The Nature Of Cults
magick, religion, religion belief 0 Comments »
by Don Wildgrube
read before the Hollywood Unitarian Fellowship
May 16, 1993
"AMERICAS FIVE MOST DANGEROUS CULTS--
What every parent should know"! "Zoo monkeys tracked to Satanic cult"
"Some cults arm to battle evil at millennium"3
These are recent headlines. I'm sure that you all remember other, such stories.
It's hard to forget Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple and the Cyanide laced Kool-Aid that killed hundreds; or the Guru from Oregon that was deported; or The Children of God that panhandled on the streets and promised sex to those that would join, and of course David Koresh. There are many more, The Scientologists, the members of the Foundation, the Krishna Freaks, the Witches, Bull lets back up a little before we too far off track and accuse any and all that are different from us.
What is a Cult? According to my dictionary, the word Cult comes from the French word, culte was taken the Latin word Cultus and means to worship. The definition is: "1. Worship or religious devotion; especially, a form of religion. 2. A system of religious observances. -1. Extravagant devotion to a person, cause, oz thing; also, the object of such devotion." I think that the 3rd meaning is the one that most of think of when we use the word, cult.
The dictionary falls short when we try to get a more precise definition. I would like to suggest the following criteria for identifying a cult.
There is a charismatic leader. The cult, usually starts cut as one persons dream. This leader is thought to have a direct hot line to: God, the Almighty, the Infinite, powerful extraterrestrial or other such Omnipotent sources.
2. The cult leader(s) insist that the doctrine that they revealed to the followers is strictly adherence to. The leaders and members are certain that theirs is the one and only belief that is truly valid.
3. Submission to authority is required. Members surrender independent thought.
4. There are restrictions against communication with the outside world.
Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio are usually banned as well as contact with friends and family outside. The reading or study materials come from the leader or must be approved by him.
5. The life style is usually communal, with peer pressure strongly applied to keep members from asserting their individuality. There may be physiological deprivation such as sleep deprivation, fasting or constant bombardment of official doctrine. The member's property is turned over to the community and they are discouraged from accumulating anything for their personal ownership.
6. There are activities to recruit others. This comes in many forms, accosting people or) the street, patronize friends and family, offering special benefits to those that join, such as sex, in the case of the Children of God, food and
"respect" as with the Peoples Temple, salvation for those of Christian background or ecstasy and freedom from rebirth for the seekers of Krishna Consciousness.
Some or all of these six criteria, in varying degrees are found in almost all religions, Unitarians included. What church would exist without a charismatic leader. So before we start to throw stones, let us examine some so called cults to see where they stand.
The first headline that I read tops a short article that names: Church Universal and Triumphant, The Church of Scientology, Hare Krishnas, Satanists and the Branch Davidians. Lets look at some of them.
The Church of Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. As a result of writing Science Fiction, Mr. Hubbard developed a theory to cure the ills of the world. I do not intend to belittle ideas because they come from Science Fiction stories.
Most serious works have not only a story to tell, but an idea, a philosophical concept to place before the reader. Science Fiction allows more leeway to explore these unconventional ideas than if restrained within a "real"
universe. The Scientologists way of taking care of problems is by getting
"clear". The method used is for the subjects to hold two electrodes one in each hand. The electrodes were hooked up to a "E" meter which read changes in Galvanic Skin Response. Probing questions are asked and the needle on the GSR is watched for movement. When certain questions are asked that are sensitive to the person being cleared, the needle moves to one side or the other. With the study of the Hubbard's philosophy and repeated testing with the "E" meter, a person can learn to reach a state of being "clear" when the needle no longer moves at questions or statements that were once sensitive. - This is a biofeedback technique in which you train yourself to respond to situations differently than you learned earlier, in life. Scientology attempts to change negative programming that was done by parents, schools, society or whomever, by learning to not respond to these negative inputs.
