Cult characteristics

The Arranged Ideological Revolutions (1)

The Arranged Ideological Revolutions; the Passage of Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) from a Political Group to a Religious Cult

Based on Dr. Massoud Banisadr’s “Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel”

The translated text of Hojjat-ollah Aflaki’s speech made at the Symposium of the Link between Cults and Terrorism held in Isfahan. He is an expert and researcher on Iranian history.

Introduction

Structural Characteristics of Cults:

Considering proposed definitions of a cult, its purpose, nature and structure, it is revealed that all cults share certain characteristics which distinguish between them and nations, religions and religious sects. Cult formation is based on such shared characteristics, intentionally or unintentionally, which continuously develop even when the cult is declining.

Such characteristics consist of ideas, rituals, rules, doctrines and unique theories which distinguish a certain cult from other cults and the society. It has to be noted that this stage is determined intentionally by cult leaders, founders and ideologues.

There are some cases in which cult formation has not been predetermined and leaders were to bring about religious and social reforms. However, as a result of inferring new ideologies, they have separated themselves from others thus forming a cult faced with opposed ideologies on the part of the society.

Another characteristic of cult is the factor “devotion” and blind obedience of devotee toward mentor or leader. Such a characteristic is not present in the fundamental definitions of cult but the fact is that during history, cultists have not denied such a factor rather they are proud of it and consider their membership in a cult as a bliss and honour. They regard themselves as sheep protected by cult leader. For example, the factor of devotion in the cultist structure of Sufism, Isma’ilie Alamout (followers of Hasan Sabbah), Isma’ilie Mahallati (in Iran, Tajikistan, India, England, and Africa) is the main characteristic to the point that followers of Agha Khan Mahallati presented him equal in his weight gold and diamond. (Schpigel Journal, 1949, No.29, 33).

Cults have other characteristics which are either the result of above-mentioned features or complement them. First, from a cultist viewpoint, people are either insider or alien and the latter are misled. Second, cultists have to observe the factor “keeping secret” carefully so they never let others participate in their circles. For example, Sufis scarcely let others participate in their sessions of invocation or “Sama” Or leftist groups in Iran shook hand with each other in a special way and called it revolutionary as opposed to imperial one. They called each other “comrade” and “brother” and attired in contrast to common norms. As such, it may be necessary to study such cult characteristics in Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in order to discover corresponding similarities within the group compaired wit other known cults.

B. Cult Conducts within MKO

MKO has internal and external aspects which are somehow contradictory referred to by its former members. The emphasis put by the organization on factors such as honesty and keeping secret confirms this fact since MKO is not merely a guerilla or political group rather its leaders consider it as a cultural, religious, and social group aimed at improving all aspects of human life. As such, keeping secrets in the organization involves security issues as well as instructional, ideology and inter-organizational conducts. Finally, as a result of ideological revolutions in the organization, this political group turned into a dogmatic cult.

It seems that most ideological revolutions formed by Massoud Rajavi, MKO’s leader, against Islamic republic of Iran have been preplanned and then revealed as separate revolutions to justify the organization’s actions. Eventually, all such ideological revolutions turned MKO into an ideological and religious cult and enhanced Massoud Rajavi from the stance of a guerilla leader to an ideological one who appointed his wife as the ideological mother of MKO. Below, a number of the organization’s approaches are listed.

1. Ideological revolutions concerning the relation between men and women:

The process in which Maryam Azodanloo (Maryam Rajavi) turned into ideological mother of MKO is very interesting. Such a process is a clause of ideological revolution and reveals cult formation process clearly. It has to be pointed out that such a process includes various stages of ideological revolution and has happened over years. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, 478).

Some of the clauses of the revolution which promoted Maryam Rajavi to the position of the ideological mother of the organization are as follows: only Maryam Rajavi can participate in female sessions since she is their mother. Massoud Rajavi is not only the ideological leader of MKO but occupies the position possessed by a Shiite Imam. The insiders’ heart had to be enamored with his love and submit to him in total obedience. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.242, 428,478).

Gender revolution aimed at making members far from sexual inclinations which make men consider women as subjects of trading who lure them and try to attract the attention of men by showing off. Therefore, such a revolution was brought about in order to overcome gender crisis intensified in recent years in the organization despite separation of men and women. One of the main approaches in this regard was absolute separation of men and women to the point that men were not allowed to participate in women sessions nor vice versa. Even a man could not sit on a chair on which a woman was sitting before. However, Maryam Rajavi was an exception to these rules. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, 379).

Gender attachment is human grave from which Mojahedin have to flee. They can do so through above-mentioned ways and also professing their sinfulness before Maryam and Massoud. It means that all people are sinful, wives are witches and marrying them is forbidden. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.342-5). In many sessions, Massoud Rajavi and associate cadres acted offensively toward other highly educated members some of whom represented the National Council of Resistance in countries such as the U.S. For example, once Massoud Banisadr, the representative of the National Council of Resistance in the U.S., was about to speak and Massoud Rajavi introduced him as follows: “a dead man speaking deep from his grave”. Anyway, profess of sinfulness was one of the major characteristics of this clause of revolution, i.e. all members are sinful and it is only Maryam Rajavi who is innocent. Therefore, Maryam and he have to be relied upon in all matters. Since nobody deserves knowing Massoud except Maryam, he has to pass this way along with Maryam. Therefore, members have to follow Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi fighting against Islamic republic of Iran both politically and ideologically. As such, the presence of Maryam Rajavi as the single ideological member of the organization was vital to understand Massoud Rajavi, his love to God and members and his detestation of Khomeini, the Islamic revolution leader. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.347, 354).

In fact, the main objective of all ideological revolutions is winning absolute obedience of members, the most fundamental factor for running the cults. Therefore, Mojahedin have to be absolute devotees and stop doing common practices like jesting, free study, working out of the organization, unless it is an act of fundraising, non-organizational relations, attachment to personal property and sexual relations out of organization, keeping their personal books and the like. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.207, 214).

The process of divorce revolution was as follows: Massoud Rajavi was considered as imam of the time and nobody was worthy enough to see him since the members and their partners were themselves the veils. Therefore, women were told their husband and men were their barrier. So couples got divorced. Even single members underwent such a revolution promising not to get married in the future. All divorce papers were signed and delivered to Massoud Rajavi over one week. Any doubtful member was punished severely. For example, a member called Yaghubi who was a ranking member lost his status as a result of having relation with his wife. Or other members such as Karim Haqqi and his wife Maryam Babaee were subject to severe torture over years which ended with the wife’s suicide.

In fact, the main reasons behind such revolutions, and divorce revolution in particular, were not those acknowledged by the organization’s leaders, rather, they were as follows: winning complete obedience of members, solving marriage problem in the organization (in which men were 3 times more than women) (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, p.238) and also a terrible monopolism to the point that according to a foreign reporter, Massoud Rajavi could not endure members loving anybody except him. Consequently, children were sent to orphanages so as not to see their parents.

