Recommended Reading:
A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield
Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and
Recovery from Cults and Abusive
Relationships, Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja
Lalich. Hunter House, Alameda, CA,
The Cry of Tamar: Violence against Women and The
Church's Response, Rev. Pamela Cooper White.
Covers many different types of abuse against women. With
a section about clergy sexual abuse.
Sex in the Forbidden Zone, Peter Rutter M.D. A
classic in its field. Highly recommended.
Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for
Themselves, by Steven Hassan
Combatting Cult Mind Control, by Steven
Hassan
Churches That Abuse, Ronald M. Enroth.
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1992, 227 pages.
Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive
Cult, by Mark E. Laxer (on Rama/ Frederick Lenz) This
book is available for downloading at the following
address: http://www.mtd.com/exc/Groups/Rama/index.html
Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study
of Gurus, by Anthony Storr
Cults and Personality, F. J. MacHovec. Charles
C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1989, 195 pages.
Trauma and Recovery, by Judith Herman,Herman
has succeeded in bringing a voice ofreason to the highgly
charged world of incest recovery. She points out the
similarity in the sexual abuse, terrorist acts, and cult
thought reform programs.
Malignant Self-Love- Narcissism Revisted, by
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D., an excellent resource book to help
understand and "Cope, Survive and Protect your Loved
Ones" involved in narcissitic
relationships. http://thebook.cjb.net
Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our
Everyday Lives, Margaret Thaler Singer with
JanjaLalich. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1995, 381
pages.
The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power,
Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad. North AtlanticBooks/Frog
Ltd., Berkeley, CA, 1993, 385 pages.
Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism,
by Robert J. Lifton
Seductive Poison, Deborah Layton, A Jonestown
survivor's story of life and death in The Peoples Temple,
- "People do not knowingly join "cults"-people join
self-help groups, churches, political movements, college
campus dinner socials, and the like, in an effort to be
part of something larger than themselves. In their
openhearted endeavor to find meaning in their lives, they
walk blindly into the promise of ultimate answers and a
higher purpose. It is usually only gradually that a group
turns into or reveals itself as a cult, becomes
malignant, but by then it is often too late."
Mind-Forged Manacles: Cults and Spiritual
Bondage, Thomas Case. Fidelity Press, South Bend,
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, David
Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen. Bethany House Publishers,
Minneapolis, MN, 1991, 234 pages.
Journey Into Madness: The True Story of Secret CIA
Mind Control and Medical Abuse, by Gordon Thomas
In the Shadow of the Moons, Nansook Hong
Recovery from Cults, edited by Michael Langone,
this excellent work contains chapters by a widerange of
experts in various parts of the cult recovery field.
The Confusing World of Benny Hinn, by Richard
Fisher and M. Kurt Goedelman
The Walking Wounded, by Jeremy Reynalds
Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion, by
Robert B. Cialdini "Arguably the best book ever on what
is increasingly becoming the science of persuasion.His
research studies how and why people agree to things, and
it is not inclusive to any one area of life. His book
explains the psychological triggers that influence people
to comply with requests, and also covers how these
triggers are used and abused."
The True Believer : Thoughts on the Nature of Mass
Movements, by Eric Hoffe "This best-selling analysis
of fanaticism and mass movements is an important addition
to the field of sociology. "Hoffer has written one of the
provatice books of our immediate day." Christian Science
Monitor.
Toxic Faith ,by Stephen Arterburn, Jack Felton,
" Toxic Faith distinguishes between a healthy faith and a
misguided religiosity that traps believers in an
addictive practice of religion. It shows how unbalanced
ministries, misguided churches, and unscrupulous leaders
can lead their followers away from God and into a
desolate experience of religion that drives many to
despair. Toxic Faith shows readers how to find hope for a
return to genuine, healthy faith that can add meaning to
life."
BOOKS: