Why Do People Join Cults? | Steven Hassan

Steven Hassan is a licensed mental health counselor who has been educating the public about mind control, brainwashing, and destructive cults since 1976. He’s the author of Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults and the founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center.
✍️ Full show notes and worksheet for this episode: jordanharbinge...
What We Discuss with Steven Hassan:
🧠 What to do if you suspect you’ve been targeted for recruitment by a cult.
🧠 How to tell if your friends and family are being affected by a cult.
🧠 What you should and shouldn’t say to someone you’re trying to rescue from a cult.
🧠 How phobia indoctrination keeps a cult’s potential defectors tethered to its undue influence by fear (and how Steven helps people break this indoctrination).
🧠 Why Steven is optimistic that we’ve reached a turning point at which the bulk of humanity is waking up to understanding the psychology of undue influence.
🧠 And much more…
📖 Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan
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[@crystalakabeavergamingsubs9549]

My father taught me to never let anyone think for me. I have been labeled unmanageable but I have never even been close to a cult. 😊

[@joeypchajek]

Most people in a cult have no idea they are in a cult.

[@pcpxbotendorastermace9948]

​@joeypchajek ya we are part of the KZbin cult

[@percubit10]

cults are the cesspool for indoctorination

[@johnhue8933]

@crystalakabeavergamingsubs9549 People that can step back and think and analyze have better protection from being taken in by cults. But even then you have to be careful that curiosity killed the cat does not suck you in.

[@HomeFromFarAway]

I have been suckered in by cult-like organisations at the same time as I have always been the first person to call out hypocrisy. I was not "safe from cults" because I always thought I could change them. but I was scapegoated by a lot of very very abusive people for always speaking up.

[@gingerpetrini6205]

I have watched a lot of interviews with Steve Hassan . This one is by far the best I’ve ever heard I can’t wait for the second interview

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Thank you! More in The Jordan Harbinger Show podcast feed

[@unnamed3932]

I trust you make the many connections that 'transgender identity' ideology has to the cult dynamics discussed here. Surely Steve is aware of the same dynamics if he has familiarity w/ that movement/agenda. The male heterosexual cross-dresser sexual fetishists w/ various paraphilias (autogynephiles/transvestic fetishists) who are the 'nuclear reactor' of that movement as Helen Joyce, author of 'Trans,' When Ideology Meets Reality,' has put it use some of the same tactics Steve describes to gaslight the public and esp. young people into that pernicious identitarian cult. A cult that is misogynist and homophobic to its core.

[@Donna777]

Cults can also consist of 2 people, such as with abusive relationships. The abusive perp breaks down their partners basic fundamental principles of everything they they have ever known/believed/valued/loved - and isolates them from friends and family. Before long (sometimes only a few months) a the victimized partner has unknowingly been duped (brainwashed) due to their "love" for the perp and his cunning ways. The victim's feelings of "obligation" are so strong; they feel it is their "duty" to o somehow help the perp by showering them with love and affection, convinced that will help them to feel valued and cared for. By the time the victim realizes their best efforts are not working, they feel trapped. No matter how badly they want to walk away from the abusive "relationship", the guilt, love bombing, and threats from the controlling partner make leaving next to impossible - if not deadly. I know this too well as i lived through this during my early teens. The only good thing that came out of this is that I now KNOW the red flags to watch for in the future! If there ever is one.

[@billybob-vy4sw]

so true = I listened to a former psychologist named Daniel Mackler - he said many families are cults- it made so much sense.

[@billbradleymusic]

Bullshit. Yes, there's controlling people. That's not a cult. It is being emotionally and possibly physically damaged though. My lady is batshit crazy sometimes. Easily manipulated, of which I do not take advantage of. She loves me for it. She may use words to the opposite but isn't forced to do anything she doesn't want..

[@billbradleymusic]

BTW I've felt trapped in my relationship. Im an alpha male most of the time. It's a real mind bender what doing the right thing can be.

[@frankG335]

He calls that a cult of one in his book.

[@frankG335]

​@@billbradleymusic The whole idea of an "alpha male" comes from cult leaders. There's no such thing as an alpha male in the wolf pack. It's just the father of the cubs. Wolf packs are families, which is why the other wolves help raise the cubs. They don't do it because the father of the pups is alpha. They do it because they're related to the parents (their own grown children for example). There's really no such thing as an alpha male. People who call themselves alpha males are generally some of the most insecure and toxic men around. Be careful about following that whole manosphere philosophy.

[@bronnerspickle]

Love how Steven Hassan explains stuff, so simple when you know what their tricks are xx

[@aghorismo]

I am in a cult called Society. I always try to warn people, but it’s hopeless. Great video!

[@dorsia6938]

Cult culture

[@michaels4255]

Ha, ha! Yes, mainstream society also has the characteristics of a cult, but most people who are part of it can't see it. But there is plenty of indoctrination and information control and milieu control and social ostracism toward those who transgress the "cult's" sacred boundaries that one could without much difficulty describe it in terms of the BITE model.

[@billbradleymusic]

True statement

[@ohara3459]

I agree.😄

[@ObjectiveEthics]

Well said! This cult is currently broken but as long as we continue to recruit loving peaceful members our "society cult" will get better.

