(3350,1,'2011-12-23 09:31:44','2011-12-23 17:31:44','(Read <a href=\"../2011/12/22/2011/12/20/christmas-undocumented-annunciation-part-i/\">Part I here</a>)\n\n(Read <a href=\"../2011/12/21/christmas-undocumented-anunciation-part-ii/\">Part II here</a>)\n\nThe detainees file into the detention center in a single column. When the door closes behind them, shutting out the sunlight, the detainees stare dumbly at empty walls. Everything in the room is drained of life, sterilized from color with stark white paint and buzzing fluorescent lights.\n\nAve and the other women are marched into an enclosed room and ordered to remove their clothes to be searched. Ave kicks off her shoes, unwilling to bend over to do it with her hands. She then peels off the oversized elastic waistband covering her belly and takes off her jeans, followed by her billowy shirt. Her protruding belly cannot be missed, its navel inverted and skin stretched by the pregnancy.\n\nThe room is cold. Ave and the other women shiver in bras and panties, unwilling to remove the last bit of dignity until forced to do so.\n\n“Remove all your clothes,” barks the scrawny-haired officer.\n\n“But we didn’t commit any crimes, ma’am,” one lady ventures from the back. “We just work here in America and eat here. None of us are drug dealers or gang members. I mean, look at her. She’s pregnant. Does she really have to take off her clothes? The only thing she’s hiding is a baby and not very well at that.”\n\n“No exceptions, spic,” the prison guard shouts. “Strip! It’s how we do it here in the Stable. Everyone strips and gets searched. You wetbacks are wily ones. Never know where you might be hiding something.”\n\nAve draws a deep breath of air, hoping the filtered, recycled air will calm her nerves as she removes the rest of her clothes and stands naked in the cold room.\n\n“Against the wall,” the guard says. “Arms and legs out.”\n\nThe guard’s hands are cold and invasive on Ave’s body. She jerks instinctively as the guard’s hands travel up her legs. She tries to hold the image of her cousin Isabella in her mind, and then when that fails to keep her mind from the guard’s hands, she ponders her baby, wondering what he will look like, what his laugh will sound like. Her stomach cramps when the search is finished.\n\nAfter all the guard finishes with all the women, the detainees are issued identical prison uniforms to wear, but Ave’s belly makes it difficult to cinch the tie on the pants. So, as Ave walks down a long hall of cells, she waddles, using both hands to keep her new pants from slipping to her ankles.\n\nShe is led to a cramped cell like every other she has passed.  Her bed, like the rest, is made up with a gray blanket and a stiff white pillow. She shuffles to the open bunk and lies down on her side. She stuffs the pillow between her knees for comfort and uses the crook of her elbow tucked under her head as a pillow.\n\n“Here,” a tired voice says from across the cell. “Take mine.”\n\nAve opens her eyes to see an elderly woman standing over her, tucking an extra pillow under Ave’s head. “You’ll need it more than I will.”\n\n“Gracias,” Ave says. “Como se llama?”\n\nThe old lady smiles. “I’m sorry child. I don’t speak your language. I’m from a different world. My name is Hakima and I come from Iran.”\n\n“I’m sorry. I just assumed. My name is Ave and I come from Mexico.”\n\n“It is nice to meet you,” Hakima replies. “I don’t think you’ll be in here long, though. You are in early labor, as far as I can tell. And I can always tell.”\n\nHakima winks and touches the side of her face where her graying hair meets her forehead.\n\n“I’m eight months, though,” Ave replies.\n\n“I imagine you had a stressful day?” Hakima inquires, and Ave nods. “From the bruise on your head, you fell, probably from fainting. You were stripped and then cavity searched? And now, I’m guessing from the hand on your belly and the way you were grimacing when you walked in, you’re getting some cramping?” Ave nods in response to each question. “As I thought, then. You are going to have that baby sooner rather than later.”\n\nHakima’s prediction proves true. The next day, Ave’s labor begins, and Hakima shouts for the guards.\n\n“This woman needs to be in a hospital,” Hakima says when the two guards finally appear. “She is having contractions and is going to have this baby tonight.”\n\nThe guards peer into the cell. “What her? The girl lying on the bed? She doesn’t look like she’s in labor. She looks like she’s sleeping.”\n\nHakima huffs. “She is between contractions and resting, saving her strength for when she will need it.”\n\nAs Hakima is speaking, a contraction grips Ave, who grunts and breathes through it as best she can.\n\n“She’s faking,” one of the guards says. “I’ve had a baby and it wasn’t like that. She just wants out of here.”\n\nThe guards leave, unperturbed. As Ave’s contractions grow closer together and more powerful, Hakima summons the guards again. This time, there is no doubt Ave is in labor.\n\n“Let’s get her to the hospital,” the guard says, no longer skeptical. “And fast.”\n\nHakima shakes her head. “It’s too late for that. She will have this baby within the hour. She is dilated at 8 centimeters and her contractions are only 3 minutes apart. Take her to the infirmary. And quick.”\n\nThe guard stutters. “But the doctor has gone home for the day.”\n\nHakima disregards her protests. “Take me with you. I was a midwife in my country. I have delivered more babies than you could count.”\n\nAfter a moment of hesitation, the guard acquiesces and takes both women to the guard outside the holding cells. “Take them to the infirmary,” she tells him. Without a word, the guard yanks his pants over his paunch and beckons the two women to follow him. They walk to a small building separated from the main center by a small concrete courtyard. When they enter, Hakima notices that meager medical supplies and decides she might need more help than she bargained for if Ave’s labor grows difficult.\n\n“Call an ambulance and get the paramedics here as soon as possible. We’ll need them for the afterbirth,” Hakima says, but the guard does not move. “Did you hear me? Go call the paramedics!”\n\nUnaccustomed to being bossed around by an elderly prisoner, the guard’s demeanor darkens. “I cannot leave the detainee unattended or unsecured,” he says. “I’ll have to remain in the room. I’ll radio for someone else to call them.”\n\nWithout a word, the guard shoves Hakima aside and secures Ave to the bed with <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/undocumented-pregnant-woman-gives-birth-in-shackles_n_971955.html\">wrist cuffs</a>.\n\n“What are you doing to her? She is about to give birth. She will need to move around, stand up if she likes. It is the natural way for women to birth their babies,” Hakima protests.\n\n“Security protocol. This detainee is considered criminal, in possession of forged papers, so she has to be restrained,” the guard replies flatly, moving toward Ave’s feet. “She can give birth on her back and without her hands.\n\n“If you are going to force her to lie down, then you cannot strap her legs down, too. The baby will not be able to come out if you do,” Hakima says, exasperated.\n\n“Fine,” the guard retorts, pulling a pair of ankle shackles from his belt. He <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/undocumented-pregnant-woman-gives-birth-in-shackles_n_971955.html\">shackles</a> her feet together, the long chain drooping below the infirmary bed.\n\n“Are you quite finished?” Hakima asks, sneering. “She’s in labor. It’s not like she is a flight risk right now.”\n\nAve’s labors quickens. The new contractions begin almost as soon as the previous one ends, and Ave struggles to catch her breath as she begins to push new life into the world. The guard standing at the head of Ave’s bed places a hand on her forehead, as a lover would, leans his head toward her ear and whispers to her.\n\n“Come on, push, push, push this baby out,” the guard says. “Push the baby out. The sooner the baby comes the sooner you can go back home to your family in Mexico.”\n\nAve’s face darkens and she hisses between gasping breaths, “Don’t touch me. You are not my husband. Step away from me.”\n\nThe guard raises his hands in a gesture of an accused innocent. “Just trying to help.”\n\nBefore an hour in the infirmary building is up, Ave births a son, and for just a moment, there is nothing but mother and son. Hakima gently places the baby boy on her mother’s chest, as the child cries softly and roots for food. Ave laughs.\n\n“Can we remove her restraints at least, to let her hold her son unfettered?” Hakima whispers to the guard, who obliges.\n\n“Congratulations,” the guard says, unbuckling the restraints. “You have given birth to a healthy American citizen. You’ll have 36 hours with him, and then child services will take him to a relative of your choosing.”\n\nThe silent night cracks, and all that is calm and bright fractures. “I’m sorry?”\n\n“After 36 hours, we’ll take your child to one of your relatives while you await deportation,” the guard says. “We can’t accommodate an infant in this facility.”\n\nA pain unlike any she has ever felt grips her chest, as if her heart is exploding in a searing fire, like seven daggers are piercing her. She gasps, unable to catch her breath. At last, a wail erupts from Ave, a deep mournful blast announcing the end of faith, hope, love, of everything good she has dreamed of in this promised land of America. Tears stream from her eyes, mixing with her labor’s sweat, dripping onto her chest, falling onto her infant son’s fluffy black hair. She holds him closely to her lips, kissing his head over and over again, weeping. In a moment’s time, she has gone from a pregnant girl to the mother of all sorrows, her cries joining with countless others who have experienced a similar crushing end to the birth of new life.\n\nAve tries to avoid sleep for the next 36 hours. The time is too precious to let it unravel in a dream. She breathes in her son’s smell, tries to memorize each feature on his tiny face, features she knows will be gone the next time she sees him. The roll of fat that creases his shoulder. The way his drowsy almond eyes close, clasped with long lashes, after she feeds him. The snuffling sound he makes when he eats. The cry of need for comfort from Ave, for food from her body. She tries to burn the image of him into her mind with tears, with love, with anger.\n\nAn hour before her time is up, Ave begins to hum to her child, softly at first. As she gazes adoringly at the tiny boy, scarcely a day old, her voice grows stronger, more alive, rhythmed with passion. A pulsing warmth fills her aching chest and emanates throughout the room. A curious glow fills the room and, to her astonishment, she finds herself singing, in a loud, clarion soprano.\n\nHer voice carries through the infirmary and the detention center. It penetrates the gray cinderblock walls, perforates the Stable with a stinging, visionary indictment, piercing the hearts of inmate and guard alike to share in her sorrow.\n\nShe sings,\n\n“Look at the lowliness of this handmaiden, and find reason for favor, to call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, but the mighty ones have stolen them from me. Show then the strength of your arm and scatter these proud in the thoughts of their haughty hearts, bring down the powerful from their thrones and offices and lift up the lowly, the trampled and the oppressed. Fill the hungry with good things and send away the rich empty. Help this handmaiden remember the mercy of God.”\n\nA curious thrumming lingers in the room after Ave finishes her song.\n\nA moment later, it disappears when there is a knock at the door. The infirmary janitor, a Latino woman, pokes her head into Ave’s room.\n\n“I’m sorry to intrude on your last hour, <em>señora</em>, but I heard you singing. Magnificent. Just magnificent. You have said what we all feel,” she says. “I know it’s not much, but I thought you might like a picture.”