In fact, divorce and gender revolutions were complementary. It is worth noting that before divorce revolution, members were said to marry each other to compensate for emotional problems of those members losing their partner in Forugh operation. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, 326). Moreover, in divorce revolution, couples were forced to perform three-fold divorce in which they could never possibly remarry. Such a divorce is against Islamic rules. Such actions by MKO turned it into a religious cult exceeding human rights.

Ideological revolution of MKO considered men as wild and passive creatures so that it was believed that men should be replaced by women in the organization. Moreover, they were ordered to criticize each other openly and even call their friends murderer. Otherwise, Massoud Rajavi and other officials got angry, offended them, and called them rubbish, dirty mouse, traitor, hypocrite since they did not criticize others. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.392, 426-7,).

This stage of revolution aimed at expelling opposed members and replacing them with women. In addition, they made members admit to guilts they have done before in the presence of Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi and Tahereh. Once a man complained of his wife being so thin was called by officials as obscene, cuckold, rubbish, fool, etc. it is evident that according to the organization’s ideology, women had superiority over men. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.230, 234).

Massoud Rajavi believed that ideological revolution may increase members” capabilities so they performed such offensive actions toward members. According to one clause, men could not achieve high ranks so 12 female members were selected as key members of leadership council and 12 females were selected as alternative members. All of them declared that Massoud Rajavi is their master and they are his maid. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.380, 421).

It is doubtful why 12 members were appointed. Such a selection seems ideological since 12 symbolizes the number of Shiite innocent Imams. Furthermore, appointing females instead of males confirmed the superiority of women over men. MKO believed that it was necessary to fight against Islamic Republic of Iran so women took responsibilities not based on meritocracy. Such considerations led to so called seat revolution (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, pp.285, 283, 414, 482,).

In fact, the issue of feminism in MKO aimed at expelling those male members who criticized the organization, accusing Islamic Republic of Iran of exploiting women, and abuse of women’s tender emotions to secure the leadership of Massoud Rajavi and his wife turned the organization into a cult. Although the organization tried to conceal the issue of divorce revolution which was to the advantage of Islamic Republic of Iran but the memoirs of separated members revealed it (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, 368).

It is worth noting that before the performance of forced divorces, all members got divorced in the presence of Abrishamchi, MKO’s number 2 in rank, who had already wedded them all in the name of Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi. (Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel, 25).

Translated by mojahedin.ws

August 19, 2007 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

A Comparative Study of Eclectic Cults after the Advent of Islam in Iran

The translated text of Dr. Abbasi’s speech made at the Symposium of the Link between Cults and Terrorism held in Isfahan.

Introduction

One of the common procedures of assessing social, political, ideological, and cultural movements is to compare and contrast them in order to predict their course of events in different circumstances and also to reveal some facts about them, facts that are even kept hidden from the insiders of such organizations. Such a comparative study prevents to be entrapped by prejudice and unfairness and lets everybody to make a sound judgment.

It has to be pointed out that in such an assessment, it is necessary to first categorize fundamental and effective characteristics of the system and then study such movements in terms of their shared characteristics. In other words, the features that should be taken into considerations are those shared by all cults not the accidental and unique features which emerge in the face a certain condition.

Such points will be considered in the present study. Mujahedin-e-Khalgh Organization (MKO), a.k.a the National Council of Resistance (NCR), shares the same features with its other alias (1) and other similar political movements that developed in recent years in Iran. Although, before and after the victory of Islamic revolution in Iran, they were not too influential, but their futile activities heavily impacted Iran’s social and political atmosphere. Moreover, the following factors may justify the significance of the study of such groups: hidden and apparent support of enemies of Islamic Republic of Iran such as liberal-democrat parties (similar to those in the U.S), fascist and reactionary parties (similar to those in Iraq) of MKO, fluctuation in the world’s order on the eve of the third millennium, and growth of terrorism along with the extension of ideological and practical theories of humanism, human rights and democracy. As such, one of the most assuring procedures is to conduct a comparative study between the current and past political and social movements and MKO to reveal the hidden aspects of this group to evolve a sound judgment of it.

However, it has to be pointed out that because of a lack of due time and authentic resources concerning certain historical periods, the present study aims to consider those movements whose history has been documented in history books leaving aside the ancient and legendary groups whose resources are not authentic. These concerned groups belong to post-Islamic period and which can characteristically and ideologically be compared to MKO.

Moreover, it is worth noting that since MKO pretends to be an ideological and cultural movement aimed at making social reforms, it has been tried to compare it to those movements who based their activities on social support and ideological infrastructures. However, the results indicate that MKO is the less socially supported movement amongst others. Despite some movements have attracted the attention of a large number of people, MKO is the least supported organization.

It is necessary to demarcate between those cults such as Babakie or Isma’ili Nezari and that of divine religious sects such as Shiite and Sunni rather than considering any religious sect as a cult. Beside the factor of divine revelation which constitutes the basis of Islam and Shiite sects, there are other factors which distinguish between a cult and a religious sect: eclecticism, violence, monopolism, mental and ideological metamorphosis, secret instructions, superiority of materialism under the pretext of spiritual pretensions, etc. For example, Shiite believe that “those things considered lawful by the prophet of Islam are permanently lawful and things considered forbidden by him are forbidden forever” (2). This belief has remained untouched after more than 1400 years, but all cults undergo various changes under the claims of ideological revolution after a short period of time.

Intrinsic Characteristics of MKO

A review of MKO’s statements, pamphlets, and instructional as well as propaganda booklets since 1960 implies that Mujahedin-e-Khalgh Organization is an ideological group advocating revolutionary moves aimed at provoking the masses to escalate a revolutionary uprising by exploiting possible means of violence and armed warfare in demand of forming a classless society devoid of any social inequality. Moreover, the sympathizers had to observe two main elements, confidence and absolute obedience never thinking of any criticism. No recruitment was admitted unless the applicants were qualified for the membership, a procedure that well distinguishes it from other active parties.

MKO’s ideological infrastructure is an eclectic one synthesizing Islam with Marxism. However, many experts and experienced members of the organization state that the organization is much tainted with Marxism than Islam. Its inclination to Marxism is proven since the organization plays a key role to define concepts such as discrimination, class and economic equality, struggle, and the like that are the central issues in Marxism. In contrast, its adherence to Islam is partial and selective mainly extracting social and political rules while disregarding laws concerning individual status, legal laws, and religious rituals. In addition, the organization’s ambitious utilization of Islamic concepts such as martyrdom, leadership, jihad, enjoining good deeds and forbidding evil are best exploited by the leaders to justify the group’s deeds. As such, many religious customs and rituals of Islam were denied since they were known to be reactionary and thus, Marxism was decorated with an Islamic texture.

However, here the aim is to discuss the remarkable characteristics of MKO rather than its ideological inclinations. It is evident that there are eclectic elements in MKO’s ideology, but here we do not use the term “eclectic” as denoting a negative conception. We use it because it is the best term describing the combination of two or more ideologies in a single one. Some people consider eclecticism as a useful procedure in order to select positive points of different ideologies while some other consider it as an example of distortion in religious issues.

