Cults

by Rich McGee

Introduction

What is a cult, and how is it different from a religious group? I will seek to answer this and discuss what the cults believe and what it is that motivates people to enter these groups.

What is it that makes people stay in cult groups and sometimes be willing even to die for their group? We think immediately about the Heaven's Gate cult and the 39 otherwise bright people who recently killed themselves so they could supposedly be transported to a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp Comet. Or we think of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas in 1993, who barricaded themselves at their Mount Carmel headquarters and died in the flames. An even more dramatic memory is Jim Jones and his 911 followers, members of the People's Temple, who in 1978 committed mass suicide by drinking poison in Jonestown, Guyana.

First I will define the characteristics of a cult. Secondly I will present their methods, and thirdly I will look at their beliefs.

Characteristics of a Cult

A cult is not just a religion. The major religions of the world are not cults. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism are not cults. As a Christian, I have major differences with the other religions and I believe they have missed God's unique revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ, but they are not cults.

Some people say, "The only difference between a cult and a religion is a hundred years," but they blur a vast distinction between the two. There is a sizable body of literature on cults, so I will attempt to summarize the defining characteristics under four headings, using the acronym CULT:

Obviously, these are generalizations and not every cult exhibits each of these characteristics at all times. And, the major religions of the world, including Christian churches, sometimes express some of these traits. Corporations even exhibit some of these traits! The difference is that the cults practice far more of these traits, and at a far greater intensity and frequency level, than do religions or other non-cult groups.

So, cults are characterized by (1) their methods, and (2) their beliefs. I will look first at these methods, which basically involve manipulation, and then look at their beliefs in more detail.

The Methods and Procedures of a Cult

The questions addressed in this section are: How do the cults lure and deceive their followers? Do cults really engage in coercive conversion and brainwashing? Can their approach be successfully resisted? To answer these questions we need to look at the procedure cults use to win converts. The following four elements are common to most cults. These four steps draw a person deeper and deeper into the cult:

1. Give loving attention. Someone attending a cult meeting for the first time quickly finds himself the object of attention and loving regard-"love-bombing." Feelings of warmth and acceptance are experienced as the group presents itself as a closely knit family bound together by ties of affection and common purpose.
 
2. Grooming or cultivating. If the visitor accepts the invitation to stay with the group, he or she becomes isolated from outside contact and is subject to intense group interaction. The visitor typically receives less sleep than usual, eats low protein food, and, perhaps without realizing it, begins to be exhausted and his or her reasoning capacity is reduced.
 
3. Intensive indoctrination. During this phase an individual is bombarded with the idea that one's self amounts to very little, that the group and its leader are everything, and that "outsiders" are misguided or hostile and to be feared and avoided. By eliciting confessions of the recruits fears and secrets, the cult produces intimacy and emotional vulnerability. A person's feelings of guilt and personal insufficiency are highlighted, and in such a context the idea of being directed by a perfect leader begins to be attractive.
 
4. Action. At this point a critical moment arises as the guest, by now a seeker, is requested to take some action. This may involve confession of guilt or weakness, a renunciation of past behavior, and a pledge of loyalty to the group and to its leader in particular. Pressure to evoke a "concrete" expression of commitment typically follows. For example, Peoples Temple members were induced to sign away property holdings, bank accounts, and even their children to the cult. One former member recalled: "After you've made a commitment of this magnitude, it's hard to admit you've made a mistake, and you'll go to great lengths to rationalize what you've done."

To determine whether the techniques employed by the cults would be best described as super-salesmanship or whether cults really engage in coercive conversion and brainwashing would require a cult-by-cult and case-by-case analysis. It is clear, however, that many of the techniques closely parallel those described by Edgar Schein, Robert Lifton, and others, who have studied brainwashing techniques used on American soldiers captured during the Korean War. These techniques included efforts to undermine physical resistance, removal of all social and emotional supports, mortification exercises, and intensive indoctrination procedures. Moreover, the results are sometimes similar to brainwashing in that converts experience altered personalities, altered world views, and partial or complete loss of the ability to think clearly and abstractly.

The Beliefs or Theology of Cults

In commenting on the beliefs of various cults, I have to have a standard by which to compare them. As I mentioned earlier, I am a Christian, which means I have trusted Christ to forgive my sins and to accomplish His will and purposes in my life. So I will be describing briefly what Christians believe about major issues and then showing that the cults depart from these beliefs.

