WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS ON THE CULT MEMBER?
“Power tends to corrupt: absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The power that a cult leader has over his or her members becomesincreasingly an absolute power — the final authority over everyaspect of the cult members’ daily lives and, supposedly, theirspiritual destiny. The cult leaders define who to pray to, when andhow to pray, what to eat, what to shop for, when to sleep, what toeat, when and if to have sex, with whom to have sex, what kind of sexto have (including frequently having sex with the cult leader); inshort, every aspect of a person’s life that is normally considered ablessing of freedom and life. Cults take away everything from themember’s life except their life itself. In some cults, they even takeaway members’ lives through human sacrifices or through ‘ exorcisms’and beatings, or through ‘hits’ on people considered inimical to thecult.