[@StrangeHappening-iu4fu]

Would love to hear more about cults operating as treatment center programs where you are committed and isolated completely from family and friends. I could shed some light on a program I went through and finally escaped. Sounds crazy but these places really exist. The model is fantastic for understanding if a group is a cult or not.

[@robertlevine2827]

The legacy of Synanon.

[@Atman89]

Syndicate anonymous. It includes all 12 step programs

[@beth-bi9yv]

Put like that, those programs are the perfect set up for cult recruitment......

[@MakotiExpertscarpenters-sk2ru]

I would like to hear your story aswell before we get carried away

[@atelier27]

There is a place in Hawaii called Habilitat that does this for like up to two years with people and they still do the infamous Synanon style “Game”. They pretty much only associate with people who have been thru the program and they are not allowed to talk to anyone who doesn’t complete it. I only know about it cause they have allowed certain volunteers in and I knew one. I am not in recovery but know of Synanon because of a family member and others I know who were victims of it.

[@MJMallen]

Good interview. Having been involved with Scientology, what he says makes a lot of sense.

[@Natella3312]

Thank you for for this important conversation !

[@pl2604]

They teach a good thing, charm you, then they change to something bad, after putting you down, and the psychopaths can salivate and smile and almost hypnotize you with their body language and masterful use of words

[@STEAMLabDenver]

There are different kinds of intelligences. There are many problems created when we just value intellectual intelligence. I would love to see Gabor Mate added to this conversation. Intellectual intelligence is not the issue here. Emotional intelligence is the issue and we need to start valuing it as much as intellectual intelligence. The vulnerability people have speaks to wounding and a deep unmet need or needs in a person who ends up in a cult. Thank you for doing this interview. ❤

[@Uedukai]

Altruism will lead the way Brother.

[@claireh.7605]

My group therapist in Boston did the same tricks. When a LMHC student joined our group as a patient but said “If this what you’re learning, this is not how normal people talk, and I don’t want to learn this,” the group leader said “See, so why are you here? You’ve just made yourself different from the group, do you do that outside of the group with your friends?” Got members of the group to attack the guy for not wanting to participate. Then after the guy quit, he said the guy is clueless about feelings and won’t be a good therapist without doing years of therapy such as our group. The whole group was about him teaching us how to have relationships and communicate by being open and honest and is the perfect place to work on any issues you have because things are the same inside the group as outside of group and the group leader is really good at emotions and reading people’s minds and has been doing this for forty years so he is at the top of his career which he devoted his life to helping people with therapy groups which is the only thing he specializes in addition to talk therapy.

[@frankG335]

You stayed in this coercive group?

[@claireh.7605]

@@frankG335 I stayed for five years, and quitting, I had doubts that I made a mistake. The goal was to learn to talk and have relationships with people. I was isolated and being in a group of half weirdos seemed good for me. The PHD CGP therapist kept implying that his coercion was justified by his knowledge and your need for therapy. He said he had to wrestle with people who were resistant to group process. Yeah.. sad.

[@cynthiadavis3102]

Coercion is never justified. Too bad this "teacher" didn't listen to the answer after he asked why the student/patient was there. That would have been a real teaching opportunity.

[@claireh.7605]

@@cynthiadavis3102 It seems the guy was such a heavy a narcissist that the student saw that telling him that he was bad was pointless because he would just ignore, sidestep, gaslight, redirect, etc.

[@cynthiadavis3102]

@claireh.7605 you're right. I hope that this discussion helps him a bit.

[@heatherprock8205]

Love the video! I’m so grateful to have read Hassan’s book CCMC. The BITE model has personally helped me unchain myself from the indoctrination of the cult I was born into- the Lords Recovery of Witness Lee. It takes a long time to heal and I’m glad there’s so much information available during this process. If Steve Hassan ever wanted to do something similar to what he did with the Mormans, there’s definitely an opportunity to do that with formers and 2nd gen Lords Recovery members.

[@drstevenhassan]

The best way to communicate with me is by emailing through my web site. [e-mail] and btw, I welcome ex-members and experts on groups to color code the BITE model on whatever groups you consider to be concerning. I will look into it. I am so busy doing my doctoral program, taking care of my clients and my family, I do not have time to answer the volumes of things coming in. My assistant Jane helps me a lot.

[@heatherprock8205]

Freedom of Mind Resource Center I can’t imagine, thank you for the response! I’ll look into doing this chart. I’ve looked at your site but haven’t seen that particular part.

[@heatherprock8205]

Freedom of Mind Resource Center I must have misunderstood you about color coding the BITE Model. I have gone through it though and the Lords Recovery is definitely on the destructive side of the influence continuum. Actually, they seem like one of the most covertly destructive high control groups bc they’ve had so long to fine tune their manipulation.

[@hbeeteevee]

I grew up indoctrinated into Christianity and Witness Lee’s teachings too. You’re not alone. Hard to let go of harmful mind control, shame, fear.

[@Momma5000]

please research The Lord’s Recovery/Local Church of Witness Lee and their recruiting tactics on young college students away from home . My daughter got involved with a Christian Club on campus last August’22 that turned out to be not what is portrayed to be. They are the recruiting arm to the high control group of the Local Church. We are fighting like crazy to get her out of their claws with no luck 😢. This evil group has to be exposed .

