When we hear about cults and the members within, we often wonder how people can become so ingrained and so attached to the leader. What leads them to give up their families, friends, financial and material goods and dedicate their lives and undying loyalty to a single person? How do these leaders go about doing that? Join me today as we delve into how cults use brainwashing, psychology, and manipulation techniques to recruit new members.
Quick note: If you or someone you know is in a cult and would like help to leave, there will be a list of available resources at the end of the article.
Now, without further ado, let us begin and tackle the beast that is cultic brainwashing, control, and authoritarianism.
Understanding What Cult Brainwashing is
First, it should be noted that brainwashing is not technically a thing and exists purely within pseudoscience. It functions much as a belief in the Christian God does. You can say that he exists, but there is no way to prove either side, which is what brainwashing is. When we say someone is brainwashed, the conversation can no longer go any further, and we can not disprove that someone is brainwashed.
However, while brainwashing is technically pseudoscience, what we would refer to as “cult brainwashing” is a usage of language by the leader to bring in, recruit, and then control members over time. Cults often create their own sort of languages; ways members can communicate with one another that one would not see in the outside world.
Cults, pyramid schemes, business owners, influencers, fitness gurus, and religious leaders know and understand the importance of language, which they use to help control people. Language and communication are fundamental building blocks of the human race and have been ever since we evolved. Without language, we would have none of the advancements that we have. We wouldn’t have a society, and we wouldn’t have cults.
So how do cult leaders use language to puppet around their followers? Well, they use language in many different ways to control members. Some of the most common methods that have been seen in past cults include, but are not limited to:
- Renaming members, places, or items
- Forcing silence
- Inventing new words or repurposing existing ones
- “Speaking in tongues” typically seen in Pentecostal churches
- Performing chants and mantras
- Using cliches
- Secret codes that either the entire cult uses or only certain members
- Euphemisms
All of the above are effective ways of using language to sound charismatic and intelligent, even if the leader does not seem very charismatic to someone either not within the cult or who is not particularly susceptible to those teachings.
So while brainwashing itself is not seen as a scientific reality, through a combination of carefully crafted language and psychological attacks on a person’s mental well-being, they are worn down until they become essentially mindless slaves enthralled by the leader.
The Requirement of Charisma and Totalitarianism
While language plays a huge role in the recruitment and control of members, without charisma, a cult leader would be seen as nothing more than a madman raving on a corner about the supposed second coming of Christ. But how do these cult leaders have such charisma that they could convince hundreds, even thousands, to leave behind their old lives and, in some cases, even take their own lives?
“Charisma is the quality of being able to attract, charm and influence those around you.”
Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/charisma.html
To understand that, we must understand that charisma, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What one person may find incredibly charismatic, someone else may feel nothing about or may even feel disgusted towards. It is not that these cult leaders are either not charismatic and the people who follow them are mindless or that all cult leaders possess unnatural levels of charisma.
Instead, they typically have a natural intuition about the people around them. They know how to read a room properly, know what to say (this ties into the language aspect), and then use that natural charisma to draw in those who are awed by them.
They create chaos and crises and then use that chaos to make themselves appear as beacons of hope. Only they can save you from impending doom; only they can guide you to where you need to get. And that is how we get into the next requirement for cult control, totalitarianism.
Now, at its fundamental level, every cult is totalitarian, as a single leader, sometimes with an inner circle or secret police of sorts, controls everything that happens. They have complete control, and no one is allowed to question the leader on the threat of punishment, banishment, and sometimes even death.
So, once you have been brought into the cult through the leader’s charisma, you feel like you have found your place, and everything is looking up seemingly; that is when totalitarianism begins to kick in. Your rights are taken away, and you are assimilated into the greater good, the cult society as a whole, and you either fall into place or are forced to.
“Totalitarianism is a form of government that prohibits opposing political parties and ideologies, while controlling all aspects of the public and private lives of the people.”
ThoughtCo.com
That is the first characteristic of the totalitarian cult, the combination of charisma and authoritarianism in a single leader. Next is the isolating hierarchy found in nearly all cults, where you have the leader, their inner circle, and then additional ranks that the rest of the cult members belong to. For example, The Order of the Solar Temple had three ranks, the Amanta Club, the Arcadia Club, and International Knighthood Organization.
