A cult checklist is a group of factors proposed to identify objectively which groups, cults, or new religious movements are spurious, or likely to abuse or exploit or otherwise harm its members. In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... A new religious movement or NRM is a religious, ethical, or spiritual grouping of fairly recent origin which is not part of an established religion and has not yet become recognised as a standard denomination, church, or religious body. ...

Several checklists of "cult behavior" have been circulated by members of the anti-cult movement. These lists vary by the terminology they use, and how they group the behaviors they describe. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The check lists for problematic groups and new religious movements that are generally not labelled "cult checklists" and that have been made by people or organizations not associated by the anti-cult movement, such as sociologists and scholars of new religious movements are treated here too.

The creators of these lists generally do not explain how they created the lists.

See also: Problems surrounding the definition of a cult In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ...

Eileen Barker

A checklist, allegedly based on empirical research, was made by professor Eileen Barker, in which traits of groups that can evolve to be dangerous are described. These traits include: Empirical research is any activity that uses direct or indirect observation as its test of reality. ... Eileen Barker is a professor in sociology and is an emeritus member of the London School of Economics, and a consultant to that institutions Centre for the Study of Human Rights at. ...

1. A movement that separates itself from society, either geographically or socially;
2. Adherents who become increasingly dependent on the movement for their view on reality;
3. Important decisions in the lives of the adherents are made by others;
4. Making sharp distinctions between us and them, divine and satanic, good and evil, etc. that are not open for discussion;
5. Leaders who claim divine authority for their deeds and for their orders to their followers;
6. Leaders and movements who are unequivocally focused on achieving a certain goal.

Divinity has a number of related uses in the field of religious belief and study. ... Satanism is a religious or philosophical movement centered around Satan or another entity identified with Satan, or centered around the forces of nature, particularly human nature, represented by Satan as an archetype. ...

Canadian Security Intelligence Service - Report # 2000/03 on Doomsday Cults

A report[1] by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, dated December 18, 1999, regarding Doomsday cults include the following apocalyptic cult checklist: . The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was founded in 1984 by an act of the Canadian Parliament, Bill C-9, an Act to Establish the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to be a replacement for the floundering RCMP Security Service. ... A destructive cult is a group (often called cult) with strange beliefs (especially religious ones) and which exploits or destroys its own members or others. ... For other uses, see Apocalypse (disambiguation). ...

Characteristics

Apocalyptic Beliefs

• dualism
• the persecuted chosen
• imminence
• determinism
• salvation through conflict

Charismatic Leadership

• control over members
• lack of restraint
• withdrawal

Actions by Authorities

• lack of comprehension
• unsound negotiation
• hasty action
• spiral of amplification

Threats

Weapons Acquisition

• firearms
• explosives
• chemical / biological weapons

Institutional Infiltration

• political
• business

Criminal Activity

• crimes against individuals
• transnational crime

Early warning signs

• Intensification of illegal activities
• Humiliating circumstances
• Relocation to a rural area
• Increasingly violent rhetoric
• Struggle for leadership

Shirley Harrison

In her book "Cults - the battle for God", Shirley Harrison has a list of the characteristics of a potential destructive cult:

• A powerful leader who claims divinity or a special mission entrusted to him/her from above;
• Revealed scriptures or doctrine;
• Deceptive recruitment;
• Totalitarianism and alienation of members from their families and/or friends;
• The use of indoctrination, by sophisticated mind-control techniques, based on the concept that once you can make a person behave the way you want, then you can make him/her believe what you want;
• Slave labour - that is, the use of members on fundraising or missionary activities for little or no pay to line the leader's pockets;
• Misuse of funds and the accumulation of wealth for personal or political purposes at the expense of members; and
• Exclusivity - "we are right and everyone else is wrong".

Steve Eichel

In his "Building Resistance to Manipulation", the psychologist Steve K.D. Eichel created a checklist of signs of a sect designed to brainwash its members into loyal followers: Brainwashing or thought reform is the application of coercive techniques to change the beliefs or behavior of one or more people for political purposes. ...

• Isolate them in new surroundings apart from old friends or reference-points;
• Provide them with instant acceptance from a seemingly loving group;
• Keep them away from competing or critical ideas;
• Provide an authority figure that everyone seems to acknowledge as having some special skill or awareness;
• Provide a philosophy that seems logical and appears to answer all or the most important questions in life;
• Structure all or most activities so that there is little time for privacy or independent action or thought, provide a sense of "us" versus "them";
• Promise instant or imminent solutions to deep or long-term problems;
• Employ covert or disguised hypnotic techniques.

Hypnotic Seance, by Richard Bergh Hypnosis is understood to be a psychological condition in which an individual may be induced to exhibit apparent changes in behavior and thought. ...

