It is much easier to ask why people
don’t just leave when they learn what happens behind the scenes in a cult or
cult-like organisation than it is to find acceptable and comprehensible answers.
It is not easy for outsiders to understand the external pressures and
techniques and internal thought processes that keep people inside.
The best sources of answers and
explanations are ex-members. They are the ones with the excruciatingly painful
personal experience of cult life, and some of them may be able to explain what
was going on in their minds and in their lives in terms that ‘civilians’ can
understand.
The deeper in that people go, the worse life often gets but the harder it is for them to
get out. I am not talking about people on the fringes and in the outer circles
who may wander in then drift away or drop out: I am talking about long-term,
hard-core members.
I am also mainly
talking about people who might think about leaving, not those few who genuinely
feel at home in their organisation or the large number of unfortunates who have
lost all sense of self and self-preservation.
People
are discouraged and prevented from leaving
The message
given, overtly or covertly, to many cult members is, “Don’t you dare leave, you
traitor. It will be much the worse for you if you do!”
Cults make it difficult for members to leave in as many
practical, guilt and fear-based and emotional blackmailing ways as possible. They
use manipulation, intimidation and coercion to keep dissenting members in line.