[@MawlitiaARTEEST]

As someone who was in the military and then actively recruited for PsyOp/HUMINT, the info they are brushing past is GOLD for people who are unaware of the game being played in society. 😅

[@beth-bi9yv]

Do tell...

[@cynthiadavis3102]

These two interviews with Hassan are awesome. (Not a word I use much) At the same time, as a Board Certified Hypnotherapist with 30 years of clinical work with clients, I wish you had mentioned that ethical Hypnotherapists do a lot of good. (Including releasing phobias from any source) I do very much appreciate that at the end, Hassan said these techniques can be used for good as well as evil. He is a stellar therapist. Greatly appreciated.

[@NatashaHynes]

IMO ppl need to learn to trust themselves, know themselves, what they want, and who they are, and how to stand up for themselves to free themselves from mind control. Cause its everywhere

[@epic6434]

NATO the UAW 🤔 WTF!!!

[@tjblackmore7863]

Great podcast Jordan and Steve. I was involved in the PSI seminars and MITT cults. I am just starting to wake up and deprogram myself.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Yes! MITT is such a cult.

[@tjblackmore7863]

@@JordanHarbingerShow Is that the seminar you attended? Because yours kinda sounded like landmark. Also, Jordan, how come people aren't aware of the danger of these seminars? There's maybe 1-2 videos exposing what goes on during the sessions. Let alone a full length documentary, which is what we need. The only places to gather information are a few dozen threads dating back to like 2004. See, when I think of a cult, I think of Heaven's Gate or Jonestown, not a "leadership seminar" that I get invited to by some of my successful friends. So I did see those threads years ago but ignored them because I didn't have a way of understanding it, like the BITE model. Anyways, thanks for having this conversation with Steven. It's one of the only full length conversations about cults that touches on these LGAT seminars. P.S. I've been speaking with a guy in South Africa named John Hunter, he did his PhD thesis on these LGAT seminars and how they can induce symptoms of bipolar/psychosis in the participants. He also posits that the movie "Fight Club" was based on these LGAT seminars and Tyler Durden's character was based on Werner Erhard. I'm happy to link you his thesis and articles if you're interested. It's some of the only information I could find outside those message boards.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Interesting. I think there’s a lot of warnings about these but those seminars spend millions taking them offline.

[@sookie.smooth]

I’m very interested in this process! When I discovered my church was a cult, I was in shock for a bit, and then I became obsessed with nonstop learning and educating myself on every single thing I could get my hands on. All of the information they had been hiding from me. It seems that this sort of binge reading almost always follows a state of shock or disassociation. Is there a psychological term for this compulsive educational binging?

[@tjblackmore7863]

@@sookie.smooth Aha moment? Waking up? I'd Imagine you'd go through the stages of grief. Firstly denial, then anger, then sadness, bargaining, and finally acceptance? Do a google search for "LGATS and fight Club" and read that article. It explains a lot.

[@mariapilarme]

Groucho Marx said “ I don’t want to be a member of a club that wants to have me as a member.”

[@nicktrice3129]

There's a club for that 🧐

[@John-fi5ik]

​@@nicktrice3129 The YOU BET YOUR LIFE cult ?

[@mike1967sam]

It's not about being dumb, it's not even about being ignorant it's about being emotionally deficient.

[@anneis8319]

Spot on.

[@lisbethsalander1723]

It's about being emotionally vulnerable due to a temporary situation and/or totally being conned.

[@Lenergyiskey358]

That is so true. Emotional deficiency makes us vulnerable to anything that we percieve could fill that void. Marketing plays on that also.

[@frankG335]

Or emotionally susceptible or even lonely.

[@cynthiadavis3102]

Sleep deprivation makes anyone vulnerable, always.

[@mariapilarme]

My father taught me never become a member of any political party o religious group. He told me history repeat itself and the group that you belong legally can become illegal and viceversa an used against you. Maintain an independent mind and an open mind. So I never got in any and I am happy for that advice.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Are you Jewish or was he Jewish? Sounds like something older Jewish people say often.

[@mariapilarme]

@@JordanHarbingerShow No I am not. I grew up with a dictator. My grandpa was arrested and was going to be executed for just be a member of a political group. My father at 20 put himself a ultra-right uniform and walk inside the prison and told the guards I am taking this prisoner with me, we going to execute in another place. And that’s how my father save the life of my grandfather. My grandpa had red hair and didn’t look anything like my father. My father was the most brave person I ever met.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Oh interesting. Where?

[@mariapilarme]

@@JordanHarbingerShow Spain

[@daem0nfaust]

Thank you, Jordan. I've been looking forward to another one of these cult-avoidance topics.

