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Too Good to Be True:
Resisting Cults and Psychological Manipulation
Student Text
A Lesson Plan for Middle Schools and High Schools
Marcia Rudin
Developed by the International Cult Education
Program
Copyright 1992 American Family Foundation
"When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to
the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader
to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've
ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never
dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true it
probably is too good to be true!"
—Jeannie Mills
Acknowledgments
The author would like to express her appreciation to the following people who
assisted in the conception and development of this lesson plan: Dr. Sandy
Andron, Linda Blood, Michael Caslin, Priscilla Coates, Paul Engel, Hope Evans,
Robert Fellows, Dr. Doris Holloway-Abels, Dr. Michael Langone, Arnold Markowitz,
Dr. Herbert Nieburg, Nadia Preyma, Herbert Rosedale, Esq., Judy Safransky, and
Dr. Robert Safransky.
Table of Contents
There are more cults than ever before, all over the world. Cults can seriously
interfere with your life. In a survey conducted in 1992 of 308 former cult
members from more than 100 different cult groups, thirty-eight percent of those
interviewed who were students when they were recruited into a cult reported that
they dropped out of school after joining the group.
Cults particularly target young people. College is a popular recruiting
ground. In the 1992 survey twenty-seven percent of the 308 former members said
they were college students when they first made contact with their group.
Cults also recruit high school students. Ten percent of the 308 former members
questioned in the 1992 survey were in high school when they were recruited. In
addition to the possibility of being approached by cult recruiters, you will
also meet people who want to strongly influence you in other ways. We all meet
people who try to manipulate us to get us to do what they want, convince us to
give money or time to their cause, or sell us something we really don't want and
can't afford.
This lesson plan aims to help you:
·
Sharpen critical thinking and questioning skills.
·
Evaluate authorities and experts (while not wanting to teach you
to question all authority, this lesson plan aims to help you evaluate who is a
legitimate authority or expert).
·
Recognize when someone is trying to manipulate you.
·
Identify a group or individual that might be harmful.
·
Identify a group that might be a cult or have some characteristics
of a cult.
·
Evaluate groups and individuals and evaluate commitments to them.
·
Improve your self-esteem and confidence so you can say "no" to
people and groups that are trying to manipulate you.
·
Apply what you learn in this lesson plan about saying "no" to
cults and manipulation to all areas of life, such as resisting peer pressure for
substance abuse and sexual activity, resisting overzealous salespeople,
advertisers and others trying to sell something, and resisting those trying to
persuade you to do something you don't want to do.
Attach to each statement a number from 1 to 5 best describing your feelings
and/or opinion about the statement that follows. The numbers mean:
1 = I strongly disagree
2 = I disagree
3 = I feel neutral (I don't have strong feelings and/or opinion about)
4 = I agree
5 = I strongly agree
Please note: There are no right or wrong answers to these statements; no
one else will see the responses. The purpose of this pre-test is to see how
much you know now about cults and psychological manipulation. When the class
completes this lesson plan there will be another opportunity to respond to these
statements.
1.
It's easy to leave a cult._____
2.
Cults don't harm people and their families._____
3.
There are no differences between cults and other groups._____
4.
There's no difference between my rabbi/minister/priest and a cult
leader._____
5.
Manipulating people to get them to do what you want them to do is
wrong._____
6.
Everyone has a right to believe what he/she wants to believe._____
7.
Everyone has a right to do what he/she wants to do._____
8.
People who join cults are searching for something, such as meaning in
their lives, spiritual fulfillment, a feeling of belonging, a substitute
family._____
9.
You can get good things from cults, such as acceptance and love._____
10.
You can get good things from cults, such as meaning and purpose in your
life._____
11.
You can get good things from cults, such as a sense of accomplishment,
discipline, and happiness._____
12.
Only losers join cults._____
13.
I would never join a cult._____
14.
Nobody can talk me into doing anything I don't want to do._____
15.
I don't do what people tell me to do just because they are in a position
of authority over me._____
16.
I care about what my friends think of me._____
17.
I am strong-willed and can resist anything or anybody._____
18.
Occult rituals (see definition on page 4) are fun and are probably
harmless._____
"When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to
the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader
to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've
ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never
dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true it
probably is too good to be true! Don't give up your education, your hopes and
ambitions, to follow a rainbow."
Jeannie Mills offered this advice in a book she wrote after she left a cult
called "The Peoples' Temple" in the jungle of Guyana in South America. On
November 18, 1978 the cult's leader, Reverend Jim Jones, ordered his followers
in Jonestown, the cult's settlement, to drink Kool-Aid mixed with cyanide.
Those who refused to drink the deadly poison were injected with it or shot by
Jones' guards. Nine hundred and eleven people died. Two hundred and seventy-six
of them were small children and teenagers.
