By Joel L (Western Australia)
Not so long ago I managed to escape from a large and very powerful cult. I was born into this cult so grew up not knowing any better but still the hold it had over me was strong and my parents and siblings are still part of it.
There were strict rules about who I should and shouldn’t marry, there were clear rules about what I should and shouldn’t do on any given day. We would attend ‘Prayer Meetings’ where one of the church leaders would share interpretations from the bible and implore us to ‘be better people’ (and give money of course). The church leader would be positioned as the one that understood ‘the word’ and would interpret it for us (only males were allowed to have this role).
There was a subtle code of hierarchy and power, with people vying to be part of administrative roles to have greater influence in the community. We weren’t a gated community, but many of us played sports and socialised together, convinced that the world was out to get us.
My break away started when I met my wife, who was not part of this cult. I was clearly told of the harm and shame I would bring to the family, and my wife was told by the church elders that she would be going to hell based on the cult she had grown up with.
At one point I had even convinced her to convert, until we realised we were only doing it for other people’s approval.
The cult I grew up in… is one of the four mainstream religions.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Joel this is a powerful article exposing the ‘cult’ like behaviour of so many mainstream Religions.
Very poignant and pertinent Joel.
Great sharing Joel- when something gives us true freedom from within we are told its a ‘cult’ because others may find it challenging that we have stepped into something where we are more free to choose.
Good point Joel the mainstream religions have very cultish behaviour, which seems to be seldom questioned.
Yes JL, I was brought up in a similar cult although I am thinking perhaps it is the same cult as your wife came from. “going to hell” was always the big threat in this particular cult, particularly if you were to disobey the rules that kept you separate from ‘the others’. This cult believed it was superior to the others as it was the only true religion; so convinced was it that over the centuries it killed, maimed and tortured all those who dared to think otherwise.
I have always associated cults with some kind of doctrine or dogma where people were controlled in some form to comply … so it makes sense that mainstream religions could be classified as such. A fascinating read from someone who can speak from the authority of having lived under that control.
Normal’s only criteria is that enough people are practising the same behaviours so it becomes common practice. So no one questions the status quo and plays balls with the rules.
There is so much more to being normal than just fitting in.
I very much like how you did put this in words Rachel – that “we don’t even realize how we have them normalized.” This makes clear the power we have here. WE are the ones who have normalized something that is not ‘normal’ at all in a true sense. But why, is the question. We have come so far from truth in our daily live that it is sometimes hard to see all through this lies and illusions we created. But to take the responsibility again about this creations is a good start to get a better, wider view. …Even it may be very confronting and alarming what we will see and become aware off – it is also empowering us again in a conscious way.
It is funny how the way we live as ‘normal’ does look like when you choose another perspective…but when I think about it – it is not so funny, but sad and alarming. The way we choose to look at things, life and people is powerful and the question arise: do we use this power careful and in integrity – or not?
There are many ways mainstream society could be labelled a cult because many of the things we do are so so strange and hurts us in so many ways, but still we seem to abide by it. In the country I was born in you are automatically a member of the protestant church, but no one asked me if I wanted to join nor was I asked if I shared their view of life, which I later realised I didn’t, in fact I grew a mistrust of God, the word God because of how they spoke of him. Now later on in life I can speak more freely about God knowing that it’s natural and it’s been part of me since I grew up, and what I also realised was that the feeling of being held was me being in connection with the field of God so it was then strange hearing about a God that was grander that I was when I was feeling as grand as I was.
JL how great that you and your wife allowed yourselves to feel the imposition of this type of religion and that you both chose to escape this “cult”. The thing is often most of us are not aware of these kind of impositions anymore as they become a very normal part of how we live and see the world. Thank you for exposing it.
This is a great expose of the obvious so called acceptable ‘cults’ in our society and the hold they have on us if we choose to give our power away to them. So good to hear that you escaped JL. . .
It’s so true that there are so so many cults out there in the world and humanity aren’t even willing to admit it. Some cultural groups even behave in cult like ways, dictating what religion one must be aligned to, that you must marry within your culture and that there is a certain way to dress and behave. It’s rather ridiculous that Universal Medicine has been labelled a cult, because for me they are the only organisation out there who is saying let go of all the beliefs, ideals and impositions of how you need to be or who you need to be and truly be yourself. I have never been in a group of such diverse people.
It’s quite remarkable how we’ve logged our idea of a cult as being about a relatively small group and have completely bypassed those areas in our society where cults on a grand scale are so embedded that we’ve stopped discerning and questioning the truth of things. Just because something’s big and mainstream doesn’t automatically make it genuine or true.
