Religious Cults in America

My best friend in college who was also my maid of honor, was the sweetest and kindest girl on earth. She was also fairly naïve.

In the early 70's, she became involved with some extreme religious group lead by a preacher in Texas (not the Branch Davidians) and sent me a letter telling me that she could no longer "associate" with me as I was an "unbeliever" and to not contact her again. Regardless, I tried several times without success. She was an adult; there was nothing else I could do.
 

I don't remember, or probably never heard of, "flirty fishing", but just googled it and I am bummed - dang, I miss all the good stuff. :( I must lead a comparatively boring life.

As for adults getting hooked into cults, my understanding just based on some articles I have read (which may or may not be accurate...), people who feel lost, whose lives have gone nowhere, seem to be prime targets. I seem to recall that many of the Jones Town people came from the streets as homeless people. Initially, Jones was doing good by getting homeless people off the streets. This was apparently before he started getting weird and moved his cult to other places away from any interference.

Tony
 
I recall feeling lost and disassociated with life, a prime recruit for some unknown group showing me unconditional love and acceptance. You bet I want to be a part of that in comparison of my mundane, going nowhere, dead-end life. People need to feel valued whether they have a purpose in life or not. A person with value can accomplish anything. Sadly, parents fail their children by instilling failure and disappointment.
 

jerry old said:
I've always wanted to have conversations with these 'weird folk', but when i would asked: ""What's wrong with you?' they would
curtail the conversation.
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That was one of my vague attempts at humor...
I'll stick with my question of 'what's wrong with you.' while looking at them strangely-like so:eek:_O🙃😖
(probably not the way to go, as these folk find nothing humorous about their 'weird' beliefs)
 
I watched a very eye opening documentary on a few cults .... if you have a chance see "Going Clear" (Scientology) produced by HBO.

Even members who start to think something is not right are often stuck as the "leaders" find something to hold them ..... kids are held hostage from parents or some times it is passport or any access to money to make an escape. perhaps all your friends or support are in cult breaking out is hard.......

I totally agree with OP........ that parents instilling a sense of value in a person would make them less likely to fall into these situations. There are some very, very sad and misguided people ripe for the picking by any of these or the many, many of lesser known cults.
 
One thing that strikes me about cults is that they always seem to be led by a father figure. I've never heard of one led by a mother figure. Is there such a thing? If so, it would be very rare.

In religious cults, women are almost always relegated to the role of wives, mistresses, procreators, teachers, nurses, above all followers of the cult leader. That is their only value, it seems. Even when they are promoted to the position of priestesses, they are never really the leaders of the religion.

This probably goes back to ancient rituals. The women haven't really made it yet.
 
I am still curious about this "flirty fishing" thing. If this tactic is used to attract men into a cult, what tactic is used to attract women into the cult? I mean, without women, how can "flirty fishing" happen?

Tony
 
Sunny said:
One thing that strikes me about cults is that they always seem to be led by a father figure. I've never heard of one led by a mother figure. Is there such a thing? If so, it would be very rare.

In religious cults, women are almost always relegated to the role of wives, mistresses, procreators, teachers, nurses, above all followers of the cult leader. That is their only value, it seems. Even when they are promoted to the position of priestesses, they are never really the leaders of the religion.

This probably goes back to ancient rituals. The women haven't really made it yet.
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was one in the 70's, I believe called the family cult .....in Australia........was led by a woman Anne Hamilton Byrne
 
Some people are naive & gullible, some with mental issues who these cults prey to. They are groomed just like child molesters groom their victims.

There are people so desperate to belong that they are willing to happily be driven over the edge.

Plus there are always radicals who take anything way too far. A good example are the air pilots who flew into the twin towers.

Perhaps not from a cult, but definitely not following what the religion was meant to teach. I find the subject fascinating but hauntingly so.
 
Sunny said:
One thing that strikes me about cults is that they always seem to be led by a father figure. I've never heard of one led by a mother figure. Is there such a thing? If so, it would be very rare.

In religious cults, women are almost always relegated to the role of wives, mistresses, procreators, teachers, nurses, above all followers of the cult leader. That is their only value, it seems. Even when they are promoted to the position of priestesses, they are never really the leaders of the religion.