The Scientology headquarters in Washington, DC was raided in 1977 and according to the FBI, weapons, burglar tools, wiretapping equipment and more were found.
This may or may not be true. We need to remember who was the head of the FBI at that time. Charges were made that L. Ron Hubbard in essence had a Sci-Fi mafia that carried out "hits" on enemies. There was much talk about his "General Order 45", which told how to discourage former members and other enemies with a
45 caliber bullet. Sometimes the FBI and others are too serious to know how to take a joke. Through personal experience I have of knowing quite a few members as well as people that sat in on their training but did not join, I have found them to be very interesting and knowledgeable people. Are they a Cult? No. Are they a threat"? I don". think so.
The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) I was founded by A.C. Baktivadanta in India. This is a form of Hinduism called Bakti Yoga, in which a person seeks to be with God (no more incarnations') through the path of bakti or devotion. Other branches of Hinduism use Asana Yogi or commonly called Yoga posture, or Karma Yoga which entails heavy manual labor, and there are more. The Bakti Yoga devotion takes the form of constantly praying and chanting.
If you see a Krishna devotee with his hand constantly in a hand bag, he is fingering his beads, saying his mantras. The Krishna people live a communal life, are lacto-vegetarians, and are allowed to read only the Bhagadavita or other books written or translated by their Guru Baktivadanta. They live a monastic lifestyle, having no contact between the sexes, except for procreation.
They know that they have the one true way, even though all life is illusion, and they will go to any lengths to spread their word.
Accusations have been made about sexual and physical abuse. I have no personal knowledge of this, but it seems that investigative reporting has shown that there is truth in the charges, although it does not apply to all devotees or all Krishna Ashrams. Are they a Cult? Yes, by our definition above. Are they dangerous? No, unless you eat their food a lot. It is high in cholesterol (ghee) and sugar(honey).
Satanism When we speak of Satanist, we need to make a distinction between Satanic dabblers and religious Satanist. It is also necessary to not allow prejudices influence our thinking when it comes to crimes. A crime is a crime, no matter what the religion of the perpetrator, unless it is done in connection with the religion. The headline that I read earlier about the Zoo monkeys being tracked to a Satanic cult is so much drivel. The 18 year old person that had the monkeys was called a Satanist. No where in the article does it offer any proof.
My feeling is that he may have been a dabbler and had various "occult" books, writings, symbols, etc. at his home. There is no evidence given to say that the monkeys were to be used for any ritual activity. If there is hard evidence it should be shown, or the police and the zoo officials would be sued for slander.
Being a Satanist is not against the law. In fact a right to be a Satanist is protected by the First- Amendment of the Constitution.
I have a saying, "Dabblers are dangerous". These are people that learn a little about a subject, then set themselves us as experts. They are too lazy to follow through in their studies. They want instant knowledge. These people are a threat to themselves and to society, and should be shunned. These are some of the founders of Cult movements. Manson was a dabbler as well as not being in complete control of his faculties. He tried to join a Satanic group, but was denied membership due to his behavior.
Religious Satanist are another group altogether. They are usually well, read, extremely intelligent with a penchant for power. Their morral system is the reverse of Jude-Christian Philosophy, -in that they believe that they are the height of human evolution as opposed to the poor unworthy Christian. They are hedonistic, unapologetic for their beliefs and very much in charge of their lives and will not turn the other cheek. Their study is deep into arcane the knowledge of Ceremonial Magick. They do not feel restrained by the demons and gods or other entities. On the contrary, they have strong wills and feel that they are in control. Although they do not follow the Judeo-Christian morals, the have very strong ethics. If any want to find out what religious Satanist believe, I suggest that you read the writings of Anton LeVey or Michael Aquino.
