Oh, how well I know this story from the days of my own cult experience! Like me, Paul Haggis, a Hollywood writer and director and long-time member of Scientology, one day woke up and realized, "Oh my God, I'm in a cult!"
This new article takes its place beside another New Yorker expose' of a cult, written and published in 1994: O Guru, Guru, Guru. That article became so famous, it can now be found online in many places, including: http://www.leavingsiddhayoga.net/o_guru_english.htm
I highly recommend the following report to everyone, to show how easy it is to get caught in a cult, much easier than most people think. I particularly recommend it to anyone seeking spiritual education in the marketplace. There are many large and small organizations calling themselves "spiritual", but if you get involved, you may find cult-like rules, iron-handed leadership, and never-ending demands for more and more financial support. Just a few warning signs to look for:
- Hierarchical structure, the leader and his/her "assistants" (cliquish/elite group formed around the leader) enjoying perks that the other members do not,
- No access to the leader by the rank and file members who are expected to work for the organization with little or no compensation (and, in fact, to pay for the "privilege"),
- Spiritual texts being quoted and used to justify and defend abusive practices against the members,
- Leadership that sets itself above the members--with a head figure or figures in obviously elevated positions, enjoying many fruits (huge monthly income, home or homes, cars, etc.) of the labors of the members.
- Most important, there is an implied or overt teaching/assumption that the leader is "enlightened" -- and you are not. Therefore, you are expected to always defer to his/her greater understanding and authority, and never question it.
By Lawrence Wright
EXCERPT: Haggis forwarded his resignation to more than twenty Scientologist friends, including Anne Archer, John Travolta, and Sky Dayton, the founder of EarthLink. “I felt if I sent it to my friends they’d be as horrified as I was, and they’d ask questions as well,” he says. “That turned out to be largely not the case. They were horrified that I’d send a letter like that.” This is a typical reaction from those who are still cult "believers" and who don't want to admit--or even allow themselves to think that they have dedicated many years of their lives and MUCH money to a cult. For anyone who thinks "I could never fall into a situation like this," this article delineates how subtly, and easily, one can slide into a cult, without realizing it. Cult leaders know how to manipulate and control, as I discovered from my own several years' membership in a spiritual group where I, along with many others, was exploited and abused, all the while thinking I was "helping mankind."
“I had such a lack of curiosity when I was inside,” Haggis said. “It’s stunning to me, because I’m such a curious person.” He said that he had been “somewhere between uninterested in looking and afraid of looking.” His life was comfortable, he liked his circle of friends, and he didn’t want to upset the balance. It was also easy to dismiss people who quit the church. As he put it, “There’s always disgruntled folks who say all sorts of things.” He was now ashamed of this willed myopia...
Over the years, Haggis estimates, he spent more than a hundred thousand dollars on courses and auditing, and three hundred thousand dollars on various Scientology initiatives. [His wife] Rennard says that she spent about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on coursework. Haggis recalls that the demands for donations never seemed to stop. “They used friends and any kind of pressure they could apply,” he says. “I gave them money just to keep them from calling and hounding me.”
I once asked Haggis about the future of his relationship with Scientology. “These people have long memories,” he told me. “My bet is that, within two years, you’re going to read something about me in a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.” He thought for a moment, then said, “I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.”
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