What Is A Cult?

Many Christians think they know all there is to know about cults.  They may reason something along these lines:  "Oh, I've heard about cults; you know, Jonestown, Satanism, and that survivalist group in Montana.  They're simply too smart -- anyway, they're very involved in our church ..."

However, most Christians actually know very little about cults and what makes people join cults. To test your own general knowledge about cults, take a few minutes to answer the following true-or-false quiz.

The Cult Susceptibility Quiz

1. I am lonely a good part of the time.
2. I tend to be a follower more than a leader.
3. I am not very satisfied with my church.
4. Somehow, I feel my idealism and purpose in life haven't been properly tapped or challenged.
5. I've been having some personal problems I can't seem to solve.
6. The cult issue is not much of a problem in society.
7. There are about ten to twenty cults in the U.S.
8. I could spot a cult with little effort.
9. Most cultists wear unusual clothing or uniforms.
10. Most cults recruit on the street by selling flowers or books, or by requesting a donation.
11. There are very few cultic problems within evangelical Christianity.
12. All cults teach non-Christian or heretical doctrine.
13. I'm not the type of person who joins a cult.
14. Most people who join cults are weird.  They have "problems."
15. Truly dedicated, Spirit-led Christians would never join a cult.
16. People are in cults because of spiritual problems.
17. People in cults are not "saved."
18. Cultism has little to do with totalitarianism or addiction.
19. People who join cults know what they are doing.
20. Groups that preach the Gospel and are winning many to Christ cannot be cultic.

If you answered "True" to any of these questions, you may be susceptible to cults.  Most people are susceptible to cults either because of unmet needs or ignorance of cult issues.  The first five questions on the above quiz suggest that personal unmet needs make a person vulnerable to the right pitch.  The remaining fifteen questions reveal typical "myths" and misinformation about the cult problem.

Everyone is Susceptible

Parents may not fully realize the subtlety and deceptiveness of the lure of the cults.  But the truth of the matter is, virtually anyone can get involved in a cult under the right circumstances.  The president of the student body at Wheaton College later became one of Jim Jones' right-hand men.  David Berg, a preacher's son who was briefly a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor, later became one of the most notorious cult leaders in the 20th century.  The truth is that smart, well-adjusted kids from good Christian homes can and do join cults.  

One reason few recognize their vulnerability to cults is that we fail to understand that our society is faced with a growing and pervasive cult problem.  The danger from cults is more insidious than ever as cultic groups become more subtle and skilled in recruiting and retaining members.  Many older cults adapt to the times with cosmetic changes designed to make themselves look more acceptable.

The Definition of a Cult

Traditionally, cults have been defined as groups that deviate from the orthodox tenets of the Christian faith.  For example, Harold Bussell, author of Unholy Devotion:  Why Cults Lure Christians, states that among other things a cult is "any religious body that holds beliefs and practices clearly in opposition to historic Christianity as expressed in the Apostles' Creed."  In his book The New Cults, Walter Martin defines a cult as "a group religious in nature which surrounds a leader or a group which either denies or misinterprets essential biblical doctrines."  And Ronald Enroth has aptly commented that "for the Christian, the most significant component of a definition of a cult is theological in nature."  

While heresy can and does cause psychological damage, orthodoxy does not guarantee that similar psychological and moral injury will not occur.  Therefore, a strictly theological definition of the word cult is not enough.  There also needs to be a psychological definition.  Ronald Enroth points out that Christians have neglected the psychological aberrations of cults, and he quotes a concerned Christian layman who said, "I think there is merit for placing more stress on the other danger zones created by cults, such as psychological and moral injury, disruption of family ties, impairment of scholastic and professional careers.  

Therefore, many definitions of cults included not only theological, but also psychological elements.  Here are a few examples:

A group that uses methods that deprive individuals of their ability to make a free choice.  They use deceitful recruitment techniques, they deceptively and destructively use the devotees' energies and they capture the devotees' minds.

Destructive cults are those which tend to use extreme and unethical techniques of manipulation to recruit and assimilate members and to control members' thoughts, feelings, and behaviour as a means of furthering the leaders' goals.  Although most cults that have aroused concern are religious, they can also be politicial, commercial, or pseudotherapeutic.

A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to highten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.

With these above definitions in mind, another aspect of the cult problem becomes apparent -- cults can include groups and organizations that typically are not viewed as cults.  These could be fringe churches, psychotherapy groups, New Age organizations, and various extremist political movements.

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)

If you attend Barrie Victory Centre, you are in a cult.  Make no mistake about it.

Download/Circulate At Barrie Victory Centre

My wife and I once wrote our friend to warn her that in our opinion her church group had cultic tendencies.  What did she do?  She invited the pastors of the church over for dinner and then asked them if their group was a cult!  What do you think they told her?  "Yes, we are a cult, and we intend to harm you?"  Of course not.  Manipulative leaders of fringe or  cultic churches will never admit that they use guilt, fear, and intimidation to control their members.  

Our friend should have asked others.  If you are buying a used car, it would no doubt be wise to ask someone other than the dealer about the condition of the car.  Take it to a trusted mechanic for a check.  Ask your bank how much the car is worth.  Just so, if you are unsure of a church group, either one you are about to join or one in which you are currently involved, by all means ask questions!  Only by asking questions will you be able to identify whether or not a group is a cult.

Following is a list of questions you need to ask about a group.  You need to take the time to answer as many of them as possible.  They will help you identify the problem areas in a group and enable you to spot a group with cult-like tendencies. 

