Cults have captured public interest for several years. Some of the most notable cults have been covered in investigative journalism, featured on news networks, talk shows, popular blogs, and even heavily researched whitepapers. They are a topic that has equally fascinated and frightened countless members of society, with stories behind many sects being disturbing or unbearable. Popular cults like the Charles Manson family have been presented in documentaries, movies and podcasts. But what are cults really like and how do they operate? Could it be that the leaders of these organizations harness their power by introducing group drug use? This article will examine the world of cults and drugs, and break down those questions.
How Do Cults Work?
Cults, also referred to as sects, are usually made up of a collection of people who share a commitment or strong devotion to a charismatic leader, idea, movement or object. This shared interest has allowed cult leaders to dominate their followers.
Cult leaders have been known to control everything their members do and think — this can be as precise as choosing select meals, clothes, and even made-up vocabulary for their followers. They have a system of beliefs that convince people that only the cult leader has the answer to all of life’s questions. Members of these groups are made to believe that by following all of the leader’s rules they will gain the solutions, answers, and fulfillment they are seeking.
Not all cults lead to death, but they can be harmful to members’ mental health and overall well-being. Psychologists explain that cognitive dissonance theory causes feelings in some individuals of stress and unease when they are conflicted about their beliefs or when their actions go against those beliefs. Cognitive dissonance is not something that naturally occurs or something that everyone will feel the same about. In fact, the person must be aware of the inconsistency in order to feel distressed.
People usually want to avoid feeling that way, but cognitive dissonance affects mental health, attitudes, language, thoughts and behaviors which makes people more susceptible to join a cult. The way people deal with these unwanted feelings and disturbing thoughts is by hiding their beliefs and the things they do from others. This can keep cult members trapped because as time passes they become more committed to the practice which makes it harder for them to realize it was all a ruse to be controlled.
Cults and Extreme Beliefs
Generally, there are four known components that make up a standard cult:
- In order to start up, cults need a charismatic leader. This is usually the person that starts the sect. A leader is a person who has certain qualities generally they have to be persuasive with the way they speak. They are experts at manipulating others and are intuitive so they know who to target. They also have a pleasant attitude that can attract people and win them over with the messages they convey.
- Cults have a transcendent belief system that tells and shows their followers how to get to a better place. To be a part of the cult prospective members must go through a transformation process. The leader or superiors of the cult will dictate how that process will be done.
- Cults have systems of control. Most potential members want to join cults because they believe that being a part of the group will give their life purpose and meaning. The more they gather together they get involved in more rituals and they take on the same views of the cult. That new point of view they adopt leads to a new set of behaviors. In most cases, masked control mechanisms are used by cults to control people sometimes from communicating with others outside of the group or they will control how they dress.
- Systems of influence are the fourth dimension that makes up a cult. In some instances the attempt to be in control is noticeable but in other cases, it isn’t. Cults have a way of influencing people without them even realizing it. Peer pressure or the comparison of members that are already in the cult will be used. Then in no time, people will start to change and be so invested in the cult that they don’t accept any other views or ideas of outsiders. Their connections become so strong with the cult that they can’t get out.
Could There Be A Link Between Cults and Drugs?
When drugs are abused they can cause psychological changes in people’s behavior and thought processes. In some cults, leaders dosed their members and eventually created a dependence around the need to feel high off life. Members who become dependent on a substance can easily be controlled and dismissive of ideals they normally would find offbeat.
Before Charles Manson became a blood-thirsty cult leader he was a part-time drug dealer and, in his own way, a pimp. The access he had to drugs and the way he presented drug-focused experiences allowed him to gain control over many individuals who lived on his ranch awaiting the next dose. When he had deadly and peculiar ideas he would introduce those thoughts to his followers while they were tripping on LSD. Since everyone was hallucinating and distracted by their high, they would agree to anything he would say. If they didn’t, he made sure to give them a higher dose until they didn’t have a choice but to agree with him and carry out his plans.
Charles Manson and his sect were not the only ones that would operate this way. Other cult leaders around the world have used the same strategy. They use LSD and other drugs and hallucinogenic substances to command and take over people that are vulnerable. Cults such as Heavens Gate in the nineties ingested barbiturates before deciding to place bags over their heads and end their life. Thirty-nine members died that night.
The cult was run by Marshall Applewhite. He was obsessed with UFOs and his presbyterian upbringing. Applewhite would tell all of the members that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. He would say they were living at the end of times and that God was an alien. These strong beliefs led members to think that a spacecraft was coming for them the night they passed. They thought that by taking the drugs mixed with applesauce that they were simply freeing their souls.
Why Do People Join Cults?
Although not all cults have the same fate, many of them are psychologically damaging to the members that are in them. They use transformation techniques that victimize their future members. Cult leaders and their trainers can see the vulnerabilities in people and take advantage of them. Ex-cult members and their relatives have confirmed that they were lured and that they experienced negative behavioral changes.
Sociologists of religion accredit the success of cults to the malfunctions that can occur in a well-established societal belief system. More than two-thirds of cult members are recruited by someone they know such as a co-worker, family member, neighbor or friend. Usually, the recruitment process does not happen overnight, in fact, it is a very slow process. Leaders are hesitant in coming off too strong in fear of scaring someone off. Of course, there are times when cult leaders use aggressive tactics such as fear, intimidation and shame.
Still, some of the most well-known cults in history began with a leader who slowly reeled people in by selecting those who appeared most vulnerable. Vulnerability usually comes in the form of experiencing recent loss or not being widely accepted by society. People who feel helpless submit to joining a cult out of a need to belong to something and to gain a sense of acceptance or protection they failed to find before. And other times, cults offer pleasure and euphoric promises in various forms to people who have been denied these ideas.
Why do you think people join cults? And do you believe drugs have a place in how these groups function? We want to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
