Mind of Bible
Are You in a Cult?
Have You Ever Asked Yourself the Question?
We’ve all heard the word ‘cult,’ and we all agree – sounds PRETTY bad. What we don’t necessarily agree on is the definition of what a cult actually is. ‘Cult’ is one of those words that’s so derogatory that it’s become more of an insult than a formal definition in the minds of many. If it’s not mainstream – it’s a cult. If you take your religion a bit TOO seriously – must be a cult. If you disagree with me – you already guessed it – CULT CULT CULT!
there is a formal definition or, more specifically, a set of characteristics which defines what a cult is. And rather than using that word as a mere insult for anything we don’t like, it’s important enough to understand the actual definition to make a study of it mainly to prevent ourselves from ever being taken in by one.
You, like me, are probably here because you believe a lot of things that mainstream Christianity, Judaism and all the rest don’t. You might even be doing things differently in your life. So ask yourself honestly: are you in a cult? Your beliefs and practices may be different, but are they dangerous, exploitative or unhealthy to you as a person?
In order for that question to be answered, we first need to understand what a cult is.
Theory of Operation
Before going through all the criteria of a cult, I want you to understand it conceptually. Like any machine, it performs a function or series of functions and consumes as it goes. It has a purpose. It’s predictable.
The thing that comes to my own mind when conceptualizing a cult is that it’s very similar to a black hole (as in astrophysics). It draws people in, isolates them from the outside world, controls them, exploits them and makes it difficult for them to escape.
Now lets get into the specific characteristics of these kind of groups to see what that looks like in the real world.
Modus Operandi of a Cult
The following are the defining characteristics of a cult which describe how they work. Something to bear in mind is that these are pieces of a framework designed to trap and exploit people as described (ever so briefly and generally) in the previous section. It is also worth noting that each of these characteristics can take very different shapes in actual implementation, but the functions are the same. Lastly, a group that traps and exploits people doesn’t necessarily need to have every single one of these qualities to qualify as a cult. Even a few of these would be plenty of cause for alarm!
1. Human leadership. Cults always follow an (oơen charismatic) leader or group of leaders whose teachings and dictates are above skepticism. They are oơen called by loơy titles, and sit in seats of inscrutable power within the group. Members are disallowed from questioning or disagreeing with the leader(ship) either by explicit rules or social paradigm.
2. Sacrosanct ideology. Members are valued and esteemed by their absolute devotion to the doctrines set forth by the leader(s). Here, there is no tolerance for deviation, personal interpretation or contrary thought. There is NO system of feedback or checks and balances.
3. Conformity. Members find themselves being tightly controlled by their leadership in all parts of their lives. This control can be seen in areas such as dress and apparel, dietary requirements, social interaction and access to information. Members will oơen police or report on one another to ensure compliance. The idea here is to cut members off from being led away by any external influences (people or beliefs).
4. Homogeneity. Members are oơen stripped of external status symbols within the group so that the leadership can impose its own system of status. This status is usually tied directly to performance, conformity, devotion, contribution, isolation and anything else that makes the members more deeply entrenched and exploited. So the worse off a member becomes, the more esteemed (s)he will be within the group.
5. Enhanced susceptibility. Cult leaders will oơen employ techniques such as sleep deprivation, chanting, meditation, and the use of chemical substances that alter the mental state in order to make people more receptive to indoctrination.
6. Adverse initiation. Cults will oơen require a large amount of effort, investment or personal sacrifice in order to join. This serves to both weed out people who will not conform fully and create a strong sense of buy-in and commitment that already makes it hard to turn back from.
7. Isolation / insulation. Cult leaders will strive to limit members’ interaction with the outside world. They try to position themselves as members’ sole source of good / true information. They will also try to replace the social support networks people depend on emotionally such as friend groups and family.
8. Love-bombing. The primary way people are drawn into cults is that they’re welcomed in with extraordinary kindness, friendship and (what they perceive as) unconditional acceptance. Members are trained to warmly embrace initiates / initiate candidates, but only to the extent that they keep moving forward into the cult.
9. Enmity. Cults see themselves as separate and superior to the rest of the world. This casts the group as either savior, enemy or victim of the world around them. Whichever the case, the cult are the good guys and everybody else are the bad guys.
10. Exploitation. All groups require some amount of investment from members, but the amount required by cults is oơen extreme and highly disproportionate to the return members ever see from it. This exploitation comes in many different forms such as financial contribution, physical labor, recruitment, group management (policing / indoctrination), sexual abuse, procreation, political manipulation, criminal activity and more.
Time to Ask Ourselves
So, the moment of truth has arrived! As Torah-keepers, can anybody say we’re in a cult?
Let’s run down the list (being honest with ourselves) and see what applies.
1. Human leadership. Biblically, the head of the woman is her husband, and the head of the man is Messiah. So we have no human leadership outside our own homes.
2. Sacrosanct ideology. Our ideology (Torah) IS pretty absolute, and we don’t question it! We do challenge our own interpretations pretty rigorously though (or at least we should). So we’re guilty of this one.
3. Conformity. Our only real conformity is to the laws set forth in the Bible. Can you think of anything else we really conform to? I can’t.
4. Homogeneity. Other than the fact that we all keep the same Law, we’re all decentralized and night-and-day different from one another. There’s VERY LITTLE conformity between most of us.
5. Enhanced susceptibility. Nope, this is definitely not our practice!
6. Adverse initiation. We get immersed in water to enter into a pact with YHWH. That’s nothing too rigorous for most of us.
7. Isolation / insulation. We all run around with whoever we please and have no restrictions on our flow of information whatsoever.
8. Love-bombing. Most of us don’t belong to any local groups or anything like that, so no issues here.
9. Enmity. In this area, I know a lot of us see ourselves as the good guys and the rest of the world as the bad guys. As for myself, I just see the rest of the world as playing for different teams. They have their gods and I have mine. There’s no animosity – just differences.
10. Exploitation. Our Law is all about equity and justice, so exploitation would be way out of bounds for us.