Some Hard-Won Wisdom Concerning Cults

credit: iStock / Planet Flem

As someone who once belonged to an organization later determined to be a cult, I can tell you that the warning signs are not always obvious.

The members of the group I belonged to weren’t living inside a walled compound, or even residing together at all. We weren’t hiding in some remote location — we gathered in the middle of a big city. We didn’t quit our jobs and sign over all of our worldly possessions to the organization in question. We did not wear any unusual garb. And we did not operate as a commune of any sort.

Indicators of a Cult

So what attributes indicate that a group should be treated as a cult?

In hindsight, I realized, these were the telltale signs.

1. Allegiance to a particular individual, or to the individuals belonging to a particular family, rather than to an institution, an office, or a set of principles.
2. A set of people and/or proclamations that are offered as infallible, indisputable, and not to be questioned.
3. The primacy of this group over all others: members may also belong to other groups, but the group in question insists that it be the primary source of identity and meaning and guidance for its members.
4. A general insistence that the leaders are the only reliable…