Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements

Greetings from David Kilgour, M.P. Edmonton Southeast, to the International Conference “Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements" – Sponsored by the American Family Foundation and the Edmonton Society Against Mind Abuse

University of Alberta Conference Centre

June 11, 2004

Greetings from the Government of Canada. It is a great honour to be invited to address your conference, which deals with a subject of concern to all of us – cults and mind abuse. The Edmonton Society Against Mind Abuse should be commended for hosting this momentous conference – held in for the first time in Canada in Edmonton this year, and also for the ongoing and often very stressful and demanding work of its volunteers.

As a politician, I am not here to speak about the psychological or experiential facets of this subject, but of the social. I can only speak about the area where I have experience and some expertise, the area I may hope to have influence. The sponsors and host of this conference share a devotion to human rights, spiritual liberty, with an emphasis on critical thinking. These are causes dear to my own heart and pivotal to democratic society. The work you do here on this topic has a wide ranging merit.

In my career, in addition to my role as MP, I was Secretary of State of Africa and Latin America from 1997 – 2002, and Secretary of State to Asia-Pacific between 2002 to 2003. Both positions have afforded me the privilege of meeting many people with widely varied experiences and backgrounds, and of traveling to countries of diverse customs and histories. I have seen first hand the harrowing effects of extremism wreaking its scourge on entire countries. Canada enjoys a wealth of human rights and freedoms that prevents larger, more insidious kinds of organized cult practices - yet even in a place where freedom is so highly valued, we are at risk for individuals becoming entrapped in cults.

From Aristotle to Adler, the message has been published again and again: Human beings are social beings – they are not made to be alone. For the first several years of our lives we are entirely dependent on others. When we are young we need people to feed us, to clothe us, to care for us, to protect us from our fears and from the dangers around us.

North American society, with its leanings towards individualism, has a tendency to imply that once we are old enough to provide ourselves with our basic needs like food and shelter, we no longer have need of, or worse, we are no longer needed by - other people. But human beings never cease to need a community, though it’s role in our lives may change through time.

This presumption that at some point we should be able to make it entirely on our own is alarming and dangerous. Far from no longer needing a community once we reach a certain age, as adults, our needs from community become much more subtle, deeply rooted, and meaningful.

Community is essential to an individual. It can provide a support system for individuals which itself is pivotal, but more importantly, being involved in a community imparts to a person a sense of being needed. There is a way in which the sense of being needed ties intricately with a sense of being known, which in turn informs the understanding of self. Communities not only provide a person with a sense of belonging, but also a sense of identity. It is only when one can see themselves in relationship to other people that one can have a healthy and positive sense of self.

Tendencies in society today towards isolation and individualism are harmful both to the society as a whole and to individuals themselves. People’s need for community, for a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose cannot be satisfied by staying home alone at night watching “Friends” on T.V. The media propelled disposition towards mind numbing, passive resolution to loneliness and unhappiness today puts people in danger of the type of society you are here this weekend to strive against.

Isolation and individualism can skew a person’s self-perception and perception of others. The genuine need for meaning in one’s life, the need for society, for being supported and for being needed do not go away when they are ignored. As they are left to accumulate, and the sense of identity left to dwindle without enough human contact to affirm or revise it, young and old become in danger of falling under the influence of cults, gangs, extremist groups.

The danger is, these groups can seem to provide something that is compelling to all of us, community; a role; a purpose; an identity. It is frequently noted that the reason that young people can become involved in gangs is because of the tight sense of community, loyalty, common purpose, and “looking out for one another” that these groups impart. As a father of four, it concerns me that some of today’s young cannot find that sense of belonging within their family, their neighbourhood, their school, that they cannot find a “common sense” that isn’t tinged with disillusionment and alienation. This is a huge social problem that is hurting our community.

As humans, we need people and we need to be needed. Freedom comes not from a lack of responsibilities, but from a willingness to serve the cause of our choice, a responsibility to ourselves, and a responsibility to others. Right now, in our society, we have the problem of extremes – individuals who take the cause of freedom to mean a reckless race after pleasure, in spite of the needs or rights of others, and often to their own destruction (as with drug abuse) , or individuals, made vulnerable by loneliness and a lack of self-esteem, who are drawn into cults which make them renounce their rights and freedoms. I think the revival and renewal of the notion of community, of freedom and happiness being tied to obligation and commitment, could play a large part in preventing the loneliness, lack of self-worth, lack of a feeling of identity and context that make the good people of our society prey to cults.

I would like to thank and commend all of you for the invaluable work you are doing, and I bring best wishes for a successful conference.