[BOOK REVIEW/ESSAY] Freedom of Mind & Combatting the Cult Identity

I just finished listening to "Freedom of Mind," by Steven Hassan, my second cult book in the past few months, following "Cultish" by Amanda Montell. It’s effectively a step-by-step method for how to intervene in the life of your family member who just joined a cult (very practical, except for those of us who don’t actually have a family member who just joined a cult), but it still has a lot of insight into how this influence works and what we can do about it. I learned a lot and it was fun to listen to.

I had a lot of ideas floating around while reading this so I’ll do my best to pinpoint some of the main ideas of the book as well as just some of my general takeaways. If it sounds smart, Hassan probably said it, if it’s a pretty obvious thought, you can trust that bad boy came from me.

I’ve watched quite a few friends and peers in my lifetime become apparently radicalized. They follow the same path: one moment, they seem fine. They’re kind, intelligent, overall happy—no notable signs of any disruption. Then, in a number of months or even weeks, things spiral. They’re spending more time on the Internet. They become crueler, more distant. And then, more suddenly, they’re spouting conspiracy theories like fact, and worst of all, there seems to be no hope of return to normalcy: the friend I once knew is, devastatingly, gone.

I wanted to read this book because for years I’ve been desperate not only to understand this phenomenon but really just to know what I can do to help. What can we do to stop this rising tide of radicalization and conspiracy that plagues our country and which I’ve witnessed most prominently in young men? That’s the broad question. The underlying theme is, how do I get my friends back? I’m not trying to equivocate the experiences of members of true cults like the ones cited in this book to my classmates who fall down YouTube rabbitholes. But as both “Cultish,” and “Freedom of Mind,” make clear, the same methods of targeted manipulation, grooming, and what Hassan calls “destructive influence,” are used both by cult leaders and by those political influencers and extremist voices. They target vulnerable members of society who feel isolated, build upon their resentment and hatred of the “other,”, increase the sense of internal community, gradually denote all outside media as untrustworthy (fake news), and present themselves as the only source of truth, developing complete dependence. They use thought-terminating cliches to prevent critical thinking, push an “us versus them” narrative, and provide a gospel of salvation, self-improvement, and order, where the outside world is chaotic, dark, and bent on destruction. Within this narrative, the new recruit builds an entirely new identity, which Hassan notes actually bears similar psychological patterns to dissociative identity disorder—hence why families and friends report that the convert seems like a completely different person. In many ways, they are.

One interesting difference between “Cultish,” and “Freedom of Mind,” was the presentation of brainwashing or mind control. Both books reject these outdated and misleading terms, reminding us that people who fall victim to cults are no different from us. They are intelligent, normal people, and we are all in danger of cult influence. Montell argues that people never lose their autonomy, and by believing that they’re under mind control, you start to imagine there’s some kind of magical science fiction involved, rather than the same manipulation and propaganda that we are all susceptible to. But Hassan has a slightly different approach. He actually does argue for a more “brainwashed” understanding of what he has retermed “destructive influence”: the incredibly powerful techniques by which cult leaders repress one’s identity. Under destructive influence, a person’s unique identity is shoved below the surface and replaced by the cult leader’s personality. Montell claims that “cult,” is an unhelpful term because it’s a judgment rather than a descriptor. It could impede upon freedom of religion; if a group is described as a cult instead of a religion, there would be allowances for government intervention. I thought that was a good and interesting point. But Hassan—a pro-religion, pro-spirituality Jew, notably—has no such qualms. He argues fiercely for increased legislation to combat authoritarian cults, as well as awareness on how mind control can occur, and intervention on behalf of cult-indoctrinated people—even adults. The difference was stark: for Montell, cults held a morbid interest, but should be treated almost respectfully. For Hassan, a former cult member, the danger of destructive influence is real and immediate, and cannot be overstated.

So what do we do about this trend of extremism in our friends and countrymen? Hassan, a leading cult expert, offered a much more complex and psychologically profound synthesis of the vague idea I’ve at times tried to articulate in fumbling rants over the phone to my sister: we love them. We approach them with caution, understanding, and empathy; we meet them where they are; we understand that just as much as they are guilty of faulty beliefs, so may we also be. It’s easy to agree with this in the case of an indoctrinated flat-earther. It becomes harder for those who listen to and preach bigotry, misogyny, and racism. The solution to hatred is love? The quote that comes to mind—timely on this week commemorating Martin Luther King, jr.—is of course, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” It’s not an easy (red) pill to swallow. But it is the truth. Cult leaders target people who are craving community and connection, and then they alienate them from society, presenting their friends and families as the enemy. If we respond to their newfound beliefs with equal hatred—even if it’s understandable—we only cement the ideas that we are the enemy. Of course this isn’t fair. Of course nothing can justify or excuse bigotry. And maybe you can decide it’s not your job to put yourself through the fight of breaking someone out of their ideas. But maybe it is our job, just a little bit—at least, to the extent that love, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness have been and will always be the greatest weapons in the war against fear, division, and hatred. Love is the greatest form of protest in a world that profits off hate.