8 Margaret Singer Quotes on Cult

Margaret Singer quotes on cult

14. In this era of cliches, the word 'giant' is bandied about all too frequently. But Margaret was a genuine giant. She made enormous contributions to the psychological understanding of cults, including the Unification Church, Heaven's Gate, and the Branch Davidians; and cult therapies, including Synanon and Scientology.

15. She's one of a kind, the foremost authority on brainwashing in the entire world. She is a national treasure.

17. Margaret Thaler Singer stands alone in her extraordinary knowledge of the psychology of cults

18. Her testimony would help people understand the clinical impact of a cult's manipulation and exploitation. There was a constant stream of people who would go into these organizations and end up in psychiatric emergency rooms.

19. Psychologist Margaret Singer, 69, an outspoken Scientology critic and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, now travels regularly under an assumed name to avoid harassment.

20. Over the decades, cult operatives have fished through Singer's trash, sent her death threats and picketed her lectures. They've released dozens of live rats at her house, put dead ones on her doorstep (hearts skewered with lollipop sticks) and hacked into her computer so many times she doesn't use one any more. Once a cultist talked her way into working in Singer's campus office, then stole a sheaf of term papers and sent bizarre notes to the students.

21. One of those groups went through my mom's mail and knew everything about us - my girlfriend's name, where we went, what we bought, all kinds of stuff. We all put up with a lot, but nobody more than her.

22. But not everyone agreed with her views on the subject, and Singer paid a price for her work. Cult 'operatives' dug through her trash, went through her mail, picketed her lectures and sent her death threats. They also hacked into her computer countless times, once released dozens of live rats in her house, and frequently left dead rats on her doorstep with threatening notes.