Cult leaders often exhibit a set of traits and behaviors that limit free thinking, free will, and free speech. They are often motivated by money, sex, or power, and their followers are often vulnerable to their psychological grip. Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton has outlined three primary characteristics commonly shared by cults: charismatic leadership, manipulation, and abusive tactics.
Cult leaders often build their image on lies and may display narcissistic behaviors. They require members to conform to the norms and beliefs of the cult and commit. Undue influence and coercive control help explain how cult members can be manipulated by a cult leader, and they also shed light on why people stay in a cult even after criminal allegations.
Despite wide differences in goals, ideologies, and lifestyles, cult leaders have some key traits in common. From studying writings, biographies, and witness accounts of cult leaders, there are three main types of cults: charismatic, highly convincing, and good at getting people to listen to and follow them. They often build their image on lies and may display narcissistic behaviors.
The slow road to high status is more likely to last than the quick road, and the faster cult leaders rise, the faster they may fall. Cult leaders can be restricted to a single individual or an elite, and they often have psychosis or narcissistic personalities that drive them to preach a message and convince others to follow.
In summary, cult leaders often exhibit charismatic, manipulative, and authoritarian traits, which can lead to a dangerous environment where free thinking, free will, and free speech are limited. The word “cult” means “culture”, and its characteristics can be influenced by factors such as charisma, manipulation, and the belief system.
📹 What Are Cults?
When people hear the word cult a certain image tends to burst into their brain. Brainwashed devotees worshipping a crazed …
What is the most spiritual MBTI type?
ENFJs are individuals who adhere to a profound religious conviction and a conviction in a higher spiritual power. They frequently direct their attention toward education, learning, friendship, and community service. Notable figures who exemplify these characteristics include Pope John Paul II, Martin Luther King Jr., and Oprah Winfrey.
What is the behavior of a cult?
A cult is defined as a group of people who practice excessive devotion to a specific figure, object, or belief system, often led by a leader who preaches an explicit ideology, followed by unquestioning believers.
Which MBTI is a natural leader?
ENTJs are natural-born leaders with charisma, confidence, and a strong work ethic. They project authority and bring together crowds for a common goal. ENTJs are characterized by ruthless rationality, using their drive, determination, and sharp mind to achieve their objectives. They take pride in their work ethic and self-discipline, and perceive themselves as a strong positive influence on others. They love challenges and believe they can achieve any goal with enough time and resources.
This makes them brilliant entrepreneurs, and their strategic thinking, long-term focus, and precision make them powerful business leaders. ENTJs take pride in their work ethic and self-discipline, making them a strong positive influence on others.
Do cult leaders Gaslight?
Cult leaders may encourage spying on members, establish buddy systems to monitor and control them, and use others to act on their behalf without the target member’s knowledge. They may also use forgiveness, absolution, or spiritual attainments as punishment and reward systems, aiming to produce desired behavior in members to support the cult’s mission. The cult’s doctrine may be postulated as the “absolute truth”, and members may be expected to accept the group’s “map of reality” as reality itself.
Techniques like meditation and chanting can be used to improve mental state but can also increase suggestibility, block critical thought, or cultivate only certain thoughts that serve the cult’s mission.
What are the symptoms of a cult leader?
Cult leaders are often charismatic, persuasive, and effective in influencing others. However, they frequently rely on lies and exhibit narcissistic behaviors.
How can you tell if someone is a cult leader?
A cult leader is a charismatic and persuasive individual who is adept at influencing others. They often rely on the use of persuasive rhetoric and display narcissistic behaviors in order to construct and maintain an image that is conducive to their goals.
What are the characteristics of a cult leader?
Cult leaders must possess dynamic, charismatic, and convincing qualities to effectively brainwash their followers and gain monetary or power-related advantages. This is because they require strict adherence to their teachings and doctrines.
What is cult of personality leadership style?
A cult of personality is a belief system that aims to create an idealized and heroic image of a leader, often through flattery and praise. It has evolved through various techniques, including mass media, propaganda, spectacle, arts, patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations. Cults of personality are similar to apotheosis but are established by modern social engineering techniques, often by the state or party in one-party states and dominant-party states. They can be found in totalitarian or authoritarian governments, monarchies, theocracies, failed democracies, and liberal democracies.
Throughout history, monarchs and heads of state have been treated with reverence and super-human qualities. The principle of the divine right of kings, particularly in medieval Europe, led to the redefinition of monarchs as “god-kings”. The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it harder for monarchs to maintain this aura. However, Napoleon III and Queen Victoria appreciated its perpetuation through their carte-de-visite portraits in the 19th century.
