Dissent and criticism is not permitted. Those who dissent will be marginalized, excluded from decision making and demonized. If the leaders cannot get rid of the dissenters they will be isolated and given a name. They will be \u201cthe troublemakers\u201d or \u201cthe grumblers\u201d. The dissenters from within will be considered the most dangerous ones and you will find that there are divisions\u2013those who are loyal followers and those who are suspected of being \u201cdisloyal\u201d or \u201crebellious\u201d. The disloyal and rebellious ones will be deemed \u201cunspiritual\u201d or \u201cdifficult\u201d. In extreme cases the dissenters will become scapegoats and all the negativities of the group will be projected on to them.<\/p>\n
A fourth characteristic of a group that has become a cult or is behaving in a cult like manner is that there will be a persecution complex. A group of outside forces will be identified who are \u201cthe enemy\u201d. A little fortress will be built in which all those on the inside are the \u201cfaithful ones\u201d while all those on the outside will increasingly be demonized and feared. There will be no real effort to build bridges or get to know those on the outside. There will be no real effort to treat the outsiders as real people. Instead they are the enemy to be kept at arms\u2019 length and against whom the faithful will usually project their fears and suspicions. At worst the enemy will have all the sins and fears and dark negativities projected on them.<\/p>\n
The problem is that when a group is becoming cult like it does so innocently. Nobody sets out to establish a cult. Instead, unconsciously certain individuals start to behave in this manner and they support one another. The leadership starts to create an unrealistically wonderful religious atmosphere and those who want and need that sort of religious group will support it and feed the flames. The faithful will set the leader up on a pedestal and declare him to be wonderful and the leader (who needs and likes the adulation) will encourage their hero worship. Those who object or suspect what is happening will be automatically excluded or marginalized by those who wish to perpetuate the super wonderful world they are setting up for themselves.<\/p>\n
It all stinks to high heaven, and I know how it works because in over fifty years of working in a range of religious groups I have seen these behaviors develop within parishes, within home prayer and praise groups, within schools, in colleges and in independent churches.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the antidote? One of the antidotes is actually the Catholic parish system. If we all went to our local parish and put up with the priest we didn\u2019t happen to like and the people who were just there because, like us, they lived there\u2013we would be more realistic and we wouldn\u2019t fall into personality cult problems.<\/p>\n
Another antidote is common sense. \u00a0Common sense pops pomposity\u2019s balloon and brings things down to earth. A third antidote is open-ness to criticism and dissent. A real servant leader and a truly service based group will value all members and be strong enough to listen to dissenting voices. They will treat criticism as positive feedback and be open not only to dissent but to outsiders. A fourth antidote is confession. Cult members and cult leaders never admit their mistakes and will never be able to make a true, honest and open confession or apology. If your leader or community members cannot say \u201csorry\u201d you\u2019ve got problems.<\/p>\n
Finally, real religion is just that. It\u2019s real. It\u2019s humble. Remember the word \u201chumility\u201d comes from the word \u201chumus\u201d which means \u201cearth\u201d. Real religion is down to earth. It\u2019s humble and oh yes, \u201cHumus\u201d is also the root for \u201chumor\u201d. Real religion always knows how to have a laugh.\u00a0If a group or a person can\u2019t laugh at themselves\u2013be suspicious. If they take themselves or their movement or their spirituality with utmost seriousness\u2013beware.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dissent and criticism is not permitted. Those who dissent will be marginalized, excluded from decision making and demonized. If the leaders cannot get rid of the dissenters they will be isolated and given a name. They will be \u201cthe troublemakers\u201d or \u201cthe grumblers\u201d. The dissenters from within will be considered the most dangerous ones and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20146","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n