Lacking a close relationship with God, they seek a kind of sanctuary that, in reality, can never exist. Any order that claims to have a lock on wisdom is suspect. Cults demand consensus, while authentic spirituality embraces individual differences. Any time we surrender our autonomy or thinking process to someone else, we're in trouble. Cults demand adherence to particular practices and principles that defy common sense yet, at the same time, manage to make you feel diminished and foolish for questioning its authority.
Cult leaders know that their followers already feel isolated.
Threatening them with being ostracized should they display a hint of defiance hits new recruits where they're the most vulnerable. In addition to individual will, cult members are coerced into sacrificing friends, family and possessions. The idea is to create total dependence on the leader and prevent clear-thinking outsiders from talking sense to the members. Yet the basis of all true religion is love. We exist to love our neighbors, our friends, and ourselves.