I think that one commonality for cult members is that something is missing in their background normally supplied by family or traditional spirituality. The cult becomes a kind of surrogate family, a place where by their background they feel that they belong and are somehow rewarded. Adherents become ātrue believers,ā surrendering their personal judgement, individuality, and intellect to the cult leader who tells them what to believe and do, and they assimilate the groupās beliefs and behaviors unquestioningly. Such groups exist in the political as well as spiritual world.
I knew a really bright guy in college with a promising future ahead of him who became a āMoonie,ā an adherent of the Korean Rev. Moon who followers refer to as āfather.ā He wrote me a letter post-graduation talking of his āperfect brothers and sisters,ā and I knew then that he had been assimilated by the cult. Sad and tragicā¦