1. In their world view, philosophy, or basic view of reality, there are three different categories of religious cults, although of course there is overlap:
    
   • Western Cults. These have their roots in Christianity, usually claiming to be the true church. They use the Bible as one of their sources and Jesus Christ as a central figure. These are groups such as the Mormons, Unification Church (Moonies), Jehovah's Witnesses, and Christian Science. The People's Temple and the Branch Davidians would also be in this category.
    
   • Eastern Cults. These do not claim the Bible or Jesus Christ as necessary in their structure, but instead they are a break off of some eastern religion such as Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism. Sometimes these eastern cults will claim that they alone represent eastern religion, and they also claim to be compatible with Christianity. But in essence their world view is oriental philosophy. Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the Hare Krishnas are in this category.
    
   • New Age Cults. These usually try to unify eastern and western thinking. The Bible and Jesus Christ do not play a key role in the New Age Movement. Nor does it claim to be the true expression of oriental religion. It claims to be a blend of the beliefs, with the overriding theory of pantheism ("all is one," "all is God") and reincarnation. The Heavens Gate cult would be in this category.
 
2. Major Beliefs. For the last 2000 years, the Christian church has held certain beliefs to be vital to one's faith. While there is some doctrinal disagreement within the three branches of Christianity - Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant - there is a general agreement among them as to the essentials of the faith, defined in the ancient, universal creeds of the early church like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. Whatever disagreement the churches may have among its three branches, it is insignificant compared to the heretical beliefs of the cults. I will comment on four of the major beliefs of Christians and show how the cults differ.
    
   • God. Christians believe God is personal; that is, He has intellect, emotions, and will. He has existed eternally. He is the creator and source of everything else that exists. He is holy, loving and just. He is a tri-unity (three in one); one God in three Persons, the Trinity. The eastern and new age cults deny the personality of God - he is just as impersonal force. Western cults deny the Trinity. The Jehovah Witnesses and Christian Scientists say the Trinity is of pagan origin. The Mormons say there are three Gods (among many gods).
    
   • Authority. Christians believe that the Bible is the basis for their beliefs. It is God's revelation of Himself to humanity. It is inspired by God and is therefore reliable and authoritative. Catholics and Orthodox put more authority in church traditions then Protestants do, but all agree that the Bible is the only inspired book we have. Cults nearly always add extra writings to the Bible, or unique interpretations which alter the Bible's meaning. Some new age cults even claim to have a book dictated via automatic handwriting from extra-terrestrials! (The Urantia Book).
    
   • Jesus Christ. Christians believe Christ is God's unique and only Son. He also was born of Mary as a human being. He is fully God and fully man. He has all of God's attributes, yet because He was also fully human, Jesus could substitute for us, and be punished by God for our sins. When He died by crucifixion, He was paying the total penalty for our sins.  

     Christians also believe two other things very strongly about Jesus Christ. One, He was resurrected from the dead after three days and that He ascended to heaven where He now intercedes for us. Secondly, Christ is coming again to judge all people living and dead. At His second coming, Christ will establish God's kingdom and rule.  

     The cults almost always de-emphasize Christ's deity and the effectiveness of His death. They say he was godly but not God, and that we have to add our work to His work in order to please God.

    
   • Human Beings. Christians believe that humanity was a special creation of God to be His image. Human beings have innate dignity and worth because we are God's image. However, even though every person is in God's image, each one of us is deeply flawed because of sin. We have fallen short of God's standard and are sinful. Yet we are still objects of God's love and He seeks our worship and loyalty and a relationship with us. So Christians believe humans are wonderfully made, deeply fallen, yet greatly loved.

     The cults, by using techniques of manipulation, deface and devalue God's image in people. They attack the dignity and worth that each individual has in God's image. The eastern and new age cults underestimate the sinfulness and fallenness of people by urging us to seek "the god within you".

IV. Conclusion

You can resist the cults and help your friends to resist. The greatest command in the Bible, according to Jesus Christ and the Jewish rabbis, is to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength. Don't surrender your mind or soul to the undue control of a cult group. You have a choice; God created you with the ability to be responsible for your own actions and destiny.

You, like all other humans, are wonderfully made and greatly loved by God, and deeply fallen from God. But you also are faced with a choice: you can establish a relationship with God by accepting His offer of forgiveness and eternal life, or you can ignore or reject His offer. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die to pay the penalty for your sins. Open your life to Him. Turn from your selfish desires to Him, and ask Him to come into your life, forgive your sins, and make you the kind of person He wants you to be. Then find a church that helps (not coerces!) you to obey Christ, worship God, and learn His Word, the Bible.

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