March Spiritual ethoughts Monthly

Deception 

There is a man named Juan Luis de Jesus Miranda in Miami who is claiming to be the Anti-Christ. He announced this to his followers recently and then displayed his 666 tattoos. It ‘s easy to quickly dismiss Juan as a kook, that is, until you find out that he has over a million supporters, and 350 centers in twenty countries. His followers are getting 666 tattoos in droves to show their support. I imagine the U.S. government will get involved, if the strange tendencies of Juan’s followers become much more pronounced.

This got me to thinking about the difference between a religious Faith and a Cult.

I researched this a bit and found some helpful information by Matthew Slick at http://www.carm.org/cults/cultic.htm.

     . What is a cult?

     .                   Generally, it is a group that is unorthodox, esoteric, and has a devotion to a person, object, or a set of new ideas.

     .                                     New Teaching - has a new theology and doctrine.

     .                                     Only True Teaching - often considers traditional religious systems to be apostate and it alone possess the complete truth.

     .                                     Strong Leadership - often an individual or small but powerful leadership group holds control of the group’s teachings and practices.

     .                                     Asset Acquirement - often requires tithing and/or property transfer to the religious system.

     .                                     Isolationist - to facilitate control over the members physically, intellectually, financially, and emotionally.

     .                                     Controlling - exercises control over the members. Sometimes this is through fear, threatening lose of salvation if you leave the group. Sometimes through indoctrination.

     .                                     Indoctrination - possesses methods to reinforce the cult’s beliefs and standards where opposing views are ridiculed and often misrepresented.

     .                                     Apocalyptic - to give the members a future focus and philosophical purpose in avoiding the apocalypse or being delivered through it.

     .                                     Experience - various practices including meditation, repetition of words and/or phrases, and ‘spiritual’ enlightenment with God are used as confirmation of their truth.

     .                                                       Depravation - sleep and food deprivation which weakens the will of the subject.

     .                                                       This is uncommon, though practiced by more severe cults

     .                                     Persecution - predictions of being persecuted and often combined with claiming any opposing views demonstrated against them as a form of persecution.

     .                   Many have a non-verifiable belief systems

     .                                     For example, they would teach something that cannot be verified.

     .                                                       A space ship behind Hale-Bop comet

     .                                                       Or, that God, an alien, or angel appeared to the leader and gave him a revelation

     .                                                       The members are seeded angels from another world, etc.

     .                                     Often, the philosophy makes sense only if you adopt the full set of values and definitions that it teaches.

     .                                                       With this kind of belief, truth becomes unverifiable, internalized, and easily manipulated through the philosophical systems of its inventor.

     .                   The Leader of a Cult

     .                                     Often charismatic who is considered very special for varying reasons:

     .                                                       The leader has received special revelation from God.

     .                                                       The leader claims to be the incarnation of a deity, angel, or special messenger.

     .                                                       The leader claims to be appointed by God for a mission

     .                                                       The leader claims to have special abilities

     .                                     The leader is often above reproach and is not to be denied or contradicted.

     .                   Cult ethos

     .                                     Usually seek to do good works, otherwise no one would join them.

     .                                     They are usually moral and possess a good standard of ethical teaching.

     .                                     Many times the Bible is used or additional "scriptures" are penned.

     .                                                       The Bible, when used, is always distorted with private interpretations.

     .                                     Many Cults recruit Jesus as one of their own and redefine him accordingly

     .                   Cult groups vary greatly.

     .                                     From the ascetic to the promiscuous.

     .                                     From esoteric knowledge to very simple teachings.

     .                                     From the rich and power to the poor and weak.

I think about Jesus’ own words on the topic in Matthew 7: 15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

As more of us start paying attention to characters like Juan Luis, we must be discerning, wise as serpents but innocent as doves.

©2007

Lisa DeLay