Ha! So true! “Just because something’s big and mainstream doesn’t automatically make it genuine or true.” – reminds me strongly how we use the word ‘normal’. We use it for what many of us do and live – but a lot of it I can not call ‘normal’ at all in a true sense!
So true, the rules, dogma and isolating beliefs of the main religions are a suffocating cult. I too have freed myself of the restrictions and mindset of an established religious group. The Way of the Livingness is the religion of love in every choice and the way you live, there are no rules, dogma and love is the essence of all humanity.
I picked up on your line of thought as soon as I started reading your blog JL. We should assess all aspects of our lives even the ones that have been there since the day we have been born, as these are the most insidious ones.
A great punchline that turns the whole debate about what is a cult on its head. Isn’t it time we took the blinkers off our world and viewed the truth of things, especially in relation to organised religion? Universal Medicine carries no expectation of others, no rules or requirements. Just a willingness to discern your very own truth, to feel it and to know it.
It would not surprise many people JL that some of the mainstream religions could be classed as cults, the more I know what a cult is the more I know Universal Medicine is NOT one!
I absolutely agree Roslyn. When you consider all the rules and regulations of the mainstream religions and how they attempt to indoctrinate people to their way of thinking they do feel very cult like. Universal Medicine on the other hand has failed completely at being a cult because of its’ lack of rules and the fact that you are allowed to disagree or not with – and are actually encouraged to discern for yourself – whether what is being presented is true or not.
Wow, JL, when you said the cult is one of the four mainstream religions it made me ponder on the catholic religion I grew up with, and the control it has on you- telling you what you can or can’t do, in the name of good; about birth control- anti contraception and antiabortion and sexual preferences- anti same sex marriages.
Woman are not allowed to become a priest.
If you choose to marry someone who is not Catholic, and not baptised, they will not marry you. But if your partner has been baptised e.g. Greek orthodox you can get married but not receive communion (Holy bread).
If you lie or are disobedient to your parents or church rules, or miss church on a Sunday you have sinned, and must go to confession, otherwise you cannot receive communion.
Um….Sounds very similar to what you have described JL.
Wow, goes to show cults are alive and well in our society not hidden away in some remote location. Cults are about control and making the members as powerless as possible it’s certainly not based on the love, salvation and freedom they profess to be. We do have a choice to take our power back which you did JL, amazing and thanks for sharing.
Oh gosh, I just realised I grew up as part of a major cult too, but I must say I knew all along it just didn’t feel right on so many levels.
Great Blog JL. “A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister” by this definition the school yard bully that grows and becomes the boss is no longer the bully just a hard to live with person that is in charge. Perspectives change when you are the one standing on top of the hill looking down.
Powerful blog JL.
It is astonishing that what we accept as mainstream religion is in fact so controlling, so limiting, and so unloving. Well done, JL, for seeing through and getting out of it.
Wooo, what a surprise at the end of the article! It seems I have been growing up in the same cult, not being aware of it.
Thank you JL for sharing your story, I know only to well what you are talking about.
Wonderful blog JL. Very exposing and beautifully expressed. Thanks
This blog makes a very important point: the word ‘cult’ cannot be separated from the word ‘religion’. As such, what sense does it make to use it? To me, none. It does not bring much to the table. Using it is to play ball with the fact that there is legitimate religions and other ones and to feed (literally) a legion of characters associated with the more than dubious anti-cult industry. So, why don’t we stop using the word cult and stick to the word religion? It has much more truth to offer.
What you share is so true, thank you!
Great article JL. I have been associated with Universal Medicine for 12 years and have never experienced anything even slightly resembling that, so I was reading it thinking how awful it must be to be in a real cult and have those restrictions in your life and that control imposed upon you… yet never stopping to consider that this was a mainstream religion! Wow. I am speechless. Thank you for sharing this.
This is a very revealing blog and a great summary of a mainstream religion. wonderfully expressed, JL.
Wow – this is fantastic. I agree many mainstream religions are incredibly cult-like. It’s absolutely nuts what we come to accept as normal, I remember visits to the church as a child and being told what I should and shouldn’t do, think, say and feel, as a child we come to accept it, but as an adult we know this clearly isn’t right.
Thank you for sharing JL, it is fascinating how we can grow up contained in a bubble, making that our reality and allowing what we see to be tainted by the judgements and perceptions we are brought up with instead of seeing the reality of what is going on both in the world and around us.