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Want to keep your deception alive? Take your lead from the world’s largest, most established cults. A ‘cult’ BTW, is different from a religion—we can talk about those another time. But a cult actually begins with a little bit of truth—truth from the Word of God (The Bible). After taking this little piece of truth they either chip away at it or pile on top of it to form something completely new, different, unorthodox—and entirely false too.
Example:
“Jesus is good and holy”
Well, that’s true. Can’t argue with that. So far so good.
“…but he;s not God.”
Oops, that’s heresy and the beginnings of false teaching via the ‘chip away’ method. Let’s try it again.
“Jesus, the Holly Spirit and the Father are separate but equal. They are all God.”
That’s true. But what about adding the following?
“Jesus, the Holly Spirit and the Father, and my cousin Vinnie, next door neighbor, Ralph and my pet raccoon are all God.”
Oops, oops! That one is worthy of at least a double oops. That one is also an example (albeit a cheesy one) of piling on to God’s truth what isn’t intended—and isn’t there. Either way (chipping away or piling on) the result is heresy.
So here’s the question…How in the world do Cult leaders and false teachers keep their followers from discovering the truth? Well, it’s something they do on the front end—they make you feel privileged and honored to have been let in on their supposed ‘special revelation,’ and then quickly add that it would be the worst kind of sin imaginable to take such a special favor of God for granted.
Now here’s how you complete the deception protection. You tell all your followers not to talk to anyone who disagrees with your own take on things.
It’s that simple.
Oh, if you want to add spice to it—a little teeth to the threat—all you need to do is add some, ‘consequences.’
- You will be ostracized from family and friends.
- You will be slandered.
- You will be intimidated.
- You will be marginalized.
- You will be discredited.
- You could be sued.
- You could be beaten.
- You could be imprisoned.
- You could even be killed.
Fairly scary list, huh?
Sure it is. That’s why so many people never leave cults—they’re too intimidated. So what’s the way out?
I’ll tell you tomorrow.