America has a weird relationship with cults where theyβre terrified of small cults (or organizations they think are cults) but completely normalized massive cults that hurt many more people (eg: LDS Church, Jehovahβs Witnesses, the Amish, Scientology, most Megachurches)
To anybody asking if the Amish are a cult, the answer is yes, very much so.
Theyβre a high control group that isolate you from society. The cult decides how you dress, how you behave, who you marry and how. They control what you know, blocking all information from the outside world. They control how you feel and what youβre allowed to think with threats of both social and supernatural harm. Theyβre a cult.
The best method to determine if a group is a cult, in my opinion, is Steven Hassanβs (cult expert and former cult member himself) BITE model.
BITE stands for Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, and Emotional Control.
The more points a groupΒ βscoresβ on the model, the more of a cult it is.
I think this model is the best one for several reasons:
Itβs more nuanced thanΒ βcultβ orΒ βnot cultβ and doesnβt make false equivalences between groups
Itβs versatile, applying to groups big and small, and cults of all kinds, religious, political, financial, etc.
It focuses on whatβs important, which is what the cult does to its members, and those membersβ experiences, and not on irrelevant details like how uncommon their doctrines are or whether they have a charismatic leader
This is a great example of Thought Control used by cults whenever theyβre confronted with criticism.
#you might notice that there are a lot of similarities between cult techniques and those of abusive partners#and that is an important thing to be aware of
yah that goes in the post
The creator of the BITE Model considers abusive relationships to be two-person cults.
Itβs important to note that almost every sect of evangelical christianity in the US today fails the BITE Model.
This was the post that lead to breaking my JW mindset. Been a while since I seen it.
Iβm glad I could help in your deconstruction, if only a little bit. I wish you all the luck in your journey moving forward.




















