Lesson from the Magus: If you can fall in love, you can fall into a cult

On March 26, 1997, Rio DiAngelo turned the key in the door of a 9,200-square-foot mansion at an upscale gated community in San Diego, California.

As soon as the door cracked open, his left hand reached up instinctively and gripped his nose between his thumb and the index finger.

Then, his heart racing, he made his way up the wooden staircase towards the bedrooms upstairs.

By the time he left the Heaven’s Gate House, DiAngelo had counted 39 partially decomposed human bodies — each dressed in a black shirt, sweat pants, new black-and-white Nike athletic shoes, and an armband emblazoned with the words ‘Heaven’s Gate Away Team’.

DiAngelo could have been the 40th victim, but his fellow believers at Heaven’s Gate, the religious cult founded in the 1970s and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985), had asked him to remain behind and keep spreading their message.

Evacuate earth

All the 39 members had committed suicide after Applewhite recorded himself telling the congregants to evacuate earth and go into a higher dimension where they would be supra-human beings.

He instructed the members on what to wear and the preparations they needed to make before they left, persuading them that it was only through a mass suicide that they would be able to board a spacecraft awaiting just outside the earth’s atmosphere to take them to a “better place”.

For their exit, they mixed barbiturate poison with apple-sauce and washed it down with vodka.

The mass suicide made global headlines for weeks and resulted in a major crackdown on cults across the US.

The story sounds ridiculous, but it is pretty much how the tragic story of Paul Magu and his family sounds today.

So far, what we all suspect is that Magu killed his wife and three children before jumping in front of a bus and joining them on the other side. Also, items recovered from his house and accounts given by his house-help and close family members indicate that the Magus dabbled in some form of religious cult.

A woman identified as Pastor Anne Wanyoro Wambui is now in custody in connection with the sudden and perplexing demise of a family that seemed perfectly fine from the outside.

Police reports reveal that Ms Wambui had spent a lot of time with Magu in the days leading up to his death, even living in his house for the four days preceding his death “to pray with him”.

The running commentary on how such a seemingly “normal” family could succumb to such a barbaric fate has largely focused on the trickery of religious cult leaders and the gullibility of their followers.

Speaking to the Sunday Nation last week, retired Rev Dr Timothy Njoya said that the prey of most cult leaders “are usually the poor, the oppressed, the spiritually weak and people who cannot fit in a certain class that they would want to”.

In the same breath, this is how Rev Canon Peter Karanja rationalised the tragedy: “People who did not have a good religious foundation since early childhood are easily swayed into believing in cultist doctrines, and they are very hard to be convinced back to the true religion.”

It is easy to read these explanations and distance yourself from those who “fall for the cults”. When the infamous Prophet Kanyari’s antics were exposed a few weeks back, many Kenyans went to town about how gullible people can get and how ignorance is to blame for being deceived.

Many who witnessed the story unfold probably said “that can never happen to me”. But then you come across a wealthy and educated man like Paul Magu, or former TV anchor Esther Arunga who a few years back disowned her mother for a religious group, and you can’t help but wonder: “Am I missing something here? Could this happen to me?”

It is tempting and quite reasonable to think of ourselves as the normal ones. We are always the ones who are sane, the sober ones, the ones that see things clearly while the rest of the world is deluded and needs to adjust to our viewpoint.

But Nairobi-based psychologist and relationships expert Chris Hart says our confidence in our ability to avoid deception is one of the greatest weaknesses we have as human beings.

“I don’t know much about cults, and I will not presume to know how those cult leaders manipulate people, but I know enough about people to tell you we can be swayed more easily than we think,” says Hart, adding that people tend to underestimate the power of peer pressure.

When one is immersed in a given group philosophy with no room to interact with dissenting views, Hart adds, they will not just cave, they will soon be championing the cause of that group.

His explanation for this group phenomenon borders on claiming that we could actually be wired for cultic tendencies.

“The need to belong and be accepted is intrinsic in all of us. Unfortunately, many people confuse this need with being loved. The need for acceptance is very different. People are looking for a purpose and a way to make sense of their life. So when they meet someone who will give them a narrative that rationalises their existence and meets their emotional needs, they will easily believe and follow the person selling that story. How else do you think the youth are getting radicalised?” he asks.

Hart says an oversimplified view of life and human psychology is what makes people flippant in their diagnosis of what is happening to those who enroll into cults. Human beings, he says, are much more complex than our popular stereotypes.

Cult leaders “provide elaborate and comprehensive explanations for all dimensions of life. They offer answers on life, love, the universe, the after-life…. It is a complete and coherent package that cannot be easily debunked or dismissed.”

Beautiful dream

Ultimately, says Elizabeth Esther, author of the book Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future, the reason people join cults is as simple as the reason people fall in love:

“People join cults because they fall in love with a beautiful dream. They see something they desperately want or need. They feel like they’ve found the answer to life’s problems. If you’re capable of falling in love, you’re capable of joining a cult.”

So, is the solution to completely abandon religion and all its entanglements?

While that may sound like a good place to start, it may turn out to be superficial. From what Esther and Hart are saying, it seems we are all wired for religion.

