People know of many cult leaders’ and their charismatic personalities, with their fringe beliefs and lust for power and how they have inspired hundreds to follow their unconventional philosophies — with often-tragic results. Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and others have gained international notoriety for exposing the dark side of humanity.
However what about the cults that went main stream. I guess we could throw in Jesus and even Adolf Hitler.
Jesus of course preach love, were has Adolf preached hate. So of course Hitler was far more dangerous. On the other hand how many millions of people have died in the name of Christ and his suppose followers?
Bottom line is there are a lot of organizations on the planet today that are not thought of as cults. Yet if we went back hundreds of years and looked at their history, we would find that one person who started it all. This is especially true among religions.
Martin Luther, Joseph Smith, Charles Russel etc. etc.
The man is gone but his idea/religion is still here. That one charismatic person that started it all.
Now these organizations boast millions of follows.
How do these religions continue to grow?
There are only 2 ways you can become a cult member. You join it, or you are born into it.
The good news is, very few people are joining cults today. However the bad news is, because cult members are having lots of sex with each other, many cults still growing at an alarming rate of speed.
The good new is the Jehovah's Witnesses are not one of them.
Why? Three reasons.
1. Virtually no one is joining this 1800's religion by way of the "door to door" or by their "incidental witnessing" program.
2. Yes, lots of Jehovah's Witnesses are having sex with each other and babies are being born. Though there was a time this was discouraged because of the nearest of Armageddon. The vast majority of their young people are not staying in their organization.
3. There are no more charismatic personalities, like they had in the first hundred years of their history (1875-1977). No more Russells, Rutherfords, or Knorrs. Instead of one dynamic person to stir the masses up, the have eight uninspiring, milk toast leaders.
As the older ones die off trying to pass the baton of an antiquated religion to the next generation....we can only visualize a world hundreds of years from now, free from religious cults.
Keith Casarona