That Fine Line Between Religion and Cults

One word: Means and moderation. I know it’s two words but you get the idea.

Published in

CARRE4

8 min readSep 9, 2020

I admire Machiavelli. Well, only sometimes. And in those times I’m thinking how miserable he felt about high politics. How much he hated the Prince. He felt so pathetic that he gave up, submitted, and wrote an entire piece of satire roasting the Prince, and made it sound like uncalled-for advice. Beautiful. Power is power.

Let me explain. The first thing that comes to my mind — well almost everyone’s mind — whenever Machiavelli is the subject of discussion is his theory of Amorality. Cheat, lie, deceit, but appear to be virtuous. And, voila! You have an army of emo folks bowing down before you.

I think, originally, The Prince was supposed to be taken as a work of satire. Satire on the ugliness of power politics. Satire on the deceitful of our world who’d conveniently take it as a To-do list instead. On the stupidity of the commoners. Men so simple of mind…

“Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.”
— Machiavelli

And the aforementioned quote was what I wrote as a caption for my Facebook activity: watching Wild Wild Country. I always enjoy watching documentaries, TV shows, and movies on cults, religions, and crime. So much to learn, so much to make sense of. So much to shun. To grasp. Unlearn. Relearn. It’s a good way to distract an intellectually bored mind. Wow, very poetic. But there are side-effects: Confusion, doubt, skepticism. Only if we simple-minded folks were skeptic enough, we’d been the Chosen Ummah living spiritually fulfilled lives in the Olam ha-ba. Or maybe, true Marxists communally enjoying the fruits of the Stateless world. Or… Just figure it out.

But how do you define a religion? I could not devise a clear definition, so I took the help of the internet. Not convinced with the sociological, political, and finally spiritual responses, I decided to confide in what Patrick H. McNamara had to say.

“Try to define religion and you invite an argument.”

I agree.

Then it just sounds right that if Catholicism gets to be called a religion, what’s wrong in calling Scientology one? Or the People’s Temple? Or Branch Davidian? Every person of faith who identifies themselves with a particular religion has at least once felt defensive or being attacked with or discriminated against by a specific question, inquiry, or accusation especially when it comes to the validity of that religion. Cults, similarly, exploit that feeling. And it all then comes down to the freedom of religion.

It’s scary how defining that thin line between a religion and a cult is getting increasingly harder for modern stupid humans. And how even religions have the tendency to create new cults, making it difficult for comfortably foolish and even rational bigots to separate truth from aesthetic lies; right from wrong. And it’s quite funny at the same time. But mostly scary.

So, what does the line look like? Traditional spiritual religions, political parties, ideological religions, secular ethics, worldviews on the tiniest aspects of human life all play on common grounds. Right and wrong. Good and evil. And sometimes, it all seems to merge. A postmodernized reality. Twisted, screwed, complex, opaque. Is the line even there?

Then, in order to define that line, we need to know more about what the founders of cults and their aids have been doing. The underlying pattern of fraud behind the facade. Just to be safe. So that you know when you see it. And run.

Creativity and Charisma

All humans have the tendency to mold a religion into a cult. It just takes wild imagination. A bit of creativity. That extra cross on the Holy cross. Or fancy Swastika. It all depends on what appeals to the customer buying this engineered crap.

A bit of charm also helps. An intense look. Overconfidence is a plus. But it also takes a lot of dedication and stubbornness, to an extent that often the cult leader starts believing in his righteousness. He deserves submission. He’s his own God. And there. You have dancers, science-fiction writers, political scientists, priests, peers and gurus, psychiatrists, and simple young angry men for Gods of their own religions.

Making the most out of the American Dream

Money. You can also have that. You just have to be a narcissistic megalomaniac. Privileges? No taxes if you reside in the United States (the First Amendment). You’re not from the US? Simply move. Like an Indian guru did in 1981¹. All you have to do is boast a chunk of vulnerable American citizens following you. And a bunch of distracted purposeless celebrities with money for extra PR². And people will buy whatever you’ve got to sell: Self-improvement courses, yoga classes, counseling sessions, dance moves, complacency, freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, or need be, God.

You can spread nation-wide. Recruit the homeless, win a vote, rule a town³. Then lure a few politicians in. Make them confess to their necessary crimes⁴. And then blackmail them. Own them. Make them pass laws for you. And there, you have an unholy empire. A state of your own.

