Why Do People Join Cults?

[Jurgen]

Why Do People Join Cults?

Are you new to the field of Ufology? Have you been attracted by one fantastic story or another? Or maybe you’ve been experiencing some strange events or phenomenon in your life and you have questions. Before you dive too deeply into this strange, seedy world – I would like to issue all travelers a caution and some advice. The question we’re going to answer today is why do people join cults?


The Nature of Ufology Today

In our recent radio conversation with long-time Ufologist Don Ecker, Don asked me why we started this website. I figured this question may come up, because I get asked it often whenever I introduce someone to our site. We don’t quite fit into the “mold.� We are not a believer forum – we require all claims are backed by solid, verifiable evidence. However, we are not a skeptics forum, because we discuss many issues that knee-jerk skeptics avoid such as spirituality, cryptozoology and many other topics that the “mainstream� might automatically consider “weird.�
Here’ the thing – these topics aren’t actually “weird,� it’s just that so many people that are drawn to these topics are also mentally unstable. This makes it difficult for sane people, like you, to find some respectable and “normal� place to try to find the answers.
The answer that I gave Don surprised him, I think. I quoted him. The quote came from an essay he wrote in 2007, published by Kevin Randle, titled Don Ecker Quits Ufology. In the essay, the most powerful paragraphs expresses the frustration and exhaustion that many respectable researchers and writers throughout Ufology are feeling:

“I’m tired of the media that is blinded by their prejudice about UFOs, their snide and condescending remarks about something that quite frankly they know nothing about. I’m tired of people claiming to be researchers that refuse to accept the truth about something regardless of how many times it jumps up and bites them in the ***.
I’m tired of government agencies that continuously lie about a subject that has shown to be something real and even possibly affect our national security… and getting away with it for over 60 years. I’m tired of believers that become upset when their fuzzy illogic is shown to be as full of holes as Swiss Cheese. I’m tired of frauds and clowns in this field that are shown to be frauds and clowns and yet still are treated like they are stars with something important to say. I suppose you could just say I’m tired of all of it.�

Many of you reading this are probably nodding your heads in agreement. The hoaxes and con games from so many of those mentally unstable individuals lead to a phenomenon known as disinformation overload. Now, overwhelmingly the evidence shows that most of that disinformation comes from con artists who are simply using the field as a platform to gain notoriety or fame, even if on a small scale and within a fringe community.
Oddly, some of the hoaxes also seem to involved small private groups of people as well – people who tend to gravitate to and conduct scientific research on fringe topics. They try to remain under the radar in their efforts – but every now and then you can get a glimpse of one of them on the wings of many of these false stories.


The Creation of Cults

In his examination of the field of Ufology, Jacques Vallee often touches upon this strange phenomenon – that of small groups of individuals forming a cohesive group that shares a collective belief system regarding the phenomenon. Vallee thoroughly explored the question, why do people join cults… For the cohesive group, the belief system doesn’t need to be based in any physical reality or upon any real evidence – it just needs to somehow explain the phenomenon that they’ve all experienced.
Vallee said it best when he wrote in his 1989 book Dimensions:

“I think the stage is set for the appearance of new faiths, centered on the UFO belief. To a greater degree than all phenomena modern science is confronting, the UFO can inspire awe, the sense of the smallness of man, and an idea of the possiblity of contact with the cosmic. The religions we have briefly surveyed began with the miraculous experiences of one person, but to-day there are thousands for whom the belief in otherworldly contact is based on intimate conviction, drawn from what they regard as personal contact with UFOs and their occupants.� (page 192).

This collective belief system makes these groups feel normal, because they share those beliefs. These ideas may include that UFO sightings are caused by extra-terrestrials from other planets, that Intelligence communities across the world have an elaborate system of cover-up of alien visitations, or that aliens are channeling important messages for humanity through contactees or “mediums.�
Whenever a piece of evidence surfaces that runs counter to this group’s “belief-system,� the reaction from cult-members is rather astonishing. Normally kind and mature adults will resort to name-calling. Ordinarily law-abiding citizens will attempt to terrorize or slander anyone involved in revealing that truth.
In Messengers of Deception (a book I will be reviewing here at RU this month), Vallee describes this best:
“Human beings are under the control of a strange force that bends them in absurd ways, forcing them to play a role in a bizarre game of deception.� (p. 20)


Can You Find Answers Within Ufology?

