Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

Montell offers more details about her encounter with Scientologists, like how she and Mani were separated to receive their personality-test results. After they were told about their personality flaws, they were rejoined and offered a $35 class. Cathy attests to the power of these classes, which are generalized but useful enough to be appealing. The language and ideology of Scientology is offered piecemeal in subsequent classes, which gradually cost more until a member is in debt. The goal of Scientologists is to “go clear,” or reach enlightenment (119). However, every time a member thinks they’ve crested the hill of a struggle, there is another series of classes waiting for them with an even heftier price tag until they are so indebted to or entrenched in the church that it’s nearly impossible to leave.

In Cathy’s case, she didn’t research Scientology after joining because the rules forbade it under the guise of the corruption of the outside world, which sought to undermine Scientology’s hopeful vision for humanity. Like most cults, Scientology leans on thought-terminating clichés to dispel dissection and place blame on the individual when situations don’t unfold according to plan. By the time the pitch for classes came around, Montell immediately informed the Scientologists she and Mani weren’t interested. Not everyone is lucky to have the life experiences Montell has to know that something is amiss with Scientology, and once the language takes hold, the ideas of Xenu, the overlord, and of “going clear” are concepts that feel right, especially with the exclusivity of the language that elevates Scientologists’ perception of themselves as morally above other humans, those who subscribe to so-called “wog law”: outsiders who don’t believe in Scientology (121). Montell argues that Scientology and cults couldn’t exist without language, and in that way, language is God, as it gives birth to new universes and possibilities for common understanding.

Religious language carries the power of repetition, performance, and ritual, and it therefore extends beyond the personal power of prayer into legal domains like marriage. The impacts of religious language are real, even within the domain of the self, as the language people use shapes their identity and perceptions of reality. Externalizing their beliefs and visualizing them through practices like prayer and manifestation makes the supernatural more tangible. These practices are often reinforced by rituals that separate the supernatural from the mundane, but there are many times that language has become commingled, especially in American secular capitalist culture.

There is no shortage of religious cults to examine, but the ways in which they function rely on similar linguistic mechanisms to draw people in and keep them there. For example, Chögyam Trungpa, a Tibetan monk and founder of Shambhala, used language to draw in followers, including the likes of David Bowie and Allen Ginsberg. He capitalized on his struggles with alcoholism to attract people to his teachings by seeming vulnerable. He carefully painted the picture of Shambhala as a mandala with him at the center but no one else higher than anyone else. Despite this linguistic imagery that served his loosely Buddhist principles, there was a clear hierarchy in his cult. This hierarchy was reinforced by perverting Buddhist teachings into thought-terminating clichés that prevented lower-ranking members from questioning or complaining about practices within the group.

Though they share little in the art of subtlety, Shambhala and Scientology do use language in similar ways to manipulate members. Inspired by Orwellian ideas, Hubbard’s Scientology wove technical jargon with supernatural beliefs in ways reminiscent of other cults, and it inspired future cults, like NXIVM. These cults gradually enrapture members in linguistic practices that shape their reality. To illustrate how exclusive and intense this language can be, Montell includes a passage from Margery Wakefield’s Understanding Scientology, which depicts a conversation between Scientologists that’s nearly unintelligible without the contextual brackets Montell provides. This kind of code feels like a special, secret language that empowers those who use it to feel better than others who don’t know it and that forges a sense of community. However, Scientology’s language doesn’t work only to make new meanings but also to erode old ones, gaslighting people into questioning their ability to comprehend language. One example of this is misunderstood words, or commonly used words that have other layers of meaning. These layers can lead readers on word chains, as every potentially ambiguous misunderstood word has an associated word chain that could take hours to comprehend. By forcing followers into such intensive studies when they question the teachings, followers become less inclined to question ideas to avoid the extra challenging work.

Evoking scenes from the movie Jesus Camp, Montell introduces the concept of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, which involves a person making incoherent sounds during an emotional religious experience that are recorded by a translator and thought to be an angelic or lost language. Scientifically, glossolalia has some common features, like limiting a speaker to sounds available in their native language. This practice can have positive side effects, like reducing stress through lowering cortisol levels.

However, there are times that glossolalia can be destructive; for example, it is often used during emotionally traumatic times as a form of disassociation. The Way International, an evangelical Christian organization, is known for its use of glossolalia. Another notorious doomsday cult, the Children of God, forced young children to engage in the practice and many other questionable ones, like prostitution, to lure members, even if it caused them extreme emotional distress. One example of the negative effect of overly emotional glossolalia and other practices is the case of Flor Edwards, a former Children of God member. Flor was skeptical of the Children of God even early on, which she attributes to her desire to protect her siblings. Montell then sets up the question of why some people can sense the danger of cults like this, while others can’t.

Montell makes an analogy between what she calls sexual nerds, meaning those open to trying new sexual practices, and spiritual nerds, meaning those open to trying new spiritual practices. Consent is what dangerous cults lack, and leaving them often comes with real dangers and logistical challenges. Many members aren’t as lucky as Abbie, a member of the Shambhala cult who left as it fizzled out. Cathy had a much harder time leaving Scientology, and even though she isn’t in it anymore, the words pull her back instantly. The language hasn’t fully left her.

To wrap up the anecdote that started the chapter, Montell reaches out to Mani to ask if she remembers the day they were accidentally kidnapped by Scientologists, to which Mani replies that she still thinks about it all the time. Mani’s account reveals she was far more scared than she appeared at the time, especially when the two of them were separated. This also wasn’t Mani’s last encounter with Scientology.