Cults Inside Out: How People Get in and Can Get Out

by Rick Alan Ross

  Ross is a private consultant, lecturer, and cult-intervention specialist. He began his work as an anticult activist and community organizer in 1982. Ross first became concerned about controversial groups and movements in response to a radical religious group that had covertly targeted his grandmother’s nursing home. Since that time he has raised awareness about cults and facilitated more than five hundred interventions to rescue people from cultic situations.

  He has been qualified and accepted as an expert court witness in eleven different states, including the US federal court. He has also worked as a professional analyst for CBS News, CBC of Canada, and Nippon and Asahi in Japan.

  Ross has appeared in thirteen documentaries and numerous network television interviews and has been interviewed and quoted in media all over the world.

  He is the founder of the Cult Education Institute, whose website is one of the largest sources of information regarding cults on the Internet. It was originally founded in 1996, but was recently redeveloped as a more modern database. See www.culteducation.com for more information.

  1 Michael D. Langone, “Terrorism and Cultic Dynamics,” ICSA Today, Volume 6, No. 1 (2015) p. 14.

  2 U. S. Constitution, First Amendment (Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition) 1791.

  3 Eric Nagourney, “John Clark, 73, Psychiatrist Who Studied Sects,” New York Times, October 18, 1999.

  4 Tom Long, “Dr. John Clark, 73,” Boston Globe, October 9, 1999.

  5 “Jonestown Suicides Shocked the World,” Associated Press, March 27, 1997.

  6 Michael Taylor, “Jones Captivated San Francisco’s Liberal Elite,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1998.

  7 Ibid.

  8 Deborah Layton Blakey, “Affidavit of Deborah Layton Blakey,” June 15, 1978 http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/04-24-BlakeyAffidavit.pdf

  9 Chris Higgins, “Stop Saying ‘Drink the Kool-Aid,’” Atlantic, November 8, 2012.

  10 Taylor, “Jones Captivated San Francisco’s Liberal Elite,” November 12, 1998.

  11 “Nearly 200 Gather to Dedicate Jonestown Memorial,” Associated Press, May 29, 2011.

  12 Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 2nd ed. (New York: Stillpoint Press, 2005), 252.

  13 Lawrence Van Gelder, “Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies,” New York Times, March 4, 1997.

  14 Dave Mitchell, “Light to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Its Pulitzer,” Point Reyes Light (Point Reyes Station, CA), April 15, 2004.

  15 Paul Morantz and Hal Lancaster, Escape (Los Angeles: Figueroa Press, 2012), 91.

  16 Ibid., 92.

  17 Michael D. Clark, “Her Life with ‘One Big Brother,’” San Jose Mercury News, March 19, 1999.

  18 Morantz and Lancaster, Escape, 95.

  19 Ibid.

  20 Lawerence Van Gelder, “Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies.” The New York Times, March 4, 1997.

  21 Morantz and Lancaster, Escape, 93–94.

  22 Ibid., 95.

  23 Van Gelder, “Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies.” March 4, 1997.

  24 Maria Szalavitz, “The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Industry,” Mother Jones, August 7, 2007.

  25 Rep. Charles H. Wilson, California (Information about Rev. Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church entered into the Congressional Record), 94th Congress, United States House of Representatives, 2nd session (January 28, 1976) Congressional Record Volume 122 Part 2 1390–1392.

  26 Investigation of Korean-American Relations Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations: Conclusions and Recommendations, United States House of Representatives Committee of International Relations 95th Congress 2nd Session (October 31, 1978) 387, 390.

  27 Betty Fletcher, “Rev. Moon to Serve Jail Time,” Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), May 14, 1984.

  28 Carlton Sherwood, Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of Rev. Sun Myung Moon (Washington, D.C.: Regency, 1991).

  29 Daniel J. Wakin, “Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Self-Proclaimed Messiah Who Built Religious Movement, Dies at 92,” New York Times, September 2, 20012.

  30 Hyung-Jin Kim, “Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon Dies at 92,” Associated Press, September 3, 2012.

