-The #1 Bestselling Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults-
The classic work by Steven Hassan as discussed by Pierre S. Freeman

Could Cult Members Really Be ‘Stable, Intelligent, Idealistic People’?

            A good question, but that is what Hassan asserts about the cult members he has counseled. And this answer could actually apply to a variety of cults, including the Unification Church, as Hassan knew it, and AMORC, as I experienced it.

            As I have indicated previously, the business of cult recruiting is different in AMORC than in most large-scale religious cults. People do not hand out flowers at airports or seek donations from dragging strangers to lectures or handing out copies of the Mastery of Life (an AMORC pamphlet) on the sidewalk.  So the Unification Church’s methodology, as experienced by Steven Hassan is different than AMORC’s. But both organizations were really very actively recruiting.

            Initially, in a chapter called, “Cult Psychology,” Hassan mentions that, by the time he had written this book (and it was published first in 1988), he had counseled over a thousand members of varying cults whose ages varied from 12 to 85. On the whole, these members were well educated, stable and intelligent people- somewhat different, perhaps, than many people might imagine cult people, who they might think would normally be saddled with serious psychological and emotional problems.
            Right there, this ought to ring some alarm bells in a few of my newer readers. Is it really possible that cults would actively solicit reasonably sane and solid people? They, being that way themselves, might be asking- Could I actually be vulnerable myself?
            what does this also say about the cult leader(s)’ confidence in their abilities to recruit? Do they really believe that it is relatively easy to indoctrinate smart people?

            Yes, they do. And it is easy- provided that these recruits have certain vulnerabilities- like temporary unemployment, problems in schools, personal tragedies, breakups in relationships- the things that befall almost everyone in life.
            But it helps if these people are caught at the right time- or if something is offered that appeals to them so much that they become vulnerable because of their mindset. That mindset could compel them to take a leap of faith so they can nab that brass ring before the merry-go-round makes one more circuit without them even trying.
            So, with this possibility of recruiting ‘good’ people understood, it is necessary to understand why it is vital to go after people like this.
            As Hassan says, it is necessary because cults are a business- and, for a variety of reasons, these recruits have to be gold.
            In the Unification Church in Hassan’s experience, one of the main reasons for recruiting cult members is that they work for the Church as fundraisers as well as members. They have to be very strong, stable and idealistic to survive the rigorous schedules they are involved with (an essential to keep them under the thumb of the Church and subject to the conditions that maintain effective Mind Control). As in Scientology and other groups, you work your members to the bone- but they still have to be convincing, empathic and dedicated and have some idea of the economic quest they are on- so they don’t waste the Church’s valuable investment in their labor (however frugal).

            In AMORC, the value of those they recruit is their membership fees, their contribution of AMRA, the box for additional “voluntary” collections, a special charity for indigent members and any legacy they might live after they die.
            AMORC has such a clever advertising program, they don’t need live recruits- and, besides, a lot of their appeal is to people generally familiar with the more esoteric sides of the paranormal and the occult or at least interested in those subjects. As for those people, potential recruits who are smart but perhaps a bit too lazy to do too much research,  they can be sucked in without anyone handing them a flower or inviting them to a meeting. In fact, until the publication of my book, research was not an option in AMORC because the cult was smart enough to hide potential dissenters away from the public. The draw for potential recruits is still the extraordinary, historical elite they will belong to and their eventual acquisition of remarkable powers and an alignment with the Cosmic, so truth, prosperity and personal power will deliver them from what could be an ordinary and somewhat boring life. But now there is at least one dissenter that can easily be found blowing a very big whistle.