Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame

Isaac Bonewits provides an "Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame" [ [http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html ABCDEF] ] (first published in his book "Real Magic" in 1979) intended to evaluate the degree of resemblance of a given religious or secular group to what the observer using this tool might consider a "cult." As he puts it, "The purpose of this evaluation tool is to help both amateur and professional observers, including current or would-be members, of various organizations (including religious, occult, psychological or political groups) to determine just how dangerous a given group is liable to be, in comparison with other groups, to the physical and mental health of its members and of other people subject to its influence."

His checklist, known as the ABCDEF ("Because understanding cults should be elementary"), allows the user to evaluate groups on a scale of 1–10, on the basis of 18 factors:

#internal control
#external control
#wisdom or knowledge claimed by leaders
#wisdom or knowledge credited to leaders
#dogma
#recruiting
#front groups
#wealth
#sexual manipulation
#sexual favoritism
#censorship
#isolation
#dropout control
#violence
#paranoia
#grimness
#surrender of will
#hypocrisy

The ABCDEF is available in multiple languages, including German, French, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese, on Bonewits's website.

References