No, not religion as in the worship of a deity; but religion as in how we are prone to follow a belief or a worldview with the same zeal that those who believe in deities follow their spiritual worldviews.

It also seems we are hardwired to trust and believe those we deem more knowledgeable and influential. These do not have to be religious leaders, but can also be outspoken atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

The followers of these leading atheists tend to be fanatical in their support, even when they have not read them comprehensively.

It is as if these leading atheists are infallible in the eyes of their henchmen; they can never err or revise their views. In other words, they are deity to their followers.

So it turns out that, more often than not, the difference between belief and non-belief in deity is really a difference of gods; which probably means that the difference between a person who falls for a cult and the one who claims immunity, is simply a difference of blinds-pots.

“The case of Magu and his family is indeed very sad. But even as it unfolds, I can’t help but notice how their neighbours seemed to know very little about this family,” notes Hart.

“Isolation is one of the tell-tale signs that something is terribly wrong. People will always need relationships and validation and a sense of belonging.

“That sense of belonging is actually one of the essential needs listed in Maslow’s hierarchy, so there is no way around it. But if our source of purpose, belonging and validation requires us to be isolated from competing ideas in the larger world, then not even the brightest of us will be able to evade the snare of the cult.”

Can be seduced

Esther seems to agree: “People don’t join cults because they want to join cults. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Hey, I’d love to join a cult today!’

Sure, having a good education (and especially exposure to lifestyles other than your own) might render you a little less susceptible to the glittery, sparkling promises of a cult. But pretty much, if you’re a human being — you can be seduced.”

Could the reason cults continue to exist be because nobody believes they’re in one?

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Once upon a time: The power of a good story

STORIES ARE POWERFUL. I can’t explain it, that’s just how stories are. Like music, we don’t have to understand the physiology of stories on our brains before we can admit their power.

Stories don’t try to convince you, argue with you, or reason with you.

Good stories don’t tell you, they simply show you. They invade your reservations, assault your convictions and barge into your conscience like a bandit. Stories are just that, powerful.

The most compelling way to teach something is to tell a story about it. Want to teach about patience? Just tell a story about a patient person. Want to explain love? Illustrate it in story.

That’s why the fables we heard as children still linger in our memories. Bedtime stories were not just entertainment, they were life-lessons. Yet this overwhelming power is also what makes stories so dangerous.

A false story is powerfully destructive. Stories of proud men winning, and selfish women reigning, are powerful tools. You see, since the power of stories is irrational, you cannot argue against a story.

You may present a thousand arguments against miracles, but one story about one miraculous happening topples them all.

Stories, in themselves, already exude a certain sacred aura about them, which makes the stories that claim to be sacred even more appealing, if not appalling.

Take the Bible, for instance. Whether you believe its claims or not, it is one compelling book. Otherwise, it would not be a bestseller even after existing for centuries.

The one thing that makes the Bible so appealing is that it is not a constitution of religious rules and rituals, but an anthology of stories, some of which seem so raw and uncensored and, well, divine.

You will notice that most, if not all, cults revolve around people, not institutions. The best stories tend to be the personal stories, not the abstract accounts about organisations — because they are more relatable. Cults revolve around a personality, not an organisation.

We may blame a particular church denomination, or go into details on the doctrines the church teaches. We can even give elaborate analyses on the structures of the church that are meant to keep people in check.

But if you examine the institution carefully, you will often realise that there is a person holding it all together. There is a person who makes or breaks the following.

This person may be the immediate leader of that local congregation, or it could be the historical founder of the given religious movement.

Most of the religious movements that have been described as cults are often associated with a specific historical figure; the “founder”.

This could be Joseph Smith of the Mormon movement, Ellen G White of the Seventh Day Adventists, or Charles T Russell of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Each of these founders claimed to have a spiritual experience that preceded the launch of a movement. They had a compelling story about a divine revelation and a command that set the ball rolling.

Somehow, the fact that the revelation was given to this individual means that it is necessary that whatever movement arises be tied to the person.

Examine every cult you know (whether you call them religious or personality cults) and the same narrative runs through it. We fall for cults and will continue to fall because we can’t help but fall for a good story.

By Ngare Kariuki

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Be careful if you hear these words

In the book Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future, Elizabeth Esther outlines five reasons why the narrative in most cults is so enticing, and why everyone, no matter their level of education or intelligence, could easily and consciously sign up for membership and think they are making the most logical decision of their life.

1. We have what you need: Do you crave meaningful relationships? Are you tired of superficial pursuits? Do you long for abundance, happiness and wealth?

2. You can get it today: Today is the day of salvation! What if you die tomorrow? Will you have any regrets?

3. It will give you purpose: Did you know God has a great plan for your life? Do you really want to miss out on that? Join our cause. God is really moving in our generation. Together, we can change the world.

4. It will make you feel superior: We are the true believers. We are the pure ones. We are reclaiming what’s been lost. We have uncovered hidden truths. You won’t find this anywhere else.

5. Here are the incentives: Look at all these beautiful women following Jesus! Look at all these godly, spiritual men! You could have true intimacy.

No more broken hearts. You will find a wife who respects and serves you. You will find a husband who loves and provides for you. You will find a community of like-minded people who will help you and you will never be alone again!