[@heatherwall9571]

I fell into a cult when my marriage was in trouble back in 2013….long story, I ended up getting a divorce and leaving my whole family behind. I deeply regret it all and I got sucked in at a vulnerable time in my life. My ex could see it and tried to warn me…by then, I was too far gone and had spent so much money….the cult started off by a man called Greg Baer called “real love” in America,and is still going to this day. ( claiming to have all the answers and originally called himself the world leader of unconditional love ). What he claims to do is replace the love you didn’t receive in childhood. ( although this is NOT stated ) and claims to be led by god which I had zero idea when I first found it. I’ve been suicidal after leaving when the UK group eventually shut down…they ran and left me hanging….supposedly therapy group for healing, which is NOT true at all. It created dependancy and we were taught to “cling and trust “ what we were being taught and when we went up against anything we were told we were acting like a victim. Please don’t be fooled people otherwise you could end up by losing everything like me.

[@leandrawomack9029]

I completely agree with you Jordan, definitely subscribing!

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Welcome! Do you also listen to The Jordan Harbinger Show (podcast)?

[@jolettahardman1543]

Thank you both 🙏

[@JamesRichardWiley]

Seekers project their desires on another person who uses that desire to exploit them.

[@MrBreezeLI516]

Cool last name; I'd introduce myself as " yes. Harbinger.. like as in, Harbinger Of Death! " 😆

[@transhuman3708]

I would like to one day help deprogram victims. Cults taking advantage of people is vary personal to me. I was raised by parents who where brainwashed by the SGI cult and who put me into a state mental institution for children that was shut down for human rights violations shortly after I got out. I would not break but it cost me, I now have C-PTSD. After reading Steven's book I began to see how many cults are out there now and how they are influencing politics and the future of my world. Undue influence appears to be largely responsible for the rise of fascism in the US, the lack of action to stop climate change and a backlash against science and basic reason. I feel the need to do something. Now I know I want to become skilled at deprogramming victims. One day I would like to be able to work on a large scale because the need seems so great and the situation in the world seems to be growing more desperate. I am still trying to recover from C-PTSD and so, for now, I have been trying to learn as much as I can about every from of undue influence and help my sister who was also victimized. Oh, and a week ago I steered someone away form SGI. Don't discount the power of leaving well written you tube comments. Just wanted to share. Thank you.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Thanks for watching and for your comment here.

[@transhuman3708]

@@JordanHarbingerShow OH I was not expecting a response. Thanks. So, I was wondering if you have ever considered doing a show on people who have recovered there pre-cult identity in spite of having been raised in a cult from birth or early childhood? Because of my backstory it's something I struggle with and want to learn more about. It's hard to know where I end and the cult conditioning begins because it started before I could form a strong self identity. Like a desire to help others, how dose one know if the intensity of that desire been altered or not? Seeing how more and more kids have parents who are being influenced by cults it could be helpful to victims. Just a thought. Keep up the good fight.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

@@transhuman3708 this would be interesting for sure. Do you listen to The Jordan Harbinger Show (podcast) as well or did you just see this on KZbin?

[@transhuman3708]

THE JORDAN HARBINGER SHOW I haven’t listen to the podcast yet. I just finished Steven’s book last week. His reading has been a part of my effort to recover from complex post trumatic stress disorder and now I’m on a personal quest to learn how to help others as well. I came across this on KZbin when I was searching for more information.

[@frankG335]

Jesus himself said there would be false prophets who would lead people astray. He was asked how people are supposed to know the difference? He said you know a tree by its fruit. Later, Paul listed the fruits that indicate someone who is not a false prophet- the fruits of the Spirit: kindness, goodness, gentleness, patience, love, joy, peace, self-control, faithfulness. If those aren't the main attributes of a person, they're not a "Christian".

[@brc123321]

Christianity itself started as a cult

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

So, when Jesus got furious and handcrafted a whip to use it against the moneylenders to chase them out of the temple, he clearly was going against each and every one of those fruits, and consequently wasn't a Christian.

[@anneis8319]

Such a great and enlightening interview for someone who was in a cult called Siddha Yoga in the 1990s headed by Gurumayi Chidvilasanda. The Guru that part of the book Eat Pray Love was about

[@howtosober]

That's not a cult. There are many fake gurus to be sure (the young Sai Baba or the young Muktananda are good examples), but conflating all spiritual organizations headed by the teachings of a guru with cults is ignorant. Also, cultural appropriation of the word "guru" is to blame. The Sanskrit semi-translation, "remover of ignorance/remover of darkness" refers to very deep and specific scriptural knowledge** about the nature of human existence and the path to enlightenment. This is tens of thousands of years old. Gurumayi's tradition involves reciting the Guru Gita in the ashrams (or so I'm told). Anyone with intermediate Sanskrit can easily identify from that scripture alone what is and is not a genuine teacher, teaching, etc. because that's literally what the Guru Gita spells out. Unless you have personal knowledge of followers of Gurumayi being locked away, abused, or showing other distinct markers of cult membership, assuming that all people on a spiritual path that involves a teacher and sometimes various locations such as ashrams are in cults is silly and harmful to the thousands of genuine traditions out there. **Those scriptures have very explicit guidance as to how to recognize real vs. fake teachers and gurus, as well as what is vs. is not an enlightened person. This means that people who are well-resourced enough to seek out this knowledge don't fall for gurus that engage in sexual or financial abuse, and the other unfortunate behaviors of the fake and/or culty 'teachers.'