Both LeVey and Aquino have been thoroughly investigated by the police, FBI and other agencies and no criminal activity has been found. Along with being the founder and leader, of the Temple of Set, Michael Aquino is a Major in the United States Army. And much to the chagrin of Witches and Pagans, who want nothing Lo do with Satanist, Michael Aquino was responsible for changing the way police investigate "ritual crime". It was due to his suing the LA Police department, that brought about the awareness that all people, regardless of their religion, should be treated equally in the investigation of alleged crimes. This means that when a Witch is being accused and investigated for a crime that does not relate to religion, it is unlawful to take ritual books and tools, the same way as if a Christian or Jew is being investigated for a crime not related to their religion, the police do not take Bibles, religious pictures, holy water, etc.
They do not do animal or human sacrifice. They do not need to. They feel that their wills have all the power they need to achieve their, aims. There is no evidence that there have been any ritual sacrifice of babies or that there are any real, "breeders". The 'latest evidence shows that those that remember the sacrifices and being breeders, are schizophrenic people that had been abused by close family relatives. The memories of the sacrifices were placed there by the
"deprogrammers" using leading questions to plant ideas into fragile minds. The post-Hoover FBI has thoroughly investigated the charges of Satanic sacrifice and have found that there is no evidence to support the charges. This is born out in at least two documents: "SATANIC, OCCULT, RITUALISTIC CRIME: A LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE" by Kenneth V. Lanning of the National Center for the analysis of Violent Crime, FBI Academy, Quantico Virginia, and "Satanic Cults: A skeptical View of the Law Enforcement Approach", by Robert Hicks, Criminal Justice Analyst/Law enforcement Section, Dept. of Criminal Just-ice Services, Richmond, VA.
Remember crime is crime, no matter what the religion of the person doing the crime. And Satanism is just another religion in this country that enjoys the protection of the first amendment like the other religions. You do not have to believe in it or support it or even agree with it in the least, but you are constitutionally required to support the right to exist.
Is Satanism a cult? No. Are they dangerous? Only to your preconceived notions.
Dabblers, Satanic or not are dangerous and in many cases are cults.
This is the story of a group of people that incurred the wrath of the establishment. The leader was a charismatic person, well loved by all of his followers, but worshipped differently than the way the government thought they should. They built their own communal village outside of town, fortified themselves, hoarded supplies and weapons for an emergency. When the government decided that enough was enough, they surrounded the compound and would let no one come out of it or anyone go into it. The stand off lasted quite a while before the government officials decided to storm the enclave.
Preparations were made, but the leadership of the cult found out about it and before the government troops were able to start the invasion. When the government forces were finally able to get into the fortification, all inside were dead. It seem that this leader decided that all inside should die rather than fall into the hands of their enemy. Men, women and children were murdered under his orders and when all were dead, he killed himself.
No this 'is not David Koresh, and, no, this is not Jim Jones. This happened some
1900 years earlier. The historian Josephus writes, "Miserable men indeed were they! whose distress forced them to slay their own wives and children with their own hands.... Then they chose ten men by lot, out of them to slay all the rest;
... they made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill the other nine, and after all should kill himself...
and when he perceived that they were all slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the great force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down dead near to his own relations." 960 men, women and children were ritually murdered. David Koresh was a piker'
Now, let me read you from a report given at a crime prevention conference by Robert Hicks a Criminal Justice Analyst in Richmond, Virginia. "I wish to alert you to a dangerous cult that has implanted itself not only in Virginia but throughout the country. This group, called the Tnevnoc cult, is a "communal sectarian group affiliated with a large and powerful international religious organization. I can communicate something to you of the methods and goals of the organization by describing the cult's recruitment and indoctrination practices.
The cult aims to recruit young women, either teenagers or young adults, and does so openly at schools and colleges. Following indoctrination into the cult, young women eventual, loose any power of will, succumbing entirely to the regimen of the cult.