It seems that the first ideologues of the organization were of the first group and believed that they could form a dynamic religious and revolutionary ideology through combining positive points of Marxism and Islam in order to fight against the reign of Iranian monarchical regime. To achieve this end, the Islamic rules did not seem to be productive, as they concluded. On the other hand, because of the global political circumstance at the time that regarded the left ideologies as dynamic in confronting against global colonialism and capitalism, Marxism and communism, disregarding their inherent tenets of secularism and irreligiousness, worked as the best. The outcome was an eclectic ideology that combined Islam and Marxism to the point that the leaders distorted the Quranic concepts to harmonize their eclectic ideology. Later on, some other offshoots of the group like “Peykar” totally denied Islam and antagonized it while some others maintained what they did not judge to be reactionary. Moreover, being unaware of the history and philosophy of Marxism and because of a lack of comprehensive understanding of Marxism’s scientific role in the future, they submitted to a blind acceptance of some key materialistic concepts such as dialecticism, contradiction, and proletariat and never made an attempt to differentiate between them in Islamic and Marxist context.

In general, the organization’s four inherent characteristics can be enumerated as the adopted ideology, eclecticism, attaching to Islam and maintaining Marxism.

The fifth characteristic which was not a product of synthesizing Islam and Marxism but the result of a sever atmosphere of strangulation in Iran in 1960s was a dominant inclination toward revolutionary feats in their most violent form since, because of the overwhelming political situation, no peaceful struggle seemed to be contributive. The best violent struggle mold was known to be assassination and revolutionary execution that MKO proved to be expertise in the practice. The evidences are the group’s perpetrated atrocities before and after the Islamic revolution in Iran, like the violent moves against the survivors of Pahlavi’s regime, armed demonstration in 1980, bombings and assassinations, collaboration with Iraqi regime, and a broad military aggression across the Iranian borders named Forugh-e-Javidan, Operation Eternal Light.

Another unique feature of the organization which has been developed parallel to its ideology, the outcome of both the cause and effect of its ideology, is its inclination to be a cult. This innate tendency made the organization from the very beginning to be a closed and secret group, a tendency that evolved under the impact of a variety of unfolding, both intentionally and unintentionally, which was much the impact of its eclectic ideology, revolutionary objectives, and organizational conducts. (3).

A Comparative Study into a Number of Islamic Cults

Regarding the above-mentioned distinctive characteristics of MKO, it is necessary to further a study of some political and social movements that persisted in a thousand-or so-period and which were similar to MKO. A comparison between the activities and destiny of those movements and that of MKO helps to illuminate facts on the manner, nature and course of events of MKO and grants Iranian elite, officials, masses and even diplomatic and juridical officials of other countries an opportunity to make a sound judgment about this group.

It has to be pointed out again that we are not to value or disvalue such concepts like eclecticism, cult, etc. Rather we use them in order to get a better understanding of the nature of this system, permitting others to make due judgment in this regard.

One of the reign eras in the history of Iran and Islam which gave rise to various movements is that of Abbasids in the second century A.H. because of development of conflicting ideas in Muslim world and certain political and social conflicts.

The remarkable feature of these movements was that they were invested with eclecticism, thought and faith deviation as well as exploiting religion for material and worldly gains. These early Islamic movements turned into a new cult with a leader who occupied a high status parallel to that of an imam, prophet or even God. The followers mainly involved farmers, slaves and common masses. It is interesting to know that the cult leaders were mostly dismissed rulers who now turned to abuse national and religious beliefs to regain a higher status.

An interesting case to begin with may be rebellion of Al-Muqanna’ or masked prophet in the years147-148 A.H. At first, he was a launderer and then was appointed as the secretary of Abu Muslim of Khurasan. Once in a war he lost one eye and since then wore a mask on his face. However, his followers believed that since he claimed to be incarnated God and God could not possibly be seen, he did so to maintain his sacredness.

After the death of Abu Muslim, Muqanna claimed that Abu Muslim’s soul had become incarnated in him and soon claimed to be a prophet and later a divinity. He would hide his face under a golden mask and formed his eclectic cult.

The followers of Muqanna’ consisted of some infidel Asian Turks, Zoroastrians, and a number of other cults. They would wear white garments and started a 14-year long period of murder, plundering, destruction of mosques in the vicinity of Khurasan. Finally, Muqnna’ was surrendered in a fort by Harat ruler. When he became certain that he would be killed, first he poisoned all his wives (about 200 women) and then threw himself into the fire along with some of his followers and burned to death. The major typical of his cult was adherence an eclectic ideology in the frame of a cult and practice of violence. (4)

Coincident with Muqanna’, somewhere in his neighborhood, a man called Staps rebelled in Sistan in 150 A.H. He was a Zoroastrian who pretended to be Muslim. Despite gathering a large number of supporters, he was surrendered, imprisoned, and killed by Mansur Abbasi. Since then, a number of other eclectic rebellions were formed none of which were successful. Such eclectic groups, under the pretext of Islam, indulged in most violent practices; they destroyed the mosques and beheaded children in schools (5).

Babak Khorram-Dīn or Babak Xoramdin formed a Zoroastrian cult which was also tainted with pre-Islamic faiths. They were alleged to run a communal life of sharing wives and properties, somehow an ancient form of a Bolshevik and Marxist community that adhered to a violent strategy that resulted in many murders and plundering. Being a great threat for both Muslims and non-Mulisms, he was suppressed by Muslim Caliphs. After his death, Mazyar, an Iranian prince, became the Khorramis’ leader and continued the path of the former in a much violent manner in looting and killing in the northern Iranian cities of Amol and Saari in 224 A.H. He also maintained the same eclectic ideology and cult manner of Babak. Finally he was imprisoned and executed by Mo’tasem Abbasi (6).

Khawarij was another case of a violent cult in the early Islamic period. Their cult was formed after the Battle of Siffin. They were known to be most violent and extremist. They called their opponents infidels and considered their killings a duty to accomplish. Khawarij were an amalgamation of some other cults, like Abazie, Azaraghe and the like, which were all infamous for their violent feats. The group ended to be notoriously referred to by historians as the Puritans of Islam. It is worth noting that after some decades, regardless of holding onto extremely catchy mottos, they underwent a change to become a conservative sect and became spoiled to the point that actually rejected what they once held precious and strongly fought to promulgate (7).

It is worth noting that all above-mentioned movements were eclectics as well as cultist. In fact, cultist groups such as Khawarij, Babakie, Muqanna’i and the like were popular and famous cults (8).

Isma’ilim is another political and social movement in Muslim world; Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia in particular. Despite many similarities existing between this sect and Mujahedin-e-Khalgh Organization, little attention has been paid to further studies.

Of other important ideological, political and social movements in Islamic territories is Isma’ilism. A split of Isma’ilism is what is notoriously referred to as assassins of Alamut that many think it analogous to MKO. Batinis is also an offshoot of Isma’ilism that can be compared to MKO. Isma’ilism evolved many other splintered sects and was favored by other religions and non-Islamic ideologies because of its innovative and self-interpretation of Islam both in doctrine and practical laws. Such characteristics turned it into an eclectic cult recruiting members of other cults (9).

