Ordinary people and journalists love to ask cult experts the question: “How can you tell that a loved one has joined a sect?” In fact, this question is somewhat meaningless. Many sectarians do not hide the fact that they are members of one or another dubious organization.
On the contrary, they will actively try to involve you in this organization, to make you an adherent of the corresponding cult. They will throw you various brochures and other propaganda materials, constantly inviting you to various sectarian meetings and gatherings.
Late questions
In most cases, a person’s membership in a sect is obvious, and the signs of sectarianism lie on the surface. For example, a Hare Krishna will get up at five in the morning every day, chant mantras, and worship the deities standing in the home altar. Your kitchen will be saturated with the smell of curry and other Indian spices.
Actually, the non-standard, often inadequate, behavior of sectarians that contradicts generally accepted norms is one of the reasons why society perceives sects negatively and fights against them. Society is not interested in increasing the number of people who find it difficult to survive in it.
Statement that your loved one ended up in a sect is generally useless.
It’s like witnessing that a vase has broken: the fact has been established, but it will be very difficult to glue it back together. If a person has already become a member of a dubious organization, accepted its ideology, changed his worldview and lifestyle in the appropriate direction, it is extremely difficult and almost impossible to correct the situation.
Have you tried to convince a pensioner that communism is a utopia and Marxism is a pseudoscience? Were you trying to prove to a young libertarian that the state should still intervene in the economy? Then you know how difficult it is for a person to abandon attitudes that he considers the fruit of his free choice and part of his own “I”.
What is the difference between a sect and a religion?
In order to understand the principle of sectarianism, who the sectarians are and what they do, it is necessary to grasp the very difference between religion and sect. The line between them is very thin, and without a concept of the operating principle it is difficult to distinguish lies from truth. The difference between a sect and a religion:
- Religion is much older than sectarianism; sects are young groups, the oldest no more than two hundred years old. Such pseudo-religious movements are formed by breaking away from the general faith, or at the whim of some person.
- The basis of religion is the worship of God, the creator of everything in this world, or deities, and it can be based on a higher goal, such as enlightenment in Buddhism. At the heart of the sect's religion, the main roles are played by their leaders, who compare themselves almost to God.
- The goal of any religion is not to enslave a person and drag him under its wing. Everyone seeks the path to God on their own, and decides to believe or not. In sects, complete control over a person is exercised; each of its members lives according to the rules and is constrained by certain obligations.
Eyes don't open
Why do we strive to find clear signs of sectarianism? The fact is that in some cases we try to protect ourselves from information and close our eyes to reality. Hence all these situations when a cult leader is asked the question: “My son is a vegan, he lives in an ashram for a long time, recently went to India, quit his job. Is he in a sect or just interested in Hinduism?” In this situation, the term “sect” will be purely technical.
A person who leads a maladaptive lifestyle, has lost his job, is ruining his body with sophisticated diets, is certainly in a sect, even if there is only one member in this sect.
We ask this question also because we simply do not understand what happens to a person who falls into a sect. It seems to us that he simply does not know what he is doing. That he was deceived, that he does not understand where he ended up. And that as soon as you open his eyes, show him an article from the Internet or a chapter from a book that the organization he joined is recognized as a sect, he will immediately come to his senses and leave the close-knit ranks of its members. In fact, the effect will be exactly the opposite.
As soon as you call the dubious organization of which your loved one has become a member, a sect, a cult, he will immediately begin to consider you an enemy.
Yes, from the outside it may seem to you that the sectarian teaching is completely delusional, that its rituals are disgusting, and the way of life of the sectarians is strange, inadequate and destructive. But to a person who has already accepted all this and made it part of his identity, all this does not seem like that. On the contrary, he experiences a kind of culture shock when communicating with people who do not speak his language, do not behave the same, do not profess the same beliefs.
For the sectarian, you have become a stranger, and his fellow sufferers have become a true family.
Therefore, it is much more important to identify not the signs that a person is already in a sect, but the alarm bells that indicate that he has taken a dangerous path leading to a dubious organization.
How does the recruitment of new sect adherents occur?
