Why didn’t the cultist do well at hide and seek? Because he kept playing following the leader instead?
Why don’t cults use GPS? Because they have already found their path.
Why did the cultist get a ticket? For following too closely.
What do you call a cult that’s hard to get into? Difficult.
The subject of cult features in society is so much like a bad joke or a bad movie, I thought I’d take it easy on you in that regard today. Okay truth, that’s all I could find. I guess it’s not really funny subject.
One reason I like when I find absurd humor is that it helps us to lighten up. Instead of diving headlong into weighty topics with intention to apply focused and serious lineal thought, I try for a reset that brings out childlike wisdom. Instead of approaching spiritual themes as if it is a math problem to be solved, we can laugh and cry to allow our hearts as well as our minds to guide us.
Although UU religion emphasizes practical spirituality for this world, we have been accused of obscuring or distorting simple matters with intellectual and academic dissertations. So maybe some humor helps us.
You have probably noticed the fascist campaign against universities and a rising disdain for intellectuals. Critical thinking is the enemy of cultism.
Do you see why this world needs us? It needs our intelligence, and it needs to learn some “tough love.”
In the chaos of the day, many people feel disoriented and have a hard time finding inspiration to envision a better day ahead. Ultimately the purpose of our liberal UU religion, is to bring our shared values to life, and to liberate universal values that always dwell deep in our human hearts and that get buried beneath wounds, fears and oppressive forces. Vision and inspiration are crucial for this ministry.
UUs have been known to make waves. Our religion sometimes seeks to do what theologian Robert McAffee Brown calls “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.” Sometimes it’s helpful to shake things up a bit, and a little disorientation can be useful. As Khalil Gibran wrote “Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.”
However, I don’t think we need more shaking up these days. We’ve been witness to an assault on our legal system, the tearing down of checks and balances, the traditions and operations of our government. There has been so much shock, garbage and chaos thrust upon us, so many lies and misinformation used to justify and cover greed and power grab. We don’t need more shaking up. We need to ground ourselves in what is holy. We need soothing and we need inspiration. We need upliftment of souls, words, scenes and deeds that make our hearts sing.
As I state the key characteristics of cults, we will see a big contrast between it and UU religion. Some of the differences are like day vs night, healing vs harm, kindness vs cruelty. However, even cults get some things right. Often cults make use of good medicine. They just go too far. The difference between liberal religion and cults is that we seek a therapeutic dose of belonging and purpose. Cults exploit these needs to the point of toxicity.
The word cult comes from Latin cultus, meaning care or worship. This is what we do here. We cultivate caring. We want our values to guide and shape our lives. We covenant. We work and learn together as we reach for greater integrity.
The world cult used to mean simply a system of reverence, a sect. Historians write of the Roman Imperial Cult or the Jesus cult that developed into Christianity. In the 1960s the word took on pejorative connotations. Youth was flocking to Eastern religious groups, and cult came to mean a brain washing group. Then Charles Manson and his followers went on their murder spree. Cults became associated with violent and sinister activities. Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, and Heaven’s Gate were cults where violence flowed.
Psychologists and other academics have studied cults and described how they function. I have summarized Dr. Margaret Singer’s* descriptions of cultic function and influence. As you listen, be thinking of where you see it happening today.
- Closed authoritarian belief system; cult members are directed to hate and view as evil anyone who doubts or criticizes the leader.
- Cult control of environment; The group tightly manages what members see, hear, read, and discuss.
- Creation of powerlessness; dependence on the group for sense of purpose, salvation, safety, or identity
- Manipulation; public reward for compliance and punishment for noncompliance
- Covert manipulation: Group presented as benign, its harmful aspects denied. Hidden agendas emerge well after the buy in.
- Adherence to ideology as absolute truth. Demand for absolute loyalty and conformity
Many cult features exist outside groups don’t match previous assignment as cults. For example online groups, influencers-followers as well as the entertainment industries and social media display cult features.
Why has there been a increase of cult features in society? I see several causal factors including, societal change because of population growth (urbanization), technology, the end of the cold war, shifts from power of national empires to multinational corporations and international groups that have had profound impact on how profit is gained. BTW the term market culture refers to the ways a business emphasizes competition and results, focusing on achieving high profits and performance. It encourages employees to compete against each other, which can drive innovation but may also lead to burnout and a less supportive work environment. I suggest the term market place culture to express that these same influences have IMO become the primary driving force of our culture in general. Materialism permeates every institution. Whatever brings income tends to be chosen throughout our society.
