The Danger of Cults 
 
	I am deeply concerned about cults in the world today. The phenomena is not 
new. In the book of Acts it spoke about the 400 whom Herod mixed their sacrifices 
with their bloods, meaning killed them in a most horrible way. An analysis is 
beyond the scope or the ability of this concerned writer. I am concerned for 
our children, our young people college age in particular because they are 
exposed to these ideas on the Campuses of Colleges and Universities around 
the world. When they have problems caused by separation from family,  
they are most vulnerable.  Sometimes the problems are emotional,  
other times the problems are financial. 
 
	The Jim Jones incident in Jonestown, Guyana, November 18, 1989 resulted in 
the suicide/murder of more than 900 young people. This month in St. Casimir, 
Quebec 5 members of the Order of the "Solar Temple" died in fierce mass 
suicide. Members of the same group in Europe also committed suicide recently.  
Most recently, on March 26 39 members of the "heaven gate" cult 
in San Diego committed suicide . In between, the Waco (Texas) incident and David 
Koresh resulted in the death of a good number of people. Suicide is the 
ultimate sin, it is blasphemy (speaking evil) against the Holy Spirit of God 
which is not forgiven in this world or the World to come. 
 
	Many western society cults have some basis in Judo-Christian religions, 
Christian teachings and religion are misrepresented by cult leaders. The leaders are 
usually preachers or teacher who loose track of what it is to be Christian and divert 
attention to themselves or to a concept they immersed themselves in, right or wrong! 
 
	Jim Jones was a preacher, was a civic leader with great ideas to start with, 
but he lost track of what it is to be Christian and the attention was 
diverted to himself and his followers were the victims of his selfish desire 
to rule and control . The same with David Koresh, and most recently Marshal 
Applewhite.  There are also perpetual cults (meaning they keep re-emerging) 
They are cults because they base their teaching not on the bible but on individuals 
visions and misquoted "prophecies" 
 
	Cults exist in the eastern culture as well and is the cause of many of the 
problems in the Middle East in the form of fanatic behavior with leaders that 
demand and get loyalty beyond the usual and expected human behavior, like 
killing or ultimately dying for the cause the leaders advocate. 
 
	When the cult fails to achieve its goal which are for the most part gaining 
more following and more wealth, the leaders start to talk about being 
persecuted and being misunderstood. Then they go one of two destructive ways: 
either kill others or kill self (commit suicide) as an ultimate act. This is 
what happened with Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Marshal Applewhite. 
 
	One can easily see that these groups are not true Christians, because if 
they were: 
 
1. They would bring glory to Christ instead of shamming him, 
 
2.  They would not go underground, or to remote places, 
 
3.  They would not try to separate young people from family and old friends, 
 
4.  They would not separate themselves from organized worship, 
 
6.  They would not commit suicide, because suicide is the ultimate sin. 
 
	Suicide is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of God which is not forgiven. 
We know that Judas Iscariot blasphemed (sinned) against the Holy Spirit by 
hanging himself. As we said before, have Judas Iscariot repented and asked 
forgiveness, he would have been granted forgiveness exactly like Peter. But 
unfortunately, he chose to not repent and defied the teachings of Christ by 
hanging himself. God is ready and waiting to forgive, but we have to take the 
initiative by repenting. This is because we are free, and have free will and 
God will not dictate on us what to do. 
 
	So, why these cultists continue to emerge, many reasons: 
 
1. No doubt, the initial intentions are good, to lead others to a better way. 
Many of us are searching for a better way and for that reason we are all 
vulnerable to at least listen when someone talks about a better way. But the 
best way to gain that better situation is through the Bible, through the 
teachings and practices of the Church and not through joining secret 
organizations, but by being open and public as the word of Christ indicate: 
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in 
and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to 
kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they 
might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd 
giveth his life for the sheep." (John 10:9-11) 
 
2.  Some cult leaders are people ,with good qualities such as love, care, and 
charismatic leadership. This makes people attract to them, want to hear them, 
want to be like them, want to associate with them. But, those leaders are 
themselves deeply troubled inside. They are not achieving what they are 
aiming for, so they bring more people to help with their achieving their 
goals. I can understand it if the goal is good. But the goal is not good. 
They want to glorify themselves, or bring glory to God not according to his 
conditions but according to their conditions. 
That is what is wrong, terribly wrong. 
 
