I keep thinking about the images of the young females taken away from the polygamy cult in Texas. Those ugly dresses they had to wear were so appalling. There is a dark side to modesty that rarely gets talked about. I don't think people should run around naked for sanitary reasons. And Hooters and places like that are exploitive. On the other hand, the polygamy women dressed as if they had ugly bodies that needed covering except perhaps when their old man husbands were around. Their bodies were seen as shameful and scary to them although of course in reality they were beautiful young girls. The women were devalued and treated like commodities for breeding and producing offspring like we treat hogs in confinement operations. And the "extra" young boys in the cult were often just driven away and dumped off in the wilderness, like little hams. (They end up in half way houses for lost boys. One large halfway house is in St. George, Utah.) Polygamy claims many victims. Currently about 10,00 people practice polygamy in the United States.

So how do people get talked into such life styles? Where does it start? How do cults grab a hold? Any group that bestows a lot of attention on you and insists on giving you an identity could be a cult. One time when I was in graduate school in chemistry I went to the student union to grab a bite to eat between experiments. I must have looked isolated and disheveled sitting there by myself. Perhaps my brow was knit as I contemplated my data. I was probably somewhat covered up as a good chemist should be with long pants and closed toed shoes. But really I was happy as a lark with my experiments that day, it just wasn't showing.

I was approached by a "Moonie" who interviewed me. He asked if I was sad and alone and searching. I said "No." He asked where I thought God was that day and I said "Inside all of us." I looked at a checklist he had on a clipboard. There was a place where he could check "invite for dinner." He looked at me and then checked NO. Then he walked away.

Cults look for people who are lonely and isolated. The whole idea of a cult is to keep you sad and in need and longing spiritually and unable to work independently. If there are groups in your life that are keeping you needy like that you might consider that they are a type of cult. They may not even be based on religion but another type of "high pressure group."

Here are some hallmarks of cults:

They tend to isolate you from family, friends, and other groups.
They may ask you to give up control of your life, thoughts, and decisions.
They tend to focus on guilt and shame.
They may promote crises in your school, career, or personal life.
They may resort to frightening you to the point that you stop making decisions and asking questions for yourself.

According to the chaplain at Harvard, "Cults sway opinions through the power of group dynamics and keep members so busy that they do not have time to think." A cult might have numerous text studies or other meetings and keep you quite busy with those. They come up with simplistic solutions for complex social problems. You might see ideas such as arranged marriages or no dating before marriage or marriage at a very young age, for example, because after all, dating is complex and at times filled with peril, perhaps even heartbreak. Then there will be lots of pressure for you to get on board with this. If you made a bad decision in the past they will lay on the guilt and make sure you don't trust yourself to make an independent decision in the future. Your pain is their gain. Idealists are particularly vulnerable to cults.

The following traits are seen in high pressure groups (another term for cults) that tend to look for victims on college campuses:

The group claims to have "all the answers" to your problems.
You are asked to recruit new members or raise money soon after joining.
You begin to feel guilty and ashamed, unworthy as a person.
The group speaks in a derogatory way about your past religious affiliation (or lack of one).
The group encourages you to put their meetings and activities before all other commitments, including studying.
Parents, teachers and friends are defined as unable to understand or to help you with religious, philosophical, social, or political issues…unless they, too, are part of the cult.
Doubts and questions are seen as a sign of weakness. You are shunned if you persist in these doubts.
Leadership in the group is mostly male, and males are believed to have different rights and abilities than females.
You are invited on a retreat with the group, but they can't give you an overview of the purpose, theme, or activities before you go

I might add, if they tell you to dress like Granny and encourage you to be a baby-maker for someone's Empire it could be a very bad sign. Groups without the ability to appeal to normal people have to have members born into them and brainwashed from birth. They can't let people be themselves because no one with a strong sense of self would join them.

But of course there are decent groups who suggest Bible study and have a dress code. And people have a right to have children just as they have a right not to have them if they choose. What's the difference?

The Harvard chaplain's office says that a cult will "prohibit critical analysis or independent thinking" and limit personal freedom and choices. They might object to activities that are intended to counteract victimizing women, for example.

You should think of cults in the same way that you think of that Nigerian on the Internet who wants to give you some money if you would just send him your bank account number. What they are offering is too simple to be anything but a trap. Life does have many difficult choices and even some simple ones such as what to wear in the morning. Sometimes we make bad choices, such as 80s fashions or plaid golf pants. But none the less, beware of cults and "Viva choice!"

Cults and college students
http://www.usfca.edu/hps/hp/cult_awareness.htm
p://chaplains.harvard.edu/about_us.php
http://www.cultsoncampus.com/restohiggrou.html

Lost boys
http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?id=2978&option=com_content&task=view
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20828/lost-boys-4
Moonies": The Unification Church
http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/1earth4.html
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/index.html

Is George Bush a Moonie?
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/index.html
http://www.perkel.com/politics/moonies/bush.htm

Is Neil Bush a Moonie?
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/20829/universal-peace-federation

a cult might object to this
http://www.vday.org/contents/vday

Cathy Haustein, 43008