The first leaders of Isma’ilism, being afraid of the rulers of the time, lived in the hideout and thus, were mostly known as the “occult imams”. The occultation of leaders continued in the next generations to achieve a holy status among the masses. A good example may be Hasan Sabbah(10).

The Iranian Isma’ilis, known as Nizaris, gradually transformed into an extremist cult to the point that they rejected to obey the Fatimid Caliph in the Egypt and tried to recruit remainders from among Mazdakites, Zoroastrians and some others and turned into an eclectic cult. They resorted to violence and assassination and perpetrated big crimes and assassinated king Mlik of Saljuk, Khajeh Nezamolmulk, and a number of Abbasid Caliphs. The Isma’ilis also underwent some ideological revolution, the same as MKO. After a while, this sect that had suffered a complete internal metamorphosis, lost its supporters and was dismantled by Mongols (11).

Qaramite was another aggressive cult formed in 264 A.H. by Hussein Dehdari in Iraq. Qaramite initiated first in Isfahan, Ahvaz and near the Kufa in Iraq. His followers were mostly Qebtis and Arabs while its leaders were Iranian. They distorted Islam and even deviated from the fixed, practical Islamic rituals and made the Arab followers rebel against Sunnis and other Arab tribes; they spilled the blood of people and looted their wealth in Syria, North Iraq, Bahrain, and Yamame (12).

Abu Tahir al- Qaramati was one of the leaders who in 311 A.H. conquered Basra and shed much blood. He invaded Mecca in 317 A.H., and when his troops entered the city, they massacred the people and even the pilgrims who were around and within the Ka’bah. He tore away the door of the Ka’bah and took the Black Stone from its place to Yemen. It was in the hand of Qaramite for 22 years and was later returned by his successors (13).

Qaramatie’s practice of violence was to the extent that even Isma’ilis avoided having any link to it. Eclecticism of this cult was known to every body as a combination of Islamic and non-Islamic ideas. Being an aggressive and threatening cult, any allegation of being a link to it was enough to seize upon a suspect to take away his properties and be executed. (14).

Formation of eclectic cults has been accelerated in recent century. Babism, Baha’ism and Wahhabism, out of which originated al-Qaeda, sects that like Qaramate differ in both the principles and Branches of Islam developed in the modern age.

For example, Babism, initiated during the Qajar reign, was a combination of Isma’ilism and Sufism. Not only it turned into a cult but also took a different path from Islam and came to believe in a devised prophet and Book other than Mohammad (A.S.) and the Holy Qur’an. Baha’ism, formed by Hussein Ali Noori, was a sect branched from Babism.

Besides being eclectic cults, theses cults were strongly supported by England and Russia. Babism was more like an ideological revolution which abrogated Islamic rules that consequently attracted the attention of many permissive people.

As a result of economical and social problems at the time, most supporters of Babism were from among the lower classes that rose in rebellion in various parts of Iran and plotted bloody killings. For instance, they killed Mohammad Taqi Barghani known as “Shahid Thani” in Qazvin when he was saying prayer with broadsword. They also made attempt to assassinate Naser al-din Shah, the Qajar king, and Amir Kabir and killed an old woman in Yazd in Pahlavi’s reign accusing her of cursing Baha’ism (15).

Wahhabism was much violent. Not generally considered a cult, it was also abhorred by the Sunni Muslims, and once its leader Ibn-Taymyyia was excommunicated by great Sunni Faqihs. In the past three centuries, this cult has been heavily supported by Western and colonialist governments. Interestingly, propagating the mottos of Salafism, the cult insisted on reintroducing Shariah (Islamic law) and renaissance of the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (S). it shed people’s bloods on allegations of having faith in modernized Islam.

In contrast to what is said, Wahhabism is opposed to both Shiite and Sunni Muslims. It was only some years ago that they assaulted Egyptian pilgrims of Mecca in the vicinity of Mecca and killed a lot of Sunni pilgrims. The killing darkened the political relation between Wahhabists and Egypt for years. Their much recent bloodshed was killing of many Iranian pilgrims in 1986.

Nowadays, the dormant Wahhabism is split in two groups. The group seeking violence and crime is known to be al-Qaeda notoriously referred to as an aggressive and terrorist group. It was first supported by Arab Sheikhs, the U.S., and England. The second group underwent a metamorphosis after facing the resistance of Shiite and some other conservative Sunni groups as well as establishing ties with the modern, liberal and the capitalist world. They have resorted to cold war by means of propaganda and political activities and prefer to follow a strategy of wealth gathering. They form that greater part of Wahhabism.

Of other atrocities of Wahhabism is their invation to Karbala and Imam Hussein’s Holy Shrine seeing the weakness of the Othman empire. They massacred a great population there and offended the Holy Shrine by riding their horses into the shrine and looting its treasures (16).

Now, with respect to the above mentioned characteristics of some cultist movements during the past 1400 years in Islamic history, disregarding many existing cults in Christianity, Buddhism, and other faiths, shared characteristics of cults can be identified as follows:

1. Cults have a special outlook on the religion, faith and ideology in contrast to what the majority of people believe in. In their view, the other majorities are misled.

2. Eclecticism; it is the result of (a) a new developed outlook toward ideology, and (b) it is used as an instrument to recruit passive members of the society.

3. The lack of a theoretical balance as a result of eclecticism, i.e. cultist eclecticism consists of putting cultural and ideological issues side by side. It may lead to imbalance and violence.

4. Cults’ opposition to majorities results in the justification of applying violence against others.

5. Cults in their early days receive a great support but their later function cause abhorrence and they face many detachment.

6. They propagate under extremist and catchy slogans.

7. They gradually deviate from their early ideology and undergo a transformation that is in absolute contrast with their basic principles. It is a result of practice of extremism and eclecticism that leads to metamorphosis.

8. They revolutionize their ideological thought and principles calling it ideological innovation and new tactic.

It seems that such actions aim at solving problems, strengthening leadership and turning members into absolute cultists. For example, Isma’ilism abrogated some Islamic rules and declared drinking wine as lawful. According to Mas’ud Banisadr, an ex-member of the National Council of Resistance (NCR), Mujahedin-e-Khalq resorted to ideological revolution after any defeat.

9. The leaders are granted a status as high as the saints or incarnated God to increase the blind obedience of the insiders.

Endnotes

1. The U.S. State Department report on MKO.

2. A well-known saying found in many hadith collections and approved by all Shiite scholars.

3. The history of Mujahedin-e-Khalgh organization and National Council of Resistance.

4. Abbasid Reign in Iran, vol. 4, Cambridge University Press, pp.59-60.

5. The History of Iran after the Advent of Islam, p.456.

6. Abbasid Reign in Iran, pp.68-9.

7. The History of Iran after the Advent of Islam, pp.364-5.

8. Iranian People History, vol.2, p.153.

9. ibid.

10. ibid, pp. 153-4.