  31 Wakin, “Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Self-Proclaimed Messiah Who Built Religious Movement, Dies at 92,” , September 2, 20012.

  32 Peggy Fletcher, “A Moonstruck Heaven Taps Favorite Son,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 12, 2002.

  33 Monica Eng, Delroy Alexander, and David Jackson, “Sushi and Rev. Moon,” Chicago Tribune, April 11, 2006.

  34 Yuki Noguchi, “Washington Times Owner Buys UPI,” Washington Post, May 16, 2000.

  35 Ian Shpira, “Moon and Fired Executives Buy Washington Times for $1,” Washington Post, November 3, 2010.

  36 “Unification Church Founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 92, Treated for Pneumonia South Korean Hospital,” Associated Press, August 16, 2012.

  37 “Unification Church Plans to Move Founder to Its Own Hospital after His Condition Worsens,” Associated Press, August 31, 2012.

  38 Wakin, “Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Self-Proclaimed Messiah Who Built Religious Movement, Dies at 92,” , September 2, 20012.

  39 Kim, “Unification Church Founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon Dies at 92,” September 3, 2012.

  40 “Moon’s Rising Son Spells Change for the Unification Church,” BBC News, March 24, 2012.

  41 Foster Klug, “Rev. Moon Oversaw Large, Often Bickering Brood,” Associated Press, September 4, 2012.

  42 Hyung-jin Kim, “Rev. Moon Turning Over Unification Church to Sons,” Associated Press, October 12, 2009.

  43 Monica Eng and David Jackson, “Despite Controversy Moon and His Church Moving into Mainstream,” Chicago Tribune, April 11, 2006.

  44 “The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Who Has Died Aged 92, Was the Soi-Distant Messiah and Savior of the Universe Who Founded the Unification Church, Popularly Known as ‘The Moonies,’” The Telegraph (Kent), September 3, 2012.

  45 Gillian Flaccus, “Oregon Town Never Recovered from Scare,” Associated Press, October 19, 2001.

  46 “Glimpses into the Life of the Controversial ‘Guru,’” The Times of India (Haryana), December 21, 2002.

  47 Ibid.

  48 Ibid.

  49 Tallis Saule Archdeacon, “Oh No It’s Osho: A Villain Speaks from Beyond the Grave,” The Baltic Times, February 6, 2008.

  50 Ibid.

  51 “Escaping the Bhagwan,” The Age (Sydney, Australia), April 11, 2009.

  52 “Cult Member Admits Murder Plot,” SBS TV (Sydney, Australia), September 27, 2005.

  53 “Escaping the Bhagwan,” April 11, 2009.

  54 “Glimpses into the Life of the Controversial ‘Guru,’” December 21, 2002.

  55 Dennis McCafferty, “Old Bhagwan, New Bottles,” Salon, October 20, 1999.

  56 Gillian Flaccus, “Oregon Town Never Recovered From Scare,” Associated Press, October 19, 2001.

  57 Douglas Martin, “Yahweh ben Yaweh, Leader of Separatist Sect, Dies at 71,” New York Times, May 9, 2007.

  58 Ibid.

  59 Ibid.

  60 Ibid.

  61 Ibid.

  62 Ibid.

  63 Ibid.

  64 Amy Westfeldt, “Ex NFL Player Charged in NJ Murder,” Associated Press, March 23, 1999.

  65 “Convicted Killer, Former Football Player, Says He’s Sorry for Slaying,” Associated Press, March 6, 1999.

  66 Martin, “Yahweh ben Yaweh, Leader of Separatist Sect, Dies at 71,” May 9, 2007.

  67 Ibid.

  68 Murray Sayle, “Nerve Gas and the Four Noble Truths,” New Yorker, April 1, 1996.

  69 Ibid.

  70 Ibid.

  71 Ibid.

  72 Ibid.

  73 Ibid.

  74 Ibid.

  75 Ibid.

  76 Ibid.

  77 “Aum Blames Asahara,” Mainichi Shimbun, (Tokyo) January 19, 2000.

