Is inner circle spin city?
Experts said a characteristic of many cults is a charismatic leader, words often used to describe Ma Jaya by her followers, her former students and those in the media who have met her. And a charismatic leader with an inner circle of devotees is fairly stereotypical of cults, said Balch, who teaches classes on the sociology of alternative religions and extraordinary group behavior, among others. Members of a cult s inner circle are the “ones who compromise themselves the most,” he said. Those in the inner circle are extremely protective and screen information before giving it to the group, he said. “They end up keeping secrets” about what goes on, “secrets they don t even tell family members,” he adds. Whitewashing research? Balch, who said he is not anti-cult, worked briefly in 1993 on a cult research project with Melton. That s when he said he learned Melton and a team of three other researchers had conducted a study of Kashi in the early 90s that never saw the light of day a study e