11. ibid, pp. 154-5.

12. ibid, pp. 155-6.

13. ibid.

14. ibid.

15. Shamim, Ali-Asghar; Iran under the Qajar Reign, pp.151-2.

16. Khanswari, Mohammad-Baqir; Rozat-al-Jannat, vol.4, pp.402-6. Also the great Islamic encyclopedia; Al-Saud

Nejat Society – June 2007

Translated by mojahedin.ws

June 11, 2007 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

How cults work?

When most of us hear the word "cult," we see a bunch of brainwashed zombies feeding their children cyanide-laced fruit drink, mass murders, a burning compound in Waco, Texas — it’s not a pretty picture. But is it a true picture? What exactly is a "cult," and how is it different from a "religion"? Are all cults dangerous? Are people who join destructive cults mentally disturbed, or are all of us equally susceptible?

In this article, we’ll separate fact from propaganda and learn what a cult actually is, what practices characterize a destructive cult and look at some of the more notable cult incidents in recent history.

What’s a "Cult"?

The cults that make the news and drive fear through the hearts of parents sending their kids to college are the exception, not the rule. At its most basic, a cult is simply a small, unestablished, non-mainstream religious group that typically revolves around a single leader. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "cult" this way:

A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.

A system or community of religious worship and ritual.

The first definition is closer to the common usage of the term today, but you’ll notice there’s no mention of brainwashing, murder or mass suicide. There is no meaningful difference between a cult and a religion in terms of faith, morality or spirituality. The primary differences are that a "cult" operates outside of mainstream society, often calls on its followers to make an absolute commitment to the group and typically has a single leader, whereas a "religion" usually operates within mainstream culture, requires varying levels of commitment from its members and typically has a leadership hierarchy that, in practice, can serve as a series of checks and balances.

But destructive cults are a different story. There is a big difference between a destructive cult and a non-destructive religion (or a non-destructive cult). A destructive (or totalist) cult exploits its members’ vulnerability in order to gain complete control over them, often using unethical psychological techniques to bring about thought reform. It can be said that a non-destructive religion or cult attempts to alleviate its members’ vulnerability through spiritual guidance in an effort to help them exercise control over their own lives.

While most small, non-mainstream religions are harmless, certain circumstances do make them an easy breeding ground for destructive practices. The People’s Temple began as a charitable organization in the United States that ran a free medical clinic and drug rehabilitation program. But you probably know it as the doomsday cult whose Kool-Aid mass suicide/murders took more than 900 lives in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. How can something that began with so much hope go so very wrong? There’s a lot of speculation about what happened to the members of The People’s Temple, but for the most part, what went wrong is what goes wrong with most destructive cults: the leadership.

It’s really a two-part problem. First, many of these religions are founded by a single person who retains a position of exclusive power within the organization, and power tends to corrupt even the most ethical among us. In the case of The People’s Temple, there is evidence that its leader, Reverend James Warren Jones, was abusing prescription drugs and becoming increasingly paranoid through the 1970s. Next, because these groups operate outside the mainstream, there is usually no one checking up on their operating procedures, so a corrupt or mentally unstable leader is free to exploit his followers to his heart’s content. In addition to this authoritarian leadership structure, some primary characteristics of a destructive cult include:

+ Charismatic leadership

+ Deception in recruiting

+ Use of thought-reform methods

+ Isolation (physical and/or psychological)

+ Demand for absolute, unquestioning devotion and loyalty

+ Sharp, unsurpassable distinction between "us" (good, saved) and "them" (bad, going to Hell)

+ "Inside language" that only members fully understand

+ Strict control over members’ daily routines

For the remainder of this article, when we refer to techniques employed by "cults," we’re talking about destructive cults, not the small religious groups that keep to themselves and don’t hurt anybody. In the following sections, we’ll examine destructive cults more closely and find out how they function. Let’s start with the leadership structure.

It Takes All Kinds

Not all destructive cults are religious in nature. They can be driven by political or financial goals as well. In the end, it’s all about subjugating members’ individuality to achieve the desires of the leader(s), whether that means reinforcing a self-proclaimed messianic status, participating in destructive activities in the name of political revolution or simply filling the leader’s pockets with their hard-earned money. There are radical political groups, commercial pyramid schemes and self-help seminars that employ similar recruiting and indoctrinating techniques as destructive religious cults, targeting people with certain vulnerabilities and then playing on those vulnerabilities to keep them "in the fold." The end result is a "convert" who will blow himself up in the name of destroying capitalism, try to get all of his loved ones to buy into the same business deal that he is losing his life savings on, or keep signing up for an unending series of lectures, seminars and retreats that promise psychological and spiritual healing but really only drain his bank account.

The Leadership Structure

There is no cult without a powerful, charismatic leader. A charismatic leader has the uncanny ability to get people to follow him unquestioningly. The phrase "cult of personality" refers to this type of group dynamic. Cult members are devoted to the leader, not to the leader’s ideas. The leader has complete control over his followers — there is no questioning of his decisions, and he is accountable to no one within the group.

It’s possible for a cult to have more than one leader, but that’s atypical. Most destructive religious cults demand absolute devotion to a single person who is considered to be God or connected to God, the Messiah, a prophet or possessing some other holy status. This is a critical component in maintaining absolute devotion: To the members of a cult, only this single person can lead them to salvation. Without this single person, they will spend eternity in Hell.

How does a person fall into a role like this? One common scenario is the preacher or church member who gets "banished" from a mainstream church for preaching extreme or unconventional ideas or showing signs of corruption or instability. When he leaves, his followers go with him, or else he joins an already existing cult and eventually vies for control. David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian cult that was destroyed during a U.S. government siege in 1993, was active in a mainstream Christian church before he was thrown out for "negatively influencing" some of the church’s younger members. Reverend James (Jim) Warren Jones, who ordered hundreds of members of The People’s Temple to drink poisoned punch in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978, was ordained a mainstream Christian pastor.

But not everybody starts out in mainstream religion. Some cult leaders are simply anti-social, destructive individuals who find out they have a knack for manipulation. Charles Manson fits this description.

Manson was the charismatic leader of a doomsday cult (which the media would eventually dub "The Family") with more than 100 members near Los Angeles, Calif. He spent most of his youth on the streets and in and out of prison. At one institution, Manson was described as "a very emotionally upset youth who is definitely in need of some psychiatric orientation." He was also described as violent and manipulative. After the age of 18, his crimes grew from robbery and car theft to pimping, rape and fraud. In 1967, Manson was paroled from one of his prison stints and landed in San Francisco, where he slipped into the hippie scene and developed a following — mostly young women who were generally troubled and disillusioned with America. "Charlie" became their guru. He preached that the world would end in a racial war. Blacks would destroy wealthy whites and win a position of dominance, but the black power structure would quickly collapse due to inexperience. And then, the Manson Family would come out of hiding in the desert and rule the world.

