Cults also jangle moral codes by introducing new standards and reinforcing them through behavior modification. You could become a hermit who never talks to anyone or does anything. Or, you could avoid pregnancy and STD by being so unpleasant that everyone stays clear of you. Or you could never become involved in a romantic relationship. A training manual tells teachers to humiliate students who believe in abstinence.
Cults also ensnare members by creating bizarre rites.
That way, members not only share experiences, they also have incriminating evidence on one another. The Programs That Work establish an elaborate system of idiocies, the first of which is that high- schoolers, beginning at age 13, spend an inordinate amount of time fondling condoms. It tells young lovers to have fun by purchasing condoms together. Teachers behave like fools by speaking in slang, most of which is unprintable. Finally comes the matter of discipline for would-be apostates.