ABSTRACT
Primal experiences give the mythology a life of its own and often cause people to seek such experiences for themselves. But to gain and sustain membership, new religions need to add an intellectual element. Having learned how myths and doctrines help create new religions by providing the means to interpret experiences, we now need to examine the personal and social characteristics of people who join new religions. Raymond was born into poverty in 1953 in central Canada. He had a family, including two brothers, but he cannot remember them. By the time he was two years old, he was in a foster home. His memory starts there, in that Pentecostal foster home, with the regular beatings he received from the family's adolescent son. Tim was born in 1955 to parents who were both scientists in an agricultural community. All four children of this family were very bright.