\n\nThe woman holds up a Polaroid instant camera. Ave nods, afraid that if she speaks she will lose control and begin to weep again.\n\nThe woman motions for them to snuggle together and snaps the picture. The camera whirs and spits out an image that slowly begins to materialize as the air hits it.\n\n“Thank you,” Ave manages to say. “It’s the perfect gift. What’s your name so that I can repay you one day, if I can.”\n\n“I’m Sofia,” the janitor says. “Sofia Reyes, but you don’t need to repay me. It’s enough to see you light up. You have a very special boy there with a very special mother. Anyone can see you love him very much.”\n\nAve holds back a cry. “I have to love him enough now forever, in case I don’t see him again.”\n\nSofia brushes Ave’s hair back. “You’ll see him again. I know you will.”\n\nLooking back, Ave cannot remember them taking her son away. She remembers telling them his name was Jesus, son of José Mann, and she can recall asking that he be given to her cousin Isabella in San Antonio. But she cannot remember the moment they took him from her. All she can remember is two strong hands helping her walk through the concrete courtyard back to the main building, the Stable. But really, she can barely remember that either. All she recall with any certainty is that it was raining and that the bright fluorescent spotlight shining down on her looked like the brightest star she’d ever seen.\n\nHakima greets her in the cell with a long embrace and helps Ave to bed.\n\n“Some of the others heard what happened,” Hakima says. “One of the women, Farzenah, came by and brought you all she had, a phone card and 30 American dollars, as a gift for you. She said she hoped you would be able to use it to call your cousin to check on the baby while you are here.”\n\n“And how long will I be here?” Ave asks, exhausted. “How long, Hakima?”\n\n“Only God knows, and I’m not even sure God knows,” Hakima responds, her voice firm but compassionate. “It could be two months or two years.”\n\n“How long have you been here, Hakima?”\n\n“Three years.”\n\nAve begins to weep again, sobs wracking her body.\n\n“Here, child, and this is my gift to you,” Hakima says, pulling a small pill from underneath the mattress. “It will help you sleep, and sleep, I think, is the only thing that can console you right now.”\n\nHakima places the pill in Ave’s mouth and helps her sip it down with water. “Now, what is it they say in your language? <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nochebuena\">Noche buena</a>?”\n\nAve shakes her head and says weakly, “Buenas noches.”\n\nHakima waves her hands dismissively. “Yes, that. Buenas noches, then my dear Ave, buenas noches.”\n\nThe sedative takes Ave away into the succor of sleep. Hakima holds the young mother’s head in her lap, stroking Ave’s long black hair, deep into the good night.\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">*****</p>\nConnect with David on <a href=\"http://facebook.com/unorthodoxology\">Facebook</a> and share your thoughts on <em>Christmas, Undocumented</em>. If there is enough interest, this project will be expanded to <em>Christ, Undocumented</em> and re-imagine the Gospel stories within this context.','Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena','','inherit','open','open','','3319-autosave','','','2011-12-23 09:31:44','2011-12-23 17:31:44','',3319,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3319-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3351,1,'2011-12-23 09:32:49','2011-12-23 17:32:49','','undocumented_christmas_4','','inherit','open','open','','undocumented_christmas_4','','','2011-12-23 09:32:49','2011-12-23 17:32:49','',3319,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/undocumented_christmas_4.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(3352,1,'2011-12-22 12:36:29','2011-12-22 20:36:29','The detainees file into the detention center in a single column. When the door closes behind them, shutting out the sunlight, the detainees stare dumbly at empty walls. Everything in the room is drained of life, sterilized from color with stark white paint and buzzing fluorescent lights.\r\n\r\nAve and the other women are marched into an enclosed room and ordered to remove their clothes to be searched. Ave kicks off her shoes, unwilling to bend over to do it with her hands. She then peels off the oversized elastic waistband covering her belly and takes off her jeans, followed by her billowy shirt. Her protruding belly cannot be missed, its navel inverted and skin stretched by the pregnancy.\r\n\r\nThe room is cold. Ave and the other women shiver in bras and panties, unwilling to remove the last bit of dignity until forced to do so.\r\n\r\n“Remove all your clothes,” barks the scrawny-haired officer.\r\n\r\n“But we didn’t commit any crimes, ma’am,” one lady ventures from the back. “We just work here in America and eat here. None of us are drug dealers or gang members. I mean, look at her. She’s pregnant. Does she really have to take off her clothes? The only thing she’s hiding is a baby and not very well at that.”\r\n\r\n“No exceptions, spic,” the prison guard shouts. “Strip! It’s how we do it here in the Stable. Everyone strips and gets searched. You wetbacks are wily ones. Never know where you might be hiding something.”\r\n\r\nAve draws a deep breath of air, hoping the filtered, recycled air will calm her nerves as she removes the rest of her clothes and stands naked in the cold room.\r\n\r\n“Against the wall,” the guard says. “Arms and legs out.”\r\n\r\nThe guard’s hands are cold and invasive on Ave’s body. She jerks instinctively as the guard’s hands travel up her legs. She tries to hold the image of her cousin Isabella in her mind, and then when that fails to keep her mind from the guard’s hands, she ponders her baby, wondering what he will look like, what his laugh will sound like. Her stomach cramps when the search is finished.\r\n\r\nAfter all the guard finishes with all the women, the detainees are issued identical prison uniforms to wear, but Ave’s belly makes it difficult to cinch the tie on the pants. So, as Ave walks down a long hall of cells, she waddles, using both hands to keep her new pants from slipping to her ankles.\r\n\r\nShe is led to a cramped cell like every other she has passed.  Her bed, like the rest, is made up with a gray blanket and a stiff white pillow. She shuffles to the open bunk and lies down on her side. She stuffs the pillow between her knees for comfort and uses the crook of her elbow tucked under her head as a pillow.\r\n\r\n“Here,” a tired voice says from across the cell. “Take mine.”\r\n\r\nAve opens her eyes to see an elderly woman standing over her, tucking an extra pillow under Ave’s head. “You’ll need it more than I will.”\r\n\r\n“Gracias,” Ave says. “Como se llama?”\r\n\r\nThe old lady smiles. “I’m sorry child. I don’t speak your language. I’m from a different world. My name is Hakima and I come from Iran.”\r\n\r\n“I’m sorry. I just assumed. My name is Ave and I come from Mexico.”\r\n\r\n“It is nice to meet you,” Hakima replies. “I don’t think you’ll be in here long, though. You are in early labor, as far as I can tell. And I can always tell.”\r\n\r\nHakima winks and touches the side of her face where her graying hair meets her forehead.\r\n\r\n“I’m eight months, though,” Ave replies.\r\n\r\n“I imagine you had a stressful day?” Hakima inquires, and Ave nods. “From the bruise on your head, you fell, probably from fainting. You were stripped and then cavity searched? And now, I’m guessing from the hand on your belly and the way you were grimacing when you walked in, you’re getting some cramping?” Ave nods in response to each question. “As I thought, then. You are going to have that baby sooner rather than later.”\r\n\r\nHakima’s prediction proves true. The next day, Ave’s labor begins, and Hakima shouts for the guards.\r\n\r\n“This woman needs to be in a hospital,” Hakima says when the two guards finally appear. “She is having contractions and is going to have this baby tonight.”\r\n\r\nThe guards peer into the cell. “What her? The girl lying on the bed? She doesn’t look like she’s in labor. She looks like she’s sleeping.”\r\n\r\nHakima huffs. “She is between contractions and resting, saving her strength for when she will need it.”\r\n\r\nAs Hakima is speaking, a contraction grips Ave, who grunts and breathes through it as best she can.\r\n\r\n“She’s faking,” one of the guards says. “I’ve had a baby and it wasn’t like that. She just wants out of here.”\r\n\r\nThe guards leave, unperturbed. As Ave’s contractions grow closer together and more powerful, Hakima summons the guards again. This time, there is no doubt Ave is in labor.\r\n\r\n“Let’s get her to the hospital,” the guard says, no longer skeptical. “And fast.”\r\n\r\nHakima shakes her head. “It’s too late for that. She will have this baby within the hour. She is dilated at 8 centimeters and her contractions are only 3 minutes apart. Take her to the infirmary. And quick.”\r\n\r\nThe guard stutters. “But the doctor has gone home for the day.”\r\n\r\nHakima disregards her protests. “Take me with you. I was a midwife in my country. I have delivered more babies than you could count.”\r\n\r\nAfter a moment of hesitation, the guard acquiesces and takes both women to the guard outside the holding cells. “Take them to the infirmary,” she tells him. Without a word, the guard yanks his pants over his paunch and beckons the two women to follow him. They walk to a small building separated from the main center by a small concrete courtyard. When they enter, Hakima notices that meager medical supplies and decides she might need more help than she bargained for if Ave’s labor grows difficult.\r\n\r\n“Call an ambulance and get the paramedics here as soon as possible. We’ll need them for the afterbirth,” Hakima says, but the guard does not move. “Did you hear me? Go call the paramedics!”\r\n\r\nUnaccustomed to being bossed around by an elderly prisoner, the guard’s demeanor darkens. “I cannot leave the detainee unattended or unsecured,” he says. “I’ll have to remain in the room. I’ll radio for someone else to call them.”\r\n\r\nWithout a word, the guard shoves Hakima aside and secures Ave to the bed with <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/undocumented-pregnant-woman-gives-birth-in-shackles_n_971955.html\">wrist cuffs</a>.\r\n\r\n“What are you doing to her? She is about to give birth. She will need to move around, stand up if she likes. It is the natural way for women to birth their babies,” Hakima protests.\r\n\r\n“Security protocol. This detainee is considered criminal, in possession of forged papers, so she has to be restrained,” the guard replies flatly, moving toward Ave’s feet. “She can give birth on her back and without her hands.\r\n\r\n“If you are going to force her to lie down, then you cannot strap her legs down, too. The baby will not be able to come out if you do,” Hakima says, exasperated.\r\n\r\n“Fine,” the guard retorts, pulling a pair of ankle shackles from his belt. He <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/undocumented-pregnant-woman-gives-birth-in-shackles_n_971955.html\">shackles</a> her feet together, the long chain drooping below the infirmary bed.\r\n\r\n“Are you quite finished?” Hakima asks, sneering. “She’s in labor. It’s not like she is a flight risk right now.”\r\n\r\nAve’s labors quickens. The new contractions begin almost as soon as the previous one ends, and Ave struggles to catch her breath as she begins to push new life into the world. The guard standing at the head of Ave’s bed places a hand on her forehead, as a lover would, leans his head toward her ear and whispers to her.\r\n\r\n“Come on, push, push, push this baby out,” the guard says. “Push the baby out. The sooner the baby comes the sooner you can go back home to your family in Mexico.”\r\n\r\nAve’s face darkens and she hisses between gasping breaths, “Don’t touch me. You are not my husband. Step away from me.”