What are Cults, What is the Occult?

People raised in controlling or high-demand environments, including religious ones, often find it difficult to recognize when they are being harmed. These systems normalize control, making confusion feel like faith and fear feel like devotion.

Your experiences are real and valid. No one deserves to be demeaned, stripped of autonomy, or made to fear for their safety or their life. The harm you may be facing is not the result of “having the wrong beliefs,” but of coercion and control that thrive on fear.

Abuse does not grow out of sincere spiritual exploration. It flourishes in secrecy, obedience without accountability, and power that goes unquestioned.

What is a cult?

A cult isn’t defined by what a group believes. A cult is defined by how a group behaves.

A group shifts into cultic territory when it, Controls personal autonomy (thoughts, choices, relationships) or discourages questioning or independent thinking. It uses fear, shame, or isolation to maintain loyalty and prioritizes the group’s authority over individual well-being

In short, A cult is any organization, religious or not, that demands obedience at the cost of personal freedom and personal safety. Some of the most notorious cults act as though they promote safety from the rest of the world, while hiding in plain sight.

This definition keeps the focus where it belongs: on harmful structures and behaviors, not on belief systems themselves.

Noteworthy legal cases:

Jehovah’s Witnesses Settle Historic Child Abuse Cases in Federal Court
» https://www.jwchildabuse.org/

Harding v. Watchtower / Jehovah’s Witness entities (10th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion)
» https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/

Survivor’s Rights Article on LDS and Boy Scouts Abuse
» https://survivorsrights.com/lds-bsa-perversion-files-coverup/

Church of Scientology Succeeds in Removing Judges From Abuse Cases
» https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/

Esoteric / Occult Traditions Commonly Practiced in the U.S.

What is the Occult?

From the Latin “occultus”, meaning “hidden” or “secret.”

The term “occult” refers to hidden or esoteric spiritual practices, ideas or rituals that aren’t part of mainstream religion. It doesn’t automatically mean harmful, dangerous, or abusive. They don’t always look like the cinematic display of corn fields, blood sacrifices.

Occults are more about secrecy, symbolism, and systems that operate outside typical public belief structures.

Some groups stay benign. Others can evolve into environments where secrecy becomes a tool for control, and that’s when harm can grow.

The BITE Model by Dr. Steven Hassan

FreedomOfMind.com

B

BEHAVIOR CONTROL

Behavior control is the regulation of a member’s daily life to increase obedience and dependence on the group. It can include rules about clothing, food, sleep, money, work, relationships, and routines.

These demands are often presented as discipline or virtue, but they reduce personal autonomy.

I

INFORMATION CONTROL

Information control means limiting what members can know, read, hear, or discuss. Groups may discourage outside sources, isolate members from critics or ex-members, distort facts, or promote an approved version of reality.

This creates an information bubble that makes independent judgment harder.

T

THOUGHT CONTROL

Thought control shapes how members think and interpret the world. It often relies on black-and-white thinking, loaded language, and teachings that label doubt as weakness or wrongdoing.

Over time, members may learn to distrust their own reasoning whenever it conflicts with the group.

E

EMOTIONAL CONTROL

Emotional control manipulates feelings to keep members loyal and compliant. Groups may use guilt, shame, fear, or conditional approval to make obedience feel necessary and leaving feel dangerous.

This can tie a person’s self-worth and sense of safety to the group.

If you’re in a high-control, cult-like, or abusive environment, you deserve immediate safety, support, and a path forward. You are not alone, there are organizations ready to help confidentially, day or night.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

QUICK EXIT