Manson referred to himself as the reincarnation of Jesus. His followers called him "God" and "Satan" seemingly interchangeably. Manson and the members of his cult brutally slaughtered people, committing what is probably the most famous cult mass murder — the shooting and stabbing of seven people over two days, including actress Sharon Tate (wife of director Roman Polanski), who was eight months pregnant when she was killed. Most reports conclude that Manson ordered his followers to brutally kill their victims, but he never killed any of them himself. His power over his cult family was absolute. While Manson was on trial for murder, one of his followers, Lynette Fromme, protested the trial by carving an "X" into her forehead on the courthouse steps. Fromme would later attempt to assassinate President Gerald Ford in order to bring attention back to Manson’s cause. As of March 2006, Charles Manson is still in prison, receiving tens of thousands of letters every year from people hoping to become members of The Manson Family.

While Manson found his followers in the drugged, anti-establishment haze of 1960s San Francisco, not all cult leaders have such a ready-made base of potential recruits. Cult recruiting is a controversial topic, in that some believe active recruiting has died down since its heyday in the ’70s, and others think it has only gotten quieter. Whatever the degree of the problem, there are people out there looking for potential cult members. In the next section, we’ll learn about cult recruiting techniques.

Recruitment

You may have an idea of a "cult recruit" as an obviously troubled young person, maybe "mentally ill," easily exploited by unethical cultists. But studies show that people who join cults have only a slightly higher incidence of psychiatric disorders than the general population.

Cult members come from all walks of life, all age groups and all personality types. However, one common thread among most cult recruits is heightened stress: Research indicates that a majority of people who end up joining a cult were recruited during a particularly stressful period. This could be the stress associated with adolescence, leaving home for the first time, a bad breakup, losing a job or the death of a loved one. People undergoing significant stress can be more susceptible when a person or group claims to have the answer to all of their problems. Michael Langone, Ph.D., a psychologist who specializes in cults, also identifies some psychological traits that can make a person more likely to be successfully recruited, including:

dependency – an intense desire to belong, stemming from a lack of self-confidence

unassertiveness – a reluctance to say no or question authority

gullibility – a tendency to believe what someone says without really thinking about it

low tolerance for uncertainty – a need to have any question answered immediately in black-and-white terms

disillusionment with the status quo – a feeling of marginalization within one’s own culture and a desire to see that culture change

naive idealism – a blind belief that everyone is good

desire for spiritual meaning – a need to believe that life has a "higher purpose"

Cult recruiters hang out in places where you might find people in a period of extreme stress or possessing the above personality traits — which is anywhere. Some particularly fruitful recruiting locations might include college campuses, religious gatherings, self-help and support groups, seminars related to spirituality or social change and the unemployment office. In a 1990 article in the San Francisco Examiner, an unnamed ex-cult member commented on how easy it is to get sucked in: "People don’t realize how susceptible we all are. Those smiling faces lead you to buy it when you’re naive and accepting." She was recruited on the UC San Diego campus when she was 19. Her parents arranged for her to be "deprogrammed" eight years later (more on deprogramming in the "Getting Out" section).

The main methods of cult recruitment revolve around deception and manipulation. Potential recruits are not told the true nature or intentions of the group. Instead, recruiters portray it as something mainstream, low-pressure and benign. They may tell people at a church gathering that their group meets once a week to brainstorm ways to raise money for a new homeless shelter. They might invite a high school student to a talk about how public service can enhance a college application. Recruiters identity the specific needs or desires of their targets and play to them. They learn to pick up on a person’s fears and vulnerabilities and portray the cult accordingly. For instance, if a young woman just went through a bad breakup, and she’s feeling depressed and alone, a cult member might tell her that his group helps people to overcome interpersonal problems and rebuild their confidence for a fresh start. If a man just lost his wife in a car accident, and he can’t bear that he didn’t get to say goodbye to her, a recruiter might claim that his group helps people reach peace in the wake of sudden death.

It might seem strange that someone would accept these types of invitations, but there are a couple of factors that make it seem more palatable. First, the recruiter might be someone these people know. He could be in that young woman’s college dorm or that man’s survivors’ support group. And someone who is sad, lonely or desperate might be more inclined to trust someone who claims to know the path back to happiness. Also, cults typically isolate recruits so they can’t get a "reality check." They may hold meetings or services at times that would normally be spent with family and friends; they may hold "retreats" that submerge the recruit in the group’s message for days at a time; and they may ask recruits not to discuss the group with others until they know more about it, so they don’t mislead people or give them only part of the story. This kind of isolation narrows a person’s feedback structure drastically for a period of time, to the point that the only people they’re really communicating with are the members of the cult they’re being invited to join. Their doubts about the group, therefore, are never reinforced, and they end up turning into self-doubt, instead. Looking around them at all of the smiling, friendly people who have obviously found peace and happiness by following this path, it appears that it must be the right way.

Once a person attends one meeting or service or lecture, he’s invited to another, and another and another. He’s welcomed into the cult family and invited to commit himself to the group. From day one, it’s a process of manipulation and deception. And for those who stay on, the recruiting process culminates in the submission of their own personalities to the "will of the group." In the next section, we’ll see what cult indoctrination entails.

Indoctrination

A destructive cult uses countless techniques to get its members to stay, commit themselves and take part in what may be harmful activities. The sum of these techniques constitutes what some people call "mind control." It’s also known as "thought reform," "brainwashing" and "coercive persuasion," and it involves the systematic breakdown of a person’s sense of self.

Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst publishing fortune, became famous in the 1970s after she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (the SLA, which some deem a "political cult") and allegedly brainwashed into joining the group. There are reports that Hearst was locked in a dark closet for several days after her kidnapping and was kept hungry, tired, brutalized and afraid for her life while SLA members bombarded her with their anti-capitalist political ideology. Within two months of her kidnapping, Patty had changed her name, issued a statement in which she referred to her family as the "pig-Hearsts" and appeared on a security tape robbing a bank with her kidnappers.

Thought reform is an umbrella term for any number of manipulative techniques used to get people to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. The concept of thought reform itself is a controversial one — some say it’s mere propaganda designed to scare people away from new religions and political movements. But most psychologists believe that cult brainwashing techniques, which are similar to techniques used in prisoner interrogation, do change a person’s thought processes. In cult recruiting and indoctrination, these techniques include:

Deception – Cults trick new recruits into joining the group and committing themselves to a cause or lifestyle they don’t fully understand.

Cults mislead new recruits/members as to the true expectations and activities of the group.

Cults may hide any signs of illegal, immoral or hyper-controlling practices until the recruit has fully immersed himself in the group.

A cult leader may use members’ altered consciousness, induced by activities like meditation, chanting or drug use, to increase vulnerability to suggestion.

Isolation – Cults cut off members from the outside world (and even each other) to produce intense introspection, confusion, loss of perspective and a distorted sense of reality. The members of the cult become the person’s only social contact and feedback mechanism.

Cults may keep new recruits from talking to other new recruits. They may only be allowed to speak with long-committed members for a period of time.

Cults may not allow unsupervised contact with the "outside world." In this way, there is no chance for a "reality check" or validation of a new member’s concerns regarding the group.

