A very relevant quotation from The Cult of Trump

The final article inspired by Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind  contains an image of his most recent publication The Cult of Trump (2019).

I had a quick look at this book, but it seems to be more about American politics than it is about cults. At first sight, unlike Steve Hassan's other books it doesn't have much new relevant and quotable material. 

However, I did find something that reminded me some points I made in the article about obedience and the truth, which was written in 2013.

Steve Hassan says this (my bolding):

“...if a belief cannot withstand criticism or research, then it may not be worth holding.

Beliefs should never be held as if they are the truth. The more strongly someone claims to have the truth, the more evidence we need to accept it. Certitude is not evidence of truth. Nor does repetition make it true. If anything, repetition should make you suspicious. Truth always stands up to scrutiny on its merits.”

From my post:

“Believing something to be true does not make it true.”

“Loudly and/or repeatedly insisting that something is true does not make it true.”

Let the listener beware!

The back cover of the book:

A few points about helping cult leavers

This is the fourth and final article inspired by exit-counsellor Steven Hassan's thought-provoking book Combating Cult Mind Control, his illuminating 'Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults'. 

The first article covers some of the interesting things that Steve Hassan has to say about how cults recruit people. 

The second article contains disturbing information about life inside cults.

The third article features a few of the useful points that he makes in connection with getting people out of cults.

I now want to highlight a few of his ideas about helping people who have left a cult. I have already produced an article about life after leaving a cult, but Steve Hassan's book has inspired some more commentary. 

Would-be helpers need to understand what they are up against and dealing with; Steve Hassan has some distressing and depressing information about this. 

Helpers also need to learn what to do about it; the book has some useful and encouraging suggestions about what works best when helping cult leavers rediscover and live from their real selves, recover from the abuse they have endured and make new, productive lives for themselves.

The worst comes first
Steve Hassan has a lot to say about the many and severe problems faced by cult leavers, the biggest of which is loss of identity. They may also be suffering from arrested development, they may behave in an inappropriately dependent way, their self-esteem may have been destroyed, their critical faculties may be atrophied, they may have memory loss and find it difficult to concentrate, they may have trouble making decisions and they may have serious adjustment problems.

They may also be living in fear of some kind of retaliation by the cult.