of doctrine. Because children are often kept out of school and away from other contact with society, the abuse goes unreported. Children are often raised communally and allowed only infrequent visits with their parents. The children are taught to place their allegiance with the cult leader or the group as a whole, not with their parents. Playtime is limited or denied altogether. Children typically receive an inferior education, if any. Like their parents, they are taught that the world is a hostile, evil place, and they are forced to depend on cult doctrine to understand reality. Although they may be regarded as the future of the group, they are also usually seen as a hindrance to the immediate demands of the cult’s “work.” Terrorist cults are known to abduct children and turn them into killers and rapists. I wish to make special mention of Harvey L. Schwartz’s book about trauma inflicted on children recruited to become soldiers, _The Alchemy of Wolves and Sheep: A Relational Approach to Internalized Perpetration in Complex Trauma Survivors_.[73] The casualties of mind control thus include millions of cult members, their children, and society as well. Our nation is being robbed of our greatest resource: bright, idealistic, ambitious people who are capable of making an enormous contribution to humankind. Many of the former cult members I know have become doctors, teachers, counselors, inventors and artists. Imagine what so many cult members could accomplish if they were all set free to develop their unique talents and abilities. What if they channeled their energies into problem solving, rather than trying to undermine the world’s freedoms with some warped totalitarian vision? In the meanwhile, destructive cult groups continue to grow more numerous and powerful, operating with virtual free license to enslave people. It is ironic that in the United States, a country that cherishes freedom and liberty, citizens are better protected from sales pressure at a used-car lot than they are from organizations whose intent is to hijack their minds and hearts. Until the law sets restrictions on such practices and recognizes the existence of modern mind control techniques, people are mostly left to protect themselves. Perhaps the single most important thing to realize in dealing with destructive cults is that _we are all vulnerable_. The most we can do to protect ourselves is inform ourselves thoroughly about the ways in which destructive cults operate, and be “good consumers” when approaching any group we might be interested in joining. Friends or relatives of people seeking some kind of major group involvement or passing through times of unusual stress should remain alert to sudden personality changes in those people. If you do suspect that someone you know is coming under the influence of a mind control person or organization, act quickly to seek competent help. Most medical problems respond better to early detection and treatment, and the same principle holds true here. Be a good consumer about any group that interests you, before you make any commitments. First and foremost, do careful research. One place to start is with my own free site, freedomofmind.com. Other helpful sites include icsahome.com, openmindsfoundation.org, and apologeticsindex.org. However, please don’t assume that if a group isn’t mentioned on any of these sites as potentially worrisome, it’s automatically okay. Dig deeper. In Google or some other search engine, type the name of the organization (with the entire name inside quotation marks) and the word _cult_, also try the name of the group (again, inside quotation marks) and the word _scam_ or _scandal_. Try variations with the name of the leader of the group, and words like _criminal_, _abuser_ or _sex_. Look at more than the first page or two of results. Cults have learned how to bury negative articles and blogs by manipulating search engines. In the 21st century, when it comes to _any_ group, it’s important to do at least as much background research as you would before buying a TV, computer or car. Endnotes for Chapter 3 47. Kidnappedforchrist.com is the web site of a powerful documentary made about such a boot camp in the Dominican Republic. 48. Glenn Collins, “The Psychology of the Cult Experience,” The New York Times (March 15, 1982). 49. Fraser Report, 326, 351-53, 368. “The Outline of Rev. Moon’s Hand in Central America: The Unification Church, the World Anti-Communist League, CAUSA and John Singlaub,” (Ford Greene, 1987), 13-17.“Moonie Interests Said to Choose Montevideo as Centre,” Latin America Regional Reports (Oct 14, 1983).Tim Cain, “Moonie Recruiting Groups Have Ties to Contras in Central America,” Sandpaper (Oct 16, 1987).Jean Francois Boyer and Alejandro Alem, “Moon in Latin America: Building Bases of a World Organization,” Manchester Guardian Weekly (March 3, 1985). 50. Fraser Report, 345.“The Way International,” Anti-Defamation League Report (Spring 1982).“Government Probe of The Way Disclosed Political Activism, ‘Pattern’ of Harassment of Witnesses,” CAN News (July-July 1987), from “Religious Group’s Political Activities Subject of Probe,” Bangor Daily News (Nov 21, 1986). 51. Louis Trager, “Evidence Points Toward North Tie to Rev. Moon,” San Francisco Examiner (July 20, 1987). 