How do you know when youre apart of a religious cult group?

Question

And youve been in there for a good amount of time without really knowing its a cult.

What are your sensible suggestions to help people spot cult behavior and pull themselves out?

Answer 1

If you have no idea of (or interest in) what's going on in the world outside your church, including your family, you could be in a cult.

If you find you have no opinion of your own and don't trust opinions that haven't been approved by the leader, you could be in a cult.

If you personally own no material goods or money and you turn over all decisons to the leader, you could be in a cult.

If the thought of leaving terrifies you with the fear of eternal doom, you could be in a cult.

If you find yourself instinctively silencing fellow members who express complaints or doubts, you could be in a cult.

If you can't tell the difference between love and obedience, you could be in a cult.

(Or you could be participating in a political campaign, or working in the marketing department of a large corporation.)

Answer 2

All religious cults share the same format. First and foremost they prey on those who are uncertain in life, and not really sure what they ought to be thinking and believing. The founder, and central figure, or his representative, you are told must be the focus of your life. He is the source of all knowledge and wisdom about the "faith" he leads. If you dare to question the group, or its leader, you will be told that you are not sincere in your wish to be a part of it, and that you must rid yourself of the "impurities" that are blocking your way to "true enlightenment".
You will be expected - at the beginning, or eventually - to immerse yourself deeply in the "Cause" and may or may not even be expected to hand over your work earnings, or "tithe" a good portion of them. As part of your "progress towards purification" you will almost certainly be told to cut off all ties with close family and friends who are "outsiders". LOL, obviously this is very important to them because they do not want you to pay any attention to those people who are thinking clearly, and recognise that you yourself are in danger of becoming caught up in a dangerous and destructive trap. The person who falls under the spell of such a group will have his own mind, gradually, and methodically destroyed. He will become incapable of thinking his own thoughts, or speaking words that come from his own mind, and he will eventually turn from all those who have loved and cared about him, because he will have become brainwashed into believing that THEY are impure, and doomed to eventual destruction. In order for YOU to be saved, you must reject them all.
Some, have said - with some considerable good reason to think so - that ALL formalized religious factions are "Cults" because they all demand some, or even most, of the requirements of the more clearly defined and recognised Cults
If you have been subjected to any of these things suggested above, it is more likely than not that you have got yourself caught in a cult group, and if you want to save yourself and quite possibly your sanity, tell them a very forceful, and very definite "goodbye". If anybody from the group stalks you, or threatens you, go to the police.

Answer 3

The Random House Unabridged Dictionary definitions are:

1. A particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies;
2. An instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers;
3. The object of such devotion;
4. A group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc;
5. Group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols;
6. A religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader;
7. The members of such a religion or sect;
8. Any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

Hmmm, by this definition, could it be that Christianity is a cult?

Answer 4

Happykid is right.

The number one sign is when you are culled into cutting off relations with your family and anyone else who would oppose you. The truly enlightened groups encourage interaction and inclusion, not only tolerating but embracing those who are different. Only the manipulative groups require you to lose or cutoff contact, which merely perpetuates the ruse and prevents correction of misguided teachings.

The best way to protect people is not to play the "cutoff" game. To include and offer to interact freely, without criticism, but with openness where they have no reason to fear you. By persistence alone, your constant unchanging presence and positive influence will, over time, prove itself true in light of negative divisiveness.

I would openly embrace this person and his or her associates. Invite them to interact and always listen to what they have to say. The only way they can cut people out is if you do the same thing. So I would definitely stay in contact and always be supportive and available. That way you cannot be manipulated into being painted as a hostile enemy. Only if you show fear or negative judgment can this be used as a tool against you, so always be open and receptive and it is hard to discredit you!

Note: If I were trying to wean someone away from getting caught up in propaganda, I attend meetings and interact openly. I talk to all people there as a respected peer, and treat them as normal. I encourage interaction between them and other groups to reduce or prevent barriers from going up that cause cultish distortions of perceived "enemies." I guess it is like using "reverse psychology" -- by seeking inclusion and inviting interaction, this prevents the cultish type of manipulation that plays on divisions.

Answer 5

If you are so separate from the rest of the world that you are discouraged from even speaking to anyone outside of your group, if one person in the group is doing all or even almost all of the talking, if anyone in the group is trying to act as a mediator between you and God rather than teaching you to look to Jesus as the mediator, if discussions of the Bible by members of the group is discouraged rather than encouraged, if the things you are learning go against what you read in personal Bible study or if personal Bible study is discouraged rather thanl encouraged, I would start to wonder about whether or not it was a religious cult.

Answer 6

I do know that cults tend to cut you off from anyone who doesn't follow the cult very, very quickly. They also tend to have demands that in any normal situation would be considered unreasonable - like the Hail Bop Comet cult where some of the male members actually castrated themselves to overcome their sexual urges. If a "religion" asks you to cut off your testicles, it's not a religion, it's a cult.

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Answer 7

When you don't have a choice. When you don't have freedom. But just because you're part of a cult does not mean your religion is false. Just the people you are surrounded by are wrong.

Answer 8

If you are told you must believe things that don't make sense to you. If you are commanded to recruit new members. If you are threatened with extreme punishment if you leave the group. If the leaders insist that you take their word on blind faith alone.

Just a few examples.

Answer 9

If the leader insists that you focus on him, then you are in a cult. Just walk away. If you are harassed, then call the police.

Answer 10

save round. record each faith, sect and custom you recognize of and then hunt down a community church/crew who persist with that faith and sit down in some cases. evaluate and evaluation. I went by a similar ingredient even as i became youthful. the religion I chosen is costly to my coronary heart because it became by introspection and searching that we got here at the same time.