Characteristics of Cults

Brainwashing, mind control, thought reform, coercive persuasion and totalism are synonyms referring to the psychological environment present in cults.¹ UBF is not alone in employing manipulative and coercive tactics to deceive and ensnare unsuspecting recruits.² In this page I present an eight-point description of characteristics common to cults.³

1. A cult is like a secret society.
   • There is something that members of the cult know that no one else knows.
     • This can be knowledge of the way to salvation, enlightenment, or some higher purpose.
     • This knowledge or purpose is presented as the sole source of easy answers to complex life problems.
     • Knowledge of these secrets is exclusive, and those outside of the group are seen as second-class, unenlightened, condemned, etc.
2. Cults have a controlled environment.
   • One of the goals of a cult is to cut the member off from ways of thinking that are different from cult thinking.
     • A very effective way to do this is to control the members' environment down to who they associate with, which types of media they read, and which other groups they belong to.
     • The world outside the cult is viewed with suspicion as something evil.
       • Thus, cult members are supposed to limit contact with alien persons (including family), activities and ideas.
     • In extreme situations, communal living provides the ultimate in milieu control.
3. Cults foster spiritual, emotional, and psychological abuse.
   • When someone uses your spirituality, emotions, or thoughts to further their own ends, without respect to your wishes, it is called abuse.
   • Typically, cults employ coercive, manipulative tactics to change members' behaviors or beliefs gradually and subtlely so as to conform to a premeditated goal.
   • Good manipulators can make you think that you came to a decision on your own when you were really forced.
   • Cults promote a lack of respect for interpersonal boundaries and individuality.
     • Such groups expect access to every area of their members' lives, making major and minor life decisions on behalf of the member.
     • In cultic environments, conformity is promoted and members become psychological clones of their leaders.
4. Sacred doctrine.
   • Questioning the system or the leaders is taboo.
   • All thoughts or experiences members have that bring the system into question must be quelled (thought stopping).
5. Intensity.
   • Cults are characterized by charismatic leaders, forced smiles, wearing masks (figuratively speaking), fanatical devotion, and extreme demands.
   • Intensity is a substitute for intimacy in relationships between leaders and followers.
   • Long, intense meetings overwhelm members' senses, resulting in a state of psychological dissociation or trance.
   • The psychological pressure within a cult is so extreme that it is easiest for members to follow the group's leading despite doubts and discomfort.
   • Cults attempt to engender a continual state of confusion in members by periodically changing the rules or making bizarre requests.
   • Also, members are coerced into making verbal or written commitments regarding their intention to pursue cult goals.
6. With loaded language, non-traditional meanings are given to normal words and phrases, and new special buzzwords are created.
   • Cults use this language to communicate complex, often confusing or paradoxical, ideas in simple words that seem reasonable.
   • Psychologist Robert Jay Lifton calls this loaded jargon a "language of non-thought" because details and logic are glossed over.
7. Deceptive recruitment.
   • Cults don't tell members upfront about everything that is entailed in group membership.
   • Initially, members are smooth-talked and smothered with love.
     • This is called the "love bombing" or "honeymoon" phase.
   • Later on, when members have at least partially committed themselves and come to trust the group, the more heinous aspects of the group are gradually introduced.
   • Groups that have established a reputation of being cultic often deliberately use a different name or otherwise attempt to hide their identity from prospective members.
8. Cult membership is a trap, meaning that it is easy to join and hard to leave.
   • Cult involvement may start out with something as innocent as an invitation to dinner or a lecture.
   • At the beginning, cults shower recruits with attention and love.
   • Gradually, members become psychologically dependent on and, many times, addicted to the group.
   • Also, members are conditioned to believe that to leave the group would do serious mental, physical or spiritual harm to them.
   • In addition, it is difficult for cultists to leave their group because of the amount of time, money and effort they have invested in membership.
   • Exiting cultists are faced with daunting challenges such as:
     • reconciling their mistakes,
     • reconstructing their identity,
     • and rebuilding their social network from scratch.
   • To make matters worse, those who leave cults can expect to be shunned and slandered by the group members.

Footnotes

1. Note that some conservative Christians call anything that differs from their approved doctrine a theological "cult." I find no value in such ascriptions. Hence, in my discussion on cults, it is clear that I am talking about groups or environments that are psychologically destructive.

2. In fact, unbeknownst to most UBF members, a more successful group called the International Churches of Christ exists with an eerily parallel mission, niche and modus operandi. Moreover, many of the patterns of control found in UBF are mirrored by pseudo-Christian and non-Christian cults such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Unification Church and Scientology. These similarities suggest to an observer that perhaps all cults have certain distinctive characteristics in common.

3. In 1961, psychologist Robert Jay Lifton put forth eight characteristics which have become the most widely regarded model for describing the cult mindset. (See Chapter 22 of Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China by Robert Jay Lifton.) The second most well-known characterization of mind control is the BITE model of Steven Hassan, author of Combatting Cult Mind Control. In this page, I present my own third model which borrows from both previously mentioned schemes. (In particular, readers will notice that my attributes 2, 4 and 6 are essentially the same as Lifton's "Milieu Control," "Sacred Science," and "Loading the Language.") While neither complete nor scholarly, I find my model easier to understand, which is why I present it in my public speaking engagements. Finally, note that while most cults meet all eight requirements, I make no claim that a group must fulfill all eight to qualify as a full-fledged cult. Whether a group is a cult or not is not a black-and-white, all-or-nothing question. There are definitely shades of gray. That being said, I would opine that the systematic implementation of even one or two of these characteristics is cause for concern.

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