Eleven questions to ask when a group worries you

1. When you first met, did they tell you which group they belonged to?
   Why this question

   Press reports say Korea's Supreme Court sent a case back in August 2022 because someone approached people without saying which group they belonged to.

2. Do they hide the next step, saying "you are not ready to hear it yet"?
   Why this question

   Robert Lifton's 1961 study listed withholding teachings in stages as one feature of thought control.

3. Do they name a date when the world ends, or when something terrible happens?
   Why this question

   A 1956 book by Festinger and colleagues recorded how belief held on after a predicted date passed.

4. Do they tell you to see family or friends less, or call people who doubt them enemies?
   Why this question

   A 1979 US House report is reported to have examined how one community was cut off from the outside.

5. Do they say you must pay money to lift misfortune from yourself or your ancestors?
   Why this question

   Press reports say a March 2025 Tokyo District Court dissolution order dealt with how donations were demanded.

6. Do they say the leader's word comes before doctors or medicine?
   Why this question

   Cases of people dying after following a leader's word instead of getting treatment are known from press reports. Nanuri's own doctrine also says it does not replace medical care.

7. Do they say punishment, a curse or an accident will follow if you leave?
   Why this question

   A 1989 California appeals court ruling is reported to have dealt with harassment of a person who left.

8. Do they ask you to hand over secrets, weaknesses or photos?
   Why this question

   Press reports say that in a 2020 federal trial in Brooklyn, holding people's secrets as collateral was part of what led to a conviction.

9. In the first few days, did you get an unusual amount of attention and praise?
   Why this question

   Eileen Barker's 1984 study and Lofland and Stark's 1965 study saw this kind of warmth as playing a large part at the point of joining.

10. When you ask a question, are you told your faith is weak?
    Why this question

    The same Lifton study named placing doctrine above the person, so that doubts are shut down, as another feature.

11. Do they explain physical contact with the leader as having religious meaning?
    Why this question

    Press reports say a January 2025 final Supreme Court ruling dealt with physical contact justified by religious meaning.

Even if some of these apply, that does not make the group anything in particular. If you are worried, call the numbers below.