Reverse Secularism

The Church and the State must be separated. But once separated, both are allowed to do whatever they want unless one questions the writ of the other⁵.

The More the Merrier: Global Reach

By the way, you can also go global. Register a few NGOs, especially in the developing world. Preferably, Africa, Middle East, South Asia⁶. But don’t show any links with the cult. And now, nobody cares. International media would not question you. After all, the East needs to be saved, rescued. Then if someone questions you, make your followers intimidate them⁷. Sue them, if you’ve got something on them. Fair game! Freedom of religion, you see. Bigots deserve that.

The Line I Promised in the Title

The line between a functional religion and a cult is that in a cult, there are no lines. The temporary God has his own tiny goals. Power, money, or lust. Or a combination of it all. Followers are just pawns to work for him to achieve these goals by hook or by crook. Goals justify the means. So, lie, deceit, cheat and kill. But make sure you cover it all well.

It’s not about God, it’s about the leader

Although initially, it seems like the leader or the guru has all the answers to your spiritual confusion, it slowly becomes clear that it was always about him. And yes, it’s not because of the English language that I used him instead of more general them, it’s because it's mostly him.

2. Widespread Physical and Mental Abuse
Although freedom of religion is employed as a legal tool, there’s no freedom within. Did you commit a sin? No problem. Confession makes it alright unless you’re misbehaving. Then that recorded confession will be used against you. Also if you’re a victim of sexual or any physical abuse, it’s naturally your fault. Everything good belongs to the leader, everything bad is your personal embarrassment. You probably did something wrong, and now that’s your punishment.

3. Family Disconnection and Social Boycott
Imagine being deprived of your family because you got declared. And you don’t have anywhere to go because your whole life is within this cult. You are not socially relevant to earn a decent living if you listen to your conscience and decide to leave it.

4. Self-brainwashing
There is a consistent need for the member to rationalize the inconsistencies in the proposed doctrine. Most members are already socially or psychologically unstable, others just curious cats, and hence, they become vulnerable to the alluring but deeply disturbing ideas. It becomes worse if you’re born into it.

5. Phony Symbolism
I don’t how it’s becoming more about Scientology. Maybe, because there’s just too much content online. But talk about phony symbolism and the first thing that comes to my mind is Xeno and his volcanoes. It’s not even creative. But look for yourself the jargon-intensive Scientology terms.

6. Tom Cruise for the Priest
The Celebrity Preacher phenomenon is also wild in very white cults. There always are weird links within Hollywood: a celebrity or an aspiring actor. Perhaps it’s a by-product of consumerism — capitalism manifesting itself in celebrity-obsession. And it makes sense. Actors are basically good pretenders and are well-liked, followed, gotten obsessed over with. Perfect PR representatives of the faith.

7. Expensive Spiritual Rehab Centers and Self-improvement Courses
Because the Church ain’t gonna run on its own. And because if it’s expensive it means it’s valuable.

8. Obsession with Secrecy
The degree to which a cult is secretive is probably the most obvious measure that separates it from religion. If it’s opaque, it’s fake. But at the same time, secrecy is the most attractive feature of any cult.

Congratulations, They Always Break

Too tight familial bonds, no familial bond, materialism, pure spiritualism… Cult, cult, cult. Cult lies in extremism. And extremists are everywhere. So, beware!

But the good news is that they always break leaving the psychological pressure behind on the ex-members and a legacy of lies, deceit, and abuse. They all do. Violent delights have violent ends.

Docuseries and Documentaries on Cult Culture

Wild Wild Country: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768848/
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6244192/
My Scientology Movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5111874/
Holy Hell: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278464/
Waco: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6040674/
The Family: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10715148/
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762111/
Stateless: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4878488/

References and Other Recommendations

Author’s Note: Hi, it’s me the author. It sounds ridiculous but I have to mention that the intention is not to spread hate but to create awareness. Cults are real, so is basic human sense. And it must prevail.

Another Note: My absolute favorite among the above mentioned is definitely Waco. A perfect example of how a State acts like a cult to reclaim statehood against an actual cult. It was poetic and beautiful. Sad too because it was real.

Yet Another Note: Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath also does a great job. Remini and Rinder, two ex-Scientology members, step by step, deconstruct how Scientology in particular works. It’s both emotional and powerful.

Okay, Last One: Wild Wild Country deserves this final note. It was sharp and cunning. Just like the Rajneshi crap. Good cinematography as well.