  78 Yoree Koh, “Death Pen
alty Confirmed for Sarin Gas Attack Chemist,” Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2011.

  79 T. R. Reid, “Tokyo Cult Finds Unlikely Supporter,” Washington Post, May 5, 1995.

  80 Christopher Hitchens, “His Material Highness,” Salon Table Talk, July 13, 1998.

  81 Tilman Müller, “The two faces of the Dalai Lama,” Stern (Germany), August 30, 1995 38/95 126.

  82 “Tokyo High Court Rejects Plea for Asahara Retrial,” Japan Times, (Tokyo) April 5, 2012.

  83 Ibid.

  84 “Aum Followers Number 1,151 up 11 from August,” Kyodo News Service, November 15, 2000.

  85 “Faith in Aum Guru Resurges as Joyu Moves to Form His Own Group,” Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo) February 3, 2007.

  86 “Young People Easily Get Sucked into Aum Shinrikyo Spin-off Aleph,” Japan Today (Tokyo), August 28, 2012.

  87 Ibid.

  88 Steven Higgins, “The Waco Dispute: Why the ATF Had to Act,” Washington Post, July 2, 1995.

  89 Mark Houser, “New Vrindaban Rebuilding Its Temple,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 30, 2006.

  90 “‘Guru’ Did Jail Time,” New York Post, March 25, 2005.

  91 “Can It Be That the Hare Krishnas Are Not Hindu?” Hinduism Today, October 1998.

  92 Corey Pickett, “Swami Banned,” Wheeling News-Register, June 18, 2004.

  93 “Hare Krishna Plan OK’d by U.S. Court,” Associated Press, May 24, 2005.

  94 Ibid.

  95 Hector Becearra, “Krishna Payouts Begin,” Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2005.

  96 Ibid.

  97 Ibid.

  98 Ibid.

  99 “Ford Scion Plans ‘Spiritual Disneyland’ in Bengal,” Indo-Asian News Service, February 19, 2004.

  100 “Ford Great-Grandson to Donate US $10 Million to Hare Krishna Temple,” Associated Press, December 29, 2002.

  101 Ibid.

  102 Paul Busharizi, “Charred Corpses Piled in Uganda Suicide Site,” Reuters, March 19, 2000.

  103 “Ugandan Police Say Final Death Toll 780,” Reuters, July 20, 2000.

  104 Alfred Wasike, Matthias Mugishi, and agencies, “Kanunga Toll Reaches 1,000,” Africa News Online New Vision (Uganda), April 3, 2000.

  105 “Ugandan Death Toll Surpasses Jonestown,” Reuters, March 31, 2000.

  106 “Doomsday Leader Could Be a Mental Case,” African News Online (Uganda), March 31, 2000.

  107 Adrian Blomfield, “Ex-prostitute May Have Ordered Uganda Cult Deaths,” Reuters, April 2, 2000.

  108 Joshua Hammer, “An Apocalyptic Mystery,” Newsweek, April 3, 2000.

  109 Ibid.

  110 “Catholic Church Had Excommunicated Kibwetere,” Africa News Online (Uganda), March 21, 2000.

  111 Blomfield, “Ex-prostitute May Have Ordered Uganda Cult Deaths,” April 2, 2000.

  112 Ibid.

  113 John Kakande, “NGO Board Confirms Receiving Kibwetere Farewell Message,” Africa News Online New Vision (Uganda), March 23, 2000.