What personality type is most likely to be a cult leader?
Cult leaders often exhibit malignant narcissism, lacking empathy for others and focusing solely on their own ego needs. They are insatiable with their neediness, leading followers to feel they are failing and need to work harder and sacrifice more. These leaders often stop at nothing to achieve their goals, often serving their financial or sexual desires. As a result, followers often feel they are failing and need to work harder and sacrifice more of themselves daily. This type of leadership is often characterized by sociopathy and a lack of empathy for others.
Are all cult leaders narcissists?
Not all individuals with narcissistic traits will become cult leaders. The development of a cult is a complex process involving the leader’s personality, followers’ vulnerabilities, and the social and environmental context. While not all cult leaders are narcissistic, the percentage of non-narcissistic leaders is likely small. To determine if a group or organization is a cult or cultlike, look at the leader’s cunning and charm. Narcissists often think of themselves as special and chosen, and rules do not generally apply to them. If a leader demonstrates any of these signs, it is important to run away and quickly.
What is the psychology of a cult leader?
Cult leaders frequently endeavor to enhance their self-esteem and authority in an effort to compensate for adverse childhood experiences. This often manifests as the display of antisocial behaviors that are clinically associated with antisocial personality disorder.
📹 The Importance of Character in Leadership | Jordan Peterson
············· ➤➤Speaker: Jordan B. Peterson https://www.youtube.com/user/JordanPetersonVideos …
There is a BITE Model that people can use where to tell if it’s a cult or not. B is for Behavior Control, E is for Emotion Control, T is for Thought Control and E is for Emotion Control. It is mainly use to identify cults with it’s criteria. A YouTuber, Telltale Atheist used the Byte Model to denounce cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Heaven’s Gate.
I have to be honest, I grew up in a Christian-based cult. I know when I tell people that, they think of me as some kind of freak, and who can blame them? The word “cult” has so many misconceptions behind it. This article definitely showed the reality of cults. Obviously, I am no longer involved with the cult, and I feel very sorry for the other children I know who grew up in the cult. I’m also glad that this article mentioned the long lectures because if it’s anything he got right in this article, it’s this. Every Sunday we go to “fellowship” which is basically church on drugs, which is an hour long, and has absolutely no substance. However, every year there is an “advanced class” that has lectures that last 6 HOURS at a time throughout the ENTIRE DAY. They also have a “foundational class” which is meant for teens when they turn 13, which includes lectures that last 3 hours on the weekends, and you’re supposed to go every weekend for 6 weeks. Cults are complicated and cruel, and they left my parents poor, and robbed me of a childhood. I hope this helps give some perspective on this topic.
I was part of the cult Nuevo Acropolis/New Acropolis, they pose as a psychology and philosophy course as a front to get followers, Then when you become a true member you start to do ceremonies and rituals, you dedicate everything to the cult, family becomes a problem, the encourage relationships but mostly with the members. I am glad I got out of it!
When Cogito was describing signs of cult activity, it honestly just made me think of society in general. You’ve got to be careful who you even minorly complain about your job to, or they’ll guilt trip you or get your co workers or boss to punish you. Even if you agree with someone’s political stance, having criticism or doubts of a particular part will get the conversation shut down at best and collectively criticised at worst, even if talking about non controversial things. Not having the right interests can get you ignored or even ostracised. Coming from or being born into the wrong background in life makes you an inherently bad or inferior person… the horrible list just goes on.
The isolation of family abuse works similarly. Cults are like abusers who decided controlling their household was not enough and went for a ‘grander’ scale. I can also say there are cult-like facets to cop culture. Being raised in the big blue family is a trip when you finally get enough distance to see it…
I got sucked into a religious cult when I lived in Seoul, Korea 3 years ago. I got out once I reflected on what was happening. It was scary. When I stopped showing up they came to my house to try to “love bomb” me and get me to come back. I missed my free time. Then I started researching about their church. To anyone visiting Korea or visiting beware of The Church of God who follows “god the mother”. But they have locations in other countries too. Be careful. I’ve been wondering if I should make a article about my 2 months with them. What do you guys think.