[@anneis8319]

@@howtosober Anyone that needs to be bowed to like gurumayi did is a cult as far as I’m concerned and completely narcisstic.

[@frankG335]

Wow! And Eat, pray, love was great advertising for him. How scary.

[@Seevawonderloaf]

I agree with @howtosober that calling a spiritual movement a cult is a heavy accusation that you should only say if ityou know it for a fact.

[@atelier27]

I have known several people who were involved in Siddha and Gurumayi (the “renunciate” who wears extravagant jewellery ) and had her brother discredited and run out of the organisation in a jockey for the leadership. I have heard and witnessed the aftermath people experienced in and after leaving. I have no doubt this was a cult. And I’m not writing out a dissertation full of evidence to prove it. If someone is interested they can research it more and decide for themselves. There are more cults that people do not talk about of maybe even realise why they feel so damaged afterwards than there are spiritual groups accused of it. The worst that will happen if a spiritual group is falsely accused of being a cult is that people will do more research and be more sceptical if they go. Which is a good thing or they won’t go at all which may also be a good thing:)

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

Thank goodness I've never been introduced to any cults. At least not any religious cults. But a friend of mine brought me to a "business meeting" which turned out to be an MLM. They pushed me so hard into getting the damned starter package thing. I wasn't having it. I guess I was skeptical even then. But my friend was all on board.

[@ToriHarris-lb6zg]

Was it supposed to be for selling life insurance?

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

@@ToriHarris-lb6zg No. I don't remember. It was so long ago and I was barely paying attention but I think it was like health food or something.

[@Youdidsept11]

Fear and control is the very basic of a cult and engineering

[@frankG335]

I can't believe you went to one of those things where they did the exact things you're talking about. It was aimed at actors and everything was about committment and showing up, etc. A woman with hep C, who was hugging everyone and being praised for being there at 5am with active and contagious hepatitis. You weren't allowed to go to the bathroom. They did the "you created that reality" if you were in a car accident, if a CHILD was killed by an animal, we were told that child had done something horrible in a past life and "needed" to be mauled and killed by the crocodile. No feeling about what the child or parents went through. It was in the 80s and it was called "Impact". It started at 5am and went until late and you were excoriated for being sleepy. I'm so grateful for Dr. Steven Hassan. He's a world treasure.

[@bobzenx7225]

All praise Jordan...our Savior our passage to the zenlight-EnMeant! PRAISE 👏 King 🤴 Jordan 🎉

[@bobzenx7225]

Obey Jordan....must Obey Jordan

[@HomeFromFarAway]

an excellent guest ❤

[@bluessax5089]

I left a cult 25 years ago, but I now realize that I still suffer from “Phobia indoctrination”. I’ve seen many therapists and they have no clue how to help beyond helping me deal with my “shame”. Any pointers for how I can get proper help?

[@stevenhassanphd9289]

Sure. Educate yourself first. Have you read Combating Cult Mind Control and Freedom of Mind yet? My web site is freedomofmind.com and I do consulting. There are ex cult members who have become mental health professionals too. I wrote a chapter in Freedom of Mind (chapter ten) on phobias and how to help overcome them. I hope this helps.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

@@stevenhassanphd9289 thank you Steven!

[@jackiebourg6869]

READ THE BIBLE MAN!@

[@bluessax5089]

@@stevenhassanphd9289 Wow!! I just now received this. Thanks so much for replying! I enjoyed your book. I’ve been working with several therapists last year and most of them have no clue how to help me. I’m doing okay overall but it definitely left a hole. I will go to that website and take your advice. Thanks so much!

[@frankG335]

​@@bluessax5089 There are cult deprogrammers. Steve said there are people like that who do therapy. Maybe you can find them through his organization.

[@j96569]

I think the thing that "protects" me is that anything that even looks fishy is immediately off-putting to me. And I'm lazy, so I'll never go to a self-help seminar or whatever.

[@urgurlcicid2824]

lol

[@Tiger-dg3cz]

Right now I am hurt and just blown away

[@ChrisGroggyCreaser]

ALL Religions/Cults on Earth ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THIS!!... :(

[@Celina_Kahn]

Amazing presentation 👍🙏 in my opinion India is the number 1 guru/cult manufacturing facility in the world and United States is their targeted market place

[@anneis8319]

How do I deprogram my sister from evangelictic Christianity ? She has cut her family off and has been home-schooling her kids for 15 years. So the poor kids have no chance

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Look up “Steven Hassen The Jordan Harbinger Show” on google. Get the audio version. It’ll help

[@anneis8319]

@@JordanHarbingerShow Thankyou

[@epic6434]

Not sure what you mean but it's legal in the United States to do so if she's schooling them she's either really smart or doesn't trust the school district.

[@loisdanes176]

How do you reprogram anyone? Isn't that their choice?