Cult members must abandon their former lives, even surrendering their outside friendships and personal possessions. Cult member activities then, involve the cult exclusively. Members must arise at 4.30 in the morning, wear prayer beads attached to their wrists, engage in long, monotonous chants and prayers, and in one of the most bizarre activities, members consumed food they were told represented the dead cult founder's body. Women must even pledge in writing absolute obedience to the cult. To further distance itself from worldly affairs, the cult assigns new names to its members and designates as their birthdays the dates of their entry into the cult.
"After hours of performing menial tasks such as scrubbing floors coupled with the incessant recitation of ritualistic prayers, members might occasionally transgress rules which are punished harshly. For example, punishment might require women to go without food, having to beg on their knees for the crumbs from other's plates. But the most shocking ritual of all required members to become brides to the dead cult leader.
"I hope that I have sufficiently aroused your curiosity, if not your indignation and anger that such activities could happen in the United States. in case you haven't figured it out, Tnevnoc is Convent spelled backwards."
Time is too short to go into all so called cults today. I have information on a lot of the cults popular today and am willing to share it with you at another time. In the meantime, exercise your freedom to choose. And do not take another's opinion for truth, search out the truth for yourself.
The point that I am trying to get across is, don't judge groups just because you do not agree with them. Judge based on rational investigation. All religious beliefs are protected by our constitution. You can believe anything that you want. You just cannot commit crimes, within or without, a religious context. We may find it to be distasteful for people to give up their personhood, to place blind belief in a charismatic person or a strange philosophy with unusual rituals. All this at the expense of who they are, but, that is being done by most people in the world. They give themselves up to some nebulous idea such as alliance to a king, country, god, flag, pope, guru, boundaries, or even ethnic purity. Freethinking people cannot be so enslaved.
1. National Examiner, March 30, 1993
2. Sun-Sentinel, April 10, 1993 p11b
3. Sun-Sentinel, March 7, 1993 pa
4. Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary
5. The Works of Flavius Josephus, Book VII, Chapter IX (page 854)
6. from a presentation given at the 11th annual crime prevention conference
of the Virginia Crime Prevention Association, Chesapeake, Virginia, June
23, 1989.
read before the Hollywood Unitarian Fellowship
May 16, 1993
"AMERICAS FIVE MOST DANGEROUS CULTS--
What every parent should know"! "Zoo monkeys tracked to Satanic cult"
"Some cults arm to battle evil at millennium"3
These are recent headlines. I'm sure that you all remember other, such stories.
It's hard to forget Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple and the Cyanide laced Kool-Aid that killed hundreds; or the Guru from Oregon that was deported; or The Children of God that panhandled on the streets and promised sex to those that would join, and of course David Koresh. There are many more, The Scientologists, the members of the Foundation, the Krishna Freaks, the Witches, Bull lets back up a little before we too far off track and accuse any and all that are different from us.
What is a Cult? According to my dictionary, the word Cult comes from the French word, culte was taken the Latin word Cultus and means to worship. The definition is: "1. Worship or religious devotion; especially, a form of religion. 2. A system of religious observances. -1. Extravagant devotion to a person, cause, oz thing; also, the object of such devotion." I think that the 3rd meaning is the one that most of think of when we use the word, cult.
The dictionary falls short when we try to get a more precise definition. I would like to suggest the following criteria for identifying a cult.
There is a charismatic leader. The cult, usually starts cut as one persons dream. This leader is thought to have a direct hot line to: God, the Almighty, the Infinite, powerful extraterrestrial or other such Omnipotent sources.
2. The cult leader(s) insist that the doctrine that they revealed to the followers is strictly adherence to. The leaders and members are certain that theirs is the one and only belief that is truly valid.
3. Submission to authority is required. Members surrender independent thought.
4. There are restrictions against communication with the outside world.
Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio are usually banned as well as contact with friends and family outside. The reading or study materials come from the leader or must be approved by him.
5. The life style is usually communal, with peer pressure strongly applied to keep members from asserting their individuality. There may be physiological deprivation such as sleep deprivation, fasting or constant bombardment of official doctrine. The member's property is turned over to the community and they are discouraged from accumulating anything for their personal ownership.
