When is it time to start recognizing that Al Qaeda and other Islamist terror groups are cults? The Times Square bombing attempt is another example of a well-off American who was recruited into the black and white, us versus them and good versus evil thinking that cultists use. We ought to start addressing the root of the problem: people are most susceptible to destructive influence at the most vulnerable times in their lives.
Our military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have largely moved the war on terror overseas. But we will continue to see radical Islamist terror groups recruiting on our own soil if we don't equip children, parents and teachers with the tools to combat this phenomenon.
Do we know how to deal with destructive mind-control groups? Yes. As it happens I've been doing it for 36 years. We know how to inhibit their recruitment of new "soldiers." We know ways to undermine their indoctrination methods and ways to educate the general public. The tools are available to educate children and parents. What we need is the will to dedicate adequate resources to inoculate Americans against the tactics of cult recruiters.
What turns young men like Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomber, into radical criminals? He was married and attended graduate school. Yet as his story unfolds, it seems he was put on a fast track to radicalism. I believe we will learn how he was exposed to social influences that overcame his rational ability to make his own decisions.
Shahzad is only one example of young Americans who fall victim every year to cults and deceptive groups masking as legitimate organizations. Their well-known weapons are deception, mind control, manipulation of emotions and exploiting the unmet needs of people. They can then be turned against their families and their loved ones while believing that their criminal acts will be helping God and humankind. These bright, educated, idealistic, passionate people not only become fervent cult members, but also excellent cult recruiters.
Cult recruiters search for energetic, intelligent people who wish to make a difference in the world. They approach prospects when they are most vulnerable: after the death of a loved one, during an illness, after a graduation, at the loss of employment - in short during any transitional life change. They find new members in the most ordinary of places: schools, sororities, fraternities, and social organizations, community groups and of course, on the internet. The common denominator is that all cults - whether they are political, religious, psychotherapeutic, commercial, or educational - seek to make people dependent and obedient. For terrorist cults, it means also making them fanatical to the point of violence.
America should learn something from the U.K. think tank, the Quilliam Foundation. They are helping former cult recruiters, like Maajid Nawaz, to actively challenge the Islamist "narrative" and promote a moderate Islam vision of peace, love and goodness. America would be wise to adopt such a policy to disrupt this recruitment process. The surest way to do this is by creating new strategies toward communication and education.
The author and psychologist Robert Cialdini writes about the six "weapons of influence" that are implemented in persuasion and coercion techniques. The six "weapons" - reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity - are tools used jointly that are meant to affect influence and persuasion in individuals. This is often done through lies and deception - the result being instability that leads to greater dependence on the cult organization.
When we get serious about thwarting cult recruiters we will expose those techniques of persuasion and prepare our young people with the tools to combat cultism. Racial profiling, background checks or gut instincts of security experts are all well intentioned. They transfer responsibility to 'experts'. But we should we also take it upon ourselves, in our homes, schools and even places of worship, to address and expose cultism and give our children, parents and teachers the tools to combat it. It's the best defense against the expansion of terrorist recruiting on U.S. soil.
When will we be ready to take the responsibility to educate the public about destructive mind control methodology? My hope is the near miss of the Times Square bomber marks a new beginning of the way we think about dealing with this problem.
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Steve Hassan
We don't have time to look for "radical Islamist terror groups recruiting on our own soil."
Steve
And therein lies the continued failure of America. HP doesn't allow sufficient space to detail all the ways those who run the US cannot and will not ever employ such a simple and effective policy. Suffice it to say, combining the willful ubiquity of the dumbing down of America with the policy of maintaining and encouraging the separation of all ethnic, religious and political groups in the country will virtually guarantee a climate that allows the exploitation of the weak. I wish you good luck trying to sell that here...
Miles "Separate AND Unequal" Long
Have you checked out the Quilliam Foundation web site yet? Or Bob Cialdini's work? or my own?
Steve
It is a global ideological phenomenon in the same way anarchism was in the 19-20 centuries.
It is not a cult, as it relies on literal interpretation of mainstream islamic dogma, and nothing else.
If one considers Islamic religious mythology mainstream, one would have to extend the same to the Pan-Jihadists.
If fact there no difference Jihad ideology of historical era of Islamic imperialism and current batch of of would-be Saladins and Suleimans.
The only difference is that modern would-be caliphs are hopelessly over-matched.
It is true that many of the cult groups I have dealt with wish to "take over the world" and wish to create a theocracy to rule it. The cult I was in, the Moonies, has this same vision. On in this cult, we will all speak Korean, all religions will be abolished and we will all be believing his "Divine Principle."
The fantasy "vision" exists with most mind control group, of creating a utopia- if only one "believes" and then sacrifices everything to make the vision "happen."
Steve
Is cult going to just finally mean any group the challenges the status quo? That puts me in the Rachel Maddow cult.
No they are Buddhists, members of mainstream world religion
"What about the Falun Gong "
They are a cult. Maybe some day they will reach the status of a religion. But I doubt it.
Now try thinking, if able, about the differences between mainstream relgion and cults.
If you think they are are none, do more researcha and then try thinking again.
good luck.
Cultists like Bush, Cheney, and H.R. Clinton?
Why would it? It hasn't helped us fight polygamist Mormon fundamentalists or crazy Scientologists.
Sadly, our media no longer exist to inform; they are there to amuse. We hear little that puts a human face on people our policies have ravaged, creating a huge void between popular mythology and reality. Troubled individuals can easily see a black-and-white world of extremes. No nuance. In such an environment it's not surprising that intelligent, supposedly idealistic people can go over to the dark side. Until we as a nation seek healing and accomodation with all people we will merely perpetuate the opportunity to create more terrorists.
I enjoyed your intelligent pov.