CULTURE

Is Kanye West Starting a Cult? Let’s Consider the Signs

Eden Arielle Gordon Eden Arielle Gordon

20 Nov, 19

Is Kanye West Starting a Cult? Let’s Consider the Signs

Kanye West’s Sunday Services have generated a lot of speculation and theories and certainly have inspired more than a few evangelicals.

Back in December, Kanye West and Joe Rogan discussed the possibility that Kanye might come on Rogan’s show to do a “serious interview speaking on mental health.” However, the show was later canceled, and Rogan just recently stated that he thinks Kanye is “starting a new cult. It’s clear, he’s on his way,” he said. “It’s probably gonna be huge.”

Kanye’s Sunday Services have been drawing comparisons to cults since their inception. “It’s got the early trappings [of a cult], I guess we could say,” cult expert and sociologist Janja Lalich said to Vox. To better understand whether or not Kanye West is starting a cult, or if you’re looking to start one of your own, here are five characteristics shared by the average cult.

1. Cults have charismatic, unquestioned leaders

Cults are nothing without their leaders. A great cult leader is able to persuade followers that they’re the messiah, unquestionably knowledgeable and endowed with the secrets to the universe. Leaders often create stories about their own greatness, starting small and then building themselves into a messiah-like figure.

2. Cults use some form of brainwashing or indoctrination

Cults indoctrinate their members into the belief that their allegiances should always be to the cult above all else. They often do this by using a process called indoctrination, which slowly persuades people to fall completely for the cult’s ethos. Cults use indoctrination to “break down a person’s sense of self,” according to How Stuff Works, using techniques like thought reform, isolation, induced dependency, and eventually, dread. As far as we know, Kanye hasn’t yet done this.

The New Yorker

3. Cults use an “us versus them” mentality

Members of cults are taught to believe that all of their own beliefs are absolutely, unquestionably correct, while others’ are fundamentally flawed. Interestingly, many cults actually aren’t religious, though many cult members were raised religious but left their faiths.

4. Cults are exclusive—and lavish praise on their recruits

Most cults make their recruits feel special and seen, eventually convincing them that the cult is worth giving up their lives for. People who join cults tend to suffer from low self-esteem and a desire to belong to a group as well as naive idealism, according to Psychiatric Times, making them prime targets for cult recruitment.

5. Cults often exploit their members

More often than not, cults wind up exploiting their members, either monetarily, sexually, or both. Once recruits are totally indoctrinated into the cult, lavished with attention and completely convinced to swear loyalty to the cult, then the exploitation usually starts.

Judging by these criteria, Kanye West is probably not starting a cult.

West does have some characteristics of a cult leader in that he’s always believed in his own genius; but for now, it seems like the Sunday Services are just experimental efforts to blend West’s love of music promotion with his newfound born-again faith. Actually, most cults seem far more malicious than what Kanye is trying out—thus far, his organization has nothing on, say, the cult of capitalism, or the cult of Christianity.

Cults are part of the fabric of American life. Make sure you know the signs, and if you ever feel tempted to accept any form of Kool-Aid, think again.

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