\r\n\r\nThe guard raises his hands in a gesture of an accused innocent. “Just trying to help.”\r\n\r\nBefore an hour in the infirmary building is up, Ave births a son, and for just a moment, there is nothing but mother and son. Hakima gently places the baby boy on her mother’s chest, as the child cries softly and roots for food. Ave laughs.\r\n\r\n“Can we remove her restraints at least, to let her hold her son unfettered?” Hakima whispers to the guard, who obliges.\r\n\r\n“Congratulations,” the guard says, unbuckling the restraints. “You have given birth to a healthy American citizen. You’ll have 36 hours with him, and then child services will take him to a relative of your choosing.”\r\n\r\nThe silent night cracks, and all that is calm and bright fractures. “I’m sorry?”\r\n\r\n“After 36 hours, we’ll take your child to one of your relatives while you await deportation,” the guard says. “We can’t accommodate an infant in this facility.”\r\n\r\nA pain unlike any she has ever felt grips her chest, as if her heart is exploding in a searing fire, like seven daggers are piercing her. She gasps, unable to catch her breath. At last, a wail erupts from Ave, a deep mournful blast announcing the end of faith, hope, love, of everything good she has dreamed of in this promised land of America. Tears stream from her eyes, mixing with her labor’s sweat, dripping onto her chest, falling onto her infant son’s fluffy black hair. She holds him closely to her lips, kissing his head over and over again, weeping. In a moment’s time, she has gone from a pregnant girl to the mother of all sorrows, her cries joining with countless others who have experienced a similar crushing end to the birth of new life.\r\n\r\nAve tries to avoid sleep for the next 36 hours. The time is too precious to let it unravel in a dream. She breathes in her son’s smell, tries to memorize each feature on his tiny face, features she knows will be gone the next time she sees him. The roll of fat that creases his shoulder. The way his drowsy almond eyes close, clasped with long lashes, after she feeds him. The snuffling sound he makes when he eats. The cry of need for comfort from Ave, for food from her body. She tries to burn the image of him into her mind with tears, with love, with anger.\r\n\r\nAn hour before her time is up, Ave begins to hum to her child, softly at first. As she gazes adoringly at the tiny boy, scarcely a day old, her voice grows stronger, more alive, rhythmed with passion. A pulsing warmth fills her aching chest and emanates throughout the room. A curious glow fills the room and, to her astonishment, she finds herself singing, in a loud, clarion soprano.\r\n\r\nHer voice carries through the infirmary and the detention center. It penetrates the gray cinderblock walls, perforates the Stable with a stinging, visionary indictment, piercing the hearts of inmate and guard alike to share in her sorrow.\r\n\r\nShe sings,\r\n\r\n“Look at the lowliness of this handmaiden, and find reason for favor, to call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, but the mighty ones have stolen them from me. Show then the strength of your arm and scatter these proud in the thoughts of their haughty hearts, bring down the powerful from their thrones and offices and lift up the lowly, the trampled and the oppressed. Fill the hungry with good things and send away the rich empty. Help this handmaiden remember the mercy of God.”\r\n\r\nA curious thrumming lingers in the room after Ave finishes her song.\r\n\r\nA moment later, it disappears when there is a knock at the door. The infirmary janitor, a Latino woman, pokes her head into Ave’s room.\r\n\r\n“I’m sorry to intrude on your last hour, <em>señora</em>, but I heard you singing. Magnificent. Just magnificent. You have said what we all feel,” she says. “I know it’s not much, but I thought you might like a picture.”\r\n\r\nThe woman holds up a Polaroid instant camera. Ave nods, afraid that if she speaks she will lose control and begin to weep again.\r\n\r\nThe woman motions for them to snuggle together and snaps the picture. The camera whirs and spits out an image that slowly begins to materialize as the air hits it.\r\n\r\n“Thank you,” Ave manages to say. “It’s the perfect gift. What’s your name so that I can repay you one day, if I can.”\r\n\r\n“I’m Sofia,” the janitor says. “Sofia Reyes, but you don’t need to repay me. It’s enough to see you light up. You have a very special boy there with a very special mother. Anyone can see you love him very much.”\r\n\r\nAve holds back a cry. “I have to love him enough now forever, in case I don’t see him again.”\r\n\r\nSofia brushes Ave’s hair back. “You’ll see him again. I know you will.”\r\n\r\nLooking back, Ave cannot remember them taking her son away. She remembers telling them his name was Jesus, son of José Mann, and she can recall asking that he be given to her cousin Isabella in San Antonio. But she cannot remember the moment they took him from her. All she can remember is two strong hands helping her walk through the concrete courtyard back to the main building, the Stable. But really, she can barely remember that either. All she recall with any certainty is that it was raining and that the bright fluorescent spotlight shining down on her looked like the brightest star she’d ever seen.\r\n\r\nHakima greets her in the cell with a long embrace and helps Ave to bed.\r\n\r\n“Some of the others heard what happened,” Hakima says. “One of the women, Farzenah, came by and brought you all she had, a phone card and 30 American dollars, as a gift for you. She said she hoped you would be able to use it to call your cousin to check on the baby while you are here.”\r\n\r\n“And how long will I be here?” Ave asks, exhausted. “How long, Hakima?”\r\n\r\n“Only God knows, and I’m not even sure God knows,” Hakima responds, her voice firm but compassionate. “It could be two months or two years.”\r\n\r\n“How long have you been here, Hakima?”\r\n\r\n“Three years.”\r\n\r\nAve begins to weep again, sobs wracking her body.\r\n\r\n“Here, child, and this is my gift to you,” Hakima says, pulling a small pill from underneath the mattress. “It will help you sleep, and sleep, I think, is the only thing that can console you right now.”\r\n\r\nHakima places the pill in Ave’s mouth and helps her sip it down with water. “Now, what is it they say in your language? <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nochebuena\">Noche buena</a>?”\r\n\r\nAve shakes her head and says weakly, “Buenas noches.”\r\n\r\nHakima waves her hands dismissively. “Yes, that. Buenas noches, then my dear Ave, buenas noches.”\r\n\r\nThe sedative takes Ave away into the succor of sleep. Hakima holds the young mother’s head in her lap, stroking Ave’s long black hair, deep into the good night.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">*****</p>\r\nConnect with David on <a href=\"http://facebook.com/unorthodoxology\">Facebook</a> and share your thoughts on <em>Christmas, Undocumented</em>. If there is enough interest, this project will be expanded to <em>Christ, Undocumented</em> and re-imagine the Gospel stories within this context.','Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena','','inherit','open','open','','3319-revision-2','','','2011-12-22 12:36:29','2011-12-22 20:36:29','',3319,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/22/3319-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3353,1,'2011-12-23 09:35:11','2011-12-23 17:35:11','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/author/davidrhenson/\">David Henson\'s</a> four-part short story.\n\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Annunciation, Part I\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/20/christmas-undocumented-annunciation-part-i/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Annunciation, Part I </a>\n\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Anunciation, Part II\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/21/christmas-undocumented-anunciation-part-ii/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Anunciation, Part II </a>\n\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part I\" href=\"../2011/12/22/christmas-undocumented-nochebuena-part-i/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part I </a>\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/christmas-undocumented-nochebuena-part-2/\">Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part II</a>','Undocumented Christmas','','inherit','open','open','','3304-autosave','','','2011-12-23 09:35:11','2011-12-23 17:35:11','',3304,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3304-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3354,1,'2011-12-22 10:01:26','2011-12-22 18:01:26','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/author/davidrhenson/\">David Henson\'s</a> four-part short story.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Annunciation, Part I\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/20/christmas-undocumented-annunciation-part-i/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Annunciation, Part I </a>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Anunciation, Part II\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/21/christmas-undocumented-anunciation-part-ii/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Anunciation, Part II </a>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part I\" href=\"../2011/12/22/christmas-undocumented-nochebuena-part-i/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Christmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part I </a>\r\n\r\nChristmas, Undocumented: Nochebuena, Part II','Undocumented Christmas','','inherit','open','open','','3304-revision-2','','','2011-12-22 10:01:26','2011-12-22 18:01:26','',3304,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/22/3304-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3355,1,'2011-12-23 09:37:34','2011-12-23 17:37:34','Our American, western culture has become prideful in one aspect that has created a deep unsettling in the mass majority when anything comes to attack it.\n\n<em>Reality</em>.\n\nFor example, reality TV is at an all time high on prime time television…for more and more people are desiring “reality” to be injected into life, all in the name of avoiding hypocrisy.\n\nHowever, reality TV has actually become the most unreliable source of reality our nation has ever seen – yet it’s still highly desired. In fact, it’s so desired that it has become an unhealthy addiction.\n\nWhat really has brought this all to the surface lately in my heart has been the fever pitch surrounding Tim Tebow.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_3282\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"193\" caption=\"Knees to the Earth by Juliet Towner\"]<a href=\"http://www.creationswap.com/7ulio\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-3282 \" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/prayingunashamed1-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNow I’m not a huge football fan – in fact, I’m not the most avid sports fan. I like my fair share of catching a hockey game on the TV now and again (Detroit Redwings, you have my support), and I enjoy the Olympics (USA!) – but beyond that, football, basketball, baseball and soccer…I honestly could live without. Yet, it’s hard to ignore the constant media coverage of Tim Tebow lately as he becomes a prominent target of contention in our American society.\n\n<em>“Don’t mix religion with football – it’s just not realistic.”</em>\n\nSeriously?...<em>Seriously</em>?\n\nCome on folks…let’s get “<em>real</em>” here for a moment. Whether we like it or not, religion (just like politics) is in our face every day we live and breathe. Yet, go figure, these are the very two things we’re “instructed” to avoid discussing because of the huge disagreements they can cause.