I am deeply concerned about cults in the world today. The phenomenon is not new. In the book of Acts it spoke about the 400 whom Herod mixed their sacrifices with their bloods, meaning killed them in a most horrible way. An analysis is beyond the scope or the ability of this concerned writer. I am concerned for our children, our young people college age in particular because they are exposed to these ideas on the Campuses of Colleges and Universities around the world. When they have problems caused by separation from family, they are most vulnerable. Sometimes the problems are emotional, other times the problems are financial.
The Jim Jones incident in Jonestown, Guyana, November 18, 1989 resulted in the suicide/murder of more than 900 young people. This month in St. Casimir, Quebec, 5 members of the Order of the "Solar Temple" died in fierce mass suicide. Members of the same group in Europe also committed suicide recently. Most recently, on March 26, 1999, 39 members of the "heaven gate" cult in San Diego committed suicide. In between, the Waco (Texas) incident and David Koresh (1993) resulted in the death of a good number of people. Suicide is the ultimate sin; it is blasphemy (speaking evil) against the Holy Spirit of God, which is not forgiven in this world or the World to come.
Many western society cults have some basis in Judo-Christian religions; Christian teachings and religion are misrepresented by cult leaders. The leaders are usually preachers or teacher who loose track of what it is to be Christian and divert attention to themselves or to a concept they immersed themselves in, right or wrong!
Jim Jones was a preacher, was a civic leader with great ideas to start with, but he lost track of what it is to be Christian and the attention was diverted to himself and his followers were the victims of his selfish desire to rule and control. The same with David Koresh, and most recently Marshal Applewhite. There are also perpetual cults (meaning they keep re-emerging). They are cults because they base their teaching not on the bible but on individuals’ visions and misquoted “prophecies”.
Cults exist in the eastern culture as well and is the cause of many of the problems in the Middle East in the form of fanatic behavior with leaders that demand and get loyalty beyond the usual and expected human behavior, like killing or ultimately dying for the cause the leaders advocate.
When the cult fails to achieve its goal which are for the most part gaining more following and more wealth, the leaders start to talk about being persecuted and being misunderstood. Then they go one of two destructive ways: either kill others or kill self (commit suicide) as an ultimate act. This is what happened with Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Marshal Applewhite.
One can easily see that these groups are not true Christians, because if they were:
1. They would bring glory to Christ instead of shamming him,
2. They would not go underground, or to remote places,
3. They would not try to separate young people from family and old friends,
4. They would not separate themselves from organized worship,
5. They would not commit suicide, because suicide is the ultimate sin.
Suicide is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of God that is not forgiven. We know that Judas Iscariot blasphemed (sinned) against the Holy Spirit by hanging himself. As we said before, have Judas Iscariot repented and asked forgiveness, he would have been granted forgiveness exactly like Peter. But unfortunately, he chose to not repent and defied the teachings of Christ by hanging himself. God is ready and waiting to forgive, but we have to take the initiative by repenting. This is because we are free, and have free will and God will not dictate on us what to do.
So, why these cultists continue to emerge, many reasons:
1. No doubt, the initial intentions are good, to lead others to a better way. Many of us are searching for a better way and for that reason we are all vulnerable to at least listen when someone talks about a better way. But the best way to gain that better situation is through the Bible, through the teachings and practices of the Church and not through joining secret organizations, but by being open and public as the word of Christ indicate: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:9-11).
2. Some cult leaders are people, with good qualities such as love, care, and charismatic leadership. This makes people attract to them, want to hear them, want to be like them, want to associate with them. But, those leaders are themselves deeply troubled inside. They are not achieving what they are aiming for, so they bring more people to help with their achieving their goals. I can understand it if the goal is good. But the goal is not good. They want to glorify themselves, or bring glory to God not according to his conditions but according to their conditions. That is what is wrong, terribly wrong.
3. The cult leaders do have wrong understanding of difficult verses in the scripture, in particular prophecies related to the second coming and the end of the world. St. Peter spoke about that saying: “And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked” (2 Peter 3:15-17).
4. Even more troubling is the wrong interpretations of the prophecies of Books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John the Divine. Our Church has a wealth of interpretations of these prophecies according to our Orthodox faith, also other main stream Churches Orthodox, Catholic and Protestants have also good interpretations. The key to interpreting the prophecies is as follows:
1. The Lord said: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13) which tells us clearly that interpretations that try to fix a time or a date are wrong. For example, Jehovah witnesses set a date in 1906 and built a tower in New York State, called the “Watch Tower”. It did not happen then. But, we know that the time is getting nearer every day. So, what we do, we watch carefully every hour and every day in our life as if it is the last hour or the last day.
2. Fixing events can also be deceiving, because all prophecy has hidden meanings and mysteries more often than not is written in difficult to understand language. The Church gives us the best explanations, but even these are not specific, otherwise prophecy is not prophecy and hidden mysteries are hidden no more, and the time is not yet for the revelation of all things. Listen to what Christ said to the disciples: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is” (Mark 13:32-33).
3. Also, even if the time of the end is revealed, and this is not the case, we ought not take matters into our own hands like these failed cults are doing. We have to wait and watch with great anticipation the great day of the Lord because He will come on the clouds all eyes will see him: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7). His second coming will be very public, every eye will see him. So the idea of tying UFOs to the supernatural is extremely foreign to Christianity, because the coming of the Lord will be very public, everyone will see him.
4. Also, the second coming is tied to events that have not taken place yet. The coming of the false prophet and the anti-Christ has not happened. The return of Enoch and Elishah has not taken place yet. The battle of Armageddon has not taken place yet. Will they happen, I believe yes and in due time.
Finally, be careful, be vigilant, and do not be deceived by anyone who tells you that they have special knowledge concerning your life, your eternity. The Church has for us all what we need to armor ourselves, and be prepared for the world to come, especially, if anyone is interested in controlling you, or separating you from your family, and friends. These people are out to control and after they control, they destroy because they are like their father the devil, the liar and the father of the liar. A final word of caution, some of the tactics used are slow and methodical, so if there is a suspicious situation, be suspicious and be careful not to fall in the snare of the devil.
If you are troubled or even slightly disturbed about a situation, do like what we were taught, talk to your priest, talk to your parents, talk to your Sunday School teacher, or talk to a good trusted friends. They can and will give you much better advice. Two wrongs do not make right, so do not correct a problem by making a new one. Also do not forget to pray and fast for situations and problems, because God hears our prayers and accepts our fasting when they are from a repentant heart.
May our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ protect us all and keep us all until He comes again in His Glory and the Glory of His Father. To Him be Glory Always Now and Forever. Amen.
