A link to the Spiritual Abuse Resources website. And an article about the conversion process in high demand groups:
"In some cultic groups it is not unusual for a person to go through the following stages:
1. Prospective converts perceive the leader as having some special ability or charisma (he reads minds; he heals people; he induces altered states of consciousness in people) that triggers a powerful inner experience (e.g., of the leader's spiritual "presence"), which in turn causes them to reconsider their assumptions about the world, self, and others.
2. The leader’s minions, who become aware of prospects' openness to their belief system, will, frequently with much genuine concern and sincerity, do what they can to ensure that prospects make the “correct” interpretation of those experiences.
3.Prospects come to accept, at least provisionally, the fundamental assumptions, what I have sometimes called the “ruling propositions” on which the group is based—e.g., guru is God incarnate, Pastor Bob is a modern-day prophet, Sister Veronica is God’s messenger. The leader and/or group thus come to have a high level of credibility and authority for the prospect.
4. Prospects yield to group pressures, whether they be mild or strong, and reach a point at which they implicitly if not explicitly declare, “I believe!” The initial declaration is usually directed at the ruling propositions, e.g., "guru is God incarnate." Prospects are now converts.
5. Converts rearrange their peripheral beliefs and behaviors to make them more consistent with the new set of assumptions. Again, these actions frequently are accompanied by varying degrees of social guidance and/or pressure. For example, accepting that "guru is God" implies obeying guru, even if his orders make no sense ("Who am I to question God?").
6. Converts become comfortable with the new set of beliefs and behaviors and begin to live according to them.
7. Other group members, sometimes without realizing it, provide rewards and punishments that tend to strengthen new converts' loyalty to the group.
8. Converts become aware of inconsistencies, contradictions, abuses, or failed predictions within the group or organization.
9. Normal cognitive dissonance processes combined with group pressures cause the member to search for rationalizations to explain away these disturbing discrepancies."
[www.spiritualabuseresources.com]
"In some cultic groups it is not unusual for a person to go through the following stages:
1. Prospective converts perceive the leader as having some special ability or charisma (he reads minds; he heals people; he induces altered states of consciousness in people) that triggers a powerful inner experience (e.g., of the leader's spiritual "presence"), which in turn causes them to reconsider their assumptions about the world, self, and others.
2. The leader’s minions, who become aware of prospects' openness to their belief system, will, frequently with much genuine concern and sincerity, do what they can to ensure that prospects make the “correct” interpretation of those experiences.
3.Prospects come to accept, at least provisionally, the fundamental assumptions, what I have sometimes called the “ruling propositions” on which the group is based—e.g., guru is God incarnate, Pastor Bob is a modern-day prophet, Sister Veronica is God’s messenger. The leader and/or group thus come to have a high level of credibility and authority for the prospect.
4. Prospects yield to group pressures, whether they be mild or strong, and reach a point at which they implicitly if not explicitly declare, “I believe!” The initial declaration is usually directed at the ruling propositions, e.g., "guru is God incarnate." Prospects are now converts.
5. Converts rearrange their peripheral beliefs and behaviors to make them more consistent with the new set of assumptions. Again, these actions frequently are accompanied by varying degrees of social guidance and/or pressure. For example, accepting that "guru is God" implies obeying guru, even if his orders make no sense ("Who am I to question God?").
6. Converts become comfortable with the new set of beliefs and behaviors and begin to live according to them.
7. Other group members, sometimes without realizing it, provide rewards and punishments that tend to strengthen new converts' loyalty to the group.
8. Converts become aware of inconsistencies, contradictions, abuses, or failed predictions within the group or organization.
9. Normal cognitive dissonance processes combined with group pressures cause the member to search for rationalizations to explain away these disturbing discrepancies."
[www.spiritualabuseresources.com]