Nobody ever joins a cult. The first rule of recruitment is that a recruit must never suspect he or she is being recruited
Met dit citaat opent een uitstekende longread in Harpers Magazine. In ‘The Man Who Saves You from Yourself’ analyseert Nathaniel Rich hoe sektes de rekrutering van nieuwe sekteleden aanpakken. En hoe moeizaam de ontsnapping en deprogrammering kan verlopen. Je leest in detail hoe Rich undercover gaat in een sekte om iemand te redden. Rich beschrijft op basis van de Amerikaanse situatie mechanismes die ook Nederlandse sektes zullen gebruiken. Wat Rich drijft: ‘I became disturbed by how dramatically [cults] transformed people, and in such a short period of time. They could take some regular American kid and all of a sudden he’s wearing saffron robes, walking around barefoot, all painted up, with a tiny ponytail and shaved head, dancing for hours, selling flowers and incense, living on the floor and eating disgusting food, repeating Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama’.GJvtL.
