A cult is a system that is depicted as based on religious worship which is carried out through specific rites and ceremonies. However, the meaning of cult has evolved to mean a community where people are held together by common beliefs, often through methods such as brainwashing.

Cults have been a major part of society for centuries. Some years ago, there had seemed the possibility that the cult culture may have begun to diminish, especially with awareness about cults and their reality growing. However, events such as 9/11, and the existence of religious extremism and growing terrorism, have led to people living in fear. People also have to travel and live alone, families and communities grow more distant in their busy day to day lives, poverty and unfair spread of income and power is rampant, and people are simply becoming distant from each other – making their need to feel included greater. These are some of the causes for the success of cults.

The internet too greatly aids the reach of cults. The technology that carried people to the future, also made them easily susceptible to tactics that would otherwise not have reached them. With most people connected to the internet at all times, often lacking immunity due to rampant sleep deprivation, they become easy choices for recruitment by cults. The larger cults have the financial standing to hire excellent law firms while the media no longer delves deep into the stories behind destructive cults. These factors aid in the growth of cults, their reach and their effect.

Where, on one hand, the cult culture is spreading widely, there is also the growth of an opposing force – one that aims at helping those affected by cults, including those persons who are or were an active part of cults as well as the friends and families of such persons who are not alleviated of effect.

One resource available to these people is the internet. The tool used by cults to spread their influence is also an effective one for those who aim at curbing this influence. Blog posts, e-books, papers, articles and more by persons who were once part of a cult provides others with an insight into the nature of cults and how they work. With neurobiology explaining the tactics used by cult leaders and the cause for the effectiveness, mental health professionals have scientific proof to support their experiences and advice.

Institutions such as the Freedom of Mind Resource Centre, Inc. Are dedicated to helping those people affected by cults and to spread awareness about cults and the way they work. The aim is to increase awareness so that people whose friends or family members are part of a cult are better prepared to help their loved ones. The books and articles published by such organisations are often used by cult leaders to warn their followers against paying attention to such media. This has only helped specialists such as Steven Hassan, Director of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, Inc., to innovate and create more dynamic and effective strategies to help people.

One such approach is the Strategic Interactive Approach that was devised to counter the slandering of the works of anti-cult organisations. This approach is aimed at educating the family of a cult member about the ways of cults, and the emotional and psychological effect they have. Countering methods are also taught which are more family oriented and non-coercive in their application. This helps the cult member’s loved ones gain a better understanding of what the member is experiencing and how best to help him or her.

With people becoming emotionally and physically distant from each other, yet connected to strangers through the internet, the desire to belong is greater than ever. Cults are growing due to this phenomenon. However, the cults of the past have led to a number of people who are willing to take a stand against these practise and spread awareness – something that will bring about a change in the cult culture.