Important information which is available to the general public is withheld from members and potential members. Deception is the basic feature of all cult recruitment. It is also what keeps people inside cults.
Information is one of the best weapons against cults.
In cults information about the cult's history, purposes, doctrines, financial disclosures, methods of dealing with problems, counseling, training, and discipline for offenses are kept as confidentail as possible. Only those members with trusted status are allowed inside information. Different words make the members feel special and separate from outsiders. These different words confuse outsiders who want to understand what the group believes and talks about. The change in definitions of significant words keeps even the members from understanding their own beliefs.