I RESCUE AUSSIES FROM CULTS
Raphael helps people break free from coercive religious groups
After more than ve decades of extracting hundreds of people from cults, Raphael Aron says the situation is only getting worse and more Australians than ever are being brainwashed.
“I get at least one call a week from a family wanting help with an intervention. It’s a signi cant and frightening increase,” says cult expert Raphael, 70.
UNSUSPECTING VICTIMS
He explains it’s all the result of the pandemic, which caused people to feel troubled and insecure – and easily recruited.
“Cults provided a false sense of security,” says Raphael, director of Cult Consulting Australia. “People were more vulnerable and less likely to have access to a social network that provides a normal sense of perspective.”
Even with the pandemic over, cults are booming and among those being targeted are younger people, including university students at orientation weeks.
“[ e cults] talk about idealistic ways of living and how to reduce university stress but they rarely tell you who they are at the desk,” Raphael says, explaining how the groups lure in unsuspecting victims by appearing friendly.
Since the 1978 Jonestown massacre, which saw the mass murder-suicide of the Peoples Temple cult led by Jim Jones, and working on a helpline where he spoke to cult members, Raphael’s been assisting victims. He’s rescued hundreds of people from closed religious organisations across the country.
“Interventions are very complicated. ey can take months,” he says, explaining how brainwashed members, who’ve cut ties with family and perhaps given everything away, won’t instantly snap out of it.
e method he uses is di erent every time and is often planned over months. At times he has an ex-cult member with him, at others a family member. Sometimes he will approach them at a set time or when they don’t expect it.
“You have to tread carefully because if it doesn’t work you want to leave the door open to try again,” he says.
And there’s no one-size- tsall x just like there’s no one reason someone becomes a cult member. “All sorts of people join cults. Men, women, families. I know of a gifted woman, six weeks o nishing her PHD recruited.
e people can be very mainstream. Nobody is immune,” Raphael says.
e major tool he o ers families worried about a loved one’s involvement is the internet. “It’s where survivors post about their experiences,” he says. “Post the name of the organisation plus ex-member or ex-cult and it’s the simplest way to nd out the truth of what you’re getting into.”
“It’s not foolproof but it might be enough to get someone to think twice. I’ve had parents forever grateful for that piece of advice.”
‘I get at least one call a week from families wanting help’