CultsAreBad.org

Cult, n. A small religious group regarded as strange or as imposing excessive control over members; Any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

Studies of religious, political, and other cults have identified a number of key steps in this type of coercive persuasion:

1. People are put in physically or emotionally distressing situations;
2. Their problems are reduced to one simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized;
3. They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from the leader;
4. They get a new identity based on the group;
5. They are subject to entrapment and their access to information is severely controlled.

(From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult)

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