The recruitment of new adherents of the sect is carried out by the believers themselves, who go door to door delivering religious literature, communicate with passers-by on the street, telling them about their faith, and also invite other people to attend the organization’s meetings. As a rule, sectarians behave in an emphatically polite and understanding manner; they skillfully manipulate a person’s emotions, forcing him to listen to their words and gain confidence in them
During the conversation, the so-called preachers will definitely find out the contact information of the interlocutor, and in the future they will visit him very often or call him to talk about life and religious topics and invite him to a group meeting. When a potential cult adherent comes to an organization meeting, all members of the group show increased attention to him, demonstrate joy at his arrival and convince him that he has a chance for salvation and for finding true faith. If a person continues to communicate with sectarians and go to their meetings, then the adherents of the cult will eventually convince him to sever ties with non-believing friends and acquaintances, live according to the rules of the organization in order to find a path to “salvation” and devote all his free time to religion.
With a mantra for life
But let's first define what makes an organization dubious and potentially dangerous. I think the main factor is the instillation in members of the organization of views that contradict the facts, are poorly compatible with reality, and do not correspond to scientific data.
For example, the organization claims that after six months of practicing yoga, reciting mantras or group ecstatic prayer meetings, its members learn to walk on water quite well. And those who drown as a result are actually the chosen ones of the Supreme Being and are simply sent to His Kingdom. It is unlikely that we will consider this organization to be socially useful; we are unlikely to want it to replenish the ranks of its members at the expense of our loved ones.
Of course, pseudoscientific methods of walking on water, gaining wealth, happiness, health and longevity, as well as achieving success, are spreading not only in sects. All this esotericism, alternative medicine, extrasensory perception with bioenergy, miraculous psychotechnologies are today widely available both on the Internet and on the shelves of bookstores, and, the saddest thing, in the media.
A person is already in danger if he decides that:
- Vegetarianism or, even worse, a raw food diet is good for health;
- yoga cures all diseases;
- Tai Chi and Qigong heal and harmonize the body;
- homeopathy can cure at least some disease;
- an unblinking gaze can improve vision;
- Reciting the mantra “OM” is good for health.
And not only because he wastes money and time on useless “spiritual” practices. The fact is that excessive trust in all these yogas and Ayurveda can prevent a person from seeing a doctor and getting effective help. People, trying to heal themselves with bioenergetics, urine therapy and other pseudoscientific methods, trigger serious diseases to the stage when it is no longer possible to help.
Signs of a person who has fallen into a sect. What to do if someone you know is in a cult?
People with unstable psyches and those who are at a crossroads in life usually end up in sects. The victims are those who subconsciously feel lonely and unsure of themselves. This is precisely what sectarians play on, imposing their support on a person.
You can recognize that a person from your circle has joined a sect by both indirect and direct signs. Sometimes he can directly admit that he has found a “wonderful place” where everyone is “helped.” Sometimes a person becomes unlike himself - he disappears for a long time in an unknown place, is in an unnaturally high mood and declares that he has found the “meaning of life”, uses incomprehensible expressions and wears symbolic paraphernalia.
He can and should be helped. How?
1. Try to check which sect the person fell into. Find out about it, what the sectarians do, where and how exactly.
2. Contact law enforcement agencies, especially if there are any illegal actions among cult members (fights, thefts, illegal rental housing), involve a psychotherapist - a specialist in cult addictions.
3. Find those who have suffered from the actions of this sect, assemble a support group of those who command (or previously commanded) respect from the recruited person.
4. Don’t criticize the sect’s policies; avoid sharp corners. Gradually and gently pull him out of the environment of his “brothers”.
5. Commitment to a cult is akin to drug addiction. Always be close to the person and provide him with full support. If possible, it’s worth moving to get him out of everyday life.
6. From time to time one should check to see if a person has returned to previous teachings.
It is important that a person develops immunity to such organizations, so that in the future he can recognize the sect himself
One of the pressing problems of modern society has become the huge spread of different sects. And if, according to official data, the total number of sectarians is relatively small and ranges from three hundred to eight hundred thousand people, then much more people fell under the hidden influence of sects.
A significant role in this belongs not only to the great activity of sectarians. Trends, problems and the state of society as a whole also influence this. For example, five years ago a conference was held in our country on the topic of new religious movements. It was stated that about ninety percent of Russians have the psychological prerequisites for ending up in one of the sects. This argument, of course, is very bold. However, there are also quite natural reasons for this. Falling under the influence of sectarians is not as difficult as it might seem. People who are going through a difficult period in life and are at the stage of rethinking their values are especially predisposed to this. Sectarians sense such a person’s state “a mile away.” As a rule, they know very well who to approach with an offer to talk, for example, about the Bible or listen to a story about how to become a leader. It is absolutely necessary to be able to distinguish sectarians from people who are simply passionate about something. After all, if you manage to recognize in time that they are trying to lure you into a sect, then you can even save your life.
