Cult Information Centre
Encyclopedia
The Cult Information Centre (CIC) is a British organization that provides information and advice to members of what the organization terms as cult
s, as well as affected family members, members of the press and scholarly researchers. The organization also serves as a resource for information on controversial religious groups, therapy cults, and political cult
s. The Cult Information Centre gives educational talks about cults in schools around the United Kingdom
to students about to start university education.
in the United Kingdom
, in 1992. Ian Haworth is founder and current General Secretary of the organization, and he had previously been involved with the Council on Mind Abuse
. According to Arweck's Researching New Religious Movements, Ian Haworth and an associate had previously lost a court case in Canada
that was brought by Werner Erhard
against the Council on Mind Abuse organization. Arweck writes that Haworth went bankrupt after losing the case to Erhard, and left Canada for Britain. Later in an article in the Sunday Mercury, Ian Haworth was quoted as stating that the Cult Information Centre received complaints in Britain about the actions of Landmark Education
, which the article described as being linked to Werner Erhard's est movement
. Similar statements from the Cult Information Centre were reported in an article on The Forum
.
techniques, and strict adherence to a leader or tight-knit leadership structure. This high level of adherence helps to reinforce authority, as well as belief in the leader's doctrine, which may involve his own personal delusions. According to the Cult Information Centre, these individuals are prone to suffering from forms of mental illness
. The organization cites twenty-six key forms of mind control, which includes hypnosis
, peer pressure
and groupthink
, love bombing
, the rejection of old values, confusing doctrine
, use of subliminal messages, time-sense inhibition, dress codes, disinhibition
, diet
, confession
, fear
, and chanting and singing.
The organization has attempted to define the term cult by analyzing dictionary definitions, and psychological, religious, and secular definitions, however it has found that they are all deficient in some manner. Its current definition of the term cult includes three main points: the group's identity was derived from a major religion, but its practices and belief system are dramatically different; its followers are not bound by a codified belief structure; and the group was founded by an individual who utilized fraudulent means to gain respect and acceptance.
The Cult Information Centre has estimated that there are approximately 2,500 cults operating within the United States
, as of 2007. Intelligent students that are intellectually and/or spiritually curious were described as prime recruitment targets for cults, according to the Cult Information Centre. The organization has stated that these religious sects are limited by very strict rules in Britain as to how they can fundraise and advertise in recruitment of new members. The organization believes that the number of cults actively recruiting from college campuses has increased. Though the organization has stated that college-age students and teenagers are susceptible, it also believes that well-off professionals within the middle class are targeted by cults. The organization states that it is a common misperception that only loners and misfits are drawn to controversial groups and movements.
Some of the groups that the Cult Information Centre analyzes have criticized their methods. John Campbell of the evangelical Christian group, the Jesus Army
insists they have good relations with other Christian churches, and called the Cult Information Centre "unethical" and its views "absolute nonsense". The Church of Scientology
felt that its message was also misrepresented by the Cult Information Centre.
organization, the Cult Information Centre was cited by Wilson and Cresswell's New Religious Movements as one of the best known secular groups that monitor new religious movement
s. Arweck also compared the Cult Information Centre to the Family Action Information and Rescue Organization, as well as to other groups such as Reachout Trust
.
Gurr's The New Face of Terrorism, Shaw's Spying in Guruland, and Mikul's Bizarrism cite the Cult Information Centre's twenty-six techniques of mind control. William Shaw had contacted the Cult Information Centre in his 1993 investigation of cults, but is explicitly critical of its methods and the reliability of its research throughout the book. His opinion was that individuals had joined cults out of "their own hunger to believe" and is dismissive of "absurd scare stories". These twenty-six techniques have also been cited by the press as well. BBC News
has cited the Cult Information Centre's five key factors that distinguish a cult, in an article on Scientology
. In a separate article Haworth of the Cult Information Centre was quoted as stating he was deeply concerned about Scientology's activities and use of celebrities
in a global marketing
campaign.
In his work Understanding New Religious Movements, Saliba notes that though the organization's definition of the term cult stems from a theological background, it incorporates sociological and psychological features as well. The research on the Cult Information Centre's Website is cited as a resource by Penn's False Dawn. The Cult Information Centre was also cited as a resource in British parliamentary proceedings investigating the Home Secretary's actions regarding the Unification Church
and Sun Myung Moon
.
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s, as well as affected family members, members of the press and scholarly researchers. The organization also serves as a resource for information on controversial religious groups, therapy cults, and political cult
Political cult
Political cult is a term used to describe some groups that are generally considered to be on the political fringe. Although the majority of groups to which the term "cult" is sometimes applied are religious in nature, some are non-religious and focus either on secular self-improvement or on...
s. The Cult Information Centre gives educational talks about cults in schools around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to students about to start university education.
History
The Cult Information Centre was initially founded in 1987 and gained charitable statusCharitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in 1992. Ian Haworth is founder and current General Secretary of the organization, and he had previously been involved with the Council on Mind Abuse
Council on Mind Abuse
The Council on Mind Abuse was a Canadian non-profit organization promoting education about "cults" from 1979 to 1992.- Beginnings :COMA's Founder and President was Ian Haworth, an international anticult activist from the United Kingdom Haworth also co-founded FOCUS Network in 1982 in Dallas, Texas...
