Cults in our Midst," I offer a few study questions below. I also hope you have the beginnings of a book club to get the conversation going on these issues.
We are living through a time of immense social change and instability. It is during such times throughout history -- especially with fast technological changes -- that cult activity takes root and thrives. But even more alarming is that there is virtually no discussion in public discourse about how cult-like thinking penetrates and infects a society. This level of unawareness is a red flag.
If you can't read the whole book, I recommend focusing just on the following pages/chapters: Singer’s INTRODUCTION (to the first edition); Chapter 1 – DEFINING CULTS (pp. 3-28);Chapter 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF CULTS – Just 2 pages: 29-30) THE PROCESS OF BRAINWASHING -- (pp. 52-82); Chapter 4 – WHAT’S WRONG WITH CULTS? (pp. 83-102); Chapter 5 – RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS (pp. 104-124); Chapter 9 – THE THREAT OF INTIMIDATION (excerpt pp. 224-43); Chapter 11 -- WHY IT’S HARD TO LEAVE – (excerpt pp. 270-79)
Pay special attention to Chapter 3 in which Singer identifies the six basic features of cults, which are as follows: 1. Keep the person unaware that there is an agenda to control or change the person; 2. Control time and physical environment (contacts, information); 3. Create a sense of powerlessness, fear, and DEPENDENCY; 4. Suppress old behavior and attitudes; 5. Instill new behavior and attitudes; 6. Put forth a closed system of logic.
Singer also includes discussion of the eight themes of cults, as ennumerated by cult expert Robert Jay Lifton: 1. Milieu control; 2. Loading the language; 3. Demand for purity; 4. Confession; 5. Mystical manipulation; 6. Doctrine over person; 7. "Sacred science;" and 8. Dispensing of existence.
Singer also discusses the Edgar Schein's theory of three stages that a person in a cult goes through as their attitudes are being reshaped to suit the cult's leadership: the freezing of thought processes; the transformation of thoughts; and then the unfreezing of thought processes.
Here are some study questions to consider while reading:
1. Review the charts in Chapter 3, and especially the list of Singer’s six conditions that allow brainwashing to happen. Then answer: What makes a person susceptible to that kind of psychological manipulation?
2. What groups (or institutions or policies or social trends) can you name in Western life today that apply cultic methods and techniques to unduly influence behavior and suppress freedom?
3. According to Singer, the effects of brainwashing are very often reversible. What can ordinary citizens do to help Americans – and especially students – keep their minds free of undue influence?
4. Why do you think the methods and techniques of cult activity never come up for discussion in America today?
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