BENJAMIN, ELLIOT. (2011). Modern religions: An experiential analysis and
expose´. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com. 377 pp. 978-1-257-08261-2. Paperback,
$18.44. Reviewed by Nori Muster.
Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D., describes his experiences in a variety of new age
spiritual organizations, most of which are psychology-based groups. He
describes each group and offers his ratings based on three academic scales in
use since the 1970s: the Anthony Typology, the Wilber Integral Model, and the
Bonewits Cult Danger Scale. He then places the groups on a spectrum that
ranges from favorable and benign to high cult danger. The first hundred pages
of the book familiarize the reader with the scales and Benjamin’s method of
rating.
Developing a reliable rating method is useful, since it emphasizes the differences
between groups, and would prevent journalists and casual researchers from
lumping all new age spiritual organizations in the same category of danger.
Along with the more notorious groups, Benjamin rates about a dozen groups
that he considers benign. This may help researchers who study group dynamics
to recognize what makes a group dangerous. It may also inform religious leaders
who want to fall on the favorable-benign side of the spectrum.
Researchers will find plentiful information on lesser known groups. Since
many of the groups described in the book are small, or not considered
dangerous, until now they may have been ignored in the cultic studies
literature. Hopefully, the information on benign groups will put some people’s
minds at ease. As the director of Steamboats.com, a website dedicated to
historic preservation, I once received a letter from a concerned mother
questioning her son’s employment as a deckhand on the Delta Queen
Steamboat. I assured her that it was most likely a positive experience for her
son that would look good on his resume´. Benjamin’s descriptions may bring
similar peace of mind to friends and relatives of people who dabble in the
benign groups he covers.
The Anthony Typology, developed by Dick Anthony, analyzes a group on the
scope of its beliefs, whether it is charismatic, and whether it is antagonistic
toward the outside world. The Wilber Integral Model, developed by Ken
Wilber, rates a group according to how controlling it is, and whether its
philosophy has a rational or traditional basis. The Bonewits scale, developed
by Issac Bonewits, assigns a number between one (low danger) and ten (high
danger) on fifteen traits, such as the leader’s claim of wisdom, the amount of
wisdom attributed (blind followers), and rigidity of dogma. Bonewits rates how
much a group is interested in money and political power; as well as the
common hallmarks of a dangerous cult: sexual abuse, censorship, endorsement
of violence, paranoia, lack of sense of humor about itself, internal control of
members, and surrender of will. The ratings are added up and divided by
fifteen to come up with an average cult danger rating.
Benjamin describes each group, then rates each on the three scales, and follows
with his rationalization for why he rated each group as he did. He admits that
his ratings are purely subjective, based on his experiences. Individual
researchers will certainly disagree with some of Benjamin’s ratings, and
certainly the groups themselves will disagree if they have a bad rating.
106 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2012, Vol. 44, No. 1
One of the weaknesses of rating organizations is that it is difficult to see what is
going on behind the scenes. A researcher would have to stumble into the inner
circle of any group to find out what is really going on. Therefore, there is a
danger of falsely giving a group a benign rating. Even a homeowners’
association or bridge club may have the potential to inflict extreme emotional,
financial, or other abuses, which a casual observer may not notice. Also, it
must be kept in mind that groups can change. They may reform themselves or
turn sinister, based on who is in the group, and whether the system is ripe for
abuse, or ready for healing. In addition, once a group has been stained by
sexual or other violent forms of abuse, it may have a difficult time getting its
reputation back. Therefore, high ratings on the Sexual Manipulation and
Endorsement of Violence scales need to be more heavily weighted to get an
accurate picture of a group’s overall danger rating.
Another note is that it would be a mistake to apply the Bonewits scale to
political groups, as Benjamin has in essays outside of this volume. All political
groups would score high on several of the scales, such as Wisdom Claimed,
Wisdom Credited, and Dogma, and certainly they would score high on the
Wealth and Political Power scales. Since these five scales would be elevated, it
would be unfair to compare the average of a political group’s rating to the
average of a new age spiritual organization. To obtain a more accurate rating
of political organizations, a researcher would need to remove those five items,
and add five items to rate the group’s integrity. Does the group lie for political
gain? This would say more about whether a political group is dangerous than if
they want wealth. Needing money is built into the game of politics these days.
