I would liken it to a religon, too, regarding their tactics for keeping the recruits fired up. Anbody not interested was labeled as "negative" and put down as someone that was a loser and would always be a loser. If you quit, the not-so-subtle implication is that you, too, will be a loser and you will never be anything but a loser. And I say this as someone that was involved in Amway for a few months when I was in college.
However, during the few months I was part of it, I attended a conference for the Amway distrubutorship network that was built by a specific couple -- and I cannot recall their name but I'm sure I would recognize it now if I saw it. It was held in the Charlotte Colliseum, and it was completely packed. Imagine that -- only one couple's network and there were 15,000+ people there. This was either in fall of 79 or spring of 80.
On one of the mornings of the conference, we were told that we were going to have a very special guest. Soon, some very interesting guys started to show up. They wore a certain type of suit, sunglasses, and had communications devices. They stood at entrances to the floor and seating areas, and just looked around with stone-sober serious looks on their faces, observing everything. They were obviously very different from the Amway attendees, who were also nicely dressed but had a rah-rah enthusiastic demeanor.
Then the surprise guest was announced, and he came to the podium. It was none other than Ronald Reagan himself. The crowd went absolutely nuts, and his speech was far more inspirational than anything I heard from any of the Amway speakers.
Today, I wouldn't touch Amway with a ten foot pole, but I will never regret the opportunity I had to see Ronald Reagan.
Do not liken it to a religion, it is closer aligned to a cult. There is a difference.