Secret knowledge
The supposedly safe esoteric, folk, mental methods are often not only useless, but also harmful.
For example, yoga, which is positioned as a gentle means of influencing the body, actually causes a number of diseases, in particular yoga foot drop and stroke.
All these “spiritual” practices and secret methods, described in cheap esoteric books, essentially pave the way for a person to join a cult. Some seekers of easy, secret, bypass paths to happiness, health and gaining power end up in the sect immediately, others - after a long time, and still others do not end up at all, remaining, in fact, members of a cult of the size of one follower. But the connection between passion for esotericism and alternative medicine and joining sects is obvious.
If you see that your loved one has begun to get involved in opening the third eye, self-medication and self-healing, influencing reality with the power of thought, cleaning the aura/karma, mastering the miraculous method of walking on water, you should come to your senses at this very moment.
Ex-cultists and their health
In some destructive religious organizations, after leaving the cult, even with a favorable environment in the family and the help of specialists, a person feels like a stranger in society.
Thus, American psychologists, having examined a large group of ex-cultists (who were difficult to “take out” from the cult), found in 52% of them the “floating” syndrome, nightmares – 40%, amnesia (memory disorder) – 21%. , hallucinations and mania – 14%, inability to break the “obsessive mental rhythms” of monotonous singing ritually imposed in the sect – 35%, outbursts of rage – 14%, tendencies towards suicide or self-destruction – 21%.
According to statistics, 88% of ex-cultists viewed their groups as harmful or very harmful (51%).
In order to attract people into their activities, sects use various media channels to advertise their “ultimate truth.” According to converts, real friendships and family relationships are formed there, and the search for truth for each person ends there. Withdrawal into the system of these sects from the real problems of modern life can be considered as one of the options for psychological protection from the “cold secular and cruel world.”
Why is a sect dangerous?
1. Each sect has its own leader, to whom participants must obey unquestioningly. He has complete freedom of action, so he can do whatever he sees fit. The leader receives material benefits at the expense of his “flock”.
2. The sect uses people who really want to find a way to a better life, to God, love and truth. She inspires members that only here can they find all this, get answers to all questions, and only members of the sect can achieve the highest states of spirituality.
3. A person belonging to a sect destroys his life; the sect has a destructive effect on him, his loved ones, and family. It leads him to mental death, at the same time making the sectarian incapable of an independent, normal life in society.
4. Everything that is most important is taken away from a person - freedom and the opportunity to realize oneself in society. In a sect there can be no talk of individualism and independent decision-making: here each member must agree with the leader and become dependent on him. There is no confidentiality - only the group and its interest are important.
5. The cult isolates new members from family and friends. With the help of various rituals - dancing, chants - he puts them into a trance, which should strengthen confidence in belonging to the group.
Among sectarians one can observe the so-called sect syndrome. It is a group of characteristics resulting from contact with its members.
Changes in life and behavior:
- a person gives up his previous hobbies and interests, and in return new ones appear, related to the goals of the group;
- begins to speak a different language, uses new words and concepts;
- appearance and clothing style changes;
- problems arise in the family, at school or at work;
- a sectarian cannot function normally in society. He
breaks old friendships, cuts oneself off from close people, and this is for the benefit of new friends;
• sees everything in white and black tones;
• the value system changes, a new morality is formed.
Mental health consequences:
- unmotivated mood swings that can ultimately lead to depression;
- frequent attacks of anxiety, a person constantly feels fear and uncertainty, is afraid of people, does not trust anyone;
— inadequate, sometimes aggressive reaction to comments regarding the behavior of both one’s own and members of the sect;
- willingness to part with everything for the sake of the sect: home, work, loved one - that is, what gave life meaning;
- inability to make an independent decision, escape from real life.
Effects on physical health:
- exhaustion and weakening as a result of specific diets;
- malnutrition;
- decreased concentration;
— illnesses as a result of refusal of any medications and medical care;
- isolation from the outside world, communication only with a narrow circle of sect members;
- insomnia, fatigue;
- suicide attempts, often successful.