[@mikewazowski587]

Just let her know you are there for her and the kids. Try to stay away from speaking negatively about the group. It will only pull her closer to them. Remind her of her past self and good times you’ve had and how much you would love to make more memories with her. My best to you. ❤

[@terryaustin6507]

great video.. .. mr hassan is right on... had this done to me... very painful

[@randyroll99]

This cult-like training is also in the health and fitness industry. I have personally done most personal trainers do that

[@saratujibrin3755]

My current church at school has cult - like characteristics. I know this but I'm not leaving the church until a year after I graduate because there are post- graduation benefits I intend to collect, I didn't spend the last year of my life in this church just to leave without the only benefit that actually makes to me. I attend service and meetings but always have a mental filter when listening to messages in these meetings. They always encourage bringing new members in but I have never nor will I ever get a new member for them. I can't in good conscience bring someone into this stuff because I don't know if their minds are strong enough to filter the stuff they teach, I mean most of the members there are medical students (who I had previously thought were the most logical people). The pastors have got these students missing lectures for meetings and prophecing that a lot of the members are gonna drop out of school.

[@ViniSocramSaint]

It's not just that church. ALL churches are filled to the brim with cultists, those being the normal, average believer. Props for you for resisting the indoctrination, but you should know that "taking in the good news" is not a matter of mind's strongness, it's all about knowing what is really going on, it's about knowledge. The other stuednts do not know they are being gro*med into servitude, they are simply hearing the trustworthy figure, unfiltered.

[@frankG335]

Be careful. You think you have it under control. But many people have been pulled in to cults while saying, "I'm gonna filter this and get the benefits". How are you so sure you'll EVER get those "benefits"? We're they promised to you? You won't see it.

[@Intersimonedennis2]

A friend took me to a Scientology orintention. I was appalled in the first 5 minutes after I saw people in holding cells. They actually blocked the door to keep me from leaving. I told my fiend (rrrrrr) that's a cult, and he said, "John Travolta is god.

[@spimx5118]

'Brought up in a destructive household' immediately conjures up images of an 'Authoratative Father figure', but, unfortunately, it's the single mother households that churn out criminals in 20x higher numbers.

[@frankG335]

We had a president wbo said he was The Chosen One, and he literally owns a gold idol of himself - the golden image is holding a wand.

[@raymondcava4669]

Great contentThank you for posting

[@sahadevanaidu941]

I would like to know if there are links between someone who has been controlled and manipulated by their family, then joining a cult and being manipulated in similar ways. Would a person who has been manipulated by their family be more likely to join a cult? If you were raised in a family where your thoughts were valued, where you felt listened to, would you be less likely to join a cult.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Most likely, yes. Religious people join cults at a higher rate as do those cast out and abused.

[@sahadevanaidu941]

@@JordanHarbingerShow Thanks alot Jordan, that makes sense.

[@epic6434]

@@JordanHarbingerShow I could agree with that but if you're in a culture that you think is honorable and usually has religious beliefs can be difficult in an environment that doesn't respect much or truth.

[@fionagrant2023]

Good point

[@gayleoverly7613]

I go to a martial arts gym. It’s not a cult at all. We are free to leave if we want. Never get shamed if I take time off or anything. Always get good feedback when I attend class.

[@JamesMcComas-dr2xi]

The first rule of the cult is don't call it a cult.

[@SuperMississippian]

I'm viewed as the loose cannon in my department because I won't join the prevailing "group" of true believers. It is because I was attacked psychologically by a certain group while vacationing in Thailand 20+ years ago. Although, it made me stronger (thick-skinned), I ultimately have become very opposed to bullies, liars, imposters, cheaters, and bombastic know-it-alls (KIAs).

[@elizavetadolgova]

It’s my fourth time when I try to listen to this video but I am falling asleep in about 15 minutes because I listen to it with my eyes closed. It’s so weird that every time I listen to this video, I see vivid nightmares while sleeping 😄

[@frankG335]

Maybe you've been hypnotized, and didn't realize it, to resist this kind of information. Maybe you could contact his organization and find out if you've been already hypnotized.

[@elizavetadolgova]

@@frankG335Not really, and I just think it’s funny what I mentioned in my comment above.

[@daniellee3922]

The guy being interviewed speaks of the assault on truth itself and eludes to a certain political party doesn't seem to recognize the fact that the party he supports has been and still is using the very tactics he allegedly condems. It leads one to believe that he's not as intelligent as he thinks he is.

[@38NDY]

Reminds me of how I was convinced to get into debt for Mary Kay

[@John-fi5ik]

You probably didn't even know Her last name 😊😂 ( silly joke ).

[@gmy33]

Wow .. thankyou thankyou .. lot of wisdom ...

[@dabrupro]

The best books I've read on the nervous system that we call human: Dasbodh - a "spiritual" text that is also a manual for human living Political Ponerology - on the psychological level Everything by Gustave Le Bon

[@ElizabethSchultz-n3j]

I was engraged to marry a man that told me to inorge my feeling and I was beleving that he loved me. I was drinking the kool-aid for a long time and being fooled, then he chosed that other woman to go with and it was like I no longer exest to him.I was waiting for braekfast one moring at his aprment and he cussed me out and locked the door on me. Three mounths later I began to smell the coffee, and that called himself a Chistant.

[@AnonymousSun]

Nice video very interesting 🤜🏽🤜🏽🎯🎯

[@robertafierro5592]

I was in a cult in 1979. DAYTOP VILLAGE..Nick Fitante, Larry Auriemma and Brian was a dangerous force..

[@hwd7]

I met a lady who flirted with me to get me to go to her "Org" to try and honeypot me to join her scientology cult. I had no idea that they were so amoral.

[@AuroraBoarder1]

It's called flirty fishing.

[@hwd7]

@@AuroraBoarder1 Wow! That is unbelievable! Thanks for letting me know what the term is, I had no idea until that encounter that was one of their tricks to catch people. I definitely dodged a bullet.

[@elianalealroa7078]

I need help to rescue my Mother from a cult. She lives un Colombia, could anybody help me please?

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

definitely read Dr Hassan's books

[@padmayatapana2350]

Learn those techniques from " Freedom of mind" by Steven Hassan. You have to make a team and with the help of them, you have to educate her about cults and activate her critical mind. Its a long process. Using Strategic Interactive Approach (SIA) by the empowered members of the team you can rescue her successfully. Good Luck.

[@supermutant]

Was there ever a follow up interview? This one was fantastic.

[@frankG335]

His channel and his books have a wealth of information.

[@christophermorgan3261]

Do some research, this man has dubious diplomas from dubious institutions of learning and has been accused by respected psychologists as himself operating a cult of personality.

[@deliaboxy623]

This has been very educative. I tried questioning chat gpt about it but the answers were so censored.

[@mike1967sam]

O Steve you're a creative writing major ...O your writing must be super creative. When I was at university they also had a creative writing subject but it was not a degree you could not get a degree in Creative Writing and rightly so because honestly it's pure bullshit and then people say to me "Well, you can learn music can't you?" and I say "Yes" and they respond "So why can't you learn creative writing?"...Well because you cannot learn creativity, you can learn patterns and clichés but never creativity. When you learn music you are learning to write and "speak" the language that is music but it does not teach you to be a great or even a good songwriter or composer. We all learn to speak read and write a language but we cannot learn to present that language in a truly creative manner.

[@heynsenene]

I'm so fascinated by cults.....and they can be right in your own backyard. The size is no litmus test.

[@marialiyubman]

FYI: underneath/during your video I got a commercial from Tony Robins.

[@CarolFoegen]

I grew up at a time many of these cults were forming. Now seeing these same tactics used in politics.

[@gayleoverly7613]

The 12 step cult is awful. I’m a survivor It was horrific.

[@frankG335]

I can't find Robert Fitzpatrick Sykes and multi-level marketing warnings or information. I wish you would put such references in your information.

[@AntarblueGarneau]

Osho hypnosis? Yes he could hypnotize an entire audience! It was very pleasant! They were also teaching hypnosis in the commune.

[@sneha2127]

thank you for this episode! is there a part 2?

[@jordanharbinger3557]

Sneha yes. Podcast feed only on The Jordan Harbinger Show

[@sneha2127]

@@jordanharbinger3557 okay. thank you!!

[@sirchristopherwren52]

is there a part 2 also these subjects are major cults what of the subtle cults ie tibetan Buddhism is particular which is very subtle and voluntary but really its not because you are not allowed to be open and if you disagree or question you are not welcome i found this in london groups they profess non cult status

[@jordanharbinger3557]

sirchristopherwren52 part 2 on The Jordan Harbinger Show (podcast feed)

[@aaronbcole]

I grew in a very casual cult- glad my parents weren’t more culty

[@maxipaw-dc5xj]

I was in a cult for over 30 years. I was a born again Christian

[@daisyviluck7932]

I have a book by Steven Hassan and I liked it. Then he started calling republicans cult members and I nope-ed out from listening to him. Goes to show that even people who are smart in an area can get captured by an ideology and become what they dislike.

[@crystalakabeavergamingsubs9549]

Thank u! I decided I would listen to this guy until I read the Republicans are cults. Geez.

[@KiKi-tf8rv]

Yes, I haven’t read the book, but I heard him talk about it in another interview. Cult like groups can form on any part of the political spectrum. Singling it out to one side only seems to be one of the exact tactics cults use. He specifically mentioned Trump in the interview I saw. There is a cult-like following, but that doesn’t mean everyone who voted for him or happens to agree with some of his policies is in a Cult. There is also a cult-like hatred of him and he doesn’t mention that. I had family members completely cut off anyone they *thought* voted for him. They didn’t return phone calls, they stopped going to all family functions, and acted like they had no family. I was really worried about them. This went on the whole 4 years he was in office. They have gradually started contact again. I have other examples from both sides of the political spectrum, but I was definitively disappointed that he couldn’t stay objective when it came to politics.

[@jonickness]

This was very interesting. Would have liked the expert to have been asked more follow up questions and allowed to expound.

[@jonickness]

Especially at 38 minutes when he’s discussing 4th gen warfare.

[@Tiger-dg3cz]

Just because I had a fucking awful childhood and am now alone doesn’t mean I want to join a cult!!

[@sebastianzamorra9186]

Wow my friend linked this video fo4 me.. I knew someone that was contrôlée for years and no one did not one thing as they all said I was crazy.

[@mariangeles8788]

Someone keeps on connecting to my phone and trying to control me, I guess is one of those need to get a life cult people

[@bjornagrimsonoftormundr7506]

Just because you know how to run a business doesn’t mean you know how your mind works.

[@powerdisney]

Yup I am a victim/survivor of Werner Erhard/Jack Rosenberg...I would like to connect with this guest

[@GonzalesLanguages]

I went to his seminars 40 years ago. Couldn't go to bathroom for 18 straight hours of constant speakers

[@powerdisney]

Yikes. It was every six or eight hours by the time I arrived in 1982!

[@TNTCreeperChannel]

to aqui pelo paizão

[@pl2604]

I was in a group psychotherapy cult lead by James P Leone CGP PHD in Cambridge, MA. Just a psychopath charming and then abusing, he said he is manipulating and using social control for the group therapy process

[@gustavoleite5648]

19:55 tem tbm as "famosas lives das 4am" o cara da live falando e o pessoal peidando de sono só concordando kkkkkk

[@luisfernandobarra6959]

vc conseguiu acessar a legenda em português ?

[@gustavoleite5648]

@@luisfernandobarra6959 consegui pelo notebook

[@luisfernandobarra6959]

Pelo meu PC e pelo celular não consegui, só inglês, estranho.

[@NellyPhien]

you should let your guest talk.....you talk too much

[@powerdisney]

EST The FORUM currently LANDMARK INSTITUTE of education!!

[@georgefitzhugh5408]

A religion is a cult with political power. A cult is a religion without political power.

[@stevesingley3776]

Now I understand how people can be leftists. Seemingly smart people who are just easily manipulated. Government does everything you just explained only on a grander scale. And they know it and love it!

[@johnthompson3816]

Now I understand the maga nuts. The leftist cult you refer to USA trying to make life better for the oppressed

[@meghancass3187]

It's not so much that they are smarter than you that matters, it's that your projection on them really suits you.

[@berensteinwolf4039]

This guy is supposedly against cults but uses terms like "anti-science" to describe people who ask questions.

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Correct. Cult beliefs are a major culprit in anti-science nonsense.

[@KiKi-tf8rv]

@@JordanHarbingerShowYikes

[@frankG335]

I had a supervisor invite all his employees to a dinner party that turned out to be recruitment for a mlm group. If you didn't join, you got bad reviews. When raise time came up, he tossed a brochure onto my desk and said, "Here's your raise." At that point, I went to his boss and told the whole story. He was reprimanded and made to apologize. This supervisor later joined an element of Christianity that was so cultlike that it was unbearable and I finally had to block him, because he was using me to validate himself (I had become well known by then as a scientist). Some people seem to he almost unable to simply be part of any belief system without going for the most radicalized element of that religion or system.

[@pugettepugs6766]

When you guys talked about Teal Swan, i googled it but with a phrase TL Swan and was like whaaaaat that spicy romance for women writer is a cult leader????

[@JordanHarbingerShow]

Ha

[@epic6434]

Make it good enough people will eat out of your hands you will have them fearing how you can also crush them in those hands.

[@z4zillah556]

This sounds like Werner Erhard's Forum. Ratcheted up a notch or two, maybe.

[@z4zillah556]

Oh! Should have waited until the end.

[@Tiger-dg3cz]

That just makes it all the worse!!

[@russellpruitt9670]

Interesting that this "cult expert" has apparently fallen hard for "Climate Science" -- one of the greatest Cult Hustles in human history.

[@meghancass3187]

It might be you my friend.

[@mike1967sam]

A cult is a departure from historic Christianity. Sorry guys but we as a society, a global society have come to use the term cult very loosely so much so that we often define as just something that we don't like or don't agree with. As a matter of fact the term cult began to be used in the 18th century if I'm not mistaken as a way to describe a religious doctrine or belief system that was a foreign or to be more specific an imprecise depiction of the Christian doctrine according the the text, meaning the Scriptures. It has little to nothing to do with what harms or does not harm you. Jim Jones was the leader of a cult, Lakewood Church or Jehovah's Witnesses are cults, in fact the Catholic Church is a theological cult because it contradicts the fundamental points of Christianity, Scientology is another cult.

[@epic6434]

A global society is a stretch but a Christian is a cultural influence as Catholics had an influence on them and the Israelites influenced them. To say they're all the same your missing the history of Europe and reformation which are the translations of the Bible books to the many languages from Latin a refined language of the Greek. I might be off on your meaning of global society being the belief of Jesus Christ just think about the Globalist having rule over all but that would have to be explained in detail before thinking people will accept the idea with a truthful heart but to sneak it up on people is not something people trust it's the snake in the garden again.

[@janedoe3648]

That is a different meaning to the secular meaning of cult. But aberrant Christian cults in your sense of the word not uncommonly seem to fit the criteria for secular understanding of a cult. Steve is expert on the latter

[@iamyoutoo1]

Where is the next part!?!?

[@Croatlik]

Thank god for body cams!

[@corporatepresident]

Say, turn the table around, see how would Steve respond if we say his personal faith is a cult.

[@iliveinthe80s38]

You're asking the question why do people try and cults but why do people join anything they're looking for compatriots people and like-minded camaraderie regardless if its good or bad mainly people are looking for something that's bigger than them and they want to be a part of it you're not very intuitive are you.

[@Ketofit62]

I got Qanon hackers, and Scientology hackers on my phone judging me.