Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs (English Edition)
The phenomenon of destructive influence and cults of all types has not gone away. It has morphed and become much more sophisticated. Today’s twenty-year-olds know little or nothing about major cult stories of past decades: Charles Manson; Jim Jones’ People Temple Jonestown tragedy (they know the expression, “drink the kool-aid” though); David Koresh’s Branch Davidians in Waco; Heaven’s Gate mass death; Shoko Asahara’s Aum Shinrikyo’s sarin gassing in Japan; and Order of the Solar Temple mass deaths to name some major news stories. Mainstream media is doing less investigative reporting on destructive cults, avoiding their civic responsibility, in my opinion. Large cults have gone mainstream and become very sophisticated, hiring top law firms and lobbyists. The Internet is now the major recruitment arena. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is rampant, making people especially vulnerable to undue social influence.