The secret of the sect's success
An important condition for the success of involvement in totalitarian cults is the increasing loss by a person of his individuality. The recruit gradually develops fear and guilt. They are caused by extracting confessions (“confessions”) under the pretext of creating an atmosphere of unity and intimacy. In an effort to maximize trust in the sect, confession is required from the newcomer. Confession is a turning point in a person’s life in a sect; it is a kind of “credit of trust” – its highest degree. By refusing to confess, a sect member risks forever losing a significant group for himself. Being under this pressure, a person is forced to fully open up and tell the organization all the most intimate (negative) information about himself. This information is used to create dependence, because in the sect there is no rule of non-disclosure of confession, as is the case in Orthodoxy.
Thus, under the pretext of confession, they often receive information that subsequently makes a person unprotected in the face of the group, that is, creates controlled emotional vulnerability due to feelings of guilt. Identified personal problems, negative facts of the past, fears and secrets give an idea of the emotional vulnerability of the adept through obvious and veiled threats, as well as alternating punishments and rewards, which allows him to be more successfully manipulated.
Manipulators fabricate and throw into consciousness a huge stream of false concepts and amoeba words, the meaning of which is impossible for the “uninitiated” to establish. At the same time, they carefully avoid using words whose meaning is established in the public consciousness. They are replaced by euphemisms - euphonious and unusual terms. This transition is masked with the help of newspeak - a distortion of the meaning of words. Giving them a completely different meaning.
Manipulation of consciousness in a sect is understood as a highly complex and diverse psychological reality, the signs of which are a hidden influence on the adherent. For these purposes, such socio-psychological functional systems of influence on the individual as suggestion, imitation and emotional contagion are widely used. What is “psychological manipulation” in a sect?
How they lure you into a sect. How they lure you into sects.
Continuation of the topic “Manipulation of consciousness in religion.”
Both ordinary people and prominent politicians and businessmen can be attracted to the sect. The main "trick" in manipulation technology. The first thing the manipulators do is called the palming process. At this stage, the target of manipulation (a person, a candidate for sectarian) is studied. Its weaknesses, psychological aspects, values, attitudes, and how susceptible it (the target) is to manipulation are determined. So fortune tellers have excellent abilities to immediately assess a person on the degree of his future “promotion”.
The second stage is passivation. Gaining trust and manipulation itself. The impact begins on those weaknesses that were identified during the palming process. How do you gain trust? This is a game of truth, they can give something. Let us remember that some commercial firms bluff by allocating large percentages of income at the first stage, thereby tying the client even more. So it is here. In sects, as a rule, there is group influence, which is stronger than individual influence. A person finds friends, brothers, whom he may not have had in his world. The third stage is blackmail (from the English “change”) or substitution. This is where manipulation ends and exploitation begins. There is always manipulation before exploitation. All sects are small enterprises in a single state of “Christianity”, “Islam”, etc. These are the so-called para-Christianity (“about”), para-Islam. People go there for what they cannot find in traditional religions. This can be compared to cooperatives, which compete with state-owned enterprises.
Personally, I am against official religious figures “killing” new movements. After all, this is an incentive for your own development. If a person chose a sect and did not go to church, it means that the church and its ministers have not completed their work somewhere. Of course, there is also such an aspect as mixing religion and crime. That's when sects are dangerous to society.
From an interview with the famous psychologist Ramil Garifullin, associate professor at the Kazan State University of Culture and Art, candidate of psychological sciences, director of the first psychological center in Kazan (since 1990), one of the founders of domestic manipulation psychology. Author of the first books in Russia on the psychology of manipulation “Encyclopedia of Bluff” (1995), “Manipulation Psychology and Psychotherapy” (1995), “Illusionism of Personality” (1997), “Illusionism and Tricks of Psychotherapy” (1997)..
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“The New Incarnation of Jesus Christ” – Vissarion.
The following signs of sectarianism can be identified:
– the founders of sects often pose as new incarnations of Jesus Christ (for example, Vissarion) or claim that they have come to complete the mission of Christ, which He allegedly did not fulfill (for example, Moon). Almost all sectarian movements try to “correct” the Gospel or its interpretation. Usually this is done for “good” purposes - to cleanse the Gospel Message from “false” interpretations of Christians.
– Pseudo-Christian sects often reject the orthodox dogmas of the historical Church, for example, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity: they either distort it, such as the Mormon sect, which preaches tritheism (the union of three gods), or reject it altogether, considering it pagan, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect "
– Occult sects place emphasis on personal mystical experiences, placing them at the basis of their beliefs.
– Cult leaders often claim to have prophetic gifts.
– Often, sects stir up eschatological sentiments among their followers, sometimes naming a specific date for the end of the world.