At an old job of mine (food service) we had a policy of giving out leftover food that was still good but was destined for the trash to local homeless folks, and I got the chance to get to know several people who had abandoned their families and support networks to join a local cult here, and when they got out they had nowhere to go and no support network. They were all sad stories, but the one I most remember was a fellow named Jacob who was a genuinely smart, funny, good dude. He was who taught me that it’s not just gullible hippy types that go in for cults – after stress or trauma (in his case the death of someone close to him) the human mind wants to find meaning and support wherever it can, and even someone with good critical thinking skills can fall into that trap. After fice years in the cult he’d cut off his entire family and didn’t have any other friends outside of it, so he ended up on the streets. I honestly don’t know what ever happened to him after I left that job, but I hope he made it somewhere better, I liked the guy.
his name was cogito, but he went by the prophet when times were good or the lawgiver when times were bad. i moved on to his prayer farm with 45 other members of the Salvation Starboys who died of a mass suicide, but not me, cos I don’t like rootbeer and I only drink what I like! After it was all over, I called my mom to pick me up, she was mad, but she is what Cogito calls “an oppressing doubter”. May the light of Cogito’s invincible diamond shine through you!
A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet some moonie “missionaries” in the american southwest. That gave me some serious flashbacks to my mormon days. It is important to always be vigilant. Pay attention to the things groups say and then see what the people who left them have to say. The most important thing is to know yourself. Be aware of your feelings. If you have even the slightest doubt, or feel pressured, step back and say “no thanks.”
I’d really like to see a article about how children born into cults find their way out of them, as this is the case for both me and my husband. My husband was born into and raised in a cult, The Worldwide Church of God, that exactly fits all of the criteria in the definition of cults. He left in his early 20s. I was born into and raised in… well, I really need a name for it. It was something like a cult, very leftie, hippie, a bit like The Children of God. Bu, as far as I knew, there was no leader or even a centralized leadership. It was rife with drugs and child sex trafficking, with extreme violence, and extreme mind control techniques used on the children to keep us from talking or rebelling. We were taught that we were enlightened, and the outside world wasn’t, so we couldn’t tell anyone from that outside world what was happening to us because “they wouldn’t understand.” We were also taught that, if we left, we were likely to be in terrible danger. But there was no leader! Is that a cult? I think so! But it doesn’t fit the classic definition of cults. Whatever it was, I got out at 17.
I really appreciate this article. My beliefs are Rastafarian, I won’t go into the details, but I am not part of an organized Rasta group. It’s great to avoid stereotypical thinking. However, teachings that isolate, separate the individual from their own reflections on information, reward the “right kind of questions” while asking the “wrong kind of questions” lead to pre-pandemic social distancing. I say to people “seek truth, I can’t tell you what that word means. Whatever you believe is between you and the Creator. It is not my place to judge how you think of intangible things. We have traditional stories, that have been embellished, but your choice of morality is how you show the character you desire. Treat others as you want to be treated. None of this is new information. If any one person seems to have all the answers, pause and reflect. Don’t make idols out of random people. When you meet your heroes and learn the details of their lives, you might not like what you find. Learn math and physics, if you have no access to anything else you know is true. If you feel oppressed, seek help because pride or arrogance on a solo mission of revenge will only remove you from your own morals. Prolonged anger leads to justifying regrettable actions.” I say a lot, but my words are less important than people’s own methods of finding a community where they benefit from some kind of mutual aid.
Was Abrahamic faith was once considered a cult? Abraham sacrificed (now known as circumcision) his parts to God to form the covenant. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to a Voice, which is super weird. How about Jesus? Wasn’t he technically considered as False Messiah by the Jews and the whole Magi? If it does, then technically Christianity started as a cult because, by the Jewish customs, early Christianity was very unusual especially Jesus doing the “miracles” around the town. Note that there was no evidence of Jesus doing weird bad stuff unlike most famous cults nowadays, but it is most likely to be considered as a cult since he’s making himself the “Messiah” while failing to fulfill the prophecy according to Jewish beliefs, recruiting his disciples to spread his theology. Shintoism as well, they were, in fact, originated as a cult. The whole concept of Kami and the rituals were based on prehistoric Animism which they carried to Japan. It’s interesting how there’s a huge probability that most established religions nowadays were originated as a “cult”, minus that gruesome and disturbing practices that we can see in like Manson’s cult. Note: Even though as a non-believer of any religion, I’m aware that Christianity is a religion rather than a cult, but these are just pondered thought by looking at the perspective of early Judaists.
