This is my notes for when I was in a cult and how I look back and determine the characteristics of what makes a cult:
- Value of Obdience to God over the Grace and Mercy of God
- People come from all over the country/world to live with the group
- People donate much of their personal possessions to the group
- People who once had prestigeous promissing carreers trade it in for unemployment/welfare/foodstamps/or other lesser working conditions
- The use of submliminal coersion to manipulate people into thinking “God wants you to do X Y and Z”
- One central Head/Father/Guru that seems to lead the group directly or indirectly
- Leader has to be accountable to no one for their actions (other than God)
- Leader hears from God directly
- The use of hypnotic prayer sessions – people fall asleep often during prayer meetings and discussions
- Family is destroyed with in the form of “obdedience to God”
- An unusual giving up of practices or hobbies that were once very close and dear to their personality: (I have a passion for playing the drums and am very good at it, but God won’t let me play any more)
- The promition of the concept of Unity, but in reality they argue that everyone else is wrong
- A focus on End Times or Bad Descructive Events coming very soon
- A willingness (but much more, a desire) to offer one’s life for the cause – Be a Martyr
- Trust in God to raise your children
- Demons are in everything
- Focus on warfare in the physical or “spiritual”
- The distortion of imaginary weapons and destruction of “the enemy”
- The act of teach that X Y or Z is wrong and that God hates it and hates you doing it, but then retorts saying, I’m not telling anyone to stop doing X Y or Z…
- Disregard to local authorities
- Claims that they have the authority and power over a city/state/region/world
- People come to visit for a few days or a week and then end up moving in
- If anyone disagrees with the core teachings of the group, they are considered to be afflicted with a demon – but openly says we are open to disagreements
- States that when people leave they are worse off then when they got there – instilling a fear of leaving
- States that God will work first or only with this group (Revival is begining here and spreading throughout the world from here as the epicenter)
- I hear God and you can too
- Unusual Fashion Changes that conform to the leader/group. (Men growing full length beards, long hair, shaved heads, wearing dresses).
- Radical changes in personalities that are way outside of the normal characteristics of the individual
- Exclusion of Family – “they don’t get it”, “they don’t/can’t understand”
- Focus on confession and then using the information gathered from private confessions and use them to manipulate individuals
- Focus on Being Perfect and God won’t accept you unless you are in perfect obedience to his “voice”
- They try to convince you that you have been through much trauma in your life: whipped, beaten, scorned…
Please note, that not any one of these things makes a group a cult, but rather these represent characteristics and in combination are more destructive.
If your not some dum as **** i just want to know how it works because it sounds like you where not the leader but could be a teacher to a good cult not a ****** up one i just don’t know where to start or how to ask people to start with me