First published in 2015, Opening Our Minds by Jon Atack has been a valuable reference and introduction to the ongoing discussion about harmful cultic influences, how they emerge, and what if anything we can do about them personally, legally, and socially. Since his 1990 publication of A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, Jon Atack has been known for his thorough deconstruction and exposure of the deceiving behavior of the Church of Scientology. Opening Our Minds is a comparatively short book that condenses Atack’s considerable, even vast, knowledge about authoritarian group activity into a useful reference for anyone interested in the ongoing study and controversies surrounding cult-related behaviors throughout human history.
Atack draws from established and emerging experts in the field as he weaves relevant scholarship into his project from people like Robert Lifton, Janja Lalich, Steven Hassan, Robert Cialdini, Leon Festinger, Alan Scheflin, Philip Zimbardo, Yuval Laor, and Erich Fromm. Atack’s references are extensive if not exhaustive but can guide any reader whether interested researcher or recovering former member toward further wisdom about this topic. His chapters cover how influence works and why we rarely catch a fraud at the outset, the legal parameters within which we can apply protections and prosecutions in favor of victims, the healthy and unhealthy characteristics of narcissism, and why arguments by sociologists against so-called “brainwashing” theories have been utterly specious for decades. Manipulative abuse, deception, and distortions of good ideas are real behaviors throughout human history.
In his exposition, Atack offers engaging personal stories and poignant historical anecdotes to highlight his assertions. On page 107, we learn that Native Americans were not recognized as fully human in America until 1924. On page 114, we learn that over four hundred years more heretics and witches suffered execution by Protestants than by Catholics. On page 116, we learn that due to the second passing of a Sedition Act in 1918, an adolescent girl was sentenced to twenty years in prison for protesting government policies during World War 1. The Act was repealed in 1921. The point is that in times of stress and under false scientific assumptions about race, health, and human behavior, even a democratic government can lapse into cult-like behaviors.
This book should be on the short list for anyone looking for a useful, rigorous précis about where the research on cults and undue influence has taken us, whether you accept it or not.