  114 Hammer, “An Apocalyptic Mystery,” April 3, 2000.

  115 Karl Vick, “Prophecy’s Price,” Washington Post, April 1, 2000.

  116 Kakande, “NGO Board Confirms Receiving Kibwetere Farewell Message.”

  117 Todd Pitman, “Family Says Ugandan Cult Leader Once Loving Father,” Reuters, April 1, 2000.

  118 Lara Santoro, “Priestess of Death,” Newsweek International, August 6, 2000.

  119 Daniel E. Martin, “Did Mwerinde Kill Other Kanungu Cult Leaders?” Africa News Service, December 10, 2000.

  120 Liz Glazier, “Lost Lives Remembered during 9/11 Ceremony,” Rocket (Slippery Rock, PA), September 11, 2008.

  121 David Bamber, “Bin Laden: Yes I Did It,” The Telegraph (Kent), November 11, 2001.

  122 “Straw: Bin Laden Is Psychotic,” CNN, November 15, 2001.

  123 Mark Fineman and Steven Braun, “Life inside Al Qaeda: A Destructive Devotion,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2001.

  124 Thirty Umrigar, “Experts Explain Terrorist training,” Akron (OH) Beacon Journal, October 24, 2002.

  125 Ibid.

  126 Ibid.

  127 Michael Dobbs, “Inside the Mind of Osama bin Laden,” Washington Post, September 20, 2001.

  128 Mary Ann Siegart, “The Cult Figure We Could Do Without,” Times (London), October 26, 2001.

  129 Ibid.

  130 Mary Anne Weaver, “The Real bin Laden,” New Yorker, January 24, 2000.

  131 Ibid.

  132 Ibid.

  133 Ibid.

  134 Ibid.

  135 Ibid.

  136 Siegart, “The Cult Figure We Could Do Without,” October 26, 2001.

  137 Fineman and Braun, “Life inside Al Qaeda: A Destructive Devotion,” September 24, 2001.

  138 Ibid.

  139 Simon Jeffrey, “We Were Overjoyed When the Plane Hit the Building,” The Guardian (Manchester), December 13, 2001.

  140 Fineman and Braun, “Life inside Al Qaeda: A Destructive Devotion.”

  141 Weaver, “The Real Bin Laden,” January 24, 2000.

  142 Kenneth L. Woodward, “A Peaceful Faith a Fanatic Few,” Washington Post, September 24, 2001.

  143 Alan Zarembo, “A Merger of Mosque and State,” Newsweek, October 15, 2001.

  144 Ibid.

  145 Ken Hamblin, “Farrakhan a Dupe of Terrorists,” Denver Post, November 18, 2001.

  146 Fineman and Braun, “Life inside Al Qaeda: A Destructive Devotion,” September 24, 2001.

  147 Weaver, “The Real bin Laden,” January 24, 2000.

  148 Ewen MacAskill, “Osama bin Laden: It Took Years to Find Him but Just Minutes to Kill Him,” The Guardian (Manchester), May 2, 2011.

  149 Rob Peecher, “Indictments Allege More Than 100 Criminal Acts,” Macon Telegraph, September 1, 2002.

  150 “Sect Leader Gets 135 Years for Molestation,” Associated Press, April 22, 2004.

  151 Matthew L. Pinzur, “Nuwaubians, Who Are These People?” Macon Telegraph, May 15, 2000.

  152 Rob Peecher, “Nuwaubian Leader York Working on His Public Image,” Macon Telegraph, July 22, 2001.

  153 Andrew Moran, “Who Is Dr. Malachi York?” Digital Journal, June 23, 2010.

  154 Ibid.

  155 Rob Peecher, “York’s Accusers Describe Years of Sexual Abuse,” Macon Telegraph, September 1, 2002.

  156 Ibid.

  157 Rob Peecher, “Government Seeks York’s Money Properties,” Macon Telegraph, July 23, 2003.

  158 Joe Johnson, “Nuwaubian Leader Jailed, but the Sect Carries On,” Athens Banner-Herald, January 25, 2009.

  159 Terry Dickson, “Nuwaubian Leader Guilty,” Athens Banner-Herald, January 24, 2004.

  160 Joe Kovac Jr., “New Book Asks Provocative Questions about Dwight York,” Macon Telegraph, May 20, 2007.

  161 Federal Bureau of Prisons website (inmate locator). http://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ (accessed May 16, 2014).

