There is a new show on the History channel called "Gangland." It talks about the history and ways of different gangs, such as the Arian Brotherhood, La Eme, the Hells Angels, and the Mongol Nation, to name a few. Many of these gangs are "blood in, blood out," which means that to join, you have to hurt someone, and you have to kill someone to leave.
After seeing a few episodes, it became clear that these gangs are a type of cult, which no one else seems to see. What makes this type of cult different is that its members are not afraid to act violently or break the law.
What these gangs and cults do for their members shows what a good, well-run cult should do:
- A sense of being different
- Feelings of family
- A lot of money, drugs, sex, freedom, and a place to show off their talents.
- A sense of being better
- It gives cult members a special place where they can feel at home.
- If the leader is taken away, the cult or gang can still go on, and people at the bottom of the group's pyramid might not feel weak or unworthy.
The main difference between these gang/cults and religious cults is that the focus is not on God or the Leader, but on the gang itself. This makes a strong feeling of brotherhood and friendship.
The leaders are different from most cult leaders in that God, the cause, spreading the word, or even their own egos are not the most important things to them. Instead, they value the protection and friendship that the family gives them. So, they're taking care of their own needs.
When a member does something violent or illegal, it does two things to his or her mind:
- It makes people feel more committed. This is an act that calls for total dedication and involves the whole group. Then, as a celebration of their success, they get a lot of money for "taking care of business." Love bombing is what cult experts call this.
- A violent act also forces them to decide that they don't want to be a part of society anymore. They are now deciding that their actions and ties to the gang will make them look bad.
As a side note, it is said that some cults have a "sealing ceremony" in which a young child is forced to watch a staged murder and then told that they will be killed if they leave the group and that they are part of the murder.
"We protect our own" is a simple rule that all of these gangs and cults follow. Each member of the gang knows that any other member will "take a bullet" for him, and he or she will do the same for the other members.
People in gangs often get tattoos and wear clothes that show they are in a gang. This is done to keep them close to the group and separate them from the rest of society. This is similar to how the Mormon "cult" separated itself from the rest of society by 1) practising polygamy and 2) moving from New York to the remote parts of Utah.
You can't just join a gang. You have to be "Initiated" into the gang, which could be an elaborate ceremony or just getting beat up by gang members for 13 seconds (Why 13 seconds, the timing varies amongst some groups, but one theory is that its for the letter "M" which is the 13th letter of the alphabet, standing for Mexico, something for Latin based gang members). When a person is "initiated," they learn the special hand signals and lingo that only the gang knows. This is part of how the gang identifies its members and helps them feel like family, while the rest of the world sees them as strangers. It's an interesting idea to think of them as a cult, because not many people have thought in that way.
