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While not all cults fall under the category of religion, it is clear that all religions do indeed qualify as cults. Preachers, those self-serving "men of God", are utterly lacking in objectivity and are thus unable (or unwilling) to see that the very church they are serving, whatever its denomination, would have been labelled a cult in earlier times. A religion is simply a cult that has attained a degree of success and/or acceptance among the general population. Once a cult does this, the much more palatable name of religion is bestowed upon it.
No matter how bloody its past history may have been, it is then viewed as a positive, benevolent force in society. These values need to be re-examined. All of the world¹s great religions started as cults with a charismatic leader and a few dedicated, fanatical followers. For reasons of space, we will concentrate on just one of them, Christianity, since this is the dominant cult in our society. Even the most cursory study of Roman history will show that Christianity was considered by the ancient Romans to be a cult. They considered it to be dangerous, just as our government viewed the Branch Davidian cult. History has shown the Roman fears to have been well-founded. Christianity¹s early history illustrates the point that, once we understand some of the characteristics of a cult, this ³religion² must be identified as one. A very dangerous (and insidiously successful) one to be sure, but a cult nonetheless.
Here are some of those characteristics:
1) There is some invisible "higher power" that has supposedly dictated his demands to the cult leader and/or his successors. The leader often claims to have direct, personal, even speaking relationship with this power. The power is of course all-powerful and consequently, the cult leader, as his earthly representative, must never be questioned. This higher power naturally doesn¹t waste his time conversing with anyone but the leader. The followers must take the word of the leader on faith. The Judeo-Christian God is the "higher power" in both the early church and in all its subsequent offshoots, which include Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons and Branch Davidians. The only thing that makes these cults different is that the deity has supposedly revealed himself to a different leader at different times, and made different demands of each.
2) Since this "power" is supposedly all good, there must be a corresponding scapegoat figure to represent evil. This allows the initiate to see the issue of good vs. evil in simple, black-and-white terms. The evil figure represents the antithesis of the goals of the cult. Satan is considered to be the primary evil force in Christianity, and many Christians today believe that he has agents on earth. These include atheists and secular humanists, but can also include any outsider who questions the cult or its leader in any way. It is not hard for the avid, thoroughly indoctrinated follower to imagine more and more of these "agents" in the secular world. Consequently, he or she tends to withdraw more and more from the outside world into the comforts of the cult. We see this in Christianity with monks and nuns, whose self-esteem is so wrecked by dogma that they withdraw into monasteries and convents. Plunging deeper and deeper into the cult, the follower may soon be unable to function outside of it. At that point, he may represent a danger to himself and society.
3) There is always a charismatic leader at the helm, one who gives orders which he claims came from the "power". This person is usually quite adept at psychological manipulation. Certainly, Koresh was such a leader, but the founders of Christianity itself must have been of the same makeup. In addition to the probably mythical figure of Jesus Christ, Paul of Tarsus fits in this category. It was Paul, the real founder of Christianity, who authored so many of the dogmas subsequent Christians would attempt to live by.
4) There must be a hierarchy of power, with the cult leader, not surprisingly, at the top. If the cult manages to attain power, the leader and/or his followers may be able to exert strong influence on the laws of the land. The concept of the "Divine right of Kings" came about when certain power-hungry priests or shamen managed to gain total control over a given society. Seeking to keep their power, they developed this hierarchical scheme, which put women, children and slaves at the bottom of the social order.
5) Subtle psychological ploys must be used by any cult leader wishing to retain power. On of the most successful of these is the lowering of the converts self-esteem. If the individual can be convinced that he or she is an unworthy "sinner", and can be convinced that normal biological drives are intrinsically evil, then that person is that much closer to being an unquestioning, fearful servant of the cult. Self-esteem is further lowered when the higher power is seen as being all-good, since humankind must pale by comparison to such a "being".
6) There must be some sacred text or texts, supposedly of divine origin. The cult leader is usually considered to be the only correct interpreter of these texts. Koresh, and Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, both used the Bible as their text, interpreting it to serve their needs. This should demonstrate that there is something inherently wrong with Christianity, for anything that is so universally misunderstood and misused cannot claim to be a cornerstone of truth. Christians often claim that "the devil can quote scripture", avoiding the crucial point that he shouldn¹t be able to. If there were an all-good God, and he wanted to make his demands known to us, we should expect a clear, non-contradictory text from him, one that is understandable to all without the need of clergymen and other error-prone middlemen to interpret it for us.
These are only a few of the traits that characterize cults. There are many others. It is usually the case that once these cults attain a degree of success, they tend to lose some of their doctrinal harshness. However, this may take years or even centuries to develop. We see some of the original harshness of Christianity in todays Reconstructionists, who want to abandon the Constitution and set up religious laws in its place. These cultists actually represent the most consistent interpretation of the brutality of scripture. Their beliefs illustrate Christianity at its crudest, most barbaric level, since they strictly adhere to Biblical law, which includes the death penalty for homosexuals and adulterers. This clearly shows the equivalency of religion and cultism. The trappings and methods of the cult of Christianity are thus demonstrably no different that those of any other cult. The only difference is that Christianity "won". It has hindered progress for nearly 2000 years, pitted humans against each other and against themselves, destroying countless lives in the process.
Most people fear what would conceivably happen if a cult were to get out of control. Christianity¹s history emonstrates the reality of those fears.
References:
1) Secrets of Successful Mind Control or How to Start
Your Own Cult by Dr. Lee Carter. Published by Academic Associates, 1989
2) Deadly Doctrine by Wendell W. Watters. Published
by Prometheus Books, 1992
3) Atheism; The Case Against God by George H. Smith.
Published by Prometheus Books, 1989
4) The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power by
Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad. Published by Frog, Ltd. 1993