In Reply to: Re: Fear of Berg's angry 'God' kept us in the cult posted by an exer on February 18, 2004 at 19:45:34:
I think people stay in for different reasons. It's never a one size fits all conclusion.
There are the type that are truly afraid of God and the consequences of leaving what they've been convinced to believe is God's endtime army. They have suspended their critical thinking and reasoning skills in order to have no doubts and believe. These are usually the little peons that robotically carry on day after day. Sometimes they wake up and at great peril to their own psyche, finally leave.
Then there are the loyalists, the ones that have totally given over any resemblance of their individaul identity to the "greater good." They also revel in the whole hierarchy, leadership thing, they love the communal living, the easy lifestyle and will go down with the ship to protect their dream of utopia, ignoring all warning signs and the ugly realities sitting right next to them, ala, The mother of the cult in the movie - The Beach.
There is a third class - these are the ones that enjoy the free sex, the free ride and really do not give much into the whole religious thing except that it works for their perverted appetites. These people have no conscience to start with.