ABSTRACT
Freedom and Responsibility Many people believe that cults are created and led by power-hungry, hypnotic, charismatic leaders, and that membership in a cult consists of adherents who are “brainwashed,” and seduced, as well as coerced into maintaining involvement and allegiance to the group and its leader. This refers to the “conventional wisdom” about cults. It is a misunderstanding based on the idea that human behavior can be automatic, unconscious, like that of a machine, a thing.