  162 “Warren Jeffs Timeline,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), August 29, 2006.

  163 John Quinones, “FLDS Prophet’s Nephew Testifies against Polygamists,” ABC News, April 18, 2008.

  164 Bill Hanna, “Polygamist Sects Purchase of Texas Ranch Worries Residents,” Fort Worth Star Telegram, July 11, 2004.

  165 Ibid.

  166 Brooke Adams and Nate Carlisle, “Police Share Details of Jeffs Capture,” Salt Lake City Tribune, August 29, 2006.

  167 Ibid.

  168 Ray Rivera, “16-Year-Old Girl Testifies of Beating,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 23, 1998.

  169 Charlie LeDuff, “A Holdout Polygamist, 88, Defies the Mormons,” New York Times, February 23, 2002.

  170 Ibid.

  171 Tom Zoellner, “Polygamy: Throughout Its History, Colorado City Has Been the Home of Those That Believe in the Virtues of Plural Marriage,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 28, 1998.

  172 Ibid.

  173 Ray Rivera, “Kingston Gets Maximum Term, Lecture on Incest,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 10, 1999.

  174 Dennis Wagner and Mark Shaffer, “2 Polygamous Towns I
nvestigated,” Arizona Republic, October 2, 2012.

  175 Daphne Bramham, “Warren Jeffs: Prophet or Monster?” Vancouver Sun, September 8, 2007.

  176 Ibid.

  177 Nate Carlisle, “Arizona Boots Polygamist Town Cops,” Salt Lake Tribune, September 19, 2007.

  178 Quinones, “FLDS Prophet’s Nephew Testifies against Polygamists.”

  179 Todd Lewan, “How a Hunting Ground Became Polygamous Nightmare,” Associated Press, April 19, 2008.

  180 Ibid.

  181 Ibid.

  182 Emily Ramshaw and Paul Meyer, “CPS Takes Custody of 401 Youths from Polygamist Ranch,” Dallas Morning News, April 8, 2008.

  183 Greg Flakus, “Texas Court Orders All Children from Polygamous Cult Returned to Parents,” Voice of America, June 2, 2008.

  184 John Mortiz, “Texan’s Tab for YFZ Ranch Roundup Tops $14 Million,” Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 14, 2008.

  185 Paul J. Weber, “$4.5M Spent on Texas FLDS Prosecution,” Associated Press, April 3, 2012.

  186 Nate Carlisle, “Nephew Alleges Jeffs Raped Him, Claimed It Was God’s Will,” Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 2011.

  187 Greg Botelho, “Warren Jeffs’ Appeal Denied; Another Sect Leader Convicted of Bigamy,” CNN, March 30, 2012.

  188 Ben Winslow, “As Many as 1,000 May Be Exiled from the FLDS Church,” Fox News 13 (Salt Lake City, UT), January 2, 2012.

  189 Ben Winslow, “Jeffs Revelation Reportedly Names 15 Men as ‘Fathers’ to FLDS Children,” Fox News 13 (Salt Lake City, UT), June 18, 2012.

  190 Lindsay Whitehurst, “As Lawsuits Loom, More Kicked Out of FLDS,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 28, 2012.

  191 Hilary Hylton, “The Future of the Polygamist Kids,” Time, April 15, 2008.

  192 Lupita Murillo, “Man Kills Former Nanny, Then Kills Himself,” KVOA Tucson TV News, January 10, 2005.

  193 Lupita Murrillo, “Man Kills Former Nanny,Then Kills Himself,” KVOA-TV News (Tucson, AZ), January 10, 2005.

  194 Don Lattin, “On Tape, Son of ‘Prophet’ Declares War on Mother,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 20, 2005.

  195 Craig Malisow, “Family Ties,” Houston Press, November 17, 2005.

  196 Don Lattin, “Daughter of Family’s Founder Renounces His Teachings,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 14, 2001.

  197 Randi Kaye, “Young Man’s Suicide Blamed on Mother’s Cult,” CNN, December 5, 2007.