\n\nThe truth is though, these are the very topics of discussion that need to be addressed in our lives, for these topics actually target reality. They target core heart issues that define our very lives by the beliefs we hold within each of these two areas. They single-handedly go hand in hand with our daily lives.\n\nPerhaps this is the very reason most want to avoid discussion of such topics and just want to focus on mind-numbing nothingness…because it provides an escape from the reality of life. However, this isn’t how Christians are called to live out life.\n\n<em>“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!”</em> -Lamentations 3:40 (ESV)\n\nIt’s right here in scripture, yet so many overlook this vitally important aspect of the Christian life. Most would rather turn a blind eye to the true aspects of life, rather than truly face them head on and examine their own lives against them, along side the very word of God.\n\nIn all honesty folks, this is why Tim Tebow has become the very thorn in most peoples’ sides. His outward expression of His devoted faith in God shines a light on all our sinful lives to the point it mirrors an image back to us that honestly is just hideous. And sincerely, who really wants to look at an ugly reflection?\n\nFriends, I get it. I really don’t like some of the reflections I get shown to me either – but it doesn’t mean the problems that I have within me go away by avoiding them by seeking to demolish anything that comes along to reveal the truth of my own depravity to my blind-shaded eyes.\n\nThe reality is, I am a human, I am sinful, and I need constant correction. And the only way to do this is to constantly keep myself in a realistic check that despite my sin, I am still loved by an almighty God who loves me amidst my failings. Praise Him for His grace! So why shouldn’t I constantly praise Him in all areas of my life…wherever I go…despite the hecklings I will endure? Why shouldn’t we all?\n\nGod will have His way, and reveal who He is through whomever He can in any arena He’s given the ability to shine in. Tim Tebow is merely one person who deeply loves Christ, and it unashamed to live it out boldly. For this, I can only commend him – and in turn, hope I continue to grow in ways that leads me to be just as bold for Christ.\n\nFor the reality is…Christ is everything, and this world is nothing without Him.','What is Reality?','','inherit','open','open','','3281-autosave','','','2011-12-23 09:37:34','2011-12-23 17:37:34','',3281,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3281-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3356,1,'2011-12-23 09:44:22','2011-12-23 17:44:22','','mirror_reflection','','inherit','open','open','','mirror_reflection','','','2011-12-23 09:44:22','2011-12-23 17:44:22','',3281,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/mirror_reflection.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(3357,1,'2011-12-21 07:21:48','2011-12-21 15:21:48','[caption id=\"attachment_3282\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"193\" caption=\"Knees to the Earth by Juliet Towner\"]<a href=\"http://www.creationswap.com/7ulio\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-3282 \" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/prayingunashamed1-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOur American, western culture has become prideful in one aspect that has created a deep unsettling in the mass majority when anything comes to attack it.\r\n\r\n<em>Reality</em>.\r\n\r\nFor example, reality TV is at an all time high on prime time television…for more and more people are desiring “reality” to be injected into life, all in the name of avoiding hypocrisy.\r\n\r\nHowever, reality TV has actually become the most unreliable source of reality our nation has ever seen – yet it’s still highly desired. In fact, it’s so desired that it has become an unhealthy addiction.\r\n\r\nWhat really has brought this all to the surface lately in my heart has been the fever pitch surrounding Tim Tebow.\r\n\r\nNow I’m not a huge football fan – in fact, I’m not the most avid sports fan. I like my fair share of catching a hockey game on the TV now and again (Detroit Redwings, you have my support), and I enjoy the Olympics (USA!) – but beyond that, football, basketball, baseball and soccer…I honestly could live without. Yet, it’s hard to ignore the constant media coverage of Tim Tebow lately as he becomes a prominent target of contention in our American society.\r\n\r\n<em>“Don’t mix religion with football – it’s just not realistic.”</em>\r\n\r\nSeriously?...<em>Seriously</em>?\r\n\r\nCome on folks…let’s get “<em>real</em>” here for a moment. Whether we like it or not, religion (just like politics) is in our face every day we live and breathe. Yet, go figure, these are the very two things we’re “instructed” to avoid discussing because of the huge disagreements they can cause.\r\n\r\nThe truth is though, these are the very topics of discussion that need to be addressed in our lives, for these topics actually target reality. They target core heart issues that define our very lives by the beliefs we hold within each of these two areas. They single-handedly go hand in hand with our daily lives.\r\n\r\nPerhaps this is the very reason most want to avoid discussion of such topics and just want to focus on mind-numbing nothingness…because it provides an escape from the reality of life. However, this isn’t how Christians are called to live out life.\r\n\r\n<em>“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!”</em> -Lamentations 3:40 (ESV)\r\n\r\nIt’s right here in scripture, yet so many overlook this vitally important aspect of the Christian life. Most would rather turn a blind eye to the true aspects of life, rather than truly face them head on and examine their own lives against them, along side the very word of God.\r\n\r\nIn all honesty folks, this is why Tim Tebow has become the very thorn in most peoples’ sides. His outward expression of His devoted faith in God shines a light on all our sinful lives to the point it mirrors an image back to us that honestly is just hideous. And sincerely, who really wants to look at an ugly reflection?\r\n\r\nFriends, I get it. I really don’t like some of the reflections I get shown to me either – but it doesn’t mean the problems that I have within me go away by avoiding them by seeking to demolish anything that comes along to reveal the truth of my own depravity to my blind-shaded eyes.\r\n\r\nThe reality is, I am a human, I am sinful, and I need constant correction. And the only way to do this is to constantly keep myself in a realistic check that despite my sin, I am still loved by an almighty God who loves me amidst my failings. Praise Him for His grace! So why shouldn’t I constantly praise Him in all areas of my life…wherever I go…despite the hecklings I will endure? Why shouldn’t we all?\r\n\r\nGod will have His way, and reveal who He is through whomever He can in any arena He’s given the ability to shine in. Tim Tebow is merely one person who deeply loves Christ, and it unashamed to live it out boldly. For this, I can only commend him – and in turn, hope I continue to grow in ways that leads me to be just as bold for Christ.\r\n\r\nFor the reality is…Christ is everything, and this world is nothing without Him.','What is Reality?','','inherit','open','open','','3281-revision-6','','','2011-12-21 07:21:48','2011-12-21 15:21:48','',3281,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/21/3281-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(3358,1,'2011-12-23 09:45:34','2011-12-23 17:45:34','Our American, western culture has become prideful in one aspect that has created a deep unsettling in the mass majority when anything comes to attack it.\r\n\r\n<em>Reality</em>.\r\n\r\nFor example, reality TV is at an all time high on prime time television…for more and more people are desiring “reality” to be injected into life, all in the name of avoiding hypocrisy.\r\n\r\nHowever, reality TV has actually become the most unreliable source of reality our nation has ever seen – yet it’s still highly desired. In fact, it’s so desired that it has become an unhealthy addiction.\r\n\r\nWhat really has brought this all to the surface lately in my heart has been the fever pitch surrounding Tim Tebow.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_3282\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"193\" caption=\"Knees to the Earth by Juliet Towner\"]<a href=\"http://www.creationswap.com/7ulio\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-3282 \" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/prayingunashamed1-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow I’m not a huge football fan – in fact, I’m not the most avid sports fan. I like my fair share of catching a hockey game on the TV now and again (Detroit Redwings, you have my support), and I enjoy the Olympics (USA!) – but beyond that, football, basketball, baseball and soccer…I honestly could live without. Yet, it’s hard to ignore the constant media coverage of Tim Tebow lately as he becomes a prominent target of contention in our American society.\r\n\r\n<em>“Don’t mix religion with football – it’s just not realistic.”</em>\r\n\r\nSeriously?...<em>Seriously</em>?\r\n\r\nCome on folks…let’s get “<em>real</em>” here for a moment. Whether we like it or not, religion (just like politics) is in our face every day we live and breathe. Yet, go figure, these are the very two things we’re “instructed” to avoid discussing because of the huge disagreements they can cause.\r\n\r\nThe truth is though, these are the very topics of discussion that need to be addressed in our lives, for these topics actually target reality. They target core heart issues that define our very lives by the beliefs we hold within each of these two areas. They single-handedly go hand in hand with our daily lives.\r\n\r\nPerhaps this is the very reason most want to avoid discussion of such topics and just want to focus on mind-numbing nothingness…because it provides an escape from the reality of life. However, this isn’t how Christians are called to live out life.\r\n\r\n<em>“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!”</em> -Lamentations 3:40 (ESV)\r\n\r\nIt’s right here in scripture, yet so many overlook this vitally important aspect of the Christian life. Most would rather turn a blind eye to the true aspects of life, rather than truly face them head on and examine their own lives against them, along side the very word of God.\r\n\r\nIn all honesty folks, this is why Tim Tebow has become the very thorn in most peoples’ sides. His outward expression of His devoted faith in God shines a light on all our sinful lives to the point it mirrors an image back to us that honestly is just hideous. And sincerely, who really wants to look at an ugly reflection?\r\n\r\nFriends, I get it. I really don’t like some of the reflections I get shown to me either – but it doesn’t mean the problems that I have within me go away by avoiding them by seeking to demolish anything that comes along to reveal the truth of my own depravity to my blind-shaded eyes.\r\n\r\nThe reality is, I am a human, I am sinful, and I need constant correction. And the only way to do this is to constantly keep myself in a realistic check that despite my sin, I am still loved by an almighty God who loves me amidst my failings. Praise Him for His grace! So why shouldn’t I constantly praise Him in all areas of my life…wherever I go…despite the hecklings I will endure? Why shouldn’t we all?\r\n\r\nGod will have His way, and reveal who He is through whomever He can in any arena He’s given the ability to shine in. Tim Tebow is merely one person who deeply loves Christ, and it unashamed to live it out boldly. For this, I can only commend him – and in turn, hope I continue to grow in ways that leads me to be just as bold for Christ.