It's interesting that you should mention this because I've been reflecting on it recently.  My mother is in control of everyones' thinking.  The people in my family (it is like a cult) are so controled by her thinking that her very words come out of their mouths.  If she targets someone for her scapegoating (hatred) they all go along with it.  If you ask them why they treat a targeted person so badly they will not be able to answer you.  She has left a legacy of destruction in my family.  She turned my father against his own mother and sister.  He didn't even show up to bury his mother.  Neither did my mother or any of my siblings.  Who doesn't bury their own dead? 

 

Being her number one scapegoat it took me more than half my adult life to come to terms with her and to understand what really happened.  I have not seen her or her (followers) for more than 17 years.  She still tells horrible lies about me.  It's nuts.  I have learned that the way to recognize evil is this (evil spins their web of lies twisting and turning everything and blames good for their evil).  The best way to deal with this is no contact.  That way you have a chance of a decent life.