James R. Lewis

In his book Cults in America, a scholar named James R. Lewis describes a number of properties he would expect a dangerous sect to have:

1. The organization is willing to place itself above the law. With the exceptions noted earlier (in the full document linked below), this is probably the most important characteristic;
2. The leadership dictates (rather than suggests) important personal (as opposed to spiritual) details of followers' lives, such as whom to marry, what to study in college, etc.;
3. The leader sets forth ethical guidelines members must follow but from which the leader is exempt;
4. The group is preparing to fight a literal, physical Armageddon against other human beings;
5. The leader regularly makes public assertions that he or she knows is false and/or the group has a policy of routinely deceiving outsiders.

Armageddon refers generally to end times or giant catastrophes in various religions and cultures. ...

Isaac Bonewits

Isaac Bonewits provides an "Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame" [2] (first published in his book "Real Magic" in 1979) intended to evaluate the degree of resemblance of a given religious or secular group to what the observer using this tool might consider a "cult." As he puts it, "The purpose of this evaluation tool is to help both amateur and professional observers, including current or would-be members, of various organizations (including religious, occult, psychological or political groups) to determine just how dangerous a given group is liable to be, in comparison with other groups, to the physical and mental health of its members and of other people subject to its influence." Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949) is an author and occultist involved in American Neo-druidism. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ...

His checklist, known as the ABCDEF ("Because understanding cults should be elementary"), allows the user to evaluate groups on a scale of 1–10, on the basis of 18 factors:

1. internal control
2. external control
3. wisdom or knowledge claimed by leaders
4. wisdom or knowledge credited to leaders
5. dogma
6. recruiting
7. front groups
8. wealth
9. sexual manipulation
10. sexual favoritism
11. censorship
12. isolation
13. dropout control
14. violence
15. paranoia
16. grimness
17. surrender of will
18. hypocrisy

The ABCDEF is available in multiple languages, including German, French, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese, on Bonewits's website. It was used by the FBI in its special "Meddigo" report on apocolyptic Christian cults. It was also referrenced by a committee of the Union of South Africa as part of their efforts to reform that nation's marriage laws, which had previously recognized only marriages within the official state church. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... National motto: Ex Unitate Vires (Latin: From Unity, strength} Official languages Afrikaans, English. ...

Anthony Storr

Anthony Storr, a psychiatry professor in the United Kingdom, discusses common traits of good and bad gurus in his book, Feet of clay - A Study of Gurus.

Storr defines the term guru as people having "special knowledge" who tell, referring to this special knowledge, how other people should lead their lives. He applies the term "guru" to figures as diverse as Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Gurdjieff, Rudolf Steiner, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Jim Jones and David Koresh. Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... For other people named Muhammad, see Muhammad (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... George Ivanovich Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 13 / January 14, 1866? - October 29, 1949), the Greek-Armenian mystic and teacher of dancing born in Alexandropol, Armenia (then of the Russian Empire, now Gumri, Armenia), traveled to many parts of the world (i. ... Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (February 27, 1861 – March 30, 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, architect, playwright, educator, and social thinker. ... Carl Jung around 1910, Source: Prints & Photographs Division Library of Congress Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) (IPA:) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology. ... Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (IPA: []) (May 6, 1856–September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Brochure of the Peoples Temple, portraying cult leader Jim Jones as the loving father of the Rainbow Family. ... David Koresh David Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell (August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993). ...

He argues that most gurus promise followers "new paths to salvation", share common character traits (e.g. being loners without friends) and that some suffer from a mild form of schizophrenia. He also wrote in the book that the gurus who are eloquent, authoritarian, or interfere in the private lives of followers are the ones who are more likely to be unreliable and dangerous. He further refers to Eileen Barker's list to recognize dangerous situations in religious movements. Eloquence (from Latin eloquentia) is fluent, forcible, elegant or persuasive speaking in public. ... A cult checklist is a group of factors proposed to identify objectively which groups, cults, or new religious movements are spurious, or likely to abuse or exploit or otherwise harm its members. ...

See also

• Cult
• List of purported cults
• "Guru" in a Western context

In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... This list of reported cults indexes a number of groups that have been referred to: as a cult directly by specific listed sources; as a sect directly by specific listed French-language or United Kingdom sources; as such within the last 50 years; Disclaimer: Inclusion of a group within this... References ^ Tirha, B. B. A Taste of Trascendence, (2002) p. ...

References

• Steve K.D. Eichel. "Building Resistance to Manipulation". The Journal of Professional & Ethical Hypnosis, 1, (Summer 1985), pp. 34-44.
• Lewis, James. Common Signs of Destructive Cults. Available online
• Lewis, James R. Cults in America ISBN 157607031-X (1998)
• Shirley Harrison. "Cults - The Battle for God" ISBN 0747014140 (May 24, 1990)

External links

• The Rational Enquirer Article about cults cult checklist by the skeptic Barry Beyerstein
• Dr. Robert J. Lifton's Eight Criteria for Thought Reform from Robert J. Lifton's book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism Chapter 22 (Second Edition, Chapel Hill, 1989) Chapter 15 (First Edition, New York, 1987) on the website of former members of International Churches of Christ, first published in 1961.
• How to determine if a group is a destructive cult from the anti-cult website factnet.org