52. “Moonie Interests on the Rise: The Empire Consolidates” Latin America Regional Reports (April 1984). 53. “Significance of the Training Session,” Master Speaks (May 17, 1973). 54. John Marks, The Search for the Manchurian Candidate (New York: Times Books, 1979), 72, 133, 182-192. 55. Patricia C. Hearst with Alvin Moscow, Patty Hearst: Her Own Story (New York: Avon Books, 1982). 56. Ted Patrick with Tom Dulack, Let Our Children Go (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1976). 57. Allan Maraynes, producer, “Scientology,” 60 Minutes (Volume XII, Number 51), aired Aug 31, 1980.Eugene H. Methvin, “Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult,” Reader’s Digest (May 1980), and “Scientology: The Sickness Spreads,” Reader’s Digest (Sept 1981).Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?(Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, 1987).Russell Miller, Bare Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (Great Britain: Penguin Books Ltd., 1987). 58. Patricia Ward Biedernan, “$1.5 Million Award to Former C.U.T. Member,” Los Angeles Times (April 3, 1986).Karen Kenney, “Church Universal and Triumphant: Of Church business, Public and Private,” The Valley News (Feb 1, 1980).“Fear of Church Grips Montana Town,” Daily News (Feb 4, 1982).Mark Reiter, “One Man’s Story: Why Would a Man in His 50s Join a Cult? Listen to Gregory Mull’s Tale,” 50 Plus (Oct 1981).Kerry Webster, “Her Will Be Done: Elizabeth Claire Prophet and the Church Universal and Triumphant,” Herald Examiner (Jan 27, 1985) (six-part series).Jim Robbins, “A Question of Good Neighbors,” Boston Globe Magazine (Aug 9, 1987). 59. Wendy B. Ford, “Way Seduction ‘Invisible,’” The Journal Herald (Jan 13, 1981).Jan Pogue, “The Mysterious Ways of the Way: Victor Paul Wierwille has quietly built a huge religious following. He believes that if people would just listen to what God told him 40 years ago, he could ‘remake the world.’ Some who know him well are afraid he’s right.” Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer (Aug 1, 1981).Anne Cocroft Cole, “Janney Lost Career Dreams as Follower of ‘The Way,’” Loudoun Times-Mirror (Dec 10, 1981), and “Janney’s Life in the Way: Sacrifice and Obedience,” (Dec 17, 1981), and “Now Out of ‘The Way’ Janney Warns Others,’’ (Dec 24, 1981). 60. Win McCormack, “Bhagwan’s Bottom Line: Rajneesh’s Far-flung Empire is More Material than Spiritual,” Oregon Magazine Collector’s Edition/The Rajneesh Files (1981-86), 91. 61. “The LaRouche Network–A Political Cult,” ADL/Civil Rights Report (Spring 1982, Vol. 27, No. 2).Howard Blum and Paul Montgomery, “U.S. Labor Party: Cult Surrounded by Controversy,” The New York Times (Oct 7, 1979), and “One Man Leads U.S. Labor Party on its Erratic Path,” (Oct 8, 1979).John Mintz, “Lyndon LaRouche: From Marxist Left to Well-Connected Right,” The Washington Post National Weekly Edition (Feb 25, 1985). 62. “MOVE Leader Wanted ‘Absolute Control,’ The Boston Globe (May 15, 1985 and May 16, 1985).“New Life for ‘Move’ Child in Wake of Philadelphia Disaster,” The Cult Observer (Jan/Feb 1986), from the Wall Street Journal (Nov 1, 1985). 63. Chip Berlet, “White, Right, and Looking for a Fight: Has Chicago Been Targeted by a New Alliance of White Supremacists?” Reader (June 27, 1986, Vol. 15, No. 39). “Idaho Bombings Part of Race War Planned by Neo-Nazi Splinter Group,” CAN News (Oct 1986), from Couer d’Alene Press, Idaho.Press Oct 8, 1986, and the Spokane Spokesman-Review Oct 9, 1986. “Racist Groups Meet,” The New York Times (July 14, 1986).“Two Neo-Nazis Convicted in Slaying,” The Cult Observer (Jan/Feb 1988) from “Two Convicted in Radio Host’s Death,” The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (Nov 18, 1987). 64. Peter Siegel, Nancy Strohl, Laura Ingram, David Roche, and Jean Taylor, “Leninism as Cult: The Democratic Workers Party,” Socialist Review. 58-85. 65. Marcia R. Rudin, “The Cult Phenomenon: Fad or Fact?” New York University Review of Law and Social Change (Vol. IX, No. 1), 18-19. 66. Scientology, Transcendental Meditation and the Moonies all have fortunes in excess of a billion dollars. 67. For instance, Hill and Knowlton were employed by Scientology to improve its image. The cult later employed Jack Trout of Reiss and Trout. 68. For more information on treatment of phobias, contact the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, 600 Executive Blvd., Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20852-3801, (301) 231-9350. 69. James and Marcia Rudin, Prison or Paradise (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), 103.Lorraine Ahearn, “Mind Control Called the Way of The Way,” The Capital (Annapolis, April 2, 1986), 12. 70. Diane Salvatore, “The New Victims of Cults,” Ladies Home Journal (Aug 1987)Andree Brooks, “Cults and the Aged: A New Family Issue,” The New York Times (April 26, 1986). 71. Webpage of the largest Christian Apologetic Site on Followers of Christ.http://www.apologeticsindex.org/2459-followers-of-christ-church 72. “Public Hearing on the Treatment of Children by Cults,” The Assembly of the State of New York (Aug 9-10, 1979).Shirley Landa, “Hidden Terror: Child Abuse in ‘Religious Sects and Cults,’” Justice for Children (Fall 1985, Vol. I, No. 5). 73. Routledge 2013.