\r\n\r\nFor the reality is…Christ is everything, and this world is nothing without Him.','What is Reality?','','inherit','open','open','','3281-revision-7','','','2011-12-23 09:45:34','2011-12-23 17:45:34','',3281,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3281-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(3362,1,'2011-12-23 09:57:48','2011-12-23 17:57:48','','war_on_christmas','','inherit','open','open','','war_on_christmas','','','2011-12-23 09:57:48','2011-12-23 17:57:48','',3323,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/war_on_christmas.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(3363,1,'2011-12-23 01:37:39','2011-12-23 09:37:39','“Dear Cody: I am a new believer. Some of my friends tell me that there is a ‘War on Christmas.’ Papa says, ‘If you read it in PROVOKETIVE it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth: is there a war on Christmas?”\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nVirginia Namaak\r\n\r\n115 East 59<sup>th</sup> street\r\n\r\nVIRGINIA, your friends are right. They are not right about the form of the war or about who is waging it, or even when it happens. Your friends believe in a kingdom that has been firmly rooted in the workings of this world. Their minds have fallen captive to the imagination of power perceived through the lens of domination, heard in the phrase ‘might makes right,’ or the inverse ‘right makes might.’ Unfortunately, our minds cannot grasp real power, Virginia, and our imaginations are too small to contain the whole of truth and knowledge. Which is why Christmas came in the first place; in the words of a great Christmas song, Virginia, Jesus “came to shed a little light on this darkening scene.”\r\n\r\nYes, VIRGINIA, there is a war on Christmas. It happens not just during the winter months, but it happens as certainly as love and generosity are set aside and bitterness is picked up instead; whenever absolute certainty is honored above humility, acceptance, and grace. It happens when a friendly holiday greeting is taken, not on face value as a warm gesture, but instead as a provocation. It happens when we who profess to follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Messiah, ignore his own example, the one who:\r\n<blockquote>though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.</blockquote>\r\nChristmas, VIRGINIA—the birth of Jesus, the incarnation in human flesh—was not about fighting for any rights. No, VIRIGINIA, Christmas was, IS, about the laying aside of power, the giving up of rights. It’s about vacating a position of power to sleep in a box of hay. The only war on Christmas, VIRGINIA, is the battle against humility. When one looks at the cradle and sees a call to arms, the war against Christmas heats up. When selfless servanthood takes a backseat to power grabs, the clash of armor can be heard.\r\n\r\nBut thank God! Christmas lives and it will live forever. Wherever love and humility, generosity and grace abound, there you will find Christmas. Whenever room is made for another, whatever that looks like and no matter who does it—Muslim, Christian, gay, straight, Jew, Gentile, atheist, agnostic, man, woman, old, young— Christmas is renewed. Jesus takes on flesh again. The light breaks through the darkness once more. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, Christmas will be born anew, no matter what ways we might make war on it.','Yes, Virginia, There is a War on Christmas','','inherit','open','open','','3323-revision-9','','','2011-12-23 01:37:39','2011-12-23 09:37:39','',3323,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3323-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(3365,1,'2011-12-23 08:23:42','2011-12-23 16:23:42','<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/DSCF00051.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3342\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/DSCF00051-300x112.jpg\" alt=\"Joel Rieves\" width=\"300\" height=\"112\" /></a>Lately, I\'ve been catching some flack from people close to me.  Some of them have issues with a bumper sticker on my truck, the one you see in the picture at the beginning of this little ditty.  They didn\'t like it, they said, because I couldn\'t be sure it was the truth.  But, it is very much the truth; a truth that is attested to the very nature of Jesus\' birth, life and death.  He was born to a poor family, lived in an occupied country and was put to death by the state.  He\'s not just <em>with</em> the 99%; He <em>is</em> the 99%. Jesus came into the world to bring hope to the poor, the needy and the oppressed; to bring justice to an unjust system; to show us that love and mercy are far more important that things.  If these aren\'t the hallmarks of the Occupy movement, I\'ll eat my hat.</p>\r\nIf you stop and think about it, the first Occupier was Mary, the mother of Jesus.  After Gabriel told her she would bear the Son of God, she got excited and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant.  When she walked into Elizabeth\'s presence, Luke tells us that the child who would become John the Baptist leapt within his mother\'s (Elizabeth) womb.  When Elizabeth told Mary what had happened, Mary responded with what has become with the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).  In that hymn, she says\r\n<blockquote>\"He shows mercy to everyone,\r\nfrom one generation to the next,\r\nwho honors him as God.\r\n<sup>51</sup> He has shown strength with his arm.\r\nHe has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.\r\n<sup>52</sup> He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones\r\nand lifted up the lowly.\r\n<sup>53</sup> He has filled the hungry with good things\r\nand sent the rich away empty-handed.\"\r\n\r\nFrom the Common English Bible</blockquote>\r\nThis song, sung by His mother sang even before He was born, speaks of how those on top (the rich and powerful) will be brought low and those on the bottom (the poor, the needy, the oppressed) will be raised up.  These words, spoken to a people suffering under the heel of one the most oppressive regimes the world has ever known, were a sorely needed balm.  They were words of hope; hope that, one day, things would be better.   While things today aren\'t anywhere near as bad as they were in first century Palestine, they aren\'t that good.  The Roman boot isn\'t on our neck any longer; it\'s been replaced by a Gucci loafer.  Much like Palestine in Jesus\' day, we live and work under a system that stacks the deck against the masses and in favor of the rich and powerful.  And, just like in Jesus\'s day, there are people working to change that.  They would do well to remember the original Occupiers and follow their lead.','The Original Occupiers','','inherit','open','open','','3339-revision-7','','','2011-12-23 08:23:42','2011-12-23 16:23:42','',3339,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3339-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(3366,1,'2011-12-23 10:19:06','2011-12-23 18:19:06','','hand_wheat','','inherit','open','open','','hand_wheat','','','2011-12-23 10:19:06','2011-12-23 18:19:06','',3334,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/hand_wheat.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(3367,1,'2011-12-23 03:41:33','2011-12-23 11:41:33','What I believe isn’t important. \r\n\r\nThe fact that I can put order to my thoughts, sort them into opinions and fan them into beliefs is hardly impressive.  In fact, such thinking is unavoidable.  It’s what our highly evolved human brains do.  They compare and contrast and judge in an endless attempt to make sense of the world around us.  Believing is as automatic as walking or talking or sneezing, and about as noteworthy.\r\n\r\nThere was a time when I considered my beliefs to be something more than just an assemblage of thoughts.  I mistook them for something much more important.  I thought they were me.\r\n\r\nAt various times in my life I believed I was a Catholic, a Unitarian, an agnostic and a secular humanist.  I was a liberal, a feminist, an environmentalist and a pacifist.  I took on new identities in search of a higher self and, down deep, I think, to distance myself from certain vulgarities that characterize the human condition - qualities like greed and aggression.  By connecting certain thoughts, by cobbling together new identities, I convinced myself and others that those unwholesome human traits couldn’t possibly define me.  They defined thieves and rapists and murderers.  I was above all that, and had a portfolio of beliefs to prove it.\r\n\r\nI was not alone in my quest adopt a new identity.  Everyone in the world was doing it right along with me.  Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists.  Socialists, Communists and Greens.  Progressive Unionists, Christian Democrats – some crafting identities the way college freshmen craft double majors.  We were all attempting to rise above our inherited animal nature, but rising above it didn’t make it go away.  We were still greedy and aggressive despite our deeply held beliefs.  We were walking contradictions, projecting our inner conflicts onto the world; in fact, we were the world, and that’s why it was such a bloody mess.\r\n\r\nHaving wandered from one belief system to another, I thought I had explored life’s biggest questions, but I was only asking questions for which my beliefs had provided me pat answers.  I had yet to ask myself the most radical questions, the ones that would eventually smash my beliefs to bits.  They were questions no one seemed to be asking, questions like:\r\n\r\nIf a clash of beliefs can be found at the root of all the violence in the world, then shouldn’t we question their validity – not the validity of any particular belief, but belief itself? \r\n\r\nSeparated from our beliefs, would we lose our moral bearing?  Would we fall prey to our baser instincts and rock the world with depraved acts of violence?  Or is this precisely the behavior we exhibit under the hypnotic spell our beliefs? \r\n\r\nImagine a city whose buildings have been leveled by an earthquake.  That’s the image I had of my mind after my beliefs had been toppled.  I felt like I could see forever in every direction.  The towering thought structures that stood as my beliefs no longer blocked my view of the world.  I felt a disorienting sense of freedom.  Liberated from the beliefs that had conferred my identity, I felt blissfully anonymous.  I was a person without a suffix, without an –ist to affirm my existence.  I had unwittingly joined the only club that matters.  It numbers in the billions, doesn’t charge dues and welcomes career criminals.  It’s called the human race. \r\n\r\nIt’s been years since I disposed of my beliefs, and I have yet to turn into a sociopathic killer. On the contrary, I’ve developed a deep affection for my planet mates now that I’m not measuring them by the yardstick of my beliefs.  Gone are the walls of thought that prevented me from seeing who they really are.  Gone are the lectures I’d give in an attempt to raise their consciousness.  And gone, mercifully, is my compulsion to cast them as evil so that I can appear virtuous\r\n\r\nHowever sacred or profound, a belief is nothing more than a thought, and thought is never the thing it describes.  It can only hint at the wonders it attempts to touch.  Sermons about love garble love’s ineffable beauty.  Speeches about unity clank after the first syllable.  Courting belief is a prescription for a virtual, not a virtuous life.','The Futility of Belief','','inherit','open','open','','3334-revision-3','','','2011-12-23 03:41:33','2011-12-23 11:41:33','',3334,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/23/3334-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0);

INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (3729,48,'2012-01-07 14:39:23','2012-01-07 22:39:23','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, an other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\n\nEven sociologist and psychologists tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult\", since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Mansen murders. However, most agree that there is really a continuum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult\", which is why many have given to adding further descriptors, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign\" to cults. Because of this, for the purposes of this article, I have gotten the majority of my information on cults from the International Cultic Studies Association.  They focus on the damaging aspects and practices that often occur in damaging cults, but they are careful not to specifically list possible cultts on their webpage, as there are many gray areas where groups may contain some aspeccts of cults, but not really be a full blown cult, or a dangerous cult\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to be fully objective when determining what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. And, who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominationsI thin it is likely each denomination would find themselves stuck with that label by another one.\n\nThat being said, here is a list of characteristics found with damaging cults, according to the ICSA\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt <span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>\n</ol>\nEven with this list, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. This is not a checklist to determine if a group is a cult for certain or not, but is merely a guideline of  characterithat cults often display. It is possible for a dangerous cult to not display all of these, and I think it is also possible for a group that is not a cult by today\'s current usage of the word to display some or even many of these trait.\n\nFor example, if you think about it, many of these traits could describe a sports team. In a sports team, all of the members are committed wholly to the coach. Questioning the coach can lead to being benched or removed from the team. Team members often engage in pre-game chants to grow team unity. Furthermore, the team must wear the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us versus them attitude towards any other teams they come across. Being apart of the team may also affect heir relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games.  They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nWhile the term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, I do still think it a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups. Some people have a perception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, really studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!) People of all walks of life can be suspect to cults, especially since there is often misleading information about the true nature of cult activity when you first become involved. However, it is important that we are careful before immediately tossing out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disagree with or even one that has truly hurt us.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold Christian para-church ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather worked along side Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew many of the members from my previous church when I was still in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I joined the team, and our involvement became deeper. As time progressed, meetings became more frequent and went into the early morning hours, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking to alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, things were were not supposed to discuss with non-team members, and much more. Questioning of the leader was not only discouraged in public, but when you questioned him in private, it was also turned around to be your own issue, as it revealed a \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority\". Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc, everyone was really too tired to have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership knew of people that disapproved of the ministry that team members still associated with, were were discouraged to continue more than a superficial relationship with them. While our leader would not outrightly say we could not associate with them, he said the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our heart. Not wanting to be at extra-curricular team events, which were supposedly \"optional\", also revealed our heart issues. What\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t tow the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership was doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave. A day before his scheduled meeting with the head of the ministry where he was going to make our leaving official, this leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how thing were handled during our time at the minstry and the way in which we left. In the first few months I eagerly and easily called this ministry a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage youu not to be too hasty. While I do not beleive the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, think that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Now, having good intentions doessn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Much horrific acts have been done in the name of God and God\'s will.  And at this ministry, I think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good. Granted, it isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Ai and  committing mass suicide. In this particular instance, I think the root of the issue most likely lies with abuse of pwer within an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church authority, one that I should state many Christians believe is biblical. So what then?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a dangerous \"cult\". However, I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change.\n\nWhat do you think regarding calling churches, ministries, and organizations \"cults\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-17','','','2012-01-07 14:39:23','2012-01-07 22:39:23','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-17/',0,'revision','',0),(3730,48,'2012-01-07 14:41:05','2012-01-07 22:41:05','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, an other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\n\nEven sociologist and psychologists tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult\", since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Mansen murders. Furthermore, it can be difficult to be fully objective when determining what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. And, who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominationsI thin it is likely each denomination would find themselves stuck with that label by another one.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThat being said, here is a list of characteristics found with damaging cults, according to the ICSA\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt <span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>\n</ol>\nEven with this list, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. This is not a checklist to determine if a group is a cult for certain or not, but is merely a guideline of  characterithat cults often display. It is possible for a dangerous cult to not display all of these, and I think it is also possible for a group that is not a cult by today\'s current usage of the word to display some or even many of these trait.\n\nFor example, if you think about it, many of these traits could describe a sports team. In a sports team, all of the members are committed wholly to the coach. Questioning the coach can lead to being benched or removed from the team. Team members often engage in pre-game chants to grow team unity. Furthermore, the team must wear the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us versus them attitude towards any other teams they come across. Being apart of the team may also affect heir relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games.  They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nWhile the term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, I do still think it a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups. Some people have a perception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, really studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!) People of all walks of life can be suspect to cults, especially since there is often misleading information about the true nature of cult activity when you first become involved. However, it is important that we are careful before immediately tossing out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disagree with or even one that has truly hurt us.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold Christian para-church ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather worked along side Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew many of the members from my previous church when I was still in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I joined the team, and our involvement became deeper. As time progressed, meetings became more frequent and went into the early morning hours, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking to alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, things were were not supposed to discuss with non-team members, and much more. Questioning of the leader was not only discouraged in public, but when you questioned him in private, it was also turned around to be your own issue, as it revealed a \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority\". Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc, everyone was really too tired to have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership knew of people that disapproved of the ministry that team members still associated with, were were discouraged to continue more than a superficial relationship with them. While our leader would not outrightly say we could not associate with them, he said the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our heart. Not wanting to be at extra-curricular team events, which were supposedly \"optional\", also revealed our heart issues. What\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t tow the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership was doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave. A day before his scheduled meeting with the head of the ministry where he was going to make our leaving official, this leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how thing were handled during our time at the minstry and the way in which we left. In the first few months I eagerly and easily called this ministry a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage youu not to be too hasty. While I do not beleive the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, think that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Now, having good intentions doessn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Much horrific acts have been done in the name of God and God\'s will.  And at this ministry, I think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good. Granted, it isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Ai and  committing mass suicide. In this particular instance, I think the root of the issue most likely lies with abuse of pwer within an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church authority, one that I should state many Christians believe is biblical. So what then?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a dangerous \"cult\". However, I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change.