I've read too many books about cults, narcissistic abuse, con artists, and other selfish pathologies: memoirs, recovery guides, academic social science texts, etc.
I became obsessed after my own misadventure in a mom & pop cult. I started devouring information. Now, 14 years out, I try to live a more balanced life, although I'm still obsessed. There are other things in life besides cults...right?
However, I recently ordered the audiobook version of Anke Richter's Cult Trip, listened to it in four days, and then ordered the hard copy (available on Amazon). This painfully disturbing account of human susceptibility, and those who take advantage, is beautifully written, brutally honest and important.
Anke tackles a dual track: journalistic, her reporting on cults in New Zealand; and personal, early in the book, she writes, "I don't speak New Age. I married a doctor, and as a journalist who trades in facts, I'm by default skeptical of anything esoteric. Ask me my star-sign and I'll give you an eye-roll." Then she progressively recognizes her need to seek and vulnerability to influence.
Her personal interest in alternative communities seeded her professional beat. In 2012, she met a woman at a "Taste of Love" festival who told her, "I lived in a kind of sex cult when I was young... " She was referring to the Auckland-based cult, Centrepoint. This kicked off Anke's deep dive into the cult world. Anke's reporting led her to tantric yoga communities like, OIMR and Agama Yoga. Then, Glorivale, New Zealand's version of the "Children of God"—"Christian" leaders hiding their perversions, pedophilia and misogyny behind bibles and crosses. Michael Langone, founder and previous Executive Director of The International Cultic Studies Association, calls this type of gaslighting evil posing as good.
Anke's interviewees range from whistle blowers, and cult busters to apologists and unapologetic devotees. She demonstrates why intelligent people seek answers, see what they need to see, and cling to narratives even when facts contradict claims. She sees that struggle in herself, and concludes:
"In order to understand cultish dynamics, we need to look at ourselves...What makes us admire someone so much that we let them tell us what is good for us, without an inquiry on our part or qualification on theirs? What mental gymnastics do we use to reframe the kind of subjugation that breaks the human spirit as 'tough love' or 'growth'? How often have we stayed silent in the presence of an emperor with no clothes, afraid to stand out in the crowd? And if we truly believe we can create a better world, or help others to be better versions of themselves, can we safely encourage them to join our path?"
"There's a very fine line between passion and manipulation, between being a good student or an infatuated follower. It's easy to blur it. If spiritual idols go unchecked for the sake of keeping peace, not losing friends or upholding an ideology, then I wonder how much we're also at fault for putting them on a pedestal in the first place. Adulation eventually corrupts."
It's a dilemma. Humans are wired, neurologically, to connect. We function, and have survived, in groups. Our socialization relies on leaders and followers. Recent neuroscience research backs this up. We need to rely on others, and trust that others are well-intended. Some humans are wired to take advantage of that. We need to recognize that their damage ripples out and rips through our social fabric. We need to understand how our social needs can make us vulnerable and learn how to protect ourselves.
Anke's transparency about her own vulnerability is what made the book so powerful for me. If you want to understand cult trips—your own, a loved one's experience, or the cultural phenomenon—Anke's emotional and cognitive intelligence will serve you well.
Now, someone please suggest a fiction book that has nothing to do with cults!
~Esther
Esther Friedman
Author of The Gentle Souls Revolution
Website: gentlesoulsrevolution.com
Buy the book: https://a.co/d/4fLuoa0
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