So, why do people join cults? They do so for the very reason you, yourself are reading this blog entry. In fact, you are a perfect candidate for these cults. You have questions about a strange experience you’ve had that feels very real to you. You would like answers that you can’t get from mainstream sources that scorn you for your experiences, or treat you as though you’re crazy. You are certain that you aren’t having delusional visions or any other symptoms of mental illness – so where do you turn?
Well – you would typically end up where the “sick� people (who are actually having delusional visions) end up, on UFO forums that are essentially UFO cults. You may find a welcoming community that acknowledges your experiences and make you feel as though they are “normal.� You find a home. This is why people join cults – because they do not realize they’re joining a “cult.�



So what’s the test – how do you know if you’re joining up with a cult community? Well, the best approach I can think of to test a UFO community is to see if they adhere to the sort of “litmus test� that Vallee applied to UFO sightings called the “SVP� code. If the community follows this behavior upon any new report or claim turning up – then you’ve found a winner that you should join – one that is not a UFO cult.

• Members study the reliability of the source of the story. An anonymous source isn’t given much credit. A person with a known criminal record is given even less. The community automatically filters out stories from such sources.
• Researchers put “boots on the ground.â€� Researchers pick up the phone to call sources or visit witnesses and interview them to verify potentially valid claims.
• Third, do members of the community first try to explain the story or claim with common sense? Do they initially explore natural phenomenon or conventional environmental factors that could explain the phenomena? This behavior isn’t skepticism, it is a healthy way to identify potentially valid paranormal phenomenon through the process of elimination.

All three of these factors were listed in Vallee’s model, rated from 0 to 4. A “444″ is the gold standard of a truly “impressiveâ€� event, or in the case of UFO’s – a sighting that simply can not be explained away.
So, why do people join cults? Because they are looking for answers. If the group that you are considering joining handles new stories or events in the manner described above – that’s the community that you want to join. That’s the community that will help you find the truth, and you don’t have to worry that you may be inadvertently stepping into a UFO cult community.

[Carol Nistri]

what a good good piece,thanks Jurgen.

[Jane]

How true is that? Good post Jurgen.

[Miss Deetective]

"So, why do people join cults? Because they are looking for answers. If the group that you are considering joining handles new stories or events in the manner described above – that’s the community that you want to join. That’s the community that will help you find the truth, and you don’t have to worry that you may be inadvertently stepping into a UFO cult community."
~~~~~
Oh man, leave it to Vallee to bring cults into the mix!!! Cults have been around since the beginning of time!!! ANY group of like minded people is technically a cult!!!
But the word cult has taken on a sinister meaning nowdays...thanks to the likes of Jim Jones and even the Manson clan, among others!!!
I do not think you have to join a cult to find answers in the UFO community!!!
If anything I think there are a lot of free thinkers who disagree a lot but are all seeking the same thing...the truth. For instance, joining this message board would make all of us members of a cult, according to Vallee's definition. But we have many diverse and opposing views on this message board!!!! We are all seeking anwers and we all have our personal beliefs ....and that is NOT how a cult works.
But, according to Saint Vallee, anytime two or more people agree on something in the UFO field....they are now a ....."cult"!!! Phooey!!!
Ok Dr Wu..... now you can show us how Vallee is right and anyone who disagrees with him is wrong or in this case, just a crazy person who belongs to a cult!!! Maybe I should clear out of Dodge till the dust settles!!!!

[dr wu23]

Only the hard core believers in ET are at risk here.......right?

Actually Dee aren't you a member of the Meier cult?

[Miss Deetective]

Originally Posted by dr wu23

Only the hard core believers in ET are at risk here.......right?

Actually Dee aren't you a member of the Meier cult?

Sorry to disappoint you Doc, but I am not a member of any cult. And Meier doesn't have one.....unless you apply Vallee's description of cults (communities) that is!!
Are all communities cults?????

[dr wu23]

Originally Posted by Miss Deetective

Sorry to disappoint you Doc, but I am not a member of any cult. And Meier doesn't have one.....unless you apply Vallee's description of cults (communities) that is!!
Are all communities cults?????

And here I thought you were a dues paying member.

[dr wu23]

Lets see.........somehow I think Meier and his 'group' qualify.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult
http://www.cultfaq.org/cultfaq-sect-....html#subject1
from the last link
Psychic/Occult/Astral: these groups offer ''secret wisdom'' and ''lost truths;'' examples include UFO cults and Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment.

[dr wu23]

And from Google.....the word cult is all over the page...but then what does Google know?
http://www.google.com/search?q=ufo+c...ier&hl=en&sa=2

[Miss Deetective]

None of those descriptions apply to the Meier case!!! Secret wisdons??? Meier publishes everything....there is nothing secretive his case!!!
It is also not a religious denomination.
It is not violent.
It has no rituals or secret handshakes or any of that kind of thing.
He does no recruiting.
He has never sought fame or attention, nor does he convert anyone.
He resents the press when they try to label him as some kind of guru. He finds that very insulting.
The people who live on his land chose to go there and decided to stay....he did not invite them and neither did he chase them away. They are free to stay or go and there are not very many of them.
Please show me how Meier's "group" qualifies as a cult!!!
Even the links you posted state what I did....that the word cult has taken on a new and dangerous meaning nowdays.
There is nothing dangerous about Meier!!!