Judas Girl’s title asserts, “ . . .four cults and how I escaped them all”—but what IS a cult?
Many of us think of the People’s Temple (Jonestown) massacre, perhaps the Branch Davidians—David Koresh’s Waco group and the ATF standoff, or Heaven’s Gate and the notorious mass suicide to reach the “Hale Bopp” comet. All of these tragically resulted in the mass deaths of the majority of the groups’ members, propelling them into the spotlight. Tragically, it frequently takes a catastrophe of this magnitude for the public to take notice, and by then, it’s too late.
There is no ‘official’ definition of a cult. The definitions that do exist tend to emphasize the group’s strategies over the results. There are, in fact, a number of common indicators, such as authoritarian leadership, views that significantly deviate from social norms, extreme control and manipulation of members, and little or no engagement with the secular world. My experience and research, however, indicate that a group’s status as a cult is determined more by the members’ experiences than by its strategies.
I’ve heard the accounts of other survivors from each of the four cults that appear in Judas Girl. I’ve heard even more stories from other cult escapees over the years. Some were pacifist, while others were militaristic. Some lived in rural areas, while others were urban. Some lived in communes, while others lived apart. While some had multiple leaders, others only had one. Despite these variations, survivors of each of these groups repeatedly tell me two things.
First, they feared merely questioning the group’s core beliefs jeopardized their salvation.
Second, they knew leaving would cost them their identity and community.
As a result of these fears, members are frequently forced to submit to mental, psychological, or even physical and sexual abuse. Worse, many become abusers themselves, either through lack of knowledge or terror of losing everything if they didn’t comply. If they do escape, they emerge broken, confused, and lost. They are faces I would recognize anywhere without a dictionary definition of a cult.
As you read Judas Girl and think about groups around you or ones you may belong to, consider the two common experiences I shared above. You don’t have to be hailing a comet to be in a cult, nor may anyone’s life be in immediate danger. But if members stay out of fear—if their life choices aren’t your own—then they may well be in a cult.