Another Book About Cults? A Review of J. W. Ocker’s ‘Cult Following’

Author:

Lindsey Mendenwaldt

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Article ID:

JAR0224LM

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Updated: 

Mar 6, 2025

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Published:

Feb 26, 2025

This article was published exclusively online in the Christian Research Journal, volume 48, number 01 (2025).

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A Review of
Cult Following:
The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations
— And Take Over Our Lives
J. W. Ocker
Quirk Books, 2024

 

“When it comes to belief, what is the truth, really? Is it possible to know? Does it even matter?”1

Truth is probably one of the most pressing issues in our culture. With the rampant use of generative AI in creative fields like art, people wonder whether the content they consume is created by a human or computer. The good news about this wondering is a renewed focus on reality and truth. People do not want to be bamboozled by artificial intelligence. This concern has created more concentrated efforts in Christian apologetics to raise awareness about reality — is what we believe rational and true? The answer is yes, we can believe Christianity is rational and true based on our knowledge found in Scripture, extrabiblical texts, history, archeology, and more. Unfortunately, lies and false ideas exist. In a fallen world, we can expect Satan to corrupt that which is good. As Christians, we need to sound the alarm when truth is twisted because, as Douglas Groothuis has said, “truth is narrow. Truth captures reality in statements, and any statement that fails that task is erroneous. Error in religion is no small thing, and it can be a matter of eternal consequence if that error be egregious enough.”2 And therein lies the problem with cults. They are not grounded in truth, and the consequences are not inconsequential — they are eternal.

What Ocker Adds to the Mix. Cults, or new religious movements, are groups that capitalize on a person’s willingness to accept lies as truth in order to feel acceptance and love. Often led by a tyrannical yet charismatic personality, cults claim to provide community yet wreak havoc on those within their walls and outside them. In his latest book, Cult Following (Quirk Books, 2024), J. W. Ocker gives a broad, overarching view of cults and attempts to help the reader answer the question: Why do people join cults to begin with? Ocker includes famous cults that are well in the past, such as the Branch Davidians3 and Heaven’s Gate4 of the 90s, the Rajneesh Movement5 of the 80s, and the Manson Family and Peoples Temple of the 60s and 70s. He also describes newer cults like Remnant Fellowship Church6 and NXIVM.

Regarding organization, Ocker doesn’t use the typical approach by delineating cults by their purpose, such as doomsday or UFO. Instead, he attempts to compartmentalize cults into five categories, all around the central idea that humans are searching for something: truth, protection, purpose, salvation, and betterment. By his own admission, these categories overlap greatly, and I found it difficult to spot the differences between them. To me, most cults are trying to pursue all those things, and as I have reread the book and used it as a reference source, I’ve found it difficult to find the cults I’m looking for because I can’t remember how Ocker categorized them.

Although the information found within Cult Following is interesting, it isn’t necessarily new or revolutionary, and maybe that’s okay. After all, despite our knowledge of cults, despite the warnings of what to avoid and potential red flags, cults continue to exist. Why is that? Ocker tries to offer the reader a solution, but in some cases, his biases against religion bleed through the pages, which results in a tone that may turn readers away. Ultimately, though, this has to do with a quest for truth — can we believe what we learn from religious leaders, and how can we protect our vulnerable selves from those who seek to deceive and potentially mistreat us?

What Is a Cult, Anyway? Defining “cult” is perhaps more daunting than just a few pages in a book about cults can achieve, but Ocker tries. He describes the elements of a cult as defined by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton:

  1. A charismatic leader who often becomes an object of worship
  2. A process of indoctrination
  3. A mechanism of exploitation, whether that be financial, sexual, or otherwise7

Ocker suggests that this list not only describes cults, but “any religion,” stating that “there’s a thin, blurry line between a religion and a cult.”8 He seems to differentiate between number of followers, asserting that because mainstream religions are large, they can “withstand crimes, scandals, and tragedies within their structures and continue on, ties straightened, collars starched, and halos burnished, in a way that smaller sects cannot.”9 This is an obvious mischaracterization of most mainstream religions and the first clue to the reader that this book may not be completely objective and unbiased. To be fair, Ocker never claims to be objective or unbiased. Indeed, Ocker admits a history with religion: He was a Baptist for twenty-five years, and says, “Religion appalls and appeals to me. I will never blame anybody for being in one, although I will poke fun at them for it.”10 That mindset comes into play several times throughout Cult Following, which will be addressed later, but suffice to say that Ocker seems to have no issue making flippant, passing remarks against religion and especially, it seems, Christianity. This may also be why Ocker avoids a significant element of the definition of “cult” that many Christians use: groups that misuse or misinterpret the Bible.11

Cult experts emphasize the dynamic of control in cults; that is, cult leaders seek to control everything in their followers’ lives, from their behavior to their emotions, which often leads to shunning of anything outside the bounds of the group, including family and friends.12 Cult members are frequently told to reject information from anyone besides the leader. Fear and guilt are regularly key components found within these groups, too.13 Ocker touches briefly on a few of these factors in the Epilogue of Cult Following, but he fails to note real and important distinctions between mainstream religions and cults. This does a disservice to those hoping to spot the red flags of predatory and controlling groups because Ocker appears to want us to see red flags in every religious organization. In reality, although there are certainly examples of this kind of control in any religion due to the fallen humanity factor, most mainstream religions are not known for these trademarks of cults. Otherwise, we would call them cults.