This tragedy happened after California Congressman Leo J. Ryan visited there to
investigate complaints about Jonestown. Ryan was shot to death on the orders of
Jim Jones at the airstrip as he was leaving Guyana. (Jeannie Mills was also
murdered a few years later.)
How could someone like Jim Jones gain absolute control over people's lives?
Could it ever happen to you? Would you ever give up control over your
life — and perhaps your life itself — to someone else?
Of course, most people will answer, "No, I'd never fall for that. Only nerds
would! I'm too smart--I can think for myself!" But we can all be easily
persuaded and manipulated, often without even realizing it. We can all be
coaxed into relationships and groups that are harmful to us. We think we can't
be psychologically manipulated. But we are all vulnerable, no matter how
smart or well educated we are.
Some of the words and terms used in this lesson plan may be unfamiliar. Refer
to this alphabetized glossary for assistance as you read through the text.
abuse - (noun) Wrong, improper treatment, violation, misuse; (verb) To
hurt wrongly or improperly, to mistreat, violate, misuse
authoritarianism - A system which requires complete submission of an
individual's freedom to authority; submission to the oppression, control of the
group
autonomy - Self-governance
brainwashing - Popular term for mind control; connotes emptying or
washing of contents of the mind and replacing them with new contents
coerce - To compel by force (psychological force or pressure as well as
physical force), to intimidate, dominate, or control
coercive persuasion - The use of compulsion by force and
intimidation (psychological intimidation as well a physical intimidation) with
the intent of convincing someone to do something or believe something
covenant - A formal agreement between two or more persons
cult - See definition, pages 6-8
cultic - Like a cult, having characteristics of a cult
demand characteristic - A situation where one will do what one believes
is expected (demanded) — for example, in a college-admissions interview or job
interview one would dress well, sit up straight in the chair, and answer the
interviewer respectfully, or in a medical examination one would remove items of
clothing at the doctor's request
dilemma - A choice between two or more equally undesirable alternatives
faulty dilemma - When it's not accurate that there are only a limited
number of apparent choices, alternatives that are equally undesirable, i.e.,
there are other alternatives or choices; for example, if a cult recruiter says
one can either get a job or improve the world, there are other alternatives: one
can get a job and work to improve the world at the same time
hidden agenda - A situation in which one purpose is openly stated while
another, unspoken purpose lies in the background
indoctrination - Instruction in a doctrine, principle, or ideology,
especially a partisan or sectarian dogma
love-bomb - To dishonestly and falsely flood or overwhelm someone with
praise and a feeling of self-worth and importance for the purpose of
manipulation (a technique often used by cult recruiters)
manipulate - To manage or influence by clever or devious skill; to change
something or someone to suit one's own purpose or advantage
manipulation - Management or influence by clever or devious skill;
changing something or someone to suit one's own purpose or advantage
mind control - The exercise of restraint or active direction, molding of
someone's mental processes and patterns for one's own purposes; the subjection
of someone to a method of changing his/her attitudes or beliefs; controlled
indoctrination
occult - Sacred, hidden, concealed; includes practices and ideas such as
astrology, fortune-telling, magic, witchcraft, satanism, the supernatural, and
secret wisdom groups and philosophies; based on a philosophy called Gnosticism
-- the idea that one should attempt to find hidden knowledge not available to
most people and can and should use this knowledge to control life
occult rituals - Rituals performed in connection with the occult
psychological abuse - The wrong, improper, or corrupt use of someone's
mental and emotional state of mind
psychological manipulation - Management or influence over
someone's mental or psychological state cleverly or deviously in order to suit
one's purpose or advantage
rite - An established ceremonial act or procedure customary for a solemn
occasion
ritual - An established form of conducting a rite; any practice or
behavior repeated in an established, prescribed manner
ritual abuse - Systematic abuse (can be physical, sexual, and/or
emotional abuse) committed by a group in a stylized ceremonial manner consistent
with the group's belief system and approved by the group's leadership
totalism - A social system having a closed environment and complete,
authoritarian control over the individual
transcendent - Beyond ordinary experience, thought, or belief
trespass - An unlawful intrusion on the person, property, or rights of
another
"The path of segregation leads to lynching. The path of anti-Semitism leads to
Auschwitz. The path of cults leads to Jonestown. We ignore this fact at our
peril."
—Rabbi Maurice Davis
Read the article "Cults: Questions and Answers" in the handout Cults & Mind
Control. This lesson plan will not mention or discuss specific cult groups
for several reasons:
·
There are too many groups to talk about. If this lesson plan
mentioned specific groups and a group isn't mentioned, you might think it's not
a cult.
