I knew a kid who moved to Montana to join the Unification Church (Moonies). He left as a normal teenager. He came back two years later and was a TOTALLY different personality. He acted like he had had a lobotomy. He could not hold a conversation or sit still.
I think he was cooked pretty hard by the cult. No idea what happened.
Quiverfull itself could better be called a cultish philosophy rather than a cult per se, as Quiverfull in and of itself does not have any official leaders, central headquarters, or final, definitive, or official statements of doctrine. There are, however, many cults (that have formal leaders, etc.) that have adopted the major principles of Quiverfull as official doctrine.
My ex-boyfriend got sucked into Amway. I completely believe it qualifies as a cult from what I saw. Complete devotion and submission to your upline, creepy religious overtones to the super-secret meetings. Squicked me the hell out and I ran for the hills. Boyfriend loved it and as far as I know is still worshipping the great Amway god and handing over all of his money every month.
Yeah, Amway is like a non-religious cult, part of the broader MLM spectrum of cultish behavior. Unlike some other cults it’s real easy to leave when you run out of money, they encourage it in that circumstance.
Actually, I do. I have a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and have made cults a topic of intense study for the last 15 years. JWs qualify as a cult both theologically (in that they deviate from the essential doctrines of the Christian faith) and sociologically (in that they clearly fit into both Lifton’s 8 criteria for mind control and Steven Hassan’s BITE model defining cultic groups).
From your knee-jerk reaction in defense of JWs, I must assume that you are one yourself, which raises the question of why you would even engage with a former JW “apostate” like me, when the “faithful and discreet slave” has clearly forbidden you to do so, as in the following quotation:
*** w12 5/15 p. 26 par. 13 Are You Reflecting the Glory of Jehovah? ***
Let us therefore have nothing to do with apostates or anyone who claims to be a brother but who is dishonoring God. This should be the case even if he is a family member. (1Cor. 5:11) We are not benefited by trying to refute the arguments of apostates or those who are critical of Jehovah’s organization. In fact, it is spiritually dangerous and improper to peruse their information, whether it appears in written form or it is found on the Internet.