Who Wants A Cult Trip? Book Review
- benjthompson1
- Jun 18, 2024
- 3 min read
ID: Whiteboard animation about cults and how to escape.
What is a cult? According to the psychological website VeryMind.com, a cult is :
"A cult is an organized group whose purpose is to dominate cult members through psychological manipulation and pressure strategies. Cults are usually headed by a powerful leader who isolates members from the rest of society."
When you believe you are at your lowest point in life and that there is no way forward other than suicide, that's when we can be at our most vulnerable. Sadly there are individuals and organisations who are formed purely to take advantage of those that should be getting extra support and care. In today's world when everyone is on the edge, stressed and struggling to cope with very little to no support mechanisms provided unless you are rich and have the finances to access mental health support privately, cults and closed organisations will take up the slack. Although they come over as very welcoming to visitors at first and seem to be the answer to perceived problems, it can become toxic very quickly. Once inside, like a bear hunting trap, when its snaps shut you are not only trapped but will suffer extreme pain. Outsiders looking into what happens within its confines as threatening and intrusive.
Anke Richter's international non-fiction best seller entitled Cult Trip - Inside the world of coercion and control - Is a massive eye opener for those who have family, friends inside these organisations or if you want to find out the truth about what a cult is. This publication is not about sensationalising the topic or making something from nothing. It's factual and truthful and its contents are very well researched. It covers the world of mindfulness and yoga wellbeing camps and schools, closed religious groups, tantra and the like. From New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA, Thailand and Germany, our author visited and interviewed both current and former pupils of these organisations as well as their representatives. Those that had managed to escape from the confines of these organisations are truly survivors in the truest sense. Men, women and children, even as young as a month old baby have been sexually abused and raped on repeated occasions, violently beaten, abducted, put in solitary confinement for long periods of time, mentally and psychologically tortured, forced labour, forced separation of families etc. The official list is endless.
Anke not only takes us on a whirlwind tour of the dark world of the cult but a truly inspiring realisation that her passion for all things alternative has meant that she has somehow interacted with these organisations on occasions. She explains that she never engaged in anything mentioned in her book but feel tarnished by association. That's the thing with these cults, you don't realise until its to late! This book is well worth purchasing or lending from your library. Although it deals with sensitive topics such as rape and abuse, it is done so tastefully and respectfully to the survivors and their families. I would recommend this publication from teenagers onwards.
Anke Richter - International Bestseller - CULT TRIP - Inside the world of coercion & control. ISBN: 9781802471762. Published in the UK in 2023 and other countries 2022. Published with Ad Lib Publishers Ltd (UK) and Harper Collins (International). RRP UK£9.99.
Support Organisations found at the back of the book:
UK
International
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