### Amway: The Untold Story

## Dealing With Cult Victims

> "We have a relative, who following a divorce, and therefore during a vulnerable time in her life, was recruited by a friend and is now involved in this scam. We are VERY concerned as she will be retiring from the workforce soon and Amway seems to be draining her financially. Your item on cultism is very applicable, as the male individual who recruited her seems to have become the male substitution for her ex- husband.... sincere, caring, believable, etc, etc.

> Any assistance would be appreciated."

> "One of my best friends and my cousin have recently found "new religion" (how I see it). My best friend has only amway and only talks amway. It has become his life and his financial savior. It has strained my relationship with him and his wife. He and I have been friends since high school and we were inseperable. Her and I have been friends since college we were roomates for 2 years and I introduced the two. It has strained his realtionship with our other friend and they are childhood friends and neighbors. You become part of the amway family because "know one else understands the kind of commitment that you have made" or something to that effect. On a personal level, if it's not obvious, I am angry. I feel like I have lost my best friend to a cult."

> "My only real regret for that experience is the outcome of my former friendship with my sponsors. These were two people I cared for very much and truely wanted to see all the best for. But, as they are taught, "If your friends don't want to be in Amway, get new friends." Two people who I had felt very close to, and considered life long friends, appearently decided I was not worthy of their friendship. A real shame."

> "My wife is a hardcore member that has not made any money from this, but the fact she has spent 2 years at it, spent a lot of money on the motivational materials (which incidentally were supposed to come out of the profits), and the fact that she is very secretive about how much is being spent. The original agreement we, as husband and wife, based on the amway pitch was if nothing happened in a year she would quit. Are you ready for a surprise? After the time limit was up the agreement was forgotten. (It has been suggested to her by Amway types we may not be marritally compatible)

> I would appreciate any info you might be able to supply that might help us out. (Whenever I say anything negative you would think I've persoally attacked Jesus, Budda, and Bill Clinton)"

> "One year ago, one of my dearest friends and her husband joined AMWAY. They approached me and my husband. We were not interested but out of respect for our friendship went to a meeting. We listened openly and decided not to participate in the Amway business. Mainly because, my husband and I both have our own businesses and have been fortunate enough to obtain success. Well, things slowly began to change. We began to notice that they didn't want to spend much time with us, and Joe always seemed to be preoccupied and looking at his watch. I could live with that...but then we began to notice alot of "Christian religious overtones" in every conversation. Now, my husband and I are not Christians, we are of another religion. We found these religious statements to be uncomfortable and at time judgemental.

> Perhaps the most disappointing thing that happen was Jane missing my baby boys first birthday party. She had to go to a AMWAY meeting. She explained that she needed to set an example and that she wanted to go to the meeting and that a true friend would understand. I am beginning to understand. She in fact made an example of me to her downlines. Basically, she showed them that when it comes to building the business you have to put AMWAY in front of friends and family."

> "Great page. I have a brother and father who are brainwashed into this Amway system and the rest of us siblings are sick about it. There has been a noticable change in their personalities and all they care about is making money, money, money, and did I mention money. People in this should get the hell out, all it does is wreck families."

In the time I've been researching and sharing information about Amway, I've gotten a multitude of comments like these; hearing so many stories about friendships and families destroyed by Amway is one of my main motivations for continuing to do this work. Because I get so many requests for advice and assistance (in addition to all the other more general comments I get), it's difficult to answer each one personally, and that's why I've created this page.

I am not a psychologist or cult "deprogrammer," so I cannot offer specific advice on how to deal with loved ones who have gotten involved in Amway or other groups who employ cult-like methods to recruit and retain members. It has become clear from the reading I've done, however, that it is critical that friends and family members of cult victims learn as much as possible about cults and mind control before deciding what action, if any, to take. Two books I've found to be very well written and informative are:

- Combatting Cult Mind Control, by Steven Hassan, published by Park Street Press, ISBN #0-89281-311-3. Hassan holds a master's degree in counseling psychology from Cambridge and has been involved in cult education and "exit counseling" for 14 years.
- Cults in Our Midst, by Margaret Singer, Ph.D., published by Jossey-Bass, ISBN #0-7879-0266-7. Singer is a psychologist and adjunct professor at UC Berkeley. She is probably one of the foremost authorities in the world on cultism and mind control.

Both books offer lists of additional resources and organizations.

Not surprisingly, there are also a number of excellent cult information sites here on the web, most of which have links to many other such sites. A few good sites to start from are:

- Amway: The Continuing Story. (Devoted specifically to cultism and mind control in Amway. The sites below are of a more general nature.)
- Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind
- AFF home page
- ex.cult Archive
- Trancenet
- Rick Ross, Expert Consultant and Intervention Specialist

To those of you who are reading this because you are concerned about a loved one lost to Amway, you have my sincere wishes for a positive and healthy resolution; friendship and family are the ultimate riches.

The author of this site has no affiliation, financial or otherwise, with any of the authors or web sites mentioned here.