·
Cults constantly change — facts about individual groups change
quickly, new groups form and old groups break up, and names of groups change.
·
There are different prominent groups in different parts of the
country and the world.
Rather than giving facts about specific groups, a major goal of this lesson plan
is to help people recognize the characteristics of a cult or what factors make a
group a cult and then to apply these criteria to other groups or relationships
in order to evaluate them.
What are some of these characteristics? A cult is a group:
·
whose leaders deceive and manipulate people in order to get them
to join it and to stay in it.
·
which has strong, sometimes total control over the members' lives,
for example telling them where to live, where and when to work or go to school,
what to do with their money, who may be friends or romantic partners, when, who
-- and if -- to marry, when -- and if -- to have children and how to raise them,
what kind of medical care they can receive, how to schedule time, what to eat,
what to wear, when -- or if -- to see their families, etc.
·
whose authoritarian leader(s) and teachings may not be doubted or
questioned.
·
whose leader(s) claim to have a special status, power, secret
knowledge, or special relationship with a higher power.
·
which uses carefully-planned techniques sometimes known as mind
control or brainwashing (see pages 11-12 for more details about these
techniques) so its leaders will benefit while at the same time exploiting and
harming its members and their families (see pages 9-10 for more details about
the harm cults can cause).
Often these groups are termed "destructive cults" rather than just "cults." The
word "destructive" when used with the word "cults" describes the harm and abuse
that may be caused by these groups. That is the intended meaning of the word
"cult" in this lesson plan, although the word "destructive" will not be used
from now on.
Cults can grow out of any set of ideas or beliefs. The ideas needn't be
unfamiliar or strange. On the other hand, a group with strange or unfamiliar
ideas or ideas with which one disagrees isn't necessarily a cult. Defining a
cult is a question of how its members act or behave. It's not a question of
what its members believe or what their ideas are. It's a question of deed,
not creed.
Often it's difficult to distinguish cults from other groups—the line may be
thin, and it may be a matter of degree. But there are important
differences:
Groups That Aren't Cults
·
are not deceptive; tell people what life in the group will be
like; tell the real name of the group and its leadership.
·
allow people time to think over their commitments to it carefully.
·
respect the individual's autonomy and independence.
·
respond to critics respectfully.
·
respect the family and one's commitment to it.
·
have built-in controls to watch over their leader(s), so behavior
and abuses can be monitored and corrected.
Cults
·
deceive people; don't tell them what life will be like in the
group; sometimes don't tell the real name of the group or its leadership or
reveal the nature of the group.
·
demand firm commitment to join before people have a chance to
think things over carefully or consult with family and friends or other support
systems.
·
force people to obey their demands; don't respect the individual's
autonomy and independence.
·
may respond to critics with intimidation or physical or legal
threats.
·
view the family as an outside enemy or interfering factor.
·
operate secretly, allowing no public or organizational scrutiny,
no checks and balances, no way of checking or monitoring misbehavior or abuses
and no way to correct them.
To summarize, whether or not a group is a cult depends upon its actions and
behavior, as described above, not its ideas.
In the past, most cults were religious groups promising religious or spiritual
fulfillment. But that's no longer true. Now there are also political cults,
based on a specific political ideology; commercial cults, which claim to help
people make money (sometimes business management-training programs sold to
companies promising to increase employees' productivity and increase the company
profits); and therapy cults, whose leaders claim they can help people solve
personal problems and fulfill their potential.
Because many cult leaders and members believe "the ends justify the means" and
that what they are doing is more important than society's laws, sometimes they
break civil and criminal laws in order to advance the organization and its
goals. Examples of laws some cults violate include those concerning:
·
minimum wage
·
child labor
·
child abuse and/or neglect
·
sexual abuse
·
health and sanitation
·
compulsory education of children
·
immigration
·
transportation of minors across state lines or international
borders
·
involuntary servitude (slavery) of adults and children (violation
of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which forbids slavery)
·
extortion
·
college-loan fraud
·
welfare fraud
·
income-tax evasion and other tax fraud
·
solicitation fraud (for example, the cult member trying to get
someone to donate money falsely claims that the money will feed hungry people,
house the homeless, etc.) and other kinds of commercial fraud
·
storage of illegal weapons and ammunition
·
drug smuggling
·
murder of dissidents
·
basic human rights, especially the rights of women and children
Such cult leaders hide behind the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment—which
provides for freedom of speech as well as freedom of religion—to mask their
illegal activities and to escape prosecution. Everyone wants to protect these
precious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. But the First Amendment
doesn't provide immunity when any group or individual violates laws. One must
distinguish between freedom of belief and freedom of action as a result of these
beliefs. We are free to believe as we want, but we are not free to act as we
want, especially if our actions harm others and/or break laws.