3. The cult leaders do have wrong understanding of difficult verses in the 
scripture, in particular prophecies related to the second coming and the end 
of the world. St. Peter spoke about that saying: "And account that the 
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also 
according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all 
his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard 
to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they 
do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, 
beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led 
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness." (II 
 Peter 3:15-17). 
 
4. Even more troubling is the wrong interpretations of the prophecies of 
Books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John the Divine. Our 
Church has a wealth of interpretations of these prophecies according to our 
Orthodox faith, also other main stream Churches Orthodox, Catholic and 
Protestants have also good interpretations. The key to interpreting the 
prophecy are as follows: 
 
	1. The Lord said: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour 
wherein the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 25:13) which tells us clearly that 
interpretations that try to fix a time or a date are wrong. For example, 
Jehovah witnesses set a date in 1906 and built a tower in New York State, 
called the watch tower. It did not happen then. But, we know that the time is 
getting nearer every day. So, what we do, we watch carefully every hour and 
every day in our life as if it is the last hour or the last day. 
 
	2.  Fixing events can also be deceiving, because all prophecy has hidden 
meanings and mysteries more often than not is written in difficult to 
understand language. The Church gives us the best explanations, but even 
these are not specific, otherwise prophecy is not prophecy and hidden 
mysteries are hidden no more, and the time is not yet for the revelation of 
all things. Listen to what Christ said to the disciples: "But of that day and 
that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the 
Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the 
time is." (Mark 13:32-33) 
 
	3. Also, even if the time of the end is revealed, and this is not the case, 
we ought not take matters into our own hands like these failed cults are 
doing. We have to wait and watch with great anticipation the great day of the 
Lord because He will come on the clouds all eyes will see him: "Behold, he 
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced 
him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." 
(Revelation 1:7). His second coming will be very public, every eye will see 
him. So the idea of tying UFOs to the supernatural is extremely foreign to 
Christianity, because the coming of the Lord will be very public, everyone 
will see him. 
 
	4. Also, the second coming is tied to events that have not taken place yet. 
The coming of the false prophet and the anti-Christ has not happened. the 
return of Enoch and Eliah has not taken place yet. The battle of Armageddon 
has not taken place yet. Will they happen, I believe yes and in due time.  
 
	Finally, be careful, be vigilant, and do not be deceived by anyone who tells 
you that they have special knowledge concerning your life, your eternity. The 
Church has for us all what we need to armor ourselves, and be prepared for 
the world to come. Especially, if anyone is interested in controlling you, or 
separating you from your family, and friends. This person is out to control 
and after they control, they destroy because they are like their father the 
devil, the liar and the father of the liar. A final word of caution, some of 
the tactics used are slow and methodical, so if there is a suspicious 
situation, be suspicious and be careful not to fall in the snare of the devil. 
 
 
	If you are troubled or even slightly disturbed about a situation, 
do like what we were taught, talk to your priest, talk to your Sunday School 
teacher, talk to a good trusted friends, or talk to your parents if you have that 
kind of close relation with them. Any of the mentioned can and will 
give you much better advice. Two wrongs do not make right, so do not correct a  
problem by making a new one. Also do not forget to pray and fast for situations  
and problems, because God hears our prayers and accepts our fastings when they  
are from a repentant heart. 
  
	May our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ protect us all and keep us all 
until He comes again in His Glory and the Glory of His  Father. To Him be 
Glory Always Now and Forever. Amen. 
 
 
William Hanna 
St. Louis, Missouri