zendegi's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent primer on what cults are, how they work, and why people get caught up in them. Sometimes this book had me laughing and other times it moved me nearly to tears.
Some things this book taught me about cults:
- Everyone is susceptible to mind control in one way or another. Be very careful if you're curious and want to attend meetings.
- It's very common for cults to use techniques of restricting your body's normal functioning in order to weaken the mind to control (e.g., sleep and bathroom deprivation, etc.).
- It's common to plant participants in a group to make statements and behave in ways that might suck new people in. Skeptical types are often separated from more susceptible people, and may even be asked to leave.
- It's common that cults work their members very hard and make them live very poorly.
- Cults often target those who are able-bodied, hardworking, and intelligent, in order to get more money and work out of them. If someone has real mental health or physical problems such that they would be a burden on the group, they are often dumped from the cult.
- Cults often will interfere with parent/child relationships of their members.
- Chanting, speaking-in-tongues, and some mediation techniques can be used to break people down mentally for programming, and are taught to members as thought-stopping techniques.
- Many cults have members dedicated to scrubbing or whitewashing online information about the cult.
- Sex trafficking can often be a cult phenomenon.
- There are tons of cults out there, and there are many public health and social problems that result from destructive cults.
- Cult members are victims, and may essentially be psychological slaves. Even if they victimize others.
- Cult members often suppress memories of negative events or bad treatment while they are in the cult.
The book also offered concrete examples of how to speak to someone you think may be under mind control, a comprehensive history of the USA's legal and political attitudes towards undue influence, a survey of relevant literature, and discussions of other important aspects. Highly recommended.
Some things this book taught me about cults:
- Everyone is susceptible to mind control in one way or another. Be very careful if you're curious and want to attend meetings.
- It's very common for cults to use techniques of restricting your body's normal functioning in order to weaken the mind to control (e.g., sleep and bathroom deprivation, etc.).
- It's common to plant participants in a group to make statements and behave in ways that might suck new people in. Skeptical types are often separated from more susceptible people, and may even be asked to leave.
- It's common that cults work their members very hard and make them live very poorly.
- Cults often target those who are able-bodied, hardworking, and intelligent, in order to get more money and work out of them. If someone has real mental health or physical problems such that they would be a burden on the group, they are often dumped from the cult.
- Cults often will interfere with parent/child relationships of their members.
- Chanting, speaking-in-tongues, and some mediation techniques can be used to break people down mentally for programming, and are taught to members as thought-stopping techniques.
- Many cults have members dedicated to scrubbing or whitewashing online information about the cult.
- Sex trafficking can often be a cult phenomenon.
- There are tons of cults out there, and there are many public health and social problems that result from destructive cults.
- Cult members are victims, and may essentially be psychological slaves. Even if they victimize others.
- Cult members often suppress memories of negative events or bad treatment while they are in the cult.
The book also offered concrete examples of how to speak to someone you think may be under mind control, a comprehensive history of the USA's legal and political attitudes towards undue influence, a survey of relevant literature, and discussions of other important aspects. Highly recommended.
merrinkestis's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Look into the BITE model, fight against the information control that’s been ingrained in you, and wake up from your cult!
loda_anne's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence
michellegm15's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
As a counselor in training, a former cult member and a survivor of an abusive relationship, I read this book hoping it could give me some direction on how I can work on this field someday once I'm a licensed mental health professional. I'd like to educate others about the mind control techniques that roped me in and work with cult survivors as they recover their autonomy. (for me, that process took years) This definitely delivered. I feel that I have a much better formal, foundational understanding of these techniques than simply the patterns I've seen in my own experience and that of others. This was a great read that I could not put down, full of narrative examples. The author also gives several useful resources that I plan to avail myself of, which I hope will help me to become equipped to work in this area eventually.
This was also a very validating book for me. I've become more and more convinced that the group I was involved in is a destructive cult as I read this. Not a totalistic one, and not as destructive on the outskirts, but the deeper into it you get the worse it seems to get. I'm grateful that I'm out. I hope to gain the courage to speak out against the group more publicly someday, as this book did inspire me to try at some point, but they've sued and shut down mere bloggers so we shall see. The most important thing is that people learn about how this sort of mind control manipulation works so they can protect themselves against it in whatever form presents itself. It blows my mind that we educate our kids about safe driving, sex (hopefully), and drug use and never think to teach them about defending themselves against manipulation. I definitely recommend this book for pretty much everyone, because NONE of us are immune to these techniques, as I've learned personally.
This was also a very validating book for me. I've become more and more convinced that the group I was involved in is a destructive cult as I read this. Not a totalistic one, and not as destructive on the outskirts, but the deeper into it you get the worse it seems to get. I'm grateful that I'm out. I hope to gain the courage to speak out against the group more publicly someday, as this book did inspire me to try at some point, but they've sued and shut down mere bloggers so we shall see. The most important thing is that people learn about how this sort of mind control manipulation works so they can protect themselves against it in whatever form presents itself. It blows my mind that we educate our kids about safe driving, sex (hopefully), and drug use and never think to teach them about defending themselves against manipulation. I definitely recommend this book for pretty much everyone, because NONE of us are immune to these techniques, as I've learned personally.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Misogyny
While it mentions these various triggers, it does so in a way that is not graphic and unequivocally condemns these injustices.tristanstewart's review against another edition
5.0
This is such an important book. A must-read. The word “cult” as been so stigmatised and this actually breaks down the actual meaning of the word. A healing book for anyone that has had experience with cults or high control group.