LR, I agree that the same types of influences attributed to cults is ever-present within many segments of society. Here's a good article about a new book out on "brainwashing".
...Taylor argues that the processes binding cults together are not different in kind, but only in degree, from those in many other social groupings.
So if this is not brainwashing, what is? Taylor believes that the media can be potent weapons of mass persuasion, controlling the milieu after events such as the attack on the twin towers, and saturating the mind with stereotypical views. The simplification of arguments, the cult of confession and loading the language are all ?obvious features of any tabloid?, she claims.
Her conclusion appears to be that while brainwashing as originally imagined is not practical, we are all a little bit brainwashed by our culture and experience. This is hard to swallow, appearing as it does to put [Jim] Jones and the tabloid press in the same category.
As for making you pay before leaving, I would say that's blatantly wrong. I've visited a great many churches and never seen that one before!