You could ask the question, why would someone become a cult leader? What do you get from being a cult leader? It’s a lot of work; it’s a lot of responsibility. But what you get which is unique in any other job is you have the opportunity to have total absolute power over everyone. Professor Philip Zimbardo
The estimate’s been put at about two or three million minimum are involved in groups that have been called cults. Rick Ross, cult specialist, interview Mind Control
New religions are filling the void ready to exploit vulnerable people looking for that spiritual guidance. Exposed: Ireland’s Secret Cults, TV3 2011
On the west coast of Ireland on the island of Akyll, Christina Gallagher has been operating an organisation called the House of Prayer for almost twenty years. Her followers see her as a holy visionary, and claims to speak regularly with the Virgin Mary. ibid.
The House of Prayer has gone international over the years with five branches in the US and even one in Mexico. Meanwhile, the money has poured in. ibid.
An extreme religion called the Palmarians ... A dissident branch of the Catholic Church they have their own pope, priests and ascribe to a set of rules that among other things forbids its members from speaking to other non-Palmarians. ibid.
Spain: In the late 1960s when three young girls witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a field just outside the village of Palma de Troya many seers came to pray. ibid.
Scientology: the most talked about cult in the world ... Scientology has a huge celebrity following. The religion offers its members a wide range of life-improvement courses. ibid.
Paying for courses is a huge aspect of Scientology. ibid.
The Palamarians survive on donations from their members. ibid.
It is possible we will die in the struggle. The Palmarians
This is World Centre Ministries: we spent four years of our lives here. They did some pretty horrible things to us. It’s like living in a concentration camp. Secret Lives of Women: Cults, Tricia Cartledge
Destructive groups can come in all shapes and sizes. ibid. commentary
Separating families is a common tactic used by mind control groups. ibid.
‘My name is Amy Shipley and I was involved in a cult called Dahn Yoga.’ ibid. Amy
Brenda believes they [Jehovah’s Witnesses] have all the hallmarks of a mind control group. ibid.
Opus Dei, The Children of God, the Church of Scientology, the Unification Church, Branch Davidians, Jews for Jesus, their members may think of them as a religion but their critics have called them cults. Nicky Campbell, The Big Questions: Is There a Difference Between a Religion and a Cult? BBC 2012
Raelians: There is only an after-life if Science creates one. ibid.
Raelian to sceptic: I’ve head things about your sexual habits. ibid.
A cult is predicated usually on the belief of a particular man. Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet
I think there’s no difference at between a cult and a religion. Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou
It’s about size. Francesca Stavrakopoulou
Perceptions of damage. Francesca Stavrakopoulou
It’s people who are dangerous. Francesca Stavrakopoulous
Monopoly: some people think they have an exclusive access to this divine truth. Francesca Stavrakopoulou
Jews for Jesus is a deception term ... that Jewish people can maintain their Judaism while believing in Jesus Christ. And they use many deceptive techniques. Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, International Cult Studies Association
A totalist cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing, and employing unethical, manipulative or coercive techniques, persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders. American Family Foundation, 1985
But as in all cults, what’s central to the Communist Party is the belief system and the elimination of nuance. From there you’re very slowly led down the road to fanaticism and mass murder. Alexei Sayle
This is the mentality of a cult, in which fantastical beliefs are flaunted as proof of one’s piety. That mentality cannot coexist with an esteem for truth, and I believe it is responsible for some of the unfortunate trends in recent intellectual life. Stephen Pinker
You’ve wandered from the proper path, haven’t you? The Master 2012 starring Amy Adams & Philip Seymour Hoffman & Joaquin Phoenix & Ambyr Childers & Jese Plemons & Rami Malek & Laura Dern & Christopher Evan Welch & Madisen Beaty & Lena Endre & Kevin J O'Connor & Amy Ferguson & Joshua Close et al, director Paul Thomas Anderson, Master to Sailor
We are not a part of the animal kingdom. ibid. Master
I want you to open up your hearts. And open up your wallets ... I should be in a Rolls Royce. Angel Heart 1987 starring Mickey Rourke & Robert De Niro & Lisa Bonet & Charlotte Rampling & Stocker Fontelieu & Brownie McGhee & Michael Higgins & Elizabeth Whitcraft & Charles Gordone & Dann Florek & Kathleen Wilhoite et al, director Alan Parker, preacher
Welcome to our new members. Sound of My Voice 2011 starring Brit Marling & & Christopher Denham & Nicole Vicius & Davenia McFadden & Kandice Stroh & Richard Wharton et al, director Zal Batmanglij, guru
Two years ago I woke up underwater. ibid. weird bird
Or in my case travelling back in time to save the people you love. ibid.
And rise to our callings as chosen ones. ibid.
You are asking me to capture an eight-year-old girl. ibid. bloke to weird bird
Marcy May: where you going? Martha Marcy May Marlene 2011 starring Elizabeth Olsen & John Hawkes & Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy & Brady Coret & Christopher Abbott & Maria Dizzia & Julia Garner & Louisa Krause et al, director Sean Durkin, pursuer
You can’t do that around here … You don’t do that type of thing. ibid. Lucy
Mostly we sell blankets in town. ibid. cult lady to Martha
Is it true mad people don’t fuck? ibid. Martha to sister
We all love each other very much. ibid. cult lady to Martha
You’re cleansing yourself of the past and the toxins. ibid.
What the fuck is wrong with you? … What happened to you? ibid. sister to Martha
There is a loose-knit network of cults, Satanic cults operating across this country. Ted L Gunderson, retired FBI Chief Los Angeles Office
It was in what is now western Turkey that the Mary cult started to become a global phenomenon. A special devotion grew up around her to replace the old pagan goddesses like Diana or Artemis. In church doctrine she went from being the mere mother of Jesus to ... the Mother of God. This incredible clout was reinforced by the building of churches devoted to her and the dissemination of her image all over Byzantium, the Christian Roman Empire in the east. Bettany Hughes, The Bible: A History, Channel 4 2010
There were as many cults in Rome as there were provinces in the Empire. Rome: Power and Glory s1e5: The Cult of Order, TVPG 1999
Charismatic leaders. Faithful followers. Threatening families, friends, even national security. Does the public have something to fear from America’s estimated five thousand religious, political and Satanic cults? America’s Book of Secrets s2e6: Deadly Cults, History 2013
Heaven’s Gate, the Branch Davidians, the People’s Temple ... 200,000 Americans. ibid.
The kingdom of God is the consciousness of God. ibid. Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Church Universal and Triumphant, television broadcast
What makes an organisation a cult? ibid.
Heaven’s Gate: 39 bodies were found. ibid.
Jim Jones founded his church – the People’s Temple ... Members of Jones’s Red Militia ambushed them and opened fire. ibid.
But was it mass suicide? ibid.