These people are like your family.
You can't just leave them.
And what would the leader think?
But you've given up all your money and your real
family.
You need to escape. But how?
It won't be easy, but you can do it.
You're not the first person to be alerted to a
cult,
and you won't be the last.
Here's how to survive
a Cult.
Cults are groups of people gathered together by a common
ideological system.
They center on a charismatic leader
who claims to be the only one who can help
them transcend the imperfections of life.
Many of the most infamous cults have involved terrible crimes
like sex trafficking,
fraud, murders, and even mass suicides.
According to Nancy Ammerman, chair of Boston University Sociology department,
people who join cults are often at a crossroads in
their lives,
and they're experiencing uncertainty and fear,
just like many of us have felt during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Imagine that while you're isolated,
feeling uncertain about your job and your future,
you find an article about the first clone,
human baby.
It looks like the people behind it have also started
their own Happiness Academy,
just what you need. So you decide to give it
a try.
Suddenly you've fallen into realism,
A cult founded in France in
1975 by Real, a former sports journalist who assures his
followers that extraterrestrials created all life on Earth and they
sent him to build an embassy for when they return.
But to do that, he needs a lot of money
and servants.
And now, my friend, you're one of them.
But don't worry, you're not alone.
How can you identify if you're in a cult?
What can you do to escape one?
And how many people fall victim to these things?
Step one, read the signs.
Cults often start like regular churches,
personal coaching courses or self help communities,
but at some point they start distancing you from your
personal relationships,
family, school or job. The award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix spent
part of his childhood in the Children of God,
a cult that forced him to beg on the streets
for food,
embracing adultery and incest.
When his parents realized it was not a regular church,
the entire family left the calm.
So no matter how compelling you find realism or any
other cult,
don't join anything that makes you stay away from your
family and friends.
Step 2 Escape
Australian Claire Ashman was born into a fundamentalist Catholic cult.
She grew up isolated from the world,
and she was forced to marry.
At age 15,
her husband took her into the Order of Saint Charbel,
a cult led by William Cam,
then convicted for rape. Eventually she and her eight children
were held by the cult,
but she managed to escape
when the sheriff served an eviction notice at the property
where she was a captive.
After that, she had to learn how to live a
normal life as a free woman.
So be alert and take any chance you have to
escape.
Step three, keep your documents with you.
Soyun, Li's mother convinced her to live with her in
the Grace Rd.
camp in Fiji. Soon, the South Korean woman realized it
was a violent and abusive cult that had taken all
of her mother's money.
The night before she escaped,
her mom took away Soyun's passport to prevent her from
leaving,
but she fled anyway. Other cult members blocked her and
tried to catch her,
but fortunately she found a police car that took her
to the South Korea embassy,
where she managed to get an emergency passport and go
back home.
She lost her entire family in the process,
but now she lives free and happy in South Korea.
So never lose sight of your important documents.
Step 4, Distance yourself.
Fortunately, not all cults keep their members captive all the
time,
so you may have an opportunity to take some distance
like Laura Johnston did.
She was part of a cult called the People's Temple
in California,
which moved cult members to Guyana,
South America after the cult drew attention from the media.
After reports that people were being forced to stay at
the camp against their will,
AUS delegation led by California Congressman Leo Ryan visited the
Jonestown camp.
Gunman from the cult ambushed the delegation
and killed 5 people as they were waiting to return
home.
The Colts leader, Jim Jones ordered all of its members
to drink poison.
More than 900 people died that day,
but Laura was on a trip out of the compound,
so she survived. But she recognizes that she might have
died by suicide if she was in the camp that
day,
influenced by the leader and the people she loved.
So get some distance from the cult and think by
yourself.
Step 5. Collect evidence.
Jessica Jones was first hooked into the Nexium cult as
she thought it was a self help group.
But after she was required to give them compromising photographs
and told to have an intimate encounter with the cult's
leader,
Keith Rainier, she started planning her escape.
But in the meantime she collected evidence that led to
Rainier's arrest and conviction.
Margaret Singer, professor of psychology at the University of California
at Bentley,
estimates that there could be up to
3,000,000 cult members in the US.
So while you're planning your escape,
you can also help to stop the cult from abusing
other people.
Finally, you found your way out.
But while you were in the cult,
democracy has fallen.
Now you live in a dictatorship led by a crazy
tyrant.
Don't panic. We have you covered
here on How to Survive.