– In occult sects, the discrediting of reason is constantly imposed, preference is given to methods of “intuitive” knowledge, rational thinking is declared defective. Logic and rational thinking for the occultist are secondary to mystical insights.
So, totalitarian sects are closed religious groups that have separated from the main, culture-forming religious community, use distorted information when recruiting and control their members through psychological manipulation.
In essence, a totalitarian sect is a group authoritarianly led by one person or a small group of people who have almost complete control over their adherents. Such organizations arose in ancient times, exist today and operate all over the world, including in Russia.
Walter Martin. Kingdom of cults. - St. Petersburg, Logos, 1992. - p. eleven.
Consciousness control and methods of personality suppression. Reader. - Minsk-Moscow: Harvest AST, 2001. - p. 444.
Miroshnikova E. “Church” and “sect” in German religious studies. Religion and Law No. 4-5. M.: Institute of Religion and Law, 1999. - p. 34
Sects against the Church. M.: Moscow Patriarchate, 2000. - p. 264.
International scientific and practical conference "Totalitarian sects - a threat of the 21st century." Nizhny Novgorod, Brotherhood of St. Alexander Nevsky, 2001. - p. 142.
Epiphany. Orthodox information and educational magazine. N 2(5). M.: Moscow Patriarchate, 2000. - p. 48
Religion and law No. 4-5. Decree. ed. - c. 34.
Signs
In psychology, the signs of a sect are clearly defined, by which these religious associations are not difficult to identify.
Availability of marketing
This is perhaps the main sign of a sect. It is impossible to imagine, say, a priest or monk who will follow you around and boringly suggest you look into the church.
Representatives of traditional concessions, not without reason, believe that a person must come to God, first of all, on his own.
Of course, there were times when missionaries converted Indians, members of African tribes, etc. to Christianity. But today it is difficult to find a space on Earth that is deprived of information, including in religious terms.
Therefore, the marketing of sectarians is very active.
It has already been mentioned that they often literally attack a potential adept on the street.
Please note that, as a rule, there are two preachers; they do not go alone.
In psychology this is called the sandwich, sandwich principle. The victim is literally surrounded from different sides, limiting his movement and perception. If you give in to this insistence, they will be ready to follow you everywhere, right down to the toilet.
Baptists become frequent guests in hospitals, especially in oncology and tuberculosis dispensaries, where people are often terminally ill.
In such situations, sectarians are especially active, taking advantage of the fact that a suffering person is inevitably visited by thoughts of death and the possibility of an afterlife after it.
Duality of teaching
At the first stage of recruitment (there is no other way to say it), no one will tell you the whole truth about the sect. Advertising is one thing, reality is another.
Let’s say the Moonies don’t like to spread the fact that this sect was founded by an ardent adherent of the occult, who is also guilty of polygamy. Moon generally stated that Christ is just a loser, and he is the true savior.
And members of the so-called spiritual center named after Sergius of Radonezh completely deny the resurrection of Christ and worship idols.
However, no one will tell you about this right away; there will be discussions about the need for faith in God, universal goodness, etc.
Aggressiveness of impact
As soon as a newcomer appears at any meeting of sectarians, he will be subjected to a new attack.
He will be given increased attention, any of his reasoning will be encouraged, his story about himself will be listened to with increased attention. At the same time, any doubts or desire to leave the gathering will be resolutely suppressed
At the same time, any doubts or desire to leave the gathering will be resolutely suppressed.
Programming consciousness
As a rule, people with unstable, or even completely sick, psyches fall under the influence of sects. The advantages of this creed are literally explained to a person (depending on his level of intelligence).
At the same time, they suggest exactly what he wants to hear: in the sect he will not be alone, his opportunities and abilities are very great, etc.
Instilling chosenness
If from the first minutes of communication in a group a conversation begins about the chosenness of its members and the unimportance of other people in the world around them, you have found yourself in a sectarian network.
At the same time, you simply won’t be allowed to think about why on earth you ended up among the supposedly lucky chosen ones.
Vital monitoring
In many sects, the subordination of adherents gradually reaches the extreme. They are called upon to leave the outside world and settle in a certain room or area. Here the victim comes under complete control.
It is known that herd behavior is also characteristic of humans; sometimes a person is forced to accept incorrect psychological attitudes that are propagated by the majority or instilled in the majority.
A striking example of this is the influence of the theory of fascism or racism. Sectarians very skillfully use this property of the human psyche.
