michaelshermer.comMichael Shermer How our modular brains lead us to deny and distort evidence January 1, 2013 IF YOU HAVE PONDERED how intelligent and educated people can, in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence, believe that that evolution is a myth, that global warming is a hoax, that vaccines cause autism and…
Aspects of Recovery
Recovery from cults is a multifaceted process; initially it is the separation from the group, group practices, and meetings that bound us to the group. Therapy helps address the emotional aspects of group involvement – feelings of betrayal, abuse and vulnerability to recruitment. It helps to develop and understanding…
"Crazy" Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work?
Excerpts from the book by Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer and Janja Lalich The Therapeutic Relationship The relationship between patient and therapist is unique in important ways when compared to relationships between clients and other professionals such as physicians, dentists, attorneys, and accountants. The key difference is present from first…
James Ray’s attorneys seek to exclude witnesses
Arizona Family, January 26, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Defense attorneys for a self-help guru facing manslaughter charges are asking a judge to keep two of the state’s witnesses from testifying at trial. James Arthur Ray’s attorneys say the testimony of a man who studies cult behavior and a corporate…
Scientology and Its Discontents
October 2, 2011 Scott Lauder, Hulton Archive, Getty Images In 1968, L. Ron Hubbard used his Electrometer to determine whether tomatoes experience pain. He concluded that they “scream when sliced.” Enlarge Image By Seth Perry This past spring, in a course I called “American Scriptures,” my students and I listened…
“Cults” and Globalization: Reflections and Questions
Mike Kropveld Revised from a presentation at the International Symposium on Cultic Studies (Bangkok, Thailand), organized by Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion, Assumption University, Thailand and the Institute of Religious Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China, December 15–16, 2011. In my presentation today, I will give an overview of…
Chapter 22: Ideological Totalism
Thought reform has a psychological momentum of its own, a self-perpetuating energy not always bound by the interests of the program’s directors. When we inquire into the sources of this momentum, we come upon a complex set of psychological themes, which may be grouped under the general heading of ideological totalism. By this ungainly phrase I mean to suggest the coming together of immoderate ideology with equally immoderate individual character traits — an extremist meeting ground between people and ideas.
Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups – Revised
. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.
Definition of CULT
cult noun, often attributive \ˈkəlt\ formal religious veneration : worship a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its…
Maharishi International University Research Update
From TM-EX Newsletter, spring 1991 As the methodology of MIU researchers has improved, some of theirstudies report observations that challenge the validity of the TMmovement’s doctrinal stance; for example, a Ph.D. thesis (D, MIU,1989, T735.494, in the MIU library) called The Transcendental Meditationtechnique: A new direction for smoking cessation programs.…