I am currently in my third year of university and have posed the question of why people become so involved in cults and seem so easily swayed by their leaders, however preposterous their preachings and claims seem to those outside of the movement? I have given myself a few possibilities to consider, those being dissillusionment with mainstream religious movements, some form of brain washing or a possible addictive personality either of the members or those who are recruiting and leading the movements? If you have any other suggestions or possible answers i would be extremely grateful to hear them and discuss them.
I post this question with the sincerest apoligies for my ignorance and the possibility that this question has already been asked and answered many times on this board. I would also like to add that this question is not meant as an insult to those who have been involved in a cult or who know someone who is currently involved.

Thank you in anticipation

See [www.culteducation.com]

thank you rrmoderator,

I appreciate your continued vigilance in this matter.

I am determined to "rescue" or attempt to rescue my friend from the clutches of Landmark/EST, before she does the course in October.

[sometimes I get so angry I just want to go down to the office and throw a brick through the window, but of course, I know that won't help and will probably get me put in jail or worse]...

...I am trying to find books on deprogramming as I am determined to do whatever I can to "win" my friend back.....

Please give a suggestion on how I can get as many people as possible to write to the Attorney General of BC to get an investigation into Landmark/EST, and to get them either to change their brainwashing techniques, or get them out of the Province.

I thought this morning that I should probably get some counselling myself as this situation is causing me untold grief and anxiety.

Thanks.

post script.

also, how can I tell if "eliwig", (who posted a request for people to e-mail him because he is writing an article for a men's magazine) is not a "plant" for [Landmark/EST/other scams]?

If I e-mail him could he track me down?

Best is to mail from a public computer (internet café, library), so they cannot find out your IP adress.
There is so much stuff about landmark and so much personal stories on the net already, why doesn't the writer approach this people ?
Be careful.

ok, thanks

Involvement in a cult is essentially no different than involvement in any group. You feel safe there. It's familiar. It may also be painful but it's the world you know. Leaving the familiar for the unknown is a frightening prospect no matter how painful the familiar has become.

We like to think we run our lives according to reason and rationality. So how do you choose your partner? He/She makes you feel safe, not threatened. We choose our friends and peer group in the same way. We look for the familiar until the familiar becomes unbearable.

The problem with cults is that they are abusive, the familiar is abusive. If you are born into a compassionate, supportive family this is your normality and you will reject abuse. If, however, you are born into an abusive environment this becomes your normality and as a young adult you will seek the same environment maybe in the form of a cult. It's not rocket science.

Many people manage to live miserable, restricted, oppressed lives without the help of a cult. They just marry someone who is like their most oppressive parent.

destinyawaits, you wrote:

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"destinyawaits"
Involvement in a cult is essentially no different than involvement in any group." quote. -- wrong wrong wrong...involvement in a cult is completely different from a non-cult group! --- wake up!

your wrote further:

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"If, however, you are born into an abusive environment this becomes your normality and as a young adult you will seek the same environment maybe in the form of a cult. "... my friend was not born into an abusive environment, quite the contrary... honestly, you are talking the biggest load of rubbish I have read in a long time..."It's not rocket science." quite right, it is not rocket science, but it is social science, and cults have refined the technique of power and control; get a grip, destinyawaits.

"Many people manage to live miserable, restricted, oppressed lives without the help of a cult. They just marry someone who is like their most oppressive parent.

- certainly what you say here has some merit, but that does excuse, condone, or explaine the activities of the cult, whose MAIN objective is to control people, take their money, make them into slaves, while PRETENDING to do good.

Wake up and smell the "Kool-Aid", cults are deviant groups, that exists for the sole purpose of self-gratification.

'shad'

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certainly what you say here has some merit, but that does excuse, condone, or explaine the activities of the cult, whose MAIN objective is to control people, take their money, make them into slaves, while PRETENDING to do good.

I am not condoning cults - I was in one, (twice!), and I know how abusive they are. I also know how hard it is to break from a cult but I found in order to truly leave I also had to leave behind a lot of earlier parts of my life. I had to get rid of the stuff that took me in there in the first place otherwise I would have continued the same life in a different form - shacked up with an abusive partner, found an abusive workplace etc. etc. In this situation I would apparently have had more freedom. But essentially nothing would have changed.

Looked at from another angle a workmate of mine became a Jehovah's Witness. Many people found this strange because he'd always been one of the boys. He was also though always dogmatic, always correct, often very aggressive, felt himself to be superior to the rest, so from my point of view his becoming a JW was not difficult to understand. Again he was living out the same life as before, only now it was more expensive.

I applaud the work you do here, helping abuse victims is always worthwhile. I just see things in a particular way after my own experience and intense battle with the things in me that made me feel comfortable (for a while) in a cult.

This seems to have upset someone - did you remove a post? All I can say is that openess to others ideas and the willingness to constantly reexamine what you take for granted are the hallmarks of a free individual.

dear destinyawaits,
while you say you are not condoning cults, the tone of your comment seems to "excuse" them...in my opinion there is no good reason or excuse for taking money from people on the pretense of offering them a better life. We know these individuals are no better than bank robbers or emotional rapists. They are bad, immoral, selfish people, there is nothing good about what they do.

you say

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"

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. This seems to have upset someone - did you remove a post? All I can say is that openess to others ideas and the willingness to constantly reexamine what you take for granted are the hallmarks of a free individual.

I do not have the authority to remove posts, and yes, what you write upsets me because it makes excuses for the bad things Landmark/EST and other LGATs are doing. Openess to others ideas IS NOT ALWAYS a good thing, that is why we learn to discriminate, make educated judgement calls. People who are brainwashed ARE NOT FREE, sorry destiny, but it seems to me you are still in denial. The end does not justify the means. A person who has had a labotomy performed on them no longer has the capacity to make certain decisions. When someone has hypnotised you you are no longer free....thought reform as practised by Landmark/EST and other LGATs is a form of mental labotomy...fortunately it is reversable. I hope that you are able to become a free thinker once again.

'shad'