Cults

Excerpt from 'A Guide to Identifying Cults' by Wuxi Cevo

"Before one can properly identify a cult, one must know what a cult is. While the word carries various connotations and definitions, there are only a few that need worrying about.

At its core the cults that should be dealt with are those where one person is in charge and all cult members follow without question. In many cases religion is used to control the followers, though other tactics such as claiming to save them from catastrophic events that the cult leader has prophesized or generalized isolation are also common.

What all these things share is that the cult leader uses them to manipulate their followers to get something they want. Most just want the adoration of those around them and seek control over other people, though some use it to obtain monetary wealth or seek more obscure goals and some even just simply believe in what they teach; that they themselves are a deity or a vessel to the divine with no nefarious intentions.

However the vast majority are simply mentally unwell, either untreated/undiagnosed or untreatable with anything sort of being put in the ground. The problem is by the time they get around to becoming cult leaders any form of diagnosis and treatment is likely to be unhelpful as they are too far gone, and so death is the only solution.

It is to this end that I wrote this book. As the survivor of a religious cult who finally managed to get out thanks to the efforts of others who took their time to help me, I want to pay it forward. I want to help others identify cults, and in doing so help others in the way I was helped."