- They will lie to you
- They will let you down and leave you stranded
I learned this from personal experience, experience for which I later found independent confirmation online and in books.
Lying
Not only do cult members conceal much of the truth about their organisation, they will also often lie about it, brazenly and repeatedly.
I am not talking here about people on the periphery who don’t know anything so pass on wrong information in all good faith, nor am I talking about members who are so confused and in such a terrible state that they no longer know the difference between truth and lies: I am talking about people who lie knowingly and deliberately.
They will lie about their beliefs and practices and procedures inside the organisation, denying for example that members are obliged to hand over their earnings and take part in auditing sessions where they are forced to give sensitive personal information and confess to misdeeds.
They will dismiss allegations made against the cult, saying that they come from liars, enemies and traitors.
They will brazenly lie about where donated money is going, saying for example that it will help children when much of it really goes to buy support from politicians and pay the travelling expenses of a rent-a-crowd mob.
They will lie about the purpose of an impending gathering, saying for example that it is entertainment when it is really political.
They want to trick people into joining, trick them into staying, trick outsiders into giving financial and other support, trick people into attending big meetings so it looks as though they have a lot of supporters...
They find plausible pretexts such as ‘security’ for concealing information and deceiving people.
I have experienced much of this for myself. I believed many of the lies I was told because I was not then in a position to know any better.
I remember one man telling me that I had his word that there was no connection between a political organisation and a welfare charity, when actually the charity was the fund-raising arm of the organisation.
I was tricked into attending several gatherings by various lies.
I have seen allegations denied and claims dismissed. For example, I was assured that members were not ordered to cut all contact with their families, when in reality this was standard practice. When I raised the subject of claims of severe ill-treatment made by an ex-member, his story was dismissed as lies when actually he was telling the truth.
Cult members tell all these lies in the name of the cause. They believe that the end justifies the means.
It is important to bear in mind that they cannot afford to tell the truth. It is very unwise to believe everything they say.
Leaving people stranded
Cult members can be very unreliable where outsiders are concerned; they will put their colleagues and their cause first. If they are suddenly assigned to some useless, make-work task, they will leave you or not turn up at all for your get-together.
They may suddenly abandon you, leaving you to fend for yourself.
In one of the worst cases I have heard of, one senior member left his little girl alone on the streets of Paris when the call came for him to make a journey somewhere at no notice.
I was abandoned on the streets of Vienna myself; I was an adult at the time though.
It happened at a gathering. The woman I was with, who was supposed to be the guide and arranger, deliberately got herself arrested and I suddenly found myself alone. Luckily, I had money, maps, addresses, useful notes etc. but she wasn't to know that. It was very stressful and caused a lot of suffering. Being abandoned brings back painful memories and shock impairs coping ability.
This incident added insult to injury as I had been lured to the gathering under false pretences. I was led to believe that someone I very much wanted to see would be there. I later learned that this woman knew very well that he would not be coming.
I was disgusted with her thoughtlessness and devious behaviour. Her responsibilities towards a guest of her organisation went for nothing when the chance came to 'do something for the cause'. It was all just for show too; it was all image: "They are arresting us so we must be a threat"; "Look at me, I am martyring myself for the cause!" It was just so that she had something to tell her superiors.
It was the last straw, and I never went to another gathering.
There are others ways of leaving people stranded. I recently found this in an article about a Catholic cult:
“The leaders would tell them to walk out of their job and leave their boss stranded ...”
This resonated very strongly; it independently confirmed another experience. I remember getting an email not long after the Vienna incident while at work on a client’s database from someone who wanted me to go immediately to a demonstration outside an embassy. By that time I had had enough, so I replied that I couldn’t just walk out of my job.
This is another way in which they add insult to injury: they treat you badly and expect you to carry on as if nothing had happened, and even come back for more.
It is important to bear in mind that they cannot be trusted to care at all for you, your feelings, your welfare and your interests. It is unwise to rely on them too much or put yourself into their hands.
Forewarned is forearmed
I learned these things the hard way. This is not compulsory; it is not the only way to discover some of the truths about cults. A little online research will save people from a lot of painful experiences.
Lying and leaving people stranded are just two of the many games that cult members play. There is more to come on the subject of what to expect when dealing with people connected with cults.
