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Twisted Truth is no longer generally available. However, the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom (EAUK), an umbrella group of most of the recognised churches in the UK, have given permission for the following extracts from the booklet to be reproduced here, for which grateful thanks.
Copyright remains with EAUK, to whom requests for further reproduction should be submitted.
Evangelical Alliance
Whitefield House
186 Kennington Road
London SE 11 4BT
020 7207 2100
Neither the granted permission nor the presence of extracts on this website should be construed as assertion by either EAUK or EASE that Anthroposophy falls into any described category. The information is provided:: it lies with individuals to decide for themselves.
------oOo------
Twisted Truth
How to recognise deceptive cults and sects
A CULT FULFILLS ALL THE FOLLOWING:
*uses psychological coercion to recruit an indoctrinate potential member
*forms an elitist, totalitarian society
*its founder-leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has a
magnetic charm
*holds to special revelations or inventions of the leader
*leader, rather than dogma is dominant
*believes the end justifies the means over how the cult solicits funds or recruits people
*its wealth does not benefit its members or society
CULTS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN CATEGORIES:
Religious cults:
Communal living is common.
Members usually leave, or do not join, society's workforce. Average age when recruited is early twenties. Cult is registered as religious group. Aim appears to be to make the world a better place via political, spiritual or other means.
Therapy cults:
Communal living is rare. Members stay in society's workforce. Average age when recruited is mid-thirties. Registered as 'not for profit' groups. Aim appears to be some kind of self-improvement, self-help or therapy through the group's courses.
SECT:
*A group which has deviated from one or more central beliefs of a parent religion.
*Members are identified by their loyalty to the deviation, and become isolated and
'sectarian', convinced that they alone have the truth.
*The new belief or dogma is dominant, even more important than the leadership.
*Mind control occurs, but less overtly than in cults.
Occult:
Groups or individuals dependent on hidden esoteric powers, real or imagined, in their rituals or beliefs.
Level-headed Nicky was recruited by a well-known cult within a month of going to university. She planned to join the police force on graduation. Her father, who owns a pub in Lancashire, describes her as an out going, normal teenager - before the group. Not only did she abandon her degree, but she was persuaded to part with large sums of money, including an inheritance left by her aunt. Her personality changed; she became introverted, always tired and sounded worried and vague on the phone says her father.
John was off work with a broken leg, and bored. When two Mormons called at the door, he was happy to talk and became fascinated with what they told him. He noticed that although they quoted the Bible, he felt they gave the Scriptures their own meaning. And they didn't like too many questions. Still, John was convinced enough to join the Church of Latter Day Saints, becoming an ordained deacon after three years. But his doubts never completely disappeared and he later left the Mormons. Now he is an ordained Anglican minister.
Duncan, a solicitor, when taken out to lunch by a business colleague, agreed to go along to an introductory self-motivation course. This led to a three-day 'graduation' course, from which he arrived home looking "as if he was on drugs," remembers his wife Caroline. "His pupils were dilated, he was very animated in his speech, and he was totally over the top - he 'loved' everybody and everything." The effects of the course gradually wore off and for a year Duncan suffered depression and severe panic attacks, never experienced by him before. "He was not the type to get involved with a cult," says Caroline. "He was content with life."
Nobody is cult-proof, says expert Ian Howarth, of the Cult Information Centre in London. "If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, no matter who you are or what you're like, it could be you."
(This booklet) outlines what makes a cult or sect.
(This booklet) does Not cover New Age therapies and groups, or the occult.
CONTROL - A CULT HALLMARK
Control of its members, whether through diet, finance, relationships or some other area, is practised to varying degrees by all cults and sects. Members are robbed of their God-given right to freewill and, appallingly, are often told this control is in God's name. Many of the well-known sects, such as Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons, use to a lesser extent some of the tactics listed below.
PATTERNS OF CONTROL INCLUDE:
*Dictatorial leadership with rigid rules and no questions allowed. Leader often believed
to be divine by group members.
*Denial of privileges for disobedience. These can include withholding of food, affection
or even salvation.
*Deprivation:
- privacy: no time on your own to think.
- sleep: fatigue disorientates
- personal choices eg clothing: induces conformity
- food: unhealthy diets often dictated
- family: contact discouraged or prevented, to reinforce loyalty to the group.
*Defamation: those outside the cult eg family, other religions, old values are castigated
while cult members are constantly taught that the cult alone has the truth.
*Disintegration of will: child-like obedience is demanded in trivial games to induce
dependence. Often twinned with inconsistent punishments and rewards to confuse and
increase vulnerability. May result in major decisions for members being taken by cult
leader eg over marriage/sexual partners.
*Debt: an individual's finances are controlled or pooled because the cult insists money is
owed to God and the leaders.
*Distortion: group's beliefs often distort mainstream Biblical teaching.
MIND CONTROL TECHNIQUES:
hypnosis, chanting, peer pressure, confession, love bombing,
financial commitment, rejection of old values, 'finger pointing',
confusing doctrine, flaunting hierarchy, using subliminal messages,
removal of privacy, controlled approval, time sense deprivation, change of diet,
disinhibition games, uncompromising rules, no questions, verbal abuse, guilt,
sleep deprivation, fear, replacement of relationships, dress codes.
------oOo------
Weigh up your own observations and notes. You will find what you will find; and that won't be the same for everyone.
published 27/07/06