Cults typically instill the belief that "outsiders" (non-cult members) are dangerous and wrong.

Induced Dependency – Cults demand absolute, unquestioning devotion, loyalty and submission. A cult member’s sense of self is systematically destroyed. Ultimately, feelings of worthlessness and "evil" become associated with independence and critical thinking, and feelings of warmth and love become associated with unquestioning submission.

The leader typically controls every minute of a member’s waking time. There is no free time to think or analyze.

Members are told what to eat, what to wear, how to feed their children, when to sleep … the member is removed from all decision-making.

Any special talents the member has are immediately devalued and criticized in order to confuse the member’s sense of self-worth.

Any doubts, assertiveness or remaining ties to the outside world are punished by the group through criticism, guilt and alienation. Questions and doubts are systematically "turned around" so that the doubter feels wrong, worthless, "evil" for questioning. The member is loved again when he renounces those doubts and submits to the will of the leader.

The member may be deprived of adequate sustenance and/or sleep so the mind becomes muddled.

The leader may randomly alternate praise and love with scorn and punishment to keep the member off-balance and confused and instill immense self-doubt. The leader may offer occasional gifts and special privileges to encourage continued submission.

The member may be pressured to publicly confess sins, after which he is viciously ridiculed by the group for being evil and unworthy. He is loved again when he acknowledges that his devotion to the cult is the only thing that will bring him salvation.

Dread – Once complete dependence is established, the member must retain the leader’s good favor or else his life falls apart.

The leader may punish doubt or insubordination with physical or emotional trauma.

Once all ties to the outside world have been cut, the member feels like his only family is the group, and he has nowhere else to go.

Access to necessities depends on the leader’s favor. The member must "behave" or he may not get food, water, social interaction or protection from the outside world.

The member may believe that only group members are "saved," so if he leaves, he will face eternal damnation.

Indoctrination, or thought reform, is a long process that never really ends. Members are continually subjected to these techniques — it’s part of daily life in a cult. Some adjust well to it after a period of time, embracing their new role as "group member" and casting aside their old sense of independence. For others, it’s a perpetually stressful existence. In the next section, we’ll take a look at what it’s like to live within the confines of a destructive cult.

Cult Life (and Death)

There is no single description that fits the lifestyle of every destructive cult out there. But there are some common themes. Many ex-cult members depict a type of insulated, moment-to-moment existence in which repressing fear and anxiety is job one. Chanting and meditation become prime coping mechanisms in this regard. Cut off from family, old friends and the outside world, their old life becomes like a dream. In their new life, psychological growth just stops — cult members are caught in a static life that depends on not thinking, not questioning, not wondering, not remembering. Children raised in a destructive cult are stunted early. They do not usually attend school, and the cult may or may not provide its children with an education.

Cults need food, shelter and clothing like everyone else, and unless they have a wealthy benefactor or they’re truly isolated, living in a jungle and growing their own food, that means they need money. Some cults make money to sustain themselves by legitimate means. The Heaven’s Gate cult in San Diego, Calif., had been running a successful Web design business before they committed mass suicide in 1997. Some cults commit crimes like fraud and tax evasion to help support themselves. They may use deceptive fundraising techniques or require that new recruits make significant financial contributions to support the rest of the cult.

Above all else, life in a totalist cult is typically characterized by tight control. There is very little freedom in daily life: The leader prescribes what a member can and cannot do for every minute of the day. This includes what food he can eat, what books he can read, whom he can talk to, what he can wear, where he can go and how long he can sleep. The leader makes decisions, and the followers do as they’re told.

For some people, living this way is a relief — life is simple. There are no unanswered questions, no uncertainty, no worrying about the future or managing conflicting desires. Some people’s lives on the outside were so bad that the cult is in reality a safe, happy place. But in a lot of cases, this type of lifestyle causes intense psychological distress. Many people experience a persistent fear of angering the leader or losing group approval. They must constantly avoid the tension between their cult world and their former life and stifle any doubts or longings that arise. In some cases, there is also the possibility of physical harm. Punishments for disobedience might be physical, and cult members are typically cut off from hospitals and regular medical care. Some studies show that children in destructive cults are more likely to be abused or neglected than in the general population.

This level of stress can lead to chronic anxiety, physical illness or even a complete mental breakdown in which a cult member may become unable to function in daily life. It’s the people who experience cult life as stressful who are most likely to leave voluntarily. In the next section, we’ll find out what options people have when it comes to getting out of a destructive cult.

Getting Out

People might voluntarily leave a cult for any number of reasons. Some cult members become disillusioned and just walk out. This was the case with the Davidians, a precursor group to the Branch Davidians. The leader of the Davidians predicted the end of the world on a particular date. When that date came and went, some members were disappointed. The leader predicted a new date, and that date came and went with the world intact as well. By the time the leader died and his wife took over and predicted a new series of dates that failed to see the destruction of the world, there were very few members left in the group.

For some people, it’s not that difficult to leave a cult. Some individuals are just less susceptible to mind-control techniques than others, and they may have retained enough of a sense of self to make an informed decision to walk out. But it’s usually not that simple. There are ex-cultists who say they spent years working up the nerve to get out. A true convert is completely dependent on the cult for every aspect of life and consciousness — to the truly indoctrinated cult member, leaving means being alone and starting over. His sense of self has been completely broken down to the point that he doesn’t even know who he is without his cult family. He may not have made a decision in years. Gathering the confidence to voluntarily leave a totalist cult requires a tremendous act of will and doesn’t come easily. It might result from renewed contact with the outside world, such as a cult member speaking with her parents for the first time in a decade. It might happen when a cult member has a psychological breakdown and believes she is simply too worthless to meet the expectations of the group, so she leaves to spare her cult family the weariness of her presence. Or it might come about following a particularly traumatic experience that jolts the cult member into consciousness, such as witnessing the sexual assault of a child or a murder within the cult.

But making the decision to leave is only part of the process. The cult has to unlock the door, so to speak, in order for the member to get out. Some destructive cults do let people leave. Usually, they’ll put a lot of pressure on a member to stay; but in the end, a person can choose to go and not have to climb a barbed-wire fence in the dead of night or sneak past any armed guards. In the mildest cases, a member who leaves may be "disowned" by the cult, forbidden any contact with the people that have been her family for months, years or decades, but the member won’t suffer any physical harm when she walks out. In the most severe cases, though, a cult may stop at nothing to maintain control over its members, and a person may fear for her life if she tries to leave. When 16 members of The People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, decided they wanted to leave the cult in 1978 following a visit from a U.S. government group, several armed cult members followed them to the airport and opened fire. They injured 11 people and killed a U.S. Congressman, three reporters and one member who was trying to leave. Fear of the consequences of this incident is what triggered leader Jim Jones to initiate the mass suicide and murder of 900 members of the cult.

While a peaceful, voluntary exit is certainly the preferred method of leaving a cult, it doesn’t always happen that way. There are those who don’t want to escape at all but are grabbed from their beds at three in the morning and dragged back into the outside world. This is typically the first stage in what is known as "deprogramming," which is an extreme method of removing someone from a cult against his will.