6. There are activities to recruit others. This comes in many forms, accosting people or) the street, patronize friends and family, offering special benefits to those that join, such as sex, in the case of the Children of God, food and
"respect" as with the Peoples Temple, salvation for those of Christian background or ecstasy and freedom from rebirth for the seekers of Krishna Consciousness.
Some or all of these six criteria, in varying degrees are found in almost all religions, Unitarians included. What church would exist without a charismatic leader. So before we start to throw stones, let us examine some so called cults to see where they stand.
The first headline that I read tops a short article that names: Church Universal and Triumphant, The Church of Scientology, Hare Krishnas, Satanists and the Branch Davidians. Lets look at some of them.
The Church of Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. As a result of writing Science Fiction, Mr. Hubbard developed a theory to cure the ills of the world. I do not intend to belittle ideas because they come from Science Fiction stories.
Most serious works have not only a story to tell, but an idea, a philosophical concept to place before the reader. Science Fiction allows more leeway to explore these unconventional ideas than if restrained within a "real"
universe. The Scientologists way of taking care of problems is by getting
"clear". The method used is for the subjects to hold two electrodes one in each hand. The electrodes were hooked up to a "E" meter which read changes in Galvanic Skin Response. Probing questions are asked and the needle on the GSR is watched for movement. When certain questions are asked that are sensitive to the person being cleared, the needle moves to one side or the other. With the study of the Hubbard's philosophy and repeated testing with the "E" meter, a person can learn to reach a state of being "clear" when the needle no longer moves at questions or statements that were once sensitive. - This is a biofeedback technique in which you train yourself to respond to situations differently than you learned earlier, in life. Scientology attempts to change negative programming that was done by parents, schools, society or whomever, by learning to not respond to these negative inputs.
The Scientology headquarters in Washington, DC was raided in 1977 and according to the FBI, weapons, burglar tools, wiretapping equipment and more were found.
This may or may not be true. We need to remember who was the head of the FBI at that time. Charges were made that L. Ron Hubbard in essence had a Sci-Fi mafia that carried out "hits" on enemies. There was much talk about his "General Order 45", which told how to discourage former members and other enemies with a
45 caliber bullet. Sometimes the FBI and others are too serious to know how to take a joke. Through personal experience I have of knowing quite a few members as well as people that sat in on their training but did not join, I have found them to be very interesting and knowledgeable people. Are they a Cult? No. Are they a threat"? I don". think so.
The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) I was founded by A.C. Baktivadanta in India. This is a form of Hinduism called Bakti Yoga, in which a person seeks to be with God (no more incarnations') through the path of bakti or devotion. Other branches of Hinduism use Asana Yogi or commonly called Yoga posture, or Karma Yoga which entails heavy manual labor, and there are more. The Bakti Yoga devotion takes the form of constantly praying and chanting.
If you see a Krishna devotee with his hand constantly in a hand bag, he is fingering his beads, saying his mantras. The Krishna people live a communal life, are lacto-vegetarians, and are allowed to read only the Bhagadavita or other books written or translated by their Guru Baktivadanta. They live a monastic lifestyle, having no contact between the sexes, except for procreation.
They know that they have the one true way, even though all life is illusion, and they will go to any lengths to spread their word.
Accusations have been made about sexual and physical abuse. I have no personal knowledge of this, but it seems that investigative reporting has shown that there is truth in the charges, although it does not apply to all devotees or all Krishna Ashrams. Are they a Cult? Yes, by our definition above. Are they dangerous? No, unless you eat their food a lot. It is high in cholesterol (ghee) and sugar(honey).