• What is so appealing about what the group offers? 
• Does the group make its members feel good, fearful, guilty, or a combination of those feelings?
• Does the group leader have a special charm and persuasion that its people find inexplicable and hard to resist?
• Do the people in the group seem a bit too friendly, loving, smiling, and happy?
• Do the people in the group visit or call and offer to help with almost anything?
• Does the group claim to have a special mission or calling that is unique and not found elsewhere?
• Does the leader claim to have unique powers, vision, knowledge, or other abilities?
• How many leaders have left the group, and for what reasons?
• What is the group's reputation in the community?
• What legal actions have been taken against them?
• Are there any checks and balances to the leadership and power structure?
• Does the group have a constitution or laws of government?
• How many meetings does the group have each week?  Are the meetings always required?
• Do the people talk about their pastor all the time, as though he were next to God?
• What is the group's view on leadership authority and discipleship?
• What is the group's view on dating and marriage?
• Does the pastor encourage the flock to read different Christian authors, attend seminars and conferences sponsored by other churches and organizations?
• Is there an isolantionsitic or elitist mentality?
• If the group is independent or non-denominational, to what associations does it belong?
• Check with other local pastors or civic leaders.  Have they heard any complaints about the group?
• Check with selected religious organizations or secular organizations that keep an eye on such groups.  Do they know this group? Have they heard any complaints?
• Is the group affiliated with a larger, well-known, and reputable organization?
• What are the credentials of the leader?
• How do your parents, other relations or close friends feel about the group?  Do they have reservations?
• Is the church rabidly separatist?
• What are the finances of the group?  Is there secrecy?  Does the leader live differently from the followers, drive a better car, take longer vacations, live in a nicer house than people of comparable education and experience?
• Does the group motivate its members mostly through fear and guilt?
• Who invited you to the group or to the meeting?  Was it a total stranger? (if so, be very cautious.)
• Have any articles been written about the group?  Any books?
• Do you know of any criminal investigations regarding the church or its leader?
• Was there a split in the group?  Why did it split?
• Are there disgruntled former members?
• Do the disgruntled former members all more or less tell a similar story of why they left?  Did they leave because they disagreed with either the teachings or the practices of the group or its leader?  How was the disagreement handled?
• Does your "gut-level" feeling about this group tell you from time to time that something is wrong?

We must ask and we must teach our children to ask such questions if we are going to cult-proof them in our society.

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)

Cults Offer Things That Are Too Good To Be True

Our nation has many programs to prevent consumer fraud and protect our money, yet there are no programs to prevent someone stealing our mental health or our very souls.  Unscrupulous business people selling a defective product or service cannot hide behind the first amendment but religious cults can and constantly do.  When the abusive work of destructive religious cults [such as Barrie Victory Centre] is exposed, the cry often is, "Religious discrimination!"

Whenever anyone offers you a product or service, you should always ask yourself if this sounds too good to be true.  If it does, then it probably is too good to be true.  As Jeannie Mills, a defector from Jim Jones's People's Temple who was subsequently murdered, said:  

When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known who introduce you to the most loving group of people you have ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you have ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true -- it probably is too good to be true!  Don't give up your education, your hopes and ambitions to follow a rainbow.

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)

Cults Discourage Individual Freedom

Much of the concept of freedom as we know it today originated from the Judeo-Christian tradition, as many authors have pointed out.  The Westminster Confession clearly states the principle of liberty:  "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men...and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also."

Freedom implies loyalty to truth, to conscience, and to the ability to make one's own decisions about matters of faith, ethics, and morality.  Cult leaders, however, claim that their members are not equipped to make wise personal decisions.  They attempt to dictate the members' use of time, dating lives, thoughts, beliefs, and who they marry, among other things.  

The lack of freedom lies at the core of cultism.  In fact, it is the breeding ground for cultism.  

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)

The Grand Poo-Bah says to Evan Matthews:  

We seem to have a lot in common.  I feel for your situation and totally relate.  Barrie Victory Centre and churches like it tend to rip families apart rather than unite them.  The reason is that you and I have spiritual discernment which is given by the Holy Spirit.  Our families seem to be lacking in this area.  

This church is a cult and is telling their people that they are the only church with the truth.  You and I know that this is not true.  You cannot be a follower of Barrie Victory Centre unless you believe this to be true.

My personal opinion is that Barrie Victory Centre is a training centre for "Christian Terrorists."  They believe very strongly in the concept of  "in-your-face" religion.  One of my sons lost a 60K a year job because of  "in-your-face" religion.   He had his Bible open on his desk all day at work where others could see it.  His religion was the only thing he was able to talk about while at work.  I believe he was consequently let go for this reason.  This could not be stated as the reason because it would be "religious discrimination."  Barrie Victory Centre and churches like it are training their members to be super-militant when it comes to their faith at any cost.

These people are so militant that you don't dare question what they believe. Try disagreeing with them face-to-face and see what happens!  I tried it and the BVC follower immediately became incensed and began to scream and yell in close proximity to my face at the top of their lungs.  When I tried to talk to them to express my point of view, I was shouted down with finger-pointing hand gestures so that I couldn't talk.  You finally give up and stop talking because there is no point in continuing.  This is exactly what they want.  They are not interested in what you have to say because they believe they are the only one who knows anything about the subject.

They have learned this technique from the church on how to deal with opposition.  It is likely demonstrated to the congregants on a regular basis. Do not listen, do not allow a differing point of view to be expressed.  Do not allow the opposition to speak.  Shut them down.  If you yell loud enough and long enough, gesture forcefully enough with your finger, they will eventually back down.  This technique makes followers feel right, vindicated and victorious.

If you are trying to deal with members of Barrie Victory Centre, be prepared to be brutalized, verbally abused, and possibly physically as well.  This is not true, however, if you are willing to keep your mouth shut.  This is the only way you can have any kind of relationship with family members. I find it very difficult to believe that I have actually witnessed some of the things I have seen and heard from members of my family since they became involved with Barrie Victory Centre.  We should talk, Evan!