It’s not easy to get someone to leave a destructive cult. Talking is always the first step. But sometimes, the cultist is too well indoctrinated to really hear anything an outsider has to say, and other times there’s no opportunity to talk at all. A cult member may have severed all ties to the outside world. Family members who fear for a loved one who’s deeply involved in a totalist cult have to find another option if simple talking is impossible or doesn’t work. At this point, they can go one of two ways: deprogramming or exit counseling.

Deprogramming is the more drastic of the two approaches because it usually involves an initial kidnapping to get the cult member away from the cult. For this reason, deprogramming is a very expensive service. It can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. After the forced removal, deprogramming mostly involves hours and hours of intense "debriefing," during which a team of deprogrammers hold the cult member against his will and use ethical psychological techniques to try to counter the unethical psychological techniques used by the cult. The goal is to get the cult member to think for himself and re-evaluate his situation. Debriefing methods can include:

educating the cult member on thought-reform techniques and helping him to recognize those methods in his own cult experience

asking questions that encourage the cult member to think in a critical, independent way, helping him to recognize that type of thinking and praising him for it

attempting to produce an emotional connection to his former life by introducing objects from his past and having family members share their memories of his pre-cult existence

Deprogramming was relatively common in the 1970s, but has fallen out of favor as an acceptable cult-removal method, partly because it’s so expensive, partly because it involves kidnapping and imprisonment and partly because that kidnapping and imprisonment led to a lot of lawsuits over the years. Now, most families turn to "exit counselors." Exit counseling leaves out the kidnapping and focuses instead on employing psychological techniques that might get the cult member to voluntarily submit to debriefing. Exit counselors guide the family in the most effective ways to get a cult member to communicate with "outsiders." Family members must be non-judgmental, calm and loving, or else they’ll only reinforce the belief that all outsiders are "bad" and dangerous. If they succeed, and the cult member agrees to participate in the process, what happens next is essentially the same debriefing that occurs during deprogramming, with long sessions that take place over a number of days, but the cult member is free to leave.

There’s is no guarantee that any cult-removal technique will work. Some sources say that at least one-third of deprogrammings fail, and there are no definitive statistics on the success rate of exit counseling. But when it does work, the cult member finds himself back in the outside world — with a whole new set of problems. People who leave a totalist cult can suffer from a laundry list of psychological problems. Some common ones include depression, anxiety, paranoia, guilt, rage and constant fear. They may have difficulty thinking clearly, making decisions, analyzing situations and performing everyday activities like picking out something to wear or going to the store to buy groceries. Psychologist Michael Langone describes a common post-cult state he calls "floating," in which the former member goes back and forth from "cult to non-cult ways of viewing the world … stalled in a foggy, ‘in-between’ state of consciousness."

Not everybody is psychologically damaged by a cult experience. Some go on with their lives after a relatively short adjustment period. But most people who have undergone thought reform suffer negative consequences when they leave the insulated environment of the cult. It can take years for a former cult member to readjust to life on the outside. Some people never completely return to their pre-cult level of functioning. But in most cases, counseling and family support can go a long way toward recovery.

For more information on destructive cults and related topics, including links to organizations that help people who’ve been hurt by cult involvement, check out the links on the next page.

IranPayvand.com

May 8, 2007 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

HOW TO DETERMINE IF A GROUP IS A DESTRUCTIVE CULT

Factbnet, April 16, 2007

F A C T net

F.A.C.T.net Inc.

Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network Since 1993

HOW TO DETERMINE IF A GROUP IS A DESTRUCTIVE CULT

Cómo determinar si un grupo es un culto destructivo

Q) Anybody can unfairly attack a group they disagree with by calling it a cult or saying they are using coercive mind control. How does FACTNet prevent this type of problem and determine fairly whether or not a group is a cult?

A) FACTNet uses specific criteria to determine if a mind control system has been used, and does not suggest organizations are destructive or dangerous cults without careful research and determination that the evidence fits definite criteria. These criteria are threefold.

The first set of criteria comes from the group’ use of a specific set of mind control tactics. Please see "A technical overview of mind control tactics" at http://www.factnet.org/rancho1.htm for details or see http://www.factnet.org/coercivemindcontrol.html for a shorter version. These two documents are derived from the work of Dr. Margaret Singer professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley the acknowledged leading authority in the world on mind control and cults.

The second set of criteria has to do with defining other common elements of mind control systems, as defined by Robert Jay Lifton’s eight point model of thought reform. Please see "Robert Jay Lifton’s Eight Point Model of Thought Reform" also at http://www.factnet.org/rancho1.htm. If most points in this model are being used in a cultic organization, it is most likely a dangerous and destructive cult.

The third set of criteria has to do with defining common elements of destructive and dangerous cults. The following section will help clarify what some of those specific elements and criteria are.

Common Properties of Potentially Destructive and Dangerous Cults

The cult is authoritarian in its power structure. The leader is regarded as the supreme authority. He or she may delegate certain power to a few subordinates for the purpose of seeing that members adhere to the leader’s wishes and roles. There is no appeal outside of his or her system to greater systems of justice. For example, if a school teacher feels unjustly treated by a principal, appeals can be made. In a cult, the leader claims to have the only and final ruling on all matters.

The cult’s leaders tend to be charismatic, determined, and

domineering. They persuade followers to drop their families, jobs, careers, and friends to follow them. They (not the individual) then take over control of their followers’ possessions, money, and lives.

The cult’s leaders are self-appointed, messianic persons who claim to have a special mission in life. For example, the flying saucer cult leaders claim that people from outer space have commissioned them to lead people to special places to await a space ship.

The cult’s leaders center the veneration of members upon themselves. Priests, rabbis, ministers, democratic leaders, and leaders of genuinely altruistic movements keep the veneration of adherents focused on God, abstract principles, and group purposes. Cult leaders, in contrast, keep the focus of love, devotion, and allegiance on themselves.

The cult tends to be totalitarian in its control of the behavior of its members. Cults are likely to dictate in great detail what members wear, eat, when and where they work, sleep, and bathe-as well as what to believe, think, and say.

The cult tends to have a double set of ethics. Members are urged to be open and honest within the group, and confess all to the leaders. On the other hand, they are encouraged to deceive and manipulate outsiders or nonmembers. Established religions teach members to be honest and truthful to all, and to abide by one set of ethics.

The cult has basically only two purposes, recruiting new members and fund-raising. Established religions and altruistic movements may also recruit and raise funds. However, their sole purpose is not to grow larger; such groups have the goals to better the lives of their members and mankind in general. The cults may claim to make social contributions, but in actuality these remain mere claims, or gestures. Their focus is always dominated by recruiting new members and fund-raising.

The cult appears to be innovative and exclusive. The leader claims to be breaking with tradition, offering something novel, and instituting the only viable system for change that will solve life’s problems or the world’s ills. While claiming this, the cult then surreptitiously uses systems of psychological coercion on its members to inhibit their ability to examine the actual validity of the claims of the leader and the cult.