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WW06820 t1_jcvf7sy wrote

Ok I have a question. What are some of the reasons why so many cults have popped up in Los Angeles?

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elmonoenano t1_jd3whwz wrote

I think this is probably one of those things where it appears something is the case b/c attention is focused there rather than somewhere else. LA has a big media industry and people looking for stories. So, there's a lot of resources already looking for something novel. On top of that people who are looking for attention purposely go there b/c of the potential of gaining that attention. None of that is going on in rural Utah. But anyone who's been out to rural Utah can tell you it's full of all sorts of weird off shoots of the LDS/Mormons.

And if your cult is doing something like having child brides/polygamy/something else of questionable legality, you probably don't want people to notice or be a member.

So, this may just be a perception and not have any basis of fact.

Also, b/c a cult isn't really an objective thing, mostly just a pejorative term used for groups that are found to be weird, it's incredibly hard to quantify.

But I would think, just based on what I've seen, is that there are more cults in places like Utah, where a religion is fairly new and has a culture of "prophets" that allow lots of splits, or places like West Virginia where specific communities are fairly isolated geographically and can develop in idiosyncratic ways b/c of that isolation.

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TheBattler t1_jcwbc5l wrote

High population. Diversity of peoples and religions/beliefs. Lots of money flowers in LA, enough to allow for "start-up" cults, and enough for cults to take advantage of people and subsist on.

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WW06820 t1_jcwbj52 wrote

Why do you think there haven’t been as many notable ones out of Miami or NYC? Between Scientology, the Mansons and Synanon seems like there’s some kind of special sauce.

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en43rs t1_jcxlvni wrote

One theory is that in the early to mid 20th century California had two factors going for it: lots of rich people (that's where Hollywood is) and a relatively weak presence of organized religion, so you could more easily find rich spiritual people who do not already frequent a church/religious organization.

Another factor is that it's a self fulfilling prophecy, if all cults expect California to be a good starting ground... they're all going to go to California.

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GSilky t1_jd0g7to wrote

The weather and the people. SoCal has a climate in which being broke and begging is tolerable, if you notice, many of the cults accentuate poverty as a lifestyle. The population is also a more receptive audience, much of the population moved there to live their life on their terms and experiments are common. This population also has the double whammy of not only being more receptive, but also unmoored from their community and it's an easy way to find friends. Many cult experts will tell you that not having access to strong family or friends support is a risk factor when dealing with cults.

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