This is quite similar to stuff I’ve dealt with and this article feels like a safe way to reflect on the darkest time of my life. Basically I turned to a website called ”Lion of Judah” during the Covid Pandemic. It was very early in my teen years, and I already felt bad about how badly the rest of the world was being affected, so I was pretty vulnerable to their crap. If you’re wondering why I’m saying this, it’s because they are not to be trusted, and I hope that if you ever come across their articles, please DO NOT trust them.
Have you watched any Molyneux, he’s not a cult leader and in fact encourages free thought and liberty. The cult thing is retarted label put on Molyneux. He’s a dingbat and has some stupid ideas, but also has a ton of smart ideas… Like most people he has some things I agree with and some things I disagree with, but never encourages thought control or authoritarianism. Please don’t spread this crap because you heard Thunderf00t having a cry about Stefan debunking his nonsense.
Thanks for this nice and simple article to understand! Some random people on the internet definitelly didnt know what a cult is, while claiming that christianity is a cult (I’m not going to replie to comments wanting to argue, you probably saw this very simple to follow article). I linked it to them so they all can learn a bit from you! Subbed 🙂
this is how religions work too, the only difference between a Cult and a Religion is the number of followers. the very Idea of (GOD) is that of a strong person who wants people to submit to him, telling them what to do in every part of their lives, the casual believer usually has the holy book but never reads it, just repeating some socially acceptable parts of the book.
I agree there are harmful organizations I would call cults which fall into this description, but really this definition feels like it can almost just be summarized as “groups with powerful leaders who don’t follow cosmopolitan mainstream”. It seems like the Amish are a cult from this (assuming that settlement has a popular leader), and if that definition fits the Amish then it is entirely too broad from my perspective On a larger scale, isn’t all of humanity just a game of cults to one degree or another anyway?
I think most groups can veer into cultishness. As soon as independence and individualism are looked down upon, it’s cultish to me. I had to walk away from a friend group where people were not thinking for themselves and one person was serving as “glue.” The control that one person exerted was so strange to me. Their sense of humor was exclusively putting the others down and that seemed to bring them all closer. Loyalty was heavily stressed. It was like perusal trauma bonding in slow motion and gave me the ick. 🏃🏾♀️💨
I was an expat for many years and when I finally returned to the US there was a huge Shen Yun Chinese dance exhibition billboard near my house. I thought, “hmm, cool! I like new and interesting cultural experiences.” I had planned to go see them and to be better able to appreciate their cultural offering, looked them up. Oh my! Turns out they are a front group for Falun Gong! So even the smallest of things can be used to lure unsuspecting people in. What they didn’t know is that I am already in a cult; the cult of critical thinking 😉
When I was in college, I had a Biology teacher who was an EST graduate. She played Werner Erhardt tapes on class time, yelled at us to “get OFF it! Get fucking OFF it!” Out of the blue, forced us to sign up for the Hunger Project or not pass the class, and told us we would be kicked out of the class if we ever stayed home sick be we supposedly “created the sickness intentionally”. I had a miscarriage, and missed a day of class. When I came back she tried not to let me in, saying that I had “created” whatever had been wrong with me. I looked her right in the eye and said ” are you saying that I intentionally killed my child?” She paused, thought about it, and backed off probably thinking she might lose her job, and let me back in. It was a horrible experience. I was only 20 years old and didn’t think to report her, I’d never let her get away with that stuff now.
Arabic النبي محمد (ج 570-632) أبو بكر (ج.570-634) عمر بن الخطاب (ج 581-644) علي بن أبي طالب (ج 596-661) معاوية (ج. 602-680) أبو حنيفة (699 – 767) مالك بن أنس (ج 709 – 795) ربيعة البصرة (ج 717 – 801). جميع عملاء Surtr (ويعرف أيضًا باسم الله واليهوه ويهوه) نحن فقط لدينا القدرة على تدمير حلفاء يسوع (المعروف أيضًا باسم Loki المقنع) وثور. ننسب الفضل لكل إسلام وغيره الذين قتلوا باسم جميع عملاء سرتر. إلهنا سرتر (الله) Heres one
Love your content, been binge-watching your articles on all the different religions and I love what you’re doing. However, your mention of Freedomain Radio in this article comes across a bit biased and misleading. Freedomain Radio isn’t a cult that you can be recruited into, it’s just a philosophy website. Stefan Molyneux has certainly advocated cutting ties with abusive and toxic family or friends but it’s not some cult initiation requirement.
In 1970 I was in a Yogi Bhajan ashram. A directive came down from the guru that all women had to wear turbans. All the women quit that very day, and all the men quit the next day. Only the subsidiary guru and his wife were left. Within a couple of months the ashram had filled up again–with people who wanted to be ordered around.
