I think that all cults are, basically, the same. Cultic scholar, Margaret Singer, did not agree; but from what I see, while the outer trappings may vary, the inner bells and whistles are always the same. 

Even so, I’ve never compared The Moonies to “School” or “The Study,” or whatever it is called now. However, this news article, The Bizarre Story Behind Shinzo Abe’s Assassination, discusses the tentacles that The Moonies have wrapped around certain politicians and Moonie recruitment tactics echoed back to my “School” recruitment:

Apparently, Moon “…devotees systematically misrepresent themselves and their intentions.” One source shared how a fellow PTA member at her son’s school “befriended” her, invited her to join other “friends” to watch films and tv shows at “the video center.” The films and shows increasingly featured religion. 

“Twice this woman asked of her friend, ‘is this a religion that you’re trying to convert me to?’“ The “friend” denied it. But, a year into this alleged movie-club, Moonie members handed her a Bible and told her, that Moon was the Messiah.

She wanted to keep her friends, so she told herself that she’d quit if things got bad. Soon she was attending church lectures and peddling socks and handkerchiefs on the street to benefit charities, as required by leaders.

Of course, the charities did not exist. All profits enriched the church. Leaders required secrecy about church-related activities. Eventually, her husband helped her leave and deprogram. She told the reporter that, “…the church had reduced her to a state of infantile dependence. This is at the root of its doctrine. ‘They tell you not to think on your own because that was Eve’s original sin.’ ” 

Sounds familiar, yes? The deception, the secrecy, the requirement for silence, the damning of independent thought, the slow boil of indoctrination into a corrupt dogma that poisons over time, the eventual feeling of dependence. I remember thinking, “If I don’t like it, I’ll leave…” when Robert invited me to try a “free five-week experiment.” Turns out that it wasn’t that simple.

It also turns out that Moon doctrine and strategy influenced “School” tactics.