\n\nWhat do you think regarding calling churches, ministries, and organizations \"cults\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nHowever, most agree that there is really a continuum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult\", which is why many have given to adding further descriptors, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign\" to cults. Because of this, for the purposes of this article, I have gotten the majority of my information on cults from the International Cultic Studies Association.  They focus on the damaging aspects and practices that often occur in damaging cults, but they are careful not to specifically list possible cultts on their webpage, as there are many gray areas where groups may contain some aspeccts of cults, but not really be a full blown cult, or a dangerous cult','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-18','','','2012-01-07 14:41:05','2012-01-07 22:41:05','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-18/',0,'revision','',0),(3731,48,'2012-01-07 14:52:38','2012-01-07 22:52:38','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, an other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the International Cultic Studies Association has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with damaging cults, according to the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt <span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>\n</ol>\nEven with this list, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. This is not a checklist to determine if a group is a cult for certain or not, but is merely a guideline of  characterithat cults often display. It is possible for a dangerous cult to not display all of these, and I think it is also possible for a group that is not a cult by today\'s current usage of the word to display some or even many of these trait.\n\nFor example, if you think about it, many of these traits could describe a sports team. In a sports team, all of the members are committed wholly to the coach. Questioning the coach can lead to being benched or removed from the team. Team members often engage in pre-game chants to grow team unity. Furthermore, the team must wear the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us versus them attitude towards any other teams they come across. Being apart of the team may also affect heir relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games.  They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nWhile the term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, I do still think it a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups. Some people have a perception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, really studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!) People of all walks of life can be suspect to cults, especially since there is often misleading information about the true nature of cult activity when you first become involved. However, it is important that we are careful before immediately tossing out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disagree with or even one that has truly hurt us.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold Christian para-church ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather worked along side Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew many of the members from my previous church when I was still in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I joined the team, and our involvement became deeper. As time progressed, meetings became more frequent and went into the early morning hours, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking to alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, things were were not supposed to discuss with non-team members, and much more. Questioning of the leader was not only discouraged in public, but when you questioned him in private, it was also turned around to be your own issue, as it revealed a \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority\". Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc, everyone was really too tired to have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership knew of people that disapproved of the ministry that team members still associated with, were were discouraged to continue more than a superficial relationship with them. While our leader would not outrightly say we could not associate with them, he said the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our heart. Not wanting to be at extra-curricular team events, which were supposedly \"optional\", also revealed our heart issues. What\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t tow the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership was doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave. A day before his scheduled meeting with the head of the ministry where he was going to make our leaving official, this leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how thing were handled during our time at the minstry and the way in which we left. In the first few months I eagerly and easily called this ministry a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage youu not to be too hasty. While I do not beleive the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, think that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Now, having good intentions doessn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Much horrific acts have been done in the name of God and God\'s will.  And at this ministry, I think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good. Granted, it isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Ai and  committing mass suicide. In this particular instance, I think the root of the issue most likely lies with abuse of pwer within an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church authority, one that I should state many Christians believe is biblical. So what then?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a dangerous \"cult\". However, I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change.\n\nWhat do you think regarding calling churches, ministries, and organizations \"cults\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-19','','','2012-01-07 14:52:38','2012-01-07 22:52:38','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-19/',0,'revision','',0),(3732,48,'2012-01-07 15:38:37','2012-01-07 23:38:37','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, an other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the International Cultic Studies Association has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with damaging cults, according to the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership was doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-20','','','2012-01-07 15:38:37','2012-01-07 23:38:37','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-20/',0,'revision','',0),(3734,48,'2012-01-07 15:50:40','2012-01-07 23:50:40','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with damaging cults, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group Characterist</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-22','','','2012-01-07 15:50:40','2012-01-07 23:50:40','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-22/',0,'revision','',0),(3733,48,'2012-01-07 15:39:15','2012-01-07 23:39:15','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the International Cultic Studies Association has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with damaging cults, according to the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership was doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-21','','','2012-01-07 15:39:15','2012-01-07 23:39:15','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-21/',0,'revision','',0),(3735,48,'2012-01-07 15:51:04','2012-01-07 23:51:04','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-23','','','2012-01-07 15:51:04','2012-01-07 23:51:04','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-23/',0,'revision','',0),(3736,48,'2012-01-07 15:51:42','2012-01-07 23:51:42','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definiation is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or the cult following of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. And, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" doesn\'t necessarily have a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-24','','','2012-01-07 15:51:42','2012-01-07 23:51:42','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-24/',0,'revision','',0),(3737,48,'2012-01-07 15:58:19','2012-01-07 23:58:19','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-25','','','2012-01-07 15:58:19','2012-01-07 23:58:19','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-25/',0,'revision','',0),(3738,48,'2012-01-07 15:58:45','2012-01-07 23:58:45','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and thought.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I still struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! At the same time, I just couldn\'t believe that is what God had for me. In the end, while I prayed for God to release me, my husband decided we needed to leave, and he met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it afford some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believe that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good, but it also isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. While I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-26','','','2012-01-07 15:58:45','2012-01-07 23:58:45','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-26/',0,'revision','',0),(3748,48,'2012-01-07 18:14:24','2012-01-08 02:14:24','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-34','','','2012-01-07 18:14:24','2012-01-08 02:14:24','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-34/',0,'revision','',0),(3739,48,'2012-01-07 16:19:35','2012-01-08 00:19:35','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, but usually by ministry leaders upset with\"victim mentality\" or a problem with abuse? Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-27','','','2012-01-07 16:19:35','2012-01-08 00:19:35','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-27/',0,'revision','',0),(3744,48,'2012-01-07 16:59:00','2012-01-08 00:59:00','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-31','','','2012-01-07 16:59:00','2012-01-08 00:59:00','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-31/',0,'revision','',0),(3741,48,'2012-01-07 16:21:58','2012-01-08 00:21:58','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response  Christians do when faced with a Christian ministry that is clearly damaging to people?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-28','','','2012-01-07 16:21:58','2012-01-08 00:21:58','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-28/',0,'revision','',0),(3742,48,'2012-01-07 16:22:37','2012-01-08 00:22:37','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\r\n\r\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I aanswered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\r\n\r\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-29','','','2012-01-07 16:22:37','2012-01-08 00:22:37','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-29/',0,'revision','',0),(3743,48,'2012-01-07 16:23:14','2012-01-08 00:23:14','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\r\n\r\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\r\n\r\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-30','','','2012-01-07 16:23:14','2012-01-08 00:23:14','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-30/',0,'revision','',0),(3747,48,'2012-01-07 18:09:24','2012-01-08 02:09:24','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-33','','','2012-01-07 18:09:24','2012-01-08 02:09:24','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-33/',0,'revision','',0),(3745,48,'2012-01-07 18:08:04','2012-01-08 02:08:04','','C Shaped Wood Cut','','inherit','open','open','','c-shaped-wood-cut','','','2012-01-07 18:08:04','2012-01-08 02:08:04','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/C-Shaped-Wood-Cut.