Religious Cults

Masons are members of one of the oldest fraternities in the world. In order to attain full membership, an applicant must receive a series of degrees, which are given separately as a part of an...

Tammuz refers to the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar. The name Tammuz derives from the ancient Mesopotamian god of agriculture and fertility, who descended to the underworld and returned to...

One person's alternative religious belief is another person's cult. However, dangers and snares abound for people seeking to enlighten themselves spiritually. Nearly all cults strive to present a...

Spiritual celebrations are an important part of Orthodox religion, and one of the most important is the baptism. It uses holy water to initiate a person into the Christian church and to cleanse...

Cult leader Jim Jones created Jonestown in the South American country of Guyana for the members of the People's Temple. In November 1978, Jones and more than 900 of his followers committed mass...

The differences between a recognized religion and a cult can be very subtle. Author Michael Shermer lists basic qualities that define a religious cult, as well as the reasons they are so dangerous.

Voodoo has been much abused by Hollywood to the point where many people have a complete misunderstanding of it. For one thing, voodoo is actually a mixture of West African rituals with Roman...

So, you're a young man or woman, perhaps just out of high school. You tried and tried, but you just couldn't accept that the Jehovah's Witnesses were the TRUTH. Your parents are both fully active,...

The Waco siege and the Branch Davidian mass suicide of 1993 have entered the realm of myth and conspiracy theory. Some believe that there was no mass suicide, and that the deaths of the followers...

It's generally believed that when Jesus was crucified, he was nailed to the cross. Nail crosses are catching on among Christians because they provide a stylish, modern way to show your faith and...

"To me, death is not a fearful thing. It's living that's cursed." These are the words of religious leader Jim Jones, who encouraged hundreds of his followers to drink poison in a tragic mass...

College cults prey on students who are lonely and homesick, or who have problems adjusting to life on campus. These groups exist in larger cities where they have more opportunities to lure in...

What happens in a cult with "sisters"? A better term would be sister-wife. Right now, the largest group that uses that classification would be the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, an extremist...

Animal shelters are where people take pets that they can no longer care for. They also take in homeless animals that are found wandering in the streets. For cute little puppies and kittens, an...

Many of us have seen stories of people joining cults, and we think that could never be us. But many cult members have probably said the same thing. Most cults have a religious affiliation, but...

Watchman Nee was a self-proclaimed Christian visionary who authored many books and formed churches in China during the early 1900s. For the last two decades of his life, he was imprisoned for his...

Cults are groups of people that follow an often messianic leader. The followers often give up individual rights in order to conform to the leader's policies and dictates. One of the common traits...

The Branch Davidians and other religious cults begin by targeting people that are most likely to join their ranks. Often this means individuals that are vulnerable due to weak social support...

The polytheistic, multi-national Roman Empire was filled with religious practices that were thought both strange and foreign by contemporaries. However, in the context of the ancient world, the...

The Branch Davidians are a faction of the Seventh Day Adventist church, originally breaking from the traditional church over allegations that the teachings were too lax. Branch Davidian teachings...

The Branch Davidians were a Christian group that split from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They had a long history that ultimately led to the splinter group in Waco, Texas, led by David...

Are there cults that wear long black robes, either on an everyday basis or in their ceremonies? A look into the world of cults shows that the vast majority of these organizations do not wear long...

Cults can be scary, mind-numbing places and you probably want to go out of your way not to associate with them. But they can also be tricky. Cult members will sweet talk and manipulate to bring in...

Cults have a bad name. Often justifiably. All too often people involved in cults believe they’ve not only found their souls but saved them as well. History is written by the victors, it is said,...

Most people who find themselves tangled in the ideas and beliefs of a religious cult had no intention of joining a cult. These people are often looking for acceptance, but end up with the wrong...

Deprogramming of religious cult members is a controversial topic, primarily because it is often done without the consent of the cult member. Families of cult members often resort to kidnapping...