10 People Who Tried To Warn Us About Dangerous Cults
10 People Who Tried To Warn Us About Dangerous Cults
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at iconoclasts whose expertise and experiences exposed cruel cults.
#10: John Krakauer
Warren Jeff's 's Mormon Sect
Published in 2003, John Krakauer’s book “Under the Banner of Heaven” exposes the fundamentalist branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The story focuses on the authoritarian control of Warren Jeffs and the influence he held over his followers, resulting in everything from polygamy and arranged child marriage to tax avoidance. In 1984, brothers Dan and Ron Lafferty murdered their meddling sister-in-law Brenda, along with her infant daughter Erica, believing it to be a divine order. Krakauer’s work helped link the Lafferty Murders to the sect’s extremism, raising awareness and leading to Jeffs’s conviction for child abuse.
#9: Margaret Singer
The Symbionese Liberation Army
In the 1970s, psychologist Margaret Singer testified that heiress Patty Hearst was brainwashed by the Symbionese Liberation Army after they kidnapped her. She was tried with the far-left militant group for participating in their string of bank robberies. After a rejection from the prosecutors, on the grounds that brainwashing had never been accepted as a judicial field of expertise, the judge decided to not present Singer's testimony to the jury. Hearst was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. The value of Singer's testimony wasn't recognized until after she took her insights to the media. The sentence was reduced to seven years, then commuted by President Carter in 1979. Hearst was formally pardoned by President Clinton in 2001.
#8: Lauren Drain
Westboro Baptist Church
Classified as a hate group, the Westboro Baptist Church is known for picketing national tragedies, engaging in various forms of hate speech, and breaking apart families. Among their members was Lauren Drain, who was brought into the radical group by her father when she was just 15. As she grew older, she began to question the church’s doctrine, resulting in her excommunication just before her 22nd birthday. After spending time away from the church, Lauren reflected on how the church took her still-devout family away from her, and manipulated its followers through isolation and puritanism. Drain shared her experience with the world in her memoir “Banished,” exposing the church’s radical nature.
#7: Jean-Marie Abgrall
Various
Criminologist Jean-Marie Abgrall views cults, not as a religious group, but a crime syndicate. He has worked in some of France’s highest courts and the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Action Against Sectarian Aberrations. This controversial government agency aims to analyze cult movements, organize official responses, and educate the public on their potentially predatory behaviors. Targets have included yoga groups, the Church of Scientology, and even Jehovah's Witnesses, prompting legal backlash. Some say that Abgrall’s views on brainwashing theory is a bit extreme, but they help us spot potentially criminal motivations behind certain groups.
#6: Steve Hassan
Unification Church, et al.
Licensed mental health counselor Steve Hassan takes an empathetic approach to cult deprogramming in the form of exit counseling. Through his experiences in a radical sect of the Unification Church, Hassan suggests that a lighter, more passive approach is needed for some people to be disillusioned from their oppressive leaders. Instead of coercive deprogramming techniques, Hassan introduced the “BITE” model. Standing for Behavior Information Thought and Emotional control, the unconventional model seeks to educate the families of cult members on how their loved ones became so endeared with the sect in the first place. This gives them deeper insight on how to proceed with non-coercive exit counseling and critical thinking.
#5: Paul Morantz
Synanon
As both an investigative journalist and a legal attorney, Paul Morantz was a man who not only actively spoke out against cult-like groups, but pursued them in court. The most notable was Synanon. In 1977, Morantz was taking on multiple former members as clients, representing them in cases against a rehab program that practiced therapy through abuse. Claiming that his clients were being brainwashed and even trained in the martial art of “Syndo.” It was probably this type of training that led to a rattlesnake being left inside Morantz’ mailbox. His near-death experience showed the world just how far some radical groups will go to silence their enemies. Synaon finally disbanded in 1991.
#4: Barbara Bouchey
NXIVM
Being on the executive board for NXIVM and in a relationship with leader Keith Raniere, Barbara Bouchey was a high-ranking member of the so-called “personal development company”. That was up until the year 2009, when the financial planner and eight associates voiced concerns over unethical practices and sexual exploitation. Raniere dismissed the accusers at once, causing them to resign as a direct response. Bouchey thus led the “NXIVM Nine” to warn of these alarming behaviors for years. Unfortunately, it took until 2018 for Raniere to eventually get caught trafficking members of his own sect. Barbara and about 80 more victims would testify against him in court, resulting in a sentence of 120 years in prison.
#3: Rick A. Ross
Various
Cult specialist and deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross founded the Cult Education Institute. He has spent decades bringing awareness to the dangers of cult groups and their behaviors. Over that time, he handled hundreds of deprogramming cases and appeared for several major television network interviews. He was most notably a CBS analyst during the Waco Siege of the Branch Davidians. To this day, Ross continues to inform the public of these dangers on the CEI’s YouTube channel. This has cemented his legacy as one of, if not the leading expert in the field.
#2: Mike Rinder
Church of Scientology
Heading up the Office of Special Affairs for the Church of Scientology meant that Mike Rinder knew the ins and outs of the organization’s sketchy inner workings. In fact, filing lawsuits to hush critics and punishing members was his actual job. Anything the Church needed done, Rinder was the man to do it, right up until the tables turned. Years of being beaten, imprisoned and accused of plotting against leader David Miscavige disillusioned Rinder. He left in 2007 to expose the system of violence embedded in the Church. Through writing, YouTube and the media, one of Scientology’s greatest defenders became one of its greatest critics until his death from cancer in 2025.
#1: Deborah Layton
Jonestown
Deborah Layton traveled from the U.S. to Guyana to join Jonestown’s stated mission of equality and social justice. She wound up becoming a key member in Jim Jones’s “People Temple,” even working her way to being the cult preacher’s financial officer. But witnessing Jones’s true nature first hand confirmed his increasing paranoia, substance use and manipulation tactics. Layton eventually returned to the U.S., where she submitted a sworn affidavit cautioning about Jones’s community. Her testimony was ignored, allowing the Jonestown Massacre to take place just a few months later.
Who else deserves praise for exposing how desperate souls can be lured by predatory organizations? Raise awareness in the comments.