Discussion Question
How can you tell if a group is a cult? What are some of the warning signs that
it might be a cult?
"Cults leave scars on the entire family, like scars and adhesions you have after
major surgery."
—Judy Safransky, parent of former cult member
Read the articles "Bible Talk . . . Have You Been Invited?" and "Coming Out of
the Cults" in the handout Cults & Mind Control.
Cults may:
·
Seriously and perhaps permanently disrupt members' lives by
interrupting their schooling and careers (38% of the 308 former cult members
interviewed in a 1992 survey who were students when they were recruited dropped
out of school after joining the group)
·
Cause financial harm, by, for example, forcing the member to turn
over salaries, savings, inheritances, trust funds, or property to the group
·
Harm families by interfering with family relationships, often
causing separation of cult members from their family members who are not in the
group or separation of family members within a group
·
Psychologically, physically, and sometimes sexually abuse members
·
Cause severe problems of readjustment if a member leaves the group
·
Pose a serious threat to our democratic system because they are
authoritarian, anti-democratic, and totalistic
Some personal stories:
Our son's daily routine changed completely. Junior college and his part-time
work became secondary in his life. Our family life changed drastically. My son
was a stranger in his own home. Mike's school grades went down, and his boss at
his part-time job at the local utility company noticed his lack of concentration
at work. Eventually, he had to drop out of school, and he lost his job. They
[the cult leaders] "suggested" he move out of our house. My family was "of the
devil" (the cult's words) because we chose not to believe as he now believed.
From the non-stop pressure the cult put on him, he did suffer a nervous
breakdown and that is how we were able to get help for him.
Recuperation was painful for the family, most of all for Mike. He suffered
great losses -- he lost his new belief system, his job, his school, his "new"
family. The cult family continually pestered him to return. After leaving the
cult, he had to re-establish his whole world. His recovery is a continual
process taking many years.
—Mother of Former Cult Member
[The following is excerpted from and used with permission of CAN News,
May 1990, pages 4-5.]
In our group women ignored their children — children kept you from being close
to God . . . My children were not really treated the way I wanted them treated.
The adults thought that children kept you from knowing God well enough. They
were "in the way" and you were better off not having them because you had less
time for God with them around you. You had to meet their needs and your
attention was not on God . . . My son slowly drifted away from me but I was
thinking that this was part of growing up and his adolescent independence. I
was confused. A sign of a good mother was to give up. I was not to
idol-worship my children.
—Former Cult Member
[The following is excerpted from and used with permission of CAN News,
August 1988, pages 3, 8.]
I began to see that Group X was a militant control on my life and the other
members. A mass control and mass response. When I thought about leaving X,
there was fear. Instead of leaving, I recruited others into X, I pushed myself
even harder in activities. I couldn't shake off . . . the thought we were doing
the right thing for ourselves and the world. All of it was an illusion. A
beautiful mystical dream . . . This went on for ten years and my time and life
had nothing to show for it.
—Former Cult Member
On October 25, 1956 during the Hungarian revolution I got shot through my left
leg. Because of my involvement in the revolution, I had to escape from Hungary
in 1960 . . . I came to the US in 1966 with my wife and two small children,
$200, and an eighty-pound box. We came to America so we would have freedom,
freedom of thought. I worked hard all my life, and built up my life -- a
beautiful house, barn, woodshed, on a ten-acre lot in Maine so I would have
something for my family. We had six children. In the early '80s my wife and
children got involved with the X group in neighboring New Hampshire. One of my
children just graduated from college. Another is just coming into high school
age. My sixteen-year-old in the cult has no communication with me because I am
called an outsider, a non-believer. The church has taken most of my property.
My marriage has split up. I have lost everything.
I never dreamed a religion would destroy a family. They are trapped in their
own world . . . They have my wife and children, I have lost my family! . . . I
lived through the Communist regime in Hungary, I know what brainwashing is.
—Husband, Parent of Cult Members
Discussion Questions
1.
What are some effects of cult membership on the followers and on their
families?
2.
Do you know of any situations similar to those described above by the
parents of cult members and the former cult members?
3.
Do you think what cults and their leaders do to cult members is wrong?
Why or why not?
"People don't join cults--they're aggressively recruited into
them."
-- Former cult member
"Recruitment is a form of trespass. It is an invasive act. The victim of cult
recruitment does not succumb—the victim has been targeted and the recruiter
takes careful aim, using charm, guile, and deceit."
—Hope Evans, mother of cult member
Cults claim to offer contentment and fulfillment. They can appeal to people
who
·
are lonely and/or seeking attention.
·
are in a normal but often difficult transitional stage of life
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