By creating a hierarchy like this, members are kept isolated from others and become fully ingrained into the cult, and their individuality is stripped away from them. They may see everyone else in the cult as a “friend,” but friendship does not exist, and if a member deviates from the norm and teachings of the leader, they will be given up to the leader for punishment.
By creating a group that distrusts each other immensely while only being allowed to interact with one another and viewing others as “outsiders,” the leader achieves complete emotional, psychological, financial, and physical control. The third characteristic of totalitarianism in cults is “Total Ideology,” which is the fictional belief system a cult leader creates around themself.
Using Different Themes of Fear
The fourth characteristic of totalitarianism is the leader using and tapping into fear to control their members completely. Before looking at the different themes of fear that can be used against the members, it is important to understand why this is so effective. When we are scared or in trouble, we go to someone we trust and love for support and help with the problem.
Cult leaders set themselves up as this sort of “safe haven” by alternating terror with “love,” further brainwashing the cult members. It creates a disorganized attachment and throws the person into a constant state of cognitive dissociation, preventing them from thinking logically or breaking away from the source of terror, the leader.
Since they see the leader as this “safe haven,” they keep returning seeking comfort, only to be met with more terror and stress. Hence, it is a constant biofeedback cycle of seeking to lower their cortisol levels but never genuinely having a difference made.
So now that we know how cult leaders use fear to their benefit, it is essential to understand some common themes of fear they use to control their members. Each cult may have a slightly different fear instilled within them, and future cults will use new themes of fear for as long as they exist. Keep that in mind, as the list below is only a sampling.
- Fear of outsiders: The cult leader creates a you/them mentality, where the cult members are the ones on the inside, with the sacred knowledge, and outsiders will only cause problems.
- Impending Apocalypse: Cult members are told the end of the world is coming and that only by following the leader’s teachings can they be saved.
- Fear of Punishment: Members are threatened with punishments if they do not do as they are told.
- Being Shamed: Leaders threaten their members with shaming tactics to keep them in place and compliant.
- Exiled From Group: Another common fear tactic is the fear of being cast out from the cult. It is an effective method when you have been fully ingrained into the group and have no outside of them.
Steps for Drawing in and Controlling Members
With an understanding of cult leaders’ language, totalitarianism, and fear tactics, it is time to delve into the eight steps outlined by the New Zealand Herald for cult recruitment and retainment. While cults may use different tactics or steps for recruiting their members, these steps are a general guide you can keep in mind.
1. Identifying Recruits
As expected, the first step in cult recruitment is identifying potential recruits, but cults don’t target who you may think they do. Instead of focusing on younger people, which, yes, some cults do target, most instead target people who have money or useful skills. Typically cults recruit people when they are at a low point in their life, whether that is a divorce, the death of a loved one, job loss, or general depression.
2. Persuading Them to Join
Next is persuading the recruit to enter the beginnings of the cult web, often in the guise of therapy, a church, a self-help group, or even just an online class. There are many different fronts for cults, making them that much more difficult to recognize from the beginning. Most cults use the Internet now in the modern day to make the recruitment stage easier.
3. Love-bombing the New Recruit
Members of the cult and the leader love-bomb the new potential recruit, showering them with praise, approval, support, and affection, which the recruit is likely not receiving in their daily life. It makes the recruit feel like they belong there and that the other cult members “get” them.
4. Selling the Cult
Cults are nothing more than advertisements; to bring in recruits, people must see a fake front of the cult. Smiling faces everywhere, everyone seems happy, and life is perfect. The truth is revealed after the recruit fully joins the cult.
5. Showing Tough Love
Here is where the true brainwashing and introduction of control begins. Personal freedom is stripped away, deprived of basic needs like food and sleep, rigid rules are put in place, and you are systematically broken down before being rebuilt as the cult leader sees fit.
During this time, you are still provided with a show of “affection” and that all this is just “for your own good.” Rewards like sleep, comfort, and love are given for performing correctly.
6. The Renouncement of Previous Loved Ones
Shortly after the tough-love stage, which never truly ends, comes the renouncement of loved ones, where new members are convinced that they must leave behind friends and family. Keeping members isolated and dependent on the cult makes it more difficult for them to leave.
