Video from BBC News Night
QAnon: The conspiracy theory spreading fake news - BBC Newsnight
The cycles of history in a world filled with sinful and evil people is evident. God has made it clear He is providential over all things, even the fall of a sparrow.
“Satan” or Lucifer is the Father of Lies. He was the first creature to rebel and sin against God. After his expulsion from heaven, he and the many other angelic creatures that chose to rebel with him were formed into a groups or cult. Never thought of the Satanic forces as a cult before? Read though the list below and see how it lines up with what Satan’s followers both Angelic and Human believe.
One way that the devil devours our relationship with God and with one another is by tricking us into believing that what is right and wrong is relative.
The Satanic Panic back in the 1980’s was notable:
“While games like Dungeons and Dragons and music by Judas Priest were seen as gateways to Satanism, in the 1980s people across the country were incensed with the idea that a system of Satanic ritual abuse was occurring throughout the Daycare centers of America. At the time there was a kind of passive aggressive backlash against day care from the Christian church. These places were seen as a mitigating factor in the dissolution of the nuclear family. They allowed women to enter the workforce full steam ahead; suddenly strangers were raising our children.
The tide turned against the day care system in 1983 when a parent accused staff members at the McMartin pre-school in Manhattan Beach, California, of abusing their child. An investigation was put underway by local police officers with zero training in handling children or abuse victims, and they brought in an unlicensed psychotherapist named Kee MacFarlane. Macfarlane and two unlicensed assistants carried out an investigation that made of use “anatomically correct” dolls, leading questions, and praise for outlandish statements.” From the article: 'Satanic Panic!' A Brief History Of How And Why The Whole Thing Started
No doubt very few people who are under the control of a “Cult” like Qanon or “Trump” or “Scientology” etc. will not be reading anything that goes against their obsession. We can only hope and pray that someone who is being sucked into the false beliefs will read this and pray for deliverance and walk away from it.
First of all, “Christianity”, Healthy Christianity is not a cult.
“The Christian faith is based on the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and Jesus wants us to live free. Healthy Christianity is all about the Gospel, and the fact that Jesus came to give us true life through Him.
Society is searching for true freedom yet doesn’t realize that it is found in Jesus. Society needs you and I to be an example of true freedom and to point people to the freedom giver.
In his book Combatting Cult Mind Control, Author Steven Hassan puts forward his B.I.T.E. model, which is an acronym that describes four key characteristics that cults employ. GotQuestions.com summaries:
Behavior Control: An individual’s associations, living arrangements, food, clothing, sleeping habits, finances, etc., are strictly controlled.
Information Control: Cult leaders deliberately withhold or distort information, lie, propagandize, and limit access to other sources of information.
Thought Control: Cult leaders use loaded words and language, discourage critical thinking, bar any speech critical of cult leaders or policies, and teach an “us vs. them” doctrine.
Emotional Control: Leaders manipulate their followