It becomes more compelling as the group actively breaks down your existing sense of self and fills in the blanks with their own beliefs. One more thing to keep in mind . Is that all of this occurs against a background of very confused and wide-ranging beliefs about UFOs, aliens, government conspiracies, and such. After all, these members were not certifiably insane. It's hard to understand.
Cults typically manipulate sleep patterns, diet, sexuality, and the flow of information.
One month's long exercise had the members in hoods unable to see one another's faces. Against that background of physical deprivation came endless hours of lectures and reinforcement of certain ideas to the detriment of others. Of course, access to the media was also stricly monitored to enforce certain concepts at the expense of others. Once you change the basic context of reality, everything else seems to fall into place. It is actually falling out of place, of course.