Hi Ian

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Provoketive Magazine

You posted the following comment:
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Great post. I was involved with a "5 fold" church similar to what you describe (though definitely not as extreme). A friend of mine was involved in an African "church" that was a full on cult (leader sexually abusing young women in the church, my friend threatened at gun point when he said he was leaving, unexplained deaths of significant people in the church). We were sharing our experiences, and were surprised at how many of the underlying characteristics each group shared. In his they were 100 times more matured, but the roots were strikingly similar.

Despite seeing this similarity, and having many serious misgivings about the teachings of my old church, I've never come close to calling it a cult. It's a bit of a strange analogy, but I think you could liken this to consuming alcohol. At what point is someone drunk? There comes a point where someone is so under the influence that there is no doubt you can describe them as drunk - but on the way there are gradations of intoxication ranging from harmless to steaming. Power in itself is not wrong, but as you begin to become intoxicated on it, you become out of control and dangerous to others. My friends group was full on drunk, maybe my group were just mildly tipsy.