Satanism When we speak of Satanist, we need to make a distinction between Satanic dabblers and religious Satanist. It is also necessary to not allow prejudices influence our thinking when it comes to crimes. A crime is a crime, no matter what the religion of the perpetrator, unless it is done in connection with the religion. The headline that I read earlier about the Zoo monkeys being tracked to a Satanic cult is so much drivel. The 18 year old person that had the monkeys was called a Satanist. No where in the article does it offer any proof.
My feeling is that he may have been a dabbler and had various "occult" books, writings, symbols, etc. at his home. There is no evidence given to say that the monkeys were to be used for any ritual activity. If there is hard evidence it should be shown, or the police and the zoo officials would be sued for slander.
Being a Satanist is not against the law. In fact a right to be a Satanist is protected by the First- Amendment of the Constitution.
I have a saying, "Dabblers are dangerous". These are people that learn a little about a subject, then set themselves us as experts. They are too lazy to follow through in their studies. They want instant knowledge. These people are a threat to themselves and to society, and should be shunned. These are some of the founders of Cult movements. Manson was a dabbler as well as not being in complete control of his faculties. He tried to join a Satanic group, but was denied membership due to his behavior.
Religious Satanist are another group altogether. They are usually well, read, extremely intelligent with a penchant for power. Their morral system is the reverse of Jude-Christian Philosophy, -in that they believe that they are the height of human evolution as opposed to the poor unworthy Christian. They are hedonistic, unapologetic for their beliefs and very much in charge of their lives and will not turn the other cheek. Their study is deep into arcane the knowledge of Ceremonial Magick. They do not feel restrained by the demons and gods or other entities. On the contrary, they have strong wills and feel that they are in control. Although they do not follow the Judeo-Christian morals, the have very strong ethics. If any want to find out what religious Satanist believe, I suggest that you read the writings of Anton LeVey or Michael Aquino.
Both LeVey and Aquino have been thoroughly investigated by the police, FBI and other agencies and no criminal activity has been found. Along with being the founder and leader, of the Temple of Set, Michael Aquino is a Major in the United States Army. And much to the chagrin of Witches and Pagans, who want nothing Lo do with Satanist, Michael Aquino was responsible for changing the way police investigate "ritual crime". It was due to his suing the LA Police department, that brought about the awareness that all people, regardless of their religion, should be treated equally in the investigation of alleged crimes. This means that when a Witch is being accused and investigated for a crime that does not relate to religion, it is unlawful to take ritual books and tools, the same way as if a Christian or Jew is being investigated for a crime not related to their religion, the police do not take Bibles, religious pictures, holy water, etc.
They do not do animal or human sacrifice. They do not need to. They feel that their wills have all the power they need to achieve their, aims. There is no evidence that there have been any ritual sacrifice of babies or that there are any real, "breeders". The 'latest evidence shows that those that remember the sacrifices and being breeders, are schizophrenic people that had been abused by close family relatives. The memories of the sacrifices were placed there by the
"deprogrammers" using leading questions to plant ideas into fragile minds. The post-Hoover FBI has thoroughly investigated the charges of Satanic sacrifice and have found that there is no evidence to support the charges. This is born out in at least two documents: "SATANIC, OCCULT, RITUALISTIC CRIME: A LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE" by Kenneth V. Lanning of the National Center for the analysis of Violent Crime, FBI Academy, Quantico Virginia, and "Satanic Cults: A skeptical View of the Law Enforcement Approach", by Robert Hicks, Criminal Justice Analyst/Law enforcement Section, Dept. of Criminal Just-ice Services, Richmond, VA.
Remember crime is crime, no matter what the religion of the person doing the crime. And Satanism is just another religion in this country that enjoys the protection of the first amendment like the other religions. You do not have to believe in it or support it or even agree with it in the least, but you are constitutionally required to support the right to exist.
Is Satanism a cult? No. Are they dangerous? Only to your preconceived notions.
Dabblers, Satanic or not are dangerous and in many cases are cults.
