Page updated 28 September 2018
Page Suggestions: Bible Facts, False Religions, Symbols and Imagess, Witchcraft in the church
Characteristics of Cults and False Religions
Cult or the OCcult? What is the difference? click here
We must be cautious of modern cults that contain the Christian label... Cults who claim to believe in the Bible, but use alternative sources for doctrinal teaching are dangerous... Do not be afraid to question the leader's teachings! -Sisterlisa, Characteristics of a Cult-
Cults Control Minds
A very rich organization. They get people to sign over all their assets, bank accounts, properties, life insurance policies, and they are very good at investments. -Paraphrased excerpt from the television crime drama Matlock episode "The Cult," 1989-
I would like to add a few things to the lists that others here have written. Cults include the following as well.
- The preacher or church members tell you that you MUST belong to their church or a church body in order to be saved or go to Heaven.
- ATM machines inside the church and/or automatic bank drafts required for a weekly tithe to the church.
- The church focuses on building empires instead of witnessing to the lost.
- The church is filled with "cliques" and discourages relationships outside of the church.
- The building of communes and/or requiring members to live within a common distance.
- Practices contrary to the Word of God are going on.
- You see people being arrested or forced out of the church.
- If wearing all black appears to be a theme, especially from the leader of the group then you really should turn around and get out! Wearing all black, dark rooms, candles.... folks, make like a banana and SPLIT that place! Read about witchcraft in the church, the color black, and the mega church plan.
- And lastly, this one alone does not qualify as a 'cult' but if the preacher will not speak to you and even appears to be avoiding you, then RUN RUN RUN!
Leaders of these cults intend to make you "think" what they want you to think, and "believe" what they want you to believe.
I see this "groupthink" happening in businesses and also in CHURCHES. The counterfeit church FEARS individual thought. Anyone who thinks outside the leaders box gets axed. This is on purpose to control people and get people to take the mark of the beast later. The following sounds exactly like the counterfeit church right now.
"Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. Individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking are lost in the pursuit of group cohesiveness, as are the advantages of reasonable balance in choice and thought that might normally be obtained by making decisions as a group. During groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking. A variety of motives for this may exist such as a desire to avoid being seen as foolish, or a desire to avoid embarrassing or angering other members of the group. Groupthink may cause groups to make hasty, irrational decisions, where individual doubts are set aside, for fear of upsetting the group’s balance." -Groupthink and the importance of thinking for yourself[†]-
The following questions were taken from an article on spiritual abuse, however they are also symptoms of a cult: (Read entire article at Spiritual Abuse: Shepherds – or Fleecers – of God's Flock?)
→ Do they exalt someone as an irrefutable authority in the group?
→ Do they demand your absolute allegiance?
→ Do they discourage your questions?
→ Do they shame people publicly?
→ Do they insist on making major decisions in your life?
→ Do they have a long list of rules related to dress, hairstyle, diet or activities?
→ Do they judge those who do not keep their list of rules?
→ Do they consider themselves the "only true church"?
→ Do they consider those who leave their group "apostates," "backsliders" or "doomed"?
→ Do they teach that godly people should give more financially so that they will receive more?
References
[†]dictionary.com
[†]psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Groupthink
[†]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink