Cults demand obedience and motivate their victims by using fear and guilt. In fact, some cults and fringe churches frequently teach that if members disobey and leave the group they will go to hell. In some groups disobedient members are publicly ridiculed, and at times even publicly beaten. Sometimes leaders teach that certain curses, diseases, or possibly demonic possession awaits those not fully compliant with the program of the church.
One young man was told after he left his fringe Pentecostal church that his negative influence would bring demonic attacks on his family. Facing an impossible dilemma -- not wanting to return to the group's aberrant teaching but not wanting demonic attacks on his family -- he chose to kill himself, thinking that at least his family would be spared the demonic onslaught. Driving deep into the woods, he parked his car and hiked into the remotest corners of the forest. There he sat beside a tree and swallowed an entire bottled of sedatives. Fortunately, he was rescued by a woodcutter who found him before it was too late.
This young man's story is not unique. Suicide attempts occur on a fairly regular basis in the cults. Even among those who have not contemplated suicide, I have yet to meet a single person who left a cultic group who denied that the group ruled through intimidation with fear and guilt.
In the first "honeymoon" phase of cultic involvement, members usually put in long and rigorous hours doing whatever the leader tells them is God's will. Many of them work very hard and accomplish many things. In some groups, it may be evangelism. Members may start evangelizing early in the morning and work until long after dark doing things like passing out tracts, knocking on doors, selling literature, or striking up conversations with people in the park. Communalistic "back-to-nature" groups may have their members spend long hours gardening, selling organic foods, or repairing farm equipment. Full-time students who are active in the Boston Church of Christ movement, for example, typically average twenty to thirty-five hours per week in Bible study, Bible talks (evangelistic Bible studies), prayer, evangelism, and meeting with their senior partner who trains them. It is common in a great many cults for male members to be pressed into service as "volunteer" maintenance workers, lawn care workers, chauffeurs, or anything else that is needed for the group leaders. Female members often serve as unpaid baby-sitters, housekeepers, or cooks for the wives of the leadership.
No one should doubt that these groups generate a lot of "fruit" in the areas of numerical growth and financial gain. But what type of fruit is that? Is it genuine, or is it coerced out of fear and guilt? How long will such fruit last? Many members leave these groups because they feel they have failed, they can't stand the pace any longer. They are spent, exhausted, confused, discouraged, and guilt-ridden. Still others turn bitter. A former member of Great Commission International told me that because of spiritual burnout due to his activity with GCI, he will not even set foot in a church. Burnout, fear, and guilt can wreck lives.
Fear and guilt are negative emotions. they can produce tremendous (but temporary) results for religious organizations by way of adding new members, encouraging long hours of work for the "cause," and increasing the wealth and power of the group. Motivation by fear and guilt can solve problems quickly. But they should never be motivations to complete a task and accomplish a mission.
Of course, fear and guilt are neither good nor evil in and of themselves. They are feelings that cannot be denied. But we can't live on them. Fear and guilt are like flashing red lights telling us that something is wrong. The lights say there is trouble, so find the problem and fix it.
(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)
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