. According to Arweck's Researching New Religious Movements, Ian Haworth and an associate had previously lost a court case in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that was brought by Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard is an author of transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations...
against the Council on Mind Abuse organization. Arweck writes that Haworth went bankrupt after losing the case to Erhard, and left Canada for Britain. Later in an article in the Sunday Mercury, Ian Haworth was quoted as stating that the Cult Information Centre received complaints in Britain about the actions of Landmark Education
Landmark Education
Landmark Education LLC is a personal training and development company which offers educational programs in approximately 115 locations in more than 20 countries worldwide....
, which the article described as being linked to Werner Erhard's est movement
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
. Similar statements from the Cult Information Centre were reported in an article on The Forum
Werner Erhard and Associates
Werner Erhard and Associates, also known as WE&A or as WEA, operated as a commercial entity from February 1981 until early 1991. It replaced Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. as the vehicle for marketing, selling and imparting the content of the est training, and offered what some people refer to as...
.
Methodology
The Cult Information Centre believes that the most striking features of post-war religious cults includes the usage of mind controlMind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
techniques, and strict adherence to a leader or tight-knit leadership structure. This high level of adherence helps to reinforce authority, as well as belief in the leader's doctrine, which may involve his own personal delusions. According to the Cult Information Centre, these individuals are prone to suffering from forms of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. The organization cites twenty-six key forms of mind control, which includes hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
, peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
and groupthink
Groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without...
, love bombing
Love bombing
Love bombing is the deliberate show of affection or friendship by an individual or a group of people toward another individual. Critics have asserted that this action may be motivated in part by the desire to recruit, convert or otherwise influence....
, the rejection of old values, confusing doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
, use of subliminal messages, time-sense inhibition, dress codes, disinhibition
Disinhibition
Disinhibition is a term in psychology used to describe a lack of restraint manifested in several ways, including disregard for social conventions, impulsivity, and poor risk assessment. Disinhibition affects motor, instinctual, emotional, cognitive and perceptual aspects with signs and symptoms...
, diet
Diet (nutrition)
In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...
, confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
, fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
, and chanting and singing.
The organization has attempted to define the term cult by analyzing dictionary definitions, and psychological, religious, and secular definitions, however it has found that they are all deficient in some manner. Its current definition of the term cult includes three main points: the group's identity was derived from a major religion, but its practices and belief system are dramatically different; its followers are not bound by a codified belief structure; and the group was founded by an individual who utilized fraudulent means to gain respect and acceptance.
The Cult Information Centre has estimated that there are approximately 2,500 cults operating within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as of 2007. Intelligent students that are intellectually and/or spiritually curious were described as prime recruitment targets for cults, according to the Cult Information Centre. The organization has stated that these religious sects are limited by very strict rules in Britain as to how they can fundraise and advertise in recruitment of new members. The organization believes that the number of cults actively recruiting from college campuses has increased. Though the organization has stated that college-age students and teenagers are susceptible, it also believes that well-off professionals within the middle class are targeted by cults. The organization states that it is a common misperception that only loners and misfits are drawn to controversial groups and movements.
Some of the groups that the Cult Information Centre analyzes have criticized their methods. John Campbell of the evangelical Christian group, the Jesus Army
Jesus Army
The Jesus Army is the identity that the Jesus Fellowship Church uses in its outreach and street-based work. It is a neocharismatic evangelical Christian movement based in the United Kingdom, that is part of the British New Church Movement....
insists they have good relations with other Christian churches, and called the Cult Information Centre "unethical" and its views "absolute nonsense". The Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
felt that its message was also misrepresented by the Cult Information Centre.
Analyzed in secondary sources
Along with the Family Action Information ResourceFamily Action Information Resource
In November 2007, FAIR , Britain's main "anti-cult" group, re-established itself as The Family Survival Trust ....
organization, the Cult Information Centre was cited by Wilson and Cresswell's New Religious Movements as one of the best known secular groups that monitor new religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
s. Arweck also compared the Cult Information Centre to the Family Action Information and Rescue Organization, as well as to other groups such as Reachout Trust
Reachout Trust
Reachout Trust is a British evangelical Christian organisation. Its stated aims are to "Examine in the light of the Christian gospel the beliefs and spirituality of people within the cults, occults, new age and all not upholding to biblical truth."...
.
Gurr's The New Face of Terrorism, Shaw's Spying in Guruland, and Mikul's Bizarrism cite the Cult Information Centre's twenty-six techniques of mind control. William Shaw had contacted the Cult Information Centre in his 1993 investigation of cults, but is explicitly critical of its methods and the reliability of its research throughout the book. His opinion was that individuals had joined cults out of "their own hunger to believe" and is dismissive of "absurd scare stories". These twenty-six techniques have also been cited by the press as well. BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
has cited the Cult Information Centre's five key factors that distinguish a cult, in an article on Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
. In a separate article Haworth of the Cult Information Centre was quoted as stating he was deeply concerned about Scientology's activities and use of celebrities
Scientology and celebrities
Recruiting Scientologist celebrities and getting them to endorse Scientology to the public at large has always been very important to the Church of Scientology. Scientology has had a written program governing celebrity recruitment since at least 1955, when L. Ron Hubbard created "Project...
in a global marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
campaign.
In his work Understanding New Religious Movements, Saliba notes that though the organization's definition of the term cult stems from a theological background, it incorporates sociological and psychological features as well. The research on the Cult Information Centre's Website is cited as a resource by Penn's False Dawn. The Cult Information Centre was also cited as a resource in British parliamentary proceedings investigating the Home Secretary's actions regarding the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
and Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
.