This probably goes back to ancient rituals. The women haven't really made it yet.
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I do remember reading about one woman... Aimee Semple McPhereson who probably invented the evangelical mega-church.

In 1925, McPherson chartered an airplane to give her Sunday sermon in Los Angeles. She used the opportunity for publicity and arranged for congregants and reporters to meet her at the airport. After the plane failed to takeoff, she turned it into a sermon called ‘the Heavenly Airplane’ in which the devil was the pilot, sin was the engine and temptation was the propeller

Faithful members of Angelus Temple are shown donating watches, jewels, and money to aid Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in her series of legal complications that later dogged her life after she was accused of fabricating her own kidnapping in 1926

Graced with a silver tongue, McPherson quickly amassed a large following as she preached at tent revivals and churches across the country. She enthralled audiences by speaking in histrionic tongues and performing miracle healing demonstrations where cripples could walk and the blind were made to see again.

https://thestreetjournal.org/2020/1...versial-founder-of-americas-first-megachurch/

iu
 
Irwin said:
QAnon is a present day cult and its followers have done some crazy things. I don't want to say anymore about it because it might be deemed political, but it's definitely a dangerous cult. Nobody can deny that, considering what they believe.
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I wondered why this particular one wasn't in the list. Maybe too political?
 
I have heard of Mary Baker Eddy, who I think founded the Christian Science religion, and Aimee Semple MacPherson, who was a preacher. I don't know if either of them would be considered a cult leader, however. Every religious leader is not running a cult, of course.

I've never heard of Anne Hamilton Byrne. I'll have to look her up.
 
My paternal grandmother was a "Christian Scientist" who years before my father was born had a girl. As a teenager, that girl developed appendicitis for which she was never medically treated due to the mother's beliefs, dying unnecessarily as a result. My father never met his sister nor I my aunt, and he did not tell the tragic tale of her existence until late in his own life. I was stunned, but grateful for the knowledge of an unknown family member named "Grace" who I will never know but whose existence I will not forget...
 
You can find expert information in material by Margaret Singer and Steven Hassan.

However, consider this, also:

What Makes You Who You Are?
If you were to ask "What makes you who you are?" most people would respond with a number of characteristics or features:
- personality
- values
- thoughts
- feelings
- accomplishments
- plans and goals
- memories
-pasts
- experiences
- dreams
- wants and needs
- likes, dislikes, personal preferences
- beliefs
- opinions
- personal interests
If these examples describe the characteristics and features that make a person who he or she is, what if they disappear? Would the person cease to exist?

(examples of stages):
Shut Up- and Shut Down
You're a Parrot
You're a Puppet
Rewriting Your Life History
Rewriting Your Mind
Prognosis: Hopeless
--------------------------------------------
Anyone can get sucked into a cult. As I explain it, if you look for answers in the wrong places, you'll find the wrong answers. All they need to do is offer what you think you want or need, and then it's "GOTCHA!" And getting out is not easy.
 
Mr. Ed said:
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the famous cult founded by current convict Warren Jeffs.
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The FLDS Church long predated Warren Jeffs, it started as a group of Mormons who did not want to give up polygamy almost 100 years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints) Warren Jeffs is just the most recent leader and one who has done some pretty awful things.

Mr. Ed said:
others claim the entire Mormon faith is itself a cult.
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I think that could be said of most any religion not your own... I don't believe in what the Mormons believe, but they are not in the same league as Warren Jeffs and company. From my point of view no more a cult than the Baptists or Catholics.
 
Alligatorob said:
The FLDS Church long predated Warren Jeffs, it started as a group of Mormons who did not want to give up polygamy almost 100 years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints) Warren Jeffs is just the most recent leader and one who has done some pretty awful things.


I think that could be said of most any religion not your own... I don't believe in what the Mormons believe, but they are not in the same league as Warren Jeffs and company. From my point of view no more a cult than the Baptists or Catholics.
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Are you familiar with the Independent Fundamental Baptists, or the Westboro Baptist Church?

Some research netted the info that all cultists need to do is take on one or two practices of a legitimate religion and then they can call their cult the religion.
 


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