In Chapters Two and Three, Benjamin presents a collection of essays he wrote at
the time he was going through his group encounters. The essays are presented in
two sections, first the late 1990s and early 2000s; then the 1970s. Benjamin took
about fifteen years off in between to earn his Ph.D. in mathematics and establish
himself as a college professor with a specialization in pure mathematics. He
describes his academic pursuits as part of his spiritual search, since he spent years
working on pure mathematics for several hours each morning as a meditation.
Benjamin’s essays in Chapters Two and Three read like journal entries, written in
the moment. Many of these entries begin when he is enamored with a new group
he is exploring, then in a subsequent entry, he denounces the group and explains
what he dislikes about it. He seems to have a cast iron stomach for unusual group
experiences. Many ex-cult members and researchers may experience the gack
factor (feeing repulsed) by some of Benjamin’s realizations as a naı¨ve follower.
As an ex-member of an Eastern guru group, I have avoided all new age
religious organizations except a very few. The Philosophical Research Society,
founded by Manly Hall in 1934, was a short walk from where I lived in Los
Angeles in the early 2000s. I attended many lectures, workshops, and even a tai
chi class there with no adverse reactions. However, once in the late 1990s, I
attended a house party put on by members of a group Benjamin would rate as
mild. At one point, they got everyone’s attention to do a group meditation.
Everyone joined hands in a circle in the living room. This was an unbearable
Book Reviews 107
trigger for me and I waited out in the front yard until the ceremony was over.
In my experience, I would have found most of the situations Benjamin lived
through as undesirable for myself.
Benjamin describes his deepest and most conflicted affiliation in Chapter Four:
Encounters with Scientology. In a series of his characteristic journal-like
essays, he reveals little-known details about the group, such as how they get
people to join and what goes on in an auditing session. As a researcher, I never
knew much about Scientology before, but the book has given me a substantial
education on the group’s inner workings. Since Scientology is a highly secretive
group, I believe this is one of the book’s greatest contributions.
One of the most terrifying aspects of Benjamin’s experience was the amount of
money he invested in the various groups he joined. His non-cult friends and
family must have found themselves exasperated trying to prevent him from
wasting yet more of his hard-earned money chasing the next great thing.
Benjamin repeats a similar pattern in each group: He becomes intrigued, gets
hoodwinked for a sum of money, becomes disenchanted, and leaves. He
discusses the financial hardships of group involvement quite extensively, which
will be informative for seekers who are considering a similar path.
One would think that interest in joining coercive organizations would have
died down by now, hitting its peak in the 1970s. However, due to millennial
fears and economic hardship, more people than ever are attracted to bad
leaders. This book issues a warning that is needed now more than ever, and will
therefore appeal to scholars, as well as families and others who lose a loved one
to such groups.
Publishing this book is a milestone for Benjamin, since it is the culmination of
his nearly forty years of writing about alternative spiritual organizations. In
essence, he is an unapologetic cult-hopper, revealing in Chapter Five his
disappointment with the Jewish religion of his ancestors and the loss of his
father at the age of two as factors that may have led him to search for meaning
through new age group involvement. He also admits that he joined particular
groups after falling in love with women involved in the groups.
After describing and rating all of his group experiences, the book seems to
point to the need for a creative non-fiction rendering. It would be refreshing
to read a memoir by him that goes in chronological order, offering selected
scenes from his journey. He has already told us what he really thinks. Now all
that is left to do is to show us the worlds he has discovered sans any further
analysis.
REFERENCE
MUSTER, N. (1997). Betrayal of the spirit: My life behind the headlines of the Hare
Krishna movement. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
108 The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2012, Vol. 44, No. 1
The Author
Elliot Benjamin, Ph.D., is a philosopher, mathematician, musician, counselor,
and writer, with Ph.D.’s in both mathematics and psychology. He has a
specialization in Consciousness and Spirituality, and is the author of over
seventy-five published articles in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal
psychology, parapsychology, spirituality and the awareness of cult dangers, art
and mental disturbance, pure mathematics, and mathematics enrichment. He
has been a mathematics professor for twenty-one years at Unity College in
Maine, and currently teaches mathematics and psychology at a number of
different on-campus, and online schools. He enjoys playing the piano and
tennis, and ballroom dancing.
The Reviewer
Nori Muster, M.S., is an author living in Arizona. She loves sharing stories
about her life and visiting with friends. Her first book, Betrayal of the Spirit
(1997), is her memoir of ten years in the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON). Former ISKCON members worldwide have
accepted her book as a mind-opening narrative of a critical decade in the
group’s history. She has written nine books that promote rational thinking and
recovery from systemic abuse, which are available on Amazon.com.
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