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No One Joins a Cult

By: Kevin Dooley
By: Kevin Dooley

Until now, I have hesitated to give any of my blog post space to writing about the hideous death cult known as ISIS. Why now discuss it? Several things.

First: Around this time of year in 1973 I lived in Pasadena, California, not far from San Bernardino where terror and murder just struck. My heart breaks over that, just like every other sane person’s. I had lived there once. If not for circumstance, I could still be there.

Second: Last month, only days after the terror attacks in Paris, I spoke to another religion class at Rollins College. Engaging in conversation with those bright young people about my seventeen year involvement with a fundamentalist cult, The Way International, moved me to keep speaking about cults and fundamentalism, especially to this next generation who will become the world’s leaders. Many of them are worried over the impact of religious differences and hatred on world affairs.

I told them I did not join a cult. No one joins a cult. Cults recruit people.

In my August 10, 2015 blog post, The Camouflage of Cults, I gave this definition of “cult” from the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA): “An ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment.” Usually a cult recruit gets showered with love, then the group enfolds and controls. Sometimes it gets dangerous.

By committing myself to The Way, which marketed itself as a biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry, I thought I was serving God. I wanted Christian fellowship and Bible knowledge, and it appeared that they offered that. It took me a long time to realize I had become a cog in Wierwille’s propaganda machine that made millions of dollars palming off Wierwille’s twisted teachings of Scripture and his fear-driven, warped version of Christianity. I’d been used.

Granted, most of us believed we were doing something good in the world, and maybe we did whenever we genuinely showed love to others, but we could have done that without Wierwille. The bottom line is that our cult leader used us to spread an us-vs-them belief and a bigoted worldview, most recognizable by Wierwille’s sale of the book, The Myth of the Six Million, which denies the Holocaust.

Third: Last weekend some friends asked me to point out the similarity between cult recruitment, which I know about first-hand, and the methods that ISIS uses to lure the vulnerable, idealistic, naïve, and disenfranchised into their evil band of thugs.

First off, I say never underestimate the power of belief. The Way continues today in New Knoxville, Ohio, although “membership” has dropped from 40,000 in its heyday during the 1980s, to about 7,000 today. Why are they still in business as a non-profit? Because people still search for certainty about God. Because belief is strong.

When I dropped out of college in 1970 to commit to The Way, I believed with a capital B that God told me to do that. When a person is convinced BEYOND ANY DOUBT that God is telling them to do something, then anything within their framework of what God condones is justified. Although some theorize that ISIS is solely political, I think this religious aspect is a hallmark of ISIS leaders’ recruitment tactics.

Thankfully, in some cults like The Way International, murder is against the cult’s beliefs because the Bible says it is wrong. Not so with ISIS.

Fourth: Last Saturday, December 5th, I was invited to call in to a radio show interview with Jeff Stevenson, author of Fortney Road: Life, Death, and Deception in a Christian Cult. This was the second interview Jeff invited me to join, and it affected me profoundly.

How did I meet Jeff? Coincidentally, Jeff and I worked with the same editor—Alice Peck in Brooklyn. Jeff’s book was edited and published before I began work with Alice on mine. Because Jeff was another of Alice’s authors and because he wrote about a cult, I bought his book.

In Fortney Road, Jeff included a bit about Victor Paul Wierwille, my old cult leader in The Way International. The day I read that paragraph, I contacted Alice and Jeff, elated over our small world connection.

John Darlington’s radio show

Turned out that in the 1970s, the radio host for Jeff’s interview, John Darlington, had met members of The Way, so when I called in, he was keen on asking me lots of questions. The interview begins with music played by The All Saved Freak Band, members of the abusive cult founded by Larry Hill that Jeff writes about.

After the music, Jeff and John have a great conversation about that band and Larry Hill’s cult. Then I join the conversation. To listen, click and scroll to find the interview at: Jeff Stevenson and Charlene Edge interview with John Darlington

Cult recruitment

Destructive cults do not tell you flat out what you are getting yourself into. They use enticing window-dressing to lure you through their door and once inside, they dazzle you with all sorts of promises. Here are a few:

  1. Acceptance in the eyes of God who approves of the group
  2. Conviction about your beliefs in a world full of doubt and uncertainty
  3. Rewards in the afterlife for doing whatever is asked of you
  4. A family who loves you more than your own
  5. A leader or guru you can depend on who claims special revelation from God
  6. Secret knowledge from the guru not available anywhere else
  7. Personal fulfillment that comes from living for a cause greater than yourself
More about fundamentalism and cults

More of my posts about cults

More of my posts about fundamentalism

Peace. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

See you next time!

2 Responses

  1. Greg Spicer
    |

    Haven’t written in a long time but have enjoyed your posts. Sorry.
    As you might expect, I have views on this topic, and have over the years refined and clarified those views. I struggle to say much but in few words. That is where the craft becomes an art, of course.

    In recent years the entrapment laid by VPW has become much more clear to me. I think that the truly incidious and dangerous aspect of this type of program is that the perpetrator believes he is extra holy not extra evil. He does not see himself as a greedy megalomaniac, but as an exceptional servant of God. VPW was by no means unique. The masses wish for a king because they lack the courage to think for themselves. Plus, they’ve been taught since birth that they need an intermediary. It would be blasphemous to have a direct relationship with God. By their nature they crave to belong to a tribe. If it is unique and holy it is just that more attractive.

    There are three points that I would like to highlight. They are established in the first session of the Class (or the first chapter of the book). At the opening we are told tha we can live a more abundant life. Indeed, the very name of the Class is titled on that premise. Good hook! But shortly after the hook is set the topic changes to the perfect bible. The discussion of abundant living is never brought up again. The session closes with the statement that the word of God is the will of God.
    The next point is that of worship. Many years after I parted company with this group I realized that they did not worship God, but did worship the bible instead. I now find this very puzzling.
    The third point is research. This is an outright lie. We sought out a path away from dogma and found ourselves embedded within the very worst kind. “Research” was done only to validated this hard core dogma. We were so brutally mislead. Thank god I escaped from that prison!

    By the way, I did have an epiphany like event that lead me out of my blindness. I finally saw someone practice real love. I had been in the ministry for thirteen years and I don’t believe I had ever seen this before. I was astounded when I finally saw it and knew immediately what it was. I was shocked out of my socks! I still am. I watched a documentary on Mother Teresa. She was the “real deal” and this was so foreign to me that I knew immediately that I was way off course.
    Coincidentally, I just started a new (2007) book about her, Come Be My Light. I hear that there is a movie coming out soon based on this book.
    I could write many pages as I am not that skilled.
    I gotta run. Keep up the good work. Keep writing.
    My best,
    Greg Spicer

    • Charlene L. Edge
      |

      Hey Greg,
      Great to hear from you! I appreciate your thoughts and could not agree more that Wierwille’s rhetoric led us into fixation with a book, The Bible. I remember hearing that charge by outsiders–that we worshipped the Bible–and scoffing at it. When you are in a box you don’t realize you are in the box. But our propaganda about the Bible was obvious to any outsider. Wierwille’s mantra of “It’s the Word, the Word and nothing but the Word,” was a clear indication of his/our obsession and delusional belief about having the “accuracy of the Bible” in our possession. Wierwille truly fooled us, taking advantage of our ignorance and trust. We’re are among the lucky few, it seems, who finally woke up. So many former Way followers still cling to Wierwille’s teachings and megalomaniacal fantasies. It’s absurd.
      Thanks for stopping by, Greg. Happy holidays.
      Cheers!

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