I’m rewatching this now, June 2024… I feel desperately sorry for the Palestinians, but I’ve also felt sorry for a lot of the Israelis too, especially the young, the brainwashed. Everything fits with this genocidal zionism. It’s just sad all round. And when I think of who gains from this war machine that has gone on for a century…. I realise it’s not even the zionists who gain, not really, not in the long run… it’s the warpigs… it’s the politicians, and mega corporations… damn this feudalistic dogma we are stuck in.
Stefan Molynuex does not want people to break up relationships only if they are abusive. I listing to him so I know what I am talking about. He teaches them that rules should be objective and rational so if you cannot take something that belongs to someone else like stealing then a government agent should not do that to with taxation. You are either misinformed our are outright lying.
My parents were trying to get me married to this guy or that guy which weren’t my cup of tea. When my mom reported to my dad,I blew some guy away, my dad blew up at me. Another guy they said was decent and wanted me with was indecent. My grama told my parents to let me go do what I want to do. My parents disagreed saying, My grama let my aunt go. My parents thought my mom’s sister very ungodly.
These are Personality Cults, the classic definition of a Cult is simply a non-mainstream organisation – particularly belief systems. But that gets explained away by redefining Cult and adding New Religious Movement, a lot of academic papers do not make much sense with this redefining. (Not to mention that the popular understanding originated as a way to dismiss and discredit new religious movements by making the word Cult have negative connotations) So is this an attempt to make the academic definition irrelevant and substitute the more popular cultural understanding instead? An acknowledgement of the way language and definitions change, or was it easier to ignore what is not as well known to the general public’s understanding of the term? Because technically Christianity began as Cult and morphed and spread into a mainstream Religion, but that history and the history and origins of a great many belief systems get brushed under the rug with how this article has approached the subject.
Maybe you should look up the actual definition of a cult? Christianity was a cult, when Jesus walked the earth. In fact, I think any new religion would have to start off as a cult. cult n. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. n. The followers of such a religion or sect. – The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition
“There’s no personality type more susceptible to cults than others”… Well, with conventional science yes, partially IMO because conventional science is against putting serious effort into personality categorization. (Big 5 is extremely simplistic and based on observable behavior primarily) Anyway, I think most INTPs are fairly resistant to cults (and maybe other types, this is the only one I’m extremely familiar with the cognitive functions as it’s mine, except my wife’s INFJ… and INFJ are VERY susceptible to cults, including starting them lol) because of our resistance to group think. (Ti lead rather than Te in the function stack) I know most people will start reading this comment (and stop, and comment lol, never seeing this section) and say “AHA! BUT IT IS YOU WHO ARE IN A CULT! MBTI IS PSEUDO SCIENCE AND YET YOU FULLY BELIEVE IT!”. But you are wrong, most of my attachment to MBTI and cognitive function is based on my own experience, synthesis of many others’ theories and ideas, and trends extremely anarchic. The exact opposite of a cult. I will accept criticism that I’m deluded, but not in a cult lol. Disagree, but accept it as potentially valid. Anyway, in summary, I think Introverted Thinking doms and 2nd functions are probably more resistant to cult membership, unless they get driven by various intuition functions (probably Ne; IE their Ti is not as developed) or are a slave to Fe and just get “swept up” in it. (Young INTPs have this issue with low developed, 4th slot Fe that seeks harmony in a group) I can imagine that both Te folks and even Se doms might be swayed, and have a theory I’d love to look into sometime that E’s in general would be more susceptible.
The Bible is full of commands to leave your family. Man and woman are supposed to leave their parents to cleave to one another. Abraham was supposed to leave to follow God to a new land. Skipping way ahead, Jesus had many statements about this: don’t call anyone father except God; leave your family and follow me; saying that he was with his mother and brothers (followers) when his biological mother and brothers were looking for him; etc. Celibacy was encouraged in the early church for anyone who could handle it, though eventually this became professionalized by monks and nuns. In the Bible, it says to confess your sins to one another, though eventually this became professionalized by priests. I could go on and on, but the point is that most of what you’re saying in this is common to NRMs, including ones that went on to become major religions.
As a former Baha’i I wish you consulted with former Baha’is before saying their not a cult. If your definition of a cult doesn’t apply to Mormans than fair enough. Baha’is do condition behaviour they do take a lot of money from members and there is a collective shunning of people who are deemed as covenant breakers.