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3746,48,'2012-01-07 17:50:48','2012-01-08 01:50:48','There\'s a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It\'s a word I\'ve seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it\'s a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\r\n\r\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\r\n\r\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\r\n\r\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\r\n\r\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\r\n\r\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\r\n\r\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-32','','','2012-01-07 17:50:48','2012-01-08 01:50:48','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-32/',0,'revision','',0),(3749,48,'2012-01-07 18:20:30','2012-01-08 02:20:30','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. It may even be a legitimate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-35','','','2012-01-07 18:20:30','2012-01-08 02:20:30','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-35/',0,'revision','',0),(3750,48,'2012-01-07 18:22:06','2012-01-08 02:22:06','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be a , albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-36','','','2012-01-07 18:22:06','2012-01-08 02:22:06','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-36/',0,'revision','',0),(3751,48,'2012-01-07 18:23:35','2012-01-08 02:23:35','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion \"regarded as unorthodox or spurious\", the word \"cult\" shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-37','','','2012-01-07 18:23:35','2012-01-08 02:23:35','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-37/',0,'revision','',0),(3752,48,'2012-01-07 18:26:42','2012-01-08 02:26:42','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word <em>cult</em> shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is \"unorthodox\" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled \"unorthodox\" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word \"cult,\" since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word \"cult\", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a \"cult\", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.\n\nA sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-38','','','2012-01-07 18:26:42','2012-01-08 02:26:42','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-38/',0,'revision','',0),(3753,48,'2012-01-07 18:34:26','2012-01-08 02:34:26','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such negative overtones, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word <em>cult</em> shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is unorthodox regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Mennonite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled unorthodox (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word cult, since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Most experts agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors for cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges upfront the difficulty in cult terminology, and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults or bad organizations on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is the list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group as a cult, given the negative connotation that it immediately brings to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could be shown to display many of these traits, depending on how you describe them.\n\nFor example, A sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the \"cult\" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-39','','','2012-01-07 18:34:26','2012-01-08 02:34:26','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-39/',0,'revision','',0),(3754,48,'2012-01-07 18:36:39','2012-01-08 02:36:39','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such negative overtones, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word <em>cult</em> shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is unorthodox regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Mennonite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled unorthodox (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word cult, since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Most experts agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors for cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges upfront the difficulty in cult terminology, and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults or bad organizations on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is the list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group as a cult, given the negative connotation that it immediately brings to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could be shown to display many of these traits, depending on how you describe them.\n\nFor example, a sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in weird pre-game chants to increase team unity and create a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities, and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately sticking the cult label on any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-40','','','2012-01-07 18:36:39','2012-01-08 02:36:39','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-40/',0,'revision','',0),(3755,48,'2012-01-07 18:37:49','2012-01-08 02:37:49','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such negative overtones, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word <em>cult</em> shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is unorthodox regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Mennonite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled unorthodox (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word cult, since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Most experts agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors for cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges upfront the difficulty in cult terminology, and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults or bad organizations on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is the list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group as a cult, given the negative connotation that it immediately brings to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could be shown to display many of these traits, depending on how you describe them.\n\nFor example, a sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in weird pre-game chants to increase team unity and create a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities, and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately sticking the cult label on any religious group that we disgree with or even one that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nI was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for approximately eight years. For those of you unfamiliar with that, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team\", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing \"optional\" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-41','','','2012-01-07 18:37:49','2012-01-08 02:37:49','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-41/',0,'revision','',0),(3756,48,'2012-01-07 18:43:28','2012-01-08 02:43:28','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Sometimes it may even be the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly in anger, and a lot more cautiously after great consideration.\n\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\n\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).\n\nGiven that it carries such negative overtones, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\n\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\n\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"sblk\">\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\n</div>\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word <em>cult</em> shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\n\nFurthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is unorthodox regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Mennonite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled unorthodox (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\n\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word cult, since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Most experts agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" which is why many have given to using further descriptors for cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\n\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges upfront the difficulty in cult terminology, and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults or bad organizations on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is the list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\n<ol>\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\n</ol>\nIt should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group as a cult, given the negative connotation that it immediately brings to peoples\' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could be shown to display many of these traits, depending on how you describe them.\n\nFor example, a sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in weird pre-game chants to increase team unity and create a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities, and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\n\nThe term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately sticking the cult label on any religious group that we disgree with or even one that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the \"Christian flag\" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. It is easy to have the \"I\'m to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.\n\nLet me tell you my story. I was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for approximately eight years. For those of you unfamiliar with that terminology, essentially it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather worked alongside Christian churches, with a particular focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.\n\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team,\" becoming more deeply involved and committed to the ministry.  As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\n\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team (by choice or otherwise), or if the leadership found out we were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, we were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing <em>optional</em> extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\n\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.\n\nIn the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be \"out of God\'s will\", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.\n\nIn the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.\n\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.\n\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.\n\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the \"cult\" label?\n\nAt a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn\'t sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I\'ve heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with \"victim mentality.\" Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of \"blaming the victim\"  going on in the Church.\n\nRegardless, while I certainly won\'t recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won\'t publically denounce them as a definitive \"cult\". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.\n\nWhat do you think constitutes a \"cult\"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-42','','','2012-01-07 18:43:28','2012-01-08 02:43:28','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-42/',0,'revision','',0),