The 50+ lead up to our current society rich in cult features.
Fifty plus years ago the working class majority of this country and the middle class reached an unprecedent standard of living. This prosperity was made possible by much greater levels of taxation of businesses and the highest income brackets. The companies and individuals paying these high levels of taxes set out and succeeding in lowering their own taxes. Tax breaks for the wealthiest have resulted in a redistribution of wealth away from the bottom to the top 1% of the population. Complimentary political moves have decreased the government’s ability to restrict or regulate business to keep it from pillaging natural and human resources, destroying environment and compromising the health of the population. Societal protections for environment, labor and the public have been weakened. The desire of corporations to make profits has taken precedence over human wellbeing.
To enable these changes, required parallel shifts in culture (through entertainment, sales and education.) Media money was used to create less working class hero stories and replaced it with an obsession for stories of the rich and famous. As shows and movies shifted their spotlight to elites, culture promoted the myth of meritocracy. The message broadcast repeatedly became: people get what they deserve. These societal changes led us to many authoritarian takeovers.
To succeed repressive forces needed to reverse trends of advancement of minority empowerment. Attempts to level the playing field became judged as discriminatory. The forces promoting white supremacy (privilege) have grown in visibility and power. The aim is strengthening of the existing caste system.
Such oppression requires deception. To illustrate let’s talk about how technology has enabled greater destructive of environments. This destruction can only occur if permitted by people. People would naturally object to destruction of our environment which results in human suffering, disease, displacement and death. Misinformation has succeeded in convince people that environmentalism is the enemy.
It takes a lot of energy to keep people from uniting for their common welfare. It takes a lot of energy to keep in place a system that delivers control of resources to the 1%.
Lies, misinformation and deception are required for this con job. Also distraction, addictions, and oppression are needed to drain and divert people’s power. A distracted and submissive population does little to resist.
In recent year society became accustomed to being manipulated and lied to. We got use to automated systems designed to minimize true human contact and communication. Jobs that were not complicit with the deception became fewer. Participation in ever increasing levels of con, fraud and scam became normal.
As we heard in the lyrics of Carole King’s “One Small Voice,” “lies take your soul. Lies take a toll on yourself and everyone else.” But deception is good business for the industries that profit from promoting addictions.
Some might say that this has been the most depressing sermon I have ever given. Personally I have great faith in Truth. You can fool all of the people some of the time. Some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time. Eventually falsehood is exposed and truth prevails.
The functioning of a cult depends upon obedience, dependence and a myth of the superiority and infallibility of the cult leader. Look how that story always ends. Not only in cults but all over the world egos fall prey to the allure of power. Cult leaders are tyrants who place their faith in their ability to dominate others. Their plan for salvation is a lie. They are bullies who try to hide their insecurities. They get paranoid and make colossal mistakes. It ends badly.
Bank on the truth. Bank on integrity. Invest in people and nature and community. Give thanks every time you find the strength to do the right thing. The language of oppression promotes hate against liberals. It says that we are stupid for not realizing it’s a dog eat dog world. We live and create another world. We pity those who place their faith in greed and who forget the power of community, cooperation and sharing.
Our victory will require us to think about helping people escaping from cults. Those who escape always have ties outside of their cult. We will be the bridge to restored hope, sanity and healing. Consider that humans would like to do better. Wouldn’t you like to do better? We all need help.
Forgive yourself for the 1000x you’ve broken your vows. Celebrate the miracle of the times you manage not to comply or conform with cult influences.
Believe. Every pain can speak to you of what your heart longs for. I will tell you what it longs for. It longs for the beloved community. It longs for the strength to love. You long to become the best version of yourself.
How can we honor the longings of our heart? We can accept challenges and difficulties as offering us what we need to become our best versions of ourselves.
We can appreciate our ties to something beautiful and bigger than us. We can remember our ancestors and ask them for help. We can see ourselves as part of a prophetic tradition that at times is a channel of divine revelation. We celebrate our free faith and be a living alternative to the world of cults.
Knowing this work is bigger than any one person can do, we can proclaim our unity. We will mourn our losses, and celebrate our victories together. We can find joy as we decide to be part of the solution. We will keep learning and growing together. From loving grandchildren, we can learn to think of 7 generations ahead. We can place love at our center. We can believe in love. We can believe in life.
So Be it.
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