Cults

Grant Montgomery – Grant’s Rants on Cults

The primary dictionary definition of “cult” is “a system of religious worship.” So by that broad definition, all religions everywhere could be considered cults.

This basic definition is of course different from the way the word “cult” is most commonly used today, in which a cult (generally a smaller group) is perceived negatively as an abusive group where mind control is rampant (oftentimes as so branded by a larger, more established group).

And so applying this pejorative term to any given group has the effect of immediately casting doubt on its legitimacy. If the organization happens to also be labelled “fundamentalist” and/or “evangelical” –especially based on what we see happening in America, for example– the perpetrator will not even have to argue their case.

In any case, taking virtually any Christian denomination, or religious organization, the number of “cults” and cult members worldwide changes radically based on which of the following dictionary definitions is used. For example:

“A cult is any religious group that does not teach strict Christian doctrine.” By this definition, billions of people could be considered cult members. For example, Catholicism is considered a cult by the most conservative Christian groups. (One can only imagine how such conservative groups qualify Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc with non-Christian backgrounds.)

“A cult is a phenomenon supported with outspoken exuberance and devotion from its adherents.” In this colloquial usage, actual membership is not the issue; the word “cult” is more a description of behavior or enthusiasm.

“A cult is a group that seems to take over people so that they lose the power to think for themselves.” By this definition, the potential for cult membership increases, though we are still faced with the difficulty of determining which groups qualify.

My point here is that any given religious organization, if you apply the above definitions, potentially qualify as a “cult”. And so the number of cults, and therefore cult members worldwide, changes radically!

And further to my point, cults are not found solely in religion. You also find “cults” in politics, and various other walks of life such as sports teams, certain business corporations, social clubs, and so forth. One such criteria being this litmus test: “Is there anything your [leader/team/tribe] could do that would endanger your support of [him/it]?” If your answer is “No”, you’re in a cult!

Another litmus test: Unfortunately, the essence of too many religious groups and denominations promotes sacrificing people for ideals. Whereas, I believe people of faith should be much more willing to sacrifice their ideals for people.

It seems that far too many mothers and fathers seem far too willing to alienate their children over their ideals. For example, if children do not share their same belief system, not to speak of greater “social trauma” if the children come out as gay, etc., parents can tend to choose their ideals over their children. If not on their own, parents bow to pressure from their denomination, or the gatekeepers within it, only to end with losing the sacred parent-child bond.

Bert Hellinger, a former Catholic priest, promotes that it is vitally and spiritually healthy to ask yourself the following questions about your belief system: “What is more important to me, my ideals or people? What would I sacrifice for the other?” A fundamental orientation toward people is the correct answer!

To bring all this down to a personal level, when I was 19 I got involved with a Christian group that many would later attach the derogatory term “cult” to. (When I first encountered the group, it was all joy and bliss on my part. To quote noted Christian writer and lecturer Brian McLaren on such Jesus Freak groups, “For those who were part of it, especially in its early days, the Jesus Movement was a truly wonderful thing. There was a simplicity, a childlikeness, a naïveté, and a corresponding purity of motive that I have seldom seen since.”)

First of all, is it true that the group I got involved in became a cult? Yes. And is it true that in sorting out “the bad” from “the good”, it took me some time to realize this? Yes. So was I “mind-controlled”? In that sense, Yes.

Do I regret my experience? No, not entirely, though I am still processing it. As with almost any experience one reflects back on with 20/20 hindsight, there is the good and the bad. It contributed — along with a plethora of other life experiences — to making me the person I am today.

Certainly, the radical transformation I went through when I initially “found religion” and zealously tried to apply my new-found faith through this group scooped me out of a dead-end netherworld of drugs and depression into which I had been descending at the time.

The experience also led me into opportunities to live and work in different countries, learn other cultures and languages and gain a much broader and greater experience of people in other parts of the world. (This “awakening” on my part to the needs of the world provided the inspiration for me years later [1997] to co-found a NGO that betters the quality of life of children and families in developing nations, defined today as the Global South. As Mark Twain once wrote, “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”)

Another takeaway: All these experiences have taught me a much greater tolerance and respect for, as well as a less judgmental view of people, their beliefs and lifestyles. And so what I might have once have been quick to accept as a “cult” or “some weird religious doctrine”, or whatever, I might now be more inclined to evaluate less harshly.

Perhaps the most important element I walked away with from my experience is an enduring faith that has carried me through many personal challenges and tough situations over the years, including a divorce and the sharp learning curve of finding myself as full-time single father to some wonderful kids who remain the center of my world.

Final food for thought: A little-highlighted fact is that the early Christian followers of Jesus of Nazareth were publicly declared a heretical cult (i.e. “sect”) by the religious establishment of their day, as brought out in these Bible verses:

“Here are the facts: this man [the Apostle Paul] is a disease to the body politic. He agitates trouble in Jewish communities throughout our empire as a ringleader of the heretical sect known as the Nazarenes.” (Acts 24:5)

”The only thing we know about this Christian sect is that nobody seems to have anything good to say about it.” (Acts 28:22)

[Bible version: Acts 24:5 =The Voice;
Acts 28:22 =The Message]

Read more on cults

Grant Montgomery – Grant’s Rants on Cults