As with the rise in cult membership, a public health model is essential for understanding how societal pathology is implicated in contributing to the rise in shyness among adults and children in America. Such change and confusion create intellectual chaos that makes it difficult for many citizens to believe in anything, to trust anyone, to stand for anything substantial. Follow me, I know the path to sanity, security and salvation,' proclaims Marshall Applewhite, with other cult leaders chanting the same lyric in that celestial chorus. And many will follow. It depends in part on the kind of cult since they come in many sizes, purposes and disguises.
Some cults are in the business of power and money.
They need members to give money, work for free, beg and recruit new members. Most cult groups demand that members sever ties with former family and friends which creates total dependence on the group for self identity, recognition, social reinforcement. Unquestioning obedience to the leader and following arbitrary rules and regulations eliminates independent, critical thinking, and the exercise of free will. Such cerebral straightjacketing is a terrible danger that can lead in turn to the ultimate twin dangers of committing suicide upon command or destroying the cult's enemies. Potential for the worst abuse is found in 'total situations' where the group is physically and socially isolated from the outside community.