27 Nov 2014
The Brahma Kumaris are a cult. That actually took me years after leaving to admit ... I think because I did not want to admit that I was duped and sucked into a cult. I think I was probably clutching onto a little bit of the superiority complex that is part of BKism and wanted to think that, in some way, even after leaving, that I was better than other "cult followers" and that BKism, somehow, was "special".
BKism really is not, and BKs certainly are not. It was just a cult successful enough designed and run by a dishonest and manipulative leadership that was able to hook me.
What surprised me years later was how similar it was to other cults. Or how similar cults are to each other ... a change of terminology, a different colour of costume, small tonal differences here and there but they're all so similar.
How do cults attract and manipulate their followers? In this movie the director explores just that ... Cult Witness, (2011).
BKism really is not, and BKs certainly are not. It was just a cult successful enough designed and run by a dishonest and manipulative leadership that was able to hook me.
What surprised me years later was how similar it was to other cults. Or how similar cults are to each other ... a change of terminology, a different colour of costume, small tonal differences here and there but they're all so similar.
I lived in a cult for ten years. The cult leader controlled my life and dictated my thoughts, feelings and actions. Why did this happen to me? Why was it so difficult to break free? To try to understand these questions I went on a journey of self-discovery and spoke to experts and ex-members who suffered similar experiences.
How do cults attract and manipulate their followers? In this movie the director explores just that ... Cult Witness, (2011).
An intelligent exploration of how cults attract and manipulate their followers, this documentary shares the disturbing firsthand experiences of Cult Witness director Samuel Stefan and six others who have freed themselves from cults: Jill Mytton (The Exclusive Brethren), Jim Bergin and Judy Garvey (The Gentle Wind Project), Lea Saskia Laasner (The Janus Project), and Celeste Jones and Amoreena Winkler (The Children of God).
Analytical insights into the cultic experience are provided by leadership expert Betty Sue Flowers; Benjamin Zablocki, chair of the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University; UCLA Professor Emeritus Bertram Raven, an expert on interpersonal influence and social power relationships; psychotherapist Miguel Perlado, who specializes in cult-related problems; and Urs Eschmann, a specialist in legal issues involving cults.