Cult Followers and Leaders. Ocker spends a lot of space within Cult Following defending cult members, noting that they are often vulnerable people looking for purpose and hoping to find a community of like-minded people they can join. Several times throughout the book, Ocker emphasizes that we’re all susceptible to manipulation and negative influence: “Anyone can be easily tricked by a person or group they’ve come to trust.”14 He seems to want the reader to really understand that the people he is describing could be anyone: our friends, our family, us. Toward the end of the book, he admits that he recently experienced a dark period in his life and would have been susceptible to the call of a cult leader. Thankfully, he writes, “the hands that reached out to save [him] didn’t belong to members of a cult.”15

One example Ocker offers in his book to truly drive the point home that any of us could become a victim is an entry about Laura Johnston Kohl, “The Woman Who Survived Two Cults.”16 This section of the book highlights the life of Kohl, a former member of the Peoples Temple and Synanon (a cult that started as a rehabilitation group in the 1970s). Kohl wasn’t in Jonestown on that fateful day in November 1978, as she was completing a task for Jim Jones in another location that day. When she returned to the States, she fell into the hands of Synanon. She literally went from one cult to another one. “As an idealistic, energetic, community-minded young person,” Ocker writes, “she was, unfortunately, the perfect target for these predatory cults.”17 Thankfully for her, she eventually got out, and she serves as an example for how average people can end up in terrible groups.

As caring as Ocker seems to be toward victims of cults, he is much less forgiving of the leaders. Of course, this is for good reason. Cult leaders are often seeking the vulnerable because they are more pliable and willing to be led, even into acts of violence and, worse, death. As Ocker notes, “people [run] to cult leaders to find protection from turbulent cultural times, imminent apocalypse, personal troubles, and even the law. Unfortunately, when it comes to cults, too often these sources of perceived protection turn out to be far more dangerous and deadly than the original fear.”18

As a Christian, I appreciated Ocker’s thoughtfulness to those caught in the web of deceit and manipulation spun by cult leaders. As Christians, we should strive to see people as image bearers, those made in the image of our Creator. Humanity exists for a purpose, and while we can know that purpose through reading Scripture, so many seek to achieve their purpose in the here and now rather than in the already and not yet. Kingdom-minded souls should consider the eternity of the people around us, and we should regularly pray for the lost, including those in cults. I understand why Ocker takes a harsh stance against cult leaders; I do, too. However, I also pray that they are saved, that they understand the true nature of salvation which is only found through Christ.

Some Issues with Cult Following. There were a few problems I had with Ocker’s book. The first was the tone and tenor of the text, which I’ve already mentioned. Sometimes, his attitude seemed almost flippant and light-hearted. His punchy tone made some of the narratives easier to digest, in a way, but it didn’t always seem entirely appropriate for a book about such serious things. Many of these cults were violent, and their followers either perpetrated awful acts on others or were victims of awful acts themselves. Several resulted in mass suicide. Thus, when Ocker writes things like, “They were quite possibly the best dressed cult in the entire book”19 (referring to the Nuwaubian Nation), or “As cults go, one could have worse neighbors”20 (referring to Koreshan Unity), the reader wants to laugh but also feels like they shouldn’t because it would be akin to laughing at a funeral. But then some readers may find this kind of light-heartedness as a salve to the real-life horrors Ocker describes.

A more serious faux-pas in my mind was Ocker’s lack of sources. He doesn’t use footnotes or endnotes, and he only includes a very brief “Selected Bibliography,” which lists secondary sources, not primary. For a book about historical events, I expected more sources. I want to know where Ocker got his information and just how wide-ranging his sources were. Parts of his book read like Wikipedia because there is so much information offered, but the reader is not told where they can find more details or information about many of the facts Ocker includes.

The lack of sources leads to the final thing that bothered me about Cult Following. When I picked it up, I didn’t know anything about Ocker or his other projects. I read it expecting it to be an objective, historical book. However, in some cases, he let his biases show. As I mentioned, he often includes jabs against Christianity, and seemingly out of nowhere. For example, he concluded that Christians aren’t all that different from members of the John Frum Movement, an islander cult in the South Pacific Ocean that believes in a white messiah figure named John Frum. After describing the cult’s beliefs, Ocker writes, “Meanwhile, millions of modern, more ‘civilized’ Christians have just passed their second millennium of waiting for their own prophesied Messiah and heavenly riches. In that light, which beliefs are more rational?”21 In response to Ocker’s question, the more rational beliefs are the ones that are true, and Christianity is rational and reasonable. In a section of the book “Fandom and Cultdom,” Ocker suggests that the “cult” following of the film Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) is better than mainstream religions or even contemporary cults because “a showing of Rocky Horror isn’t likely to end in terrorism or murder or suicide — the worst that’ll happen is you’ll lose your voice or get a blister from your stilettos.”22 Maybe no one dies at Rocky Horror screenings, but glorifying sin that’s portrayed in the film isn’t something to celebrate either. Ocker’s bent toward poking fun at religion may lose him some potential fans.

Is Cult Following Worth Reading? Overall, I think Ocker’s book, Cult Following, is worth reading, especially for those interested in cults. If you’ve already done a lot of research on particular cults, you may not learn anything new about them, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn about cults I’d never heard of before. Ocker prompted my retreat down several rabbit holes while reading his book because I did want to know more. It’s a good overview of various cults, and on the whole, a good addition to the cult section of bookshelves. Just remember that despite his insistence that Christianity is no different than the cults he describes, he’s wrong. Christianity is true and rational. Our hope is not found in a manipulative or tyrannical leader but in our Savior, Jesus Christ, who really lived, died, and was physically resurrected. He will return one day, and we have good reasons to believe what Scripture says about Him. If you want to learn more, set down Cult Following and pick up the Bible. God’s Word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11).

Lindsey Medenwaldt is the Director of Ministry Operations at Mama Bear Apologetics and the author of Bridge-Building Apologetics (Harvest House, 2024). She holds a master’s in apologetics and ethics from Denver Seminary, a JD from St. Mary’s School of Law, and a master’s in public administration from Midwestern State University.


NOTES

  1. J. W. Ocker, Cult Following: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations — And Take Over Our Lives (Quirk Books, 2024), 45.
  2. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 1st ed. (IVP Academic: 2011), 598.
  3. For more about the Branch Davidians, see “The Branch Davidians,” CRI Statement, Christian Research Institute, accessed February 22, 2025, https://www.equip.org/articles/the-branch-davidians/.
  4. CRI president Hank Hanegraaff discussed Heaven’s Gate with Larry King in 1997. See “Hank Hanegraaff and the ‘Heaven’s Gate Cult’ Part #1,” The Corroded Metalhead, YouTube, June 23, 2021, https://youtu.be/9IvBSgaqtGE?si=GoQDFFAPNVqkrUqq; and “Hank Hanegraaff and the ‘Heaven’s Gate Cult’ Part #2,” The Corroded Metalhead, YouTube, June 23, 2021, https://youtu.be/8fMRtBByO-I?si=bpBbD1CulATxcEsD.
  5. For more about the Rajneesh Movement, see Elliott Miller, “The Rajneesh Cult,” originally published in Forward 5, no. 1 (1982), updated August 29, 2023, https://www.equip.org/articles/the-rajneesh-cult/; and Elliott Miller, “The Rajneesh Cult: A Biblical Response to the Netflix Docuseries Wild Wild Country,” originally published March 28, 2018, updated September 25, 2024, https://www.equip.org/articles/the-rajneesh-cult-a-biblical-response-to-the-netflix-docuseries-wild-wild-country/.
  6. For more about Remnant Fellowship Church and founder Gwen Shamblin, see Don and Joy Veinot, “Gwen Shamblin: Weighed & Found Wanting,” Christian Research Journal 23, no. 3 (2001), updated September 15, 2023, https://www.equip.org/articles/gwen-shamblin-weighed-found-wanting/.
  7. Ocker, Cult Following, 9.
  8. Ocker, Cult Following, 10.
  9. Ocker, Cult Following, 10.
  10. J.W. Ocker, “Ten Things About ‘Cult Following,’” Odd Things I’ve Seen, September 10, 2024, https://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/2024/09/ten-things-about-cult-following.html.
  11. Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults: The Definitive Work on the Subject, 6th ed. (Bethany House, 2019), 13.
  12. “BITE Model of Authoritarian Control,” Freedom of Mind Resource Center, accessed February 22, 2025, https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model-pdf-download/.
  13. “BITE Model of Authoritarian Control.”
  14. Ocker, Cult Following, 12.
  15. Ocker, Cult Following, 262.
  16. See Ocker, Cult Following, 198–99.
  17. Ocker, Cult Following, 199.
  18. Ocker, Cult Following, 71.
  19. Ocker, Cult Following, 153.
  20. Ocker, Cult Following, 27.
  21. Ocker, Cult Following, 44.
  22. Ocker, Cult Following, 141.
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