AN EXAMPLE OF A CULT
This is the story of a group of people that incurred the wrath of the establishment. The leader was a charismatic person, well loved by all of his followers, but worshipped differently than the way the government thought they should. They built their own communal village outside of town, fortified themselves, hoarded supplies and weapons for an emergency. When the government decided that enough was enough, they surrounded the compound and would let no one come out of it or anyone go into it. The stand off lasted quite a while before the government officials decided to storm the enclave.
Preparations were made, but the leadership of the cult found out about it and before the government troops were able to start the invasion. When the government forces were finally able to get into the fortification, all inside were dead. It seem that this leader decided that all inside should die rather than fall into the hands of their enemy. Men, women and children were murdered under his orders and when all were dead, he killed himself.
No this 'is not David Koresh, and, no, this is not Jim Jones. This happened some
1900 years earlier. The historian Josephus writes, "Miserable men indeed were they! whose distress forced them to slay their own wives and children with their own hands.... Then they chose ten men by lot, out of them to slay all the rest;
... they made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill the other nine, and after all should kill himself...
and when he perceived that they were all slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the great force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down dead near to his own relations." 960 men, women and children were ritually murdered. David Koresh was a piker'
Now, let me read you from a report given at a crime prevention conference by Robert Hicks a Criminal Justice Analyst in Richmond, Virginia. "I wish to alert you to a dangerous cult that has implanted itself not only in Virginia but throughout the country. This group, called the Tnevnoc cult, is a "communal sectarian group affiliated with a large and powerful international religious organization. I can communicate something to you of the methods and goals of the organization by describing the cult's recruitment and indoctrination practices.
The cult aims to recruit young women, either teenagers or young adults, and does so openly at schools and colleges. Following indoctrination into the cult, young women eventual, loose any power of will, succumbing entirely to the regimen of the cult.
Cult members must abandon their former lives, even surrendering their outside friendships and personal possessions. Cult member activities then, involve the cult exclusively. Members must arise at 4.30 in the morning, wear prayer beads attached to their wrists, engage in long, monotonous chants and prayers, and in one of the most bizarre activities, members consumed food they were told represented the dead cult founder's body. Women must even pledge in writing absolute obedience to the cult. To further distance itself from worldly affairs, the cult assigns new names to its members and designates as their birthdays the dates of their entry into the cult.
"After hours of performing menial tasks such as scrubbing floors coupled with the incessant recitation of ritualistic prayers, members might occasionally transgress rules which are punished harshly. For example, punishment might require women to go without food, having to beg on their knees for the crumbs from other's plates. But the most shocking ritual of all required members to become brides to the dead cult leader.
"I hope that I have sufficiently aroused your curiosity, if not your indignation and anger that such activities could happen in the United States. in case you haven't figured it out, Tnevnoc is Convent spelled backwards."
Time is too short to go into all so called cults today. I have information on a lot of the cults popular today and am willing to share it with you at another time. In the meantime, exercise your freedom to choose. And do not take another's opinion for truth, search out the truth for yourself.
The point that I am trying to get across is, don't judge groups just because you do not agree with them. Judge based on rational investigation. All religious beliefs are protected by our constitution. You can believe anything that you want. You just cannot commit crimes, within or without, a religious context. We may find it to be distasteful for people to give up their personhood, to place blind belief in a charismatic person or a strange philosophy with unusual rituals. All this at the expense of who they are, but, that is being done by most people in the world. They give themselves up to some nebulous idea such as alliance to a king, country, god, flag, pope, guru, boundaries, or even ethnic purity. Freethinking people cannot be so enslaved.
1. National Examiner, March 30, 1993
2. Sun-Sentinel, April 10, 1993 p11b
3. Sun-Sentinel, March 7, 1993 pa
4. Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary
5. The Works of Flavius Josephus, Book VII, Chapter IX (page 854)
6. from a presentation given at the 11th annual crime prevention conference
of the Virginia Crime Prevention Association, Chesapeake, Virginia, June
23, 1989.