7. Introducing Core Beliefs
Core beliefs are introduced to new members slowly and over time, with some cults even taking years before teaching their full set of beliefs to members. For example, in the Manson Family, members were given LSD until they were willing to believe anything, even the far-fetched lies of Charles Manson.
8. No Criticism is Allowed
Finally, no one is allowed to criticize the leader, the cult, or the cult’s teachings. If you question anything, you are shamed and told you are wrong, and you should not question what you are told. Over time this breaks a person down until they take everything they are told at face value without questioning the rationality of it in the slightest.
Conclusion
If you have made it to the end of this article, I hope you enjoyed it and better understood how cults use language, brainwashing techniques, fear, and shame to control their members. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out some of my other articles, and if you or anyone else is in a cult and needs to get out, there is a list of resources below. Stay safe out there, my dear readers. Until next time, happy reading!
List of Cult Resources
Advisors, South Florida Web. “Freedom of Mind by Dr. Steven Hassan.” Freedom of Mind Resource Center, 17 Aug. 2022, https://freedomofmind.com/.
“Breaking News.” Catalyst Counselling, http://www.catalystcounselling.org.uk/.
“Cult Info since 1979.” Cult Info Since 1979, https://www.icsahome.com/home.
“Directory of Cult Recovery Organizations.” Cult Recovery 101, 30 Apr. 2022, https://cultrecovery101.com/recovery-links/.
“Encourage Cult Survivors.” Encourage Cult Survivors, http://www.encourage-cult-survivors.org/.
“Families against Cult Teachings: Get Help from Cults.” Families Against Cult Teachings | Get Help From Cults, https://www.familiesagainstcultteachings.org/.
“Help and Resources to Leave a Cult: Cult Escape: Information & Support.” Cult Escape, 15 Jan. 2021, https://cult-escape.com/help/.
“How to Help Friends and Family.” One of the Web’s First Cult Information Sites. Where Most Start When Researching Cults and Mind Control. Often Featured in Media around the World. Secrets the Cults Don’t Want You to Know., 12 Aug. 2012, https://www.cultwatch.com/how-to-help-friends-family.html.
“Mind Control & Exploitation.” Exit & Support Network, 6 Aug. 2022, https://exitsupportnetwork.com/mind-control-exploitation/.
Natalie Feinblatt, PsyD. “How to Leave a Cult (with Pictures).” WikiHow, WikiHow, 4 Aug. 2021, https://www.wikihow.com/Leave-a-Cult.
“Providing Advice and Information for Victims of Cults, Their Families and Friends, Researchers and the Media.” Providing Advice and Information for Victims of Cults, Their Families and Friends, Researchers and the Media, https://cultinformation.org.uk/.
Stok, Glenn. “How to Help Friends and Family Get out of a Cult.” WeHaveKids, WeHaveKids, 22 July 2012, https://wehavekids.com/family-relationships/losing-family-to-a-cult.
User, Super. “Cult Education Institute: Religions and Cults Archives.” Cult Education Institute | Religions and Cults Archives, https://culteducation.com/.
What is a Licensed Professional Counselor? “How to Select a Cult Expert.” Cult Experts, 31 July 2022, https://cultexperts.org/.
Sources
Aeonmag. “How Cult Leaders Brainwash Followers for Total Control: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon Magazine, 1 Dec. 2022, https://aeon.co/essays/how-cult-leaders-brainwash-followers-for-total-control.
Lassonde, Karla. “Cults and Mind Control.” Communicating Psychological Science, Communicating Psychological Science, 18 June 2020, https://www.communicatingpsychologicalscience.com/blog/cults-and-mind-control.
Layton, Julia. “How Cults Work.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 13 Apr. 2006, https://people.howstuffworks.com/cult4.htm.
Montell, Amanda. “Why Do We Believe in Cults? Hint: It’s Not Brainwashing.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 27 June 2021, https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-do-we-believe-in-cults-hint-its-not-brainwashing.
Norman, Charity. “Cunning Ways Cults Suck People In.” NZ Herald, NZ Herald, 21 Sept. 2020, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/eight-steps-to-mind-control-how-cults-suck-ordinary-people-in/JVANMWX7XTTXBC2AS2C3GN3SX4/.
“Understanding What Makes Behavior Modification Work.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 2 Oct. 2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/comparatively-speaking/201810/understanding-what-makes-behavior-modification-work.