Steven Hassan knows cults. A former member of Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, Hassan escaped the infamous religious cult through family intervention and then dedicated himself to freeing others from other nefarious entities that employ psychological mind control techniques as a means of recruitment and maintaining personal loyalty. He is the founder of the
Freedom of Mind Resource Center, an organization dedicated help families free their loved ones from being controlled by human trafficking syndicates, religious cults, and terrorist groups activities. His conclusions in this book are well researched and thought provoking.
Earlier this year I was interviewed by Steve as he was writing his most recent work. Up front, I must disclose that in this work I am quoted as well as cited in chapter seven that deals heavily with the role of religious cults as a support vehicle for the Trump presidency –
notably about the role of the Opus Dei cult and Attorney General William Barr. With that said, I am not one for conspiracy theories or other flimsy accusations that easily disappear like a streak of vapor when properly scrutinized. That is why I chose to lend my voice to this work.
Hassan’s work is extremely important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it does help us better understand how many good Americans could rally around a narcissistic, vulgar, self-serving amateur politician. Too many of us on the progressive side write the man off as an unknowing megalomaniac, an historical aberration. Indeed, that may be the case, but he is also knowledgeable about techniques that can push people’s buttons.
The author never states that the Trump bandwagon is a cult exactly like the Unification Church or Opus Dei; one where the members are not free to leave certain premises or must turn over their personal paychecks to a superior within the organization. Instead, it is a looser entity, much like a strident political party that demands total loyalty of its members. But while Trump does employ many mind control techniques such as fear, flattery and propping up an enemy that supposedly threatens the wellbeing of his supporters – he does rely upon more traditional cult-like organizations such as Opus Dei, Capitol Ministries and groups that have within their ranks rather fanatical followings such as the National Rifle Association. Some critics and readers may miss that critical distinction.</p>
Take for example,
the recent Washington Post Review of Hassan’s work by Marc Fisher. In reading his take on
The Cult of Trump, I got the impression that Fisher did not read the book carefully at all, or at best, gave it a cursory perusal. The WaPo reviewer misstates Hassan’s conclusions by inferring that all cults are identical in their membership characteristics of top-down control; they are not and the book’s author makes no such claim.
But what all cults share-in-common is the use of thought control techniques, whether consciously or subconsciously. Fisher almost nonchalantly dismisses the ability of political leaders to use cult-like techniques. He cites former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il) as examples of Republicans who questioned Trump’s judgment, but fails to add the price Jeff Flake paid by watching his reelection chances disappear knowing that he would have certainly faced a primary challenge by a Trump clone.
Contrary to Fisher’s rhetorical question, asking of Huey Long, George Wallace, Fidel Castro, Mao, Hitler, “Were they cult leaders, too?” In the case of the last two, well, yeah! During China’s Cultural Revolution, didn’t endless numbers of Chinese march around numbingly chanting, “The East is Red!”? Did not state police question citizens on the street about whether they had Mao’s Little Red Book on their person?
But if we really want to talk about psychological techniquesfor mind control Hitler is extremely relevant to a technique used by Trump onthe day he announced his campaign. When the current President
came down the escalator into the lobby of Trump Tower to make his announcement, the first thing that went through my mind was that he took a page right out of
Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, “Triumph of the Will.” The descending down the escalator is chillingly reminiscent of the opening of Riefenstahl’s film where Hitler flies into Nuremberg to attend a party rally and descends from the aircraft. Both messages convey the same subconscious meaning: a savior coming down from the heavens.
A Well Researched Tome
What should be appreciated by Hassan’s work is the amount of detail and research he has devoted to this project. For example, he starts out by defining what constitutes a cult and then goes on to give specific examples of thought control by past experts such
as former U.S. Air Force and Harvard psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton as well as U.S. Army psychologists Margaret Singer, Edger Schein and Louis Joylon West who described techniques used on American POWs during the Korean War by North Korean and Chinese captors. He also draws upon his own experience with the Unification Church so as to apply his own specific insights on the workings of any cult-like organization.
As the book goes on, he explains the techniques used by the current president to control his message and to have a hold over his supporters. Some of the Trump techniques Hassan discusses made me recall Enlightenment philosopher
David Hume and his work on empathy and the bandwagon effect – how critical thinking can become suspended by an individual due to empathy with another to point of adopting beliefs the empathic individual himself does not believe.
An important aspect of the book is his detailed explanations to how the Trump phenomenon relies upon groups of other cult-like organizations to reinforce support for him. He goes into the role of the media and how it is played by Trump. The author carefully details, using fear to keep the audience riveted Fox News provides a tailor-made platform while mainstream media outlets such as CNN and CBS are complicit in their quest for ratings and profits. And as a longtime writer on issues concerning the Catholic Right, I was fascinated by his take on Trump’s borrowing demagogic techniques from the anti-Semitic 1930s radio priest
Rev. Charles Coughlin.
But Hassan also discusses in chapter seven (in which both
Frederick Clarkson and I are cited) how the religious right reinforces Trump’s message through the cult-like organizations such as the
New Apostolic Reformation, The Family,
Capitol Ministries and Opus Dei. These are all groups that have played a significant role in reinforcing a very libertarian but unyielding religious outlook in the world, more than is generously intolerant of dissent, authoritarian in nature and strident in their religious outlook.
Some Good Advice From the Author
Finally, Hassan helps us with possible answers as how to engage our friends and neighbors who have now become committed Trumpsters. This section I found to be highly informative.
Hassan strongly warns against name calling and debasement. Instead, he recommends that we do some simple things that may require some self-discipline. This includes seeking out and listening to what our Trump friends have to say and engage them in earnest conversation. It also means shown respect and patience even though we will hear things that you may find extreme.Come to them out of a sense of friendship and not hostility. More importantly,when possible, take a listen to some of their news sources, not as a means tobe converted but instead, as a means to calmly and respectively provide them with an alternative point of view. One last suggestion Hassan makes is to ask those Trump folks we know to take a short break and turn off Fox News talking heads like Rush Limbaugh. Hassan has found that even short breaks from the conservative can bring some of these folks back to moderation.
The Cult of Trump does not provide all the answers about Trump’s appeal – nor does it pretend to do so. Yet, at the same time it does begin to explain the role of thought control techniques used by the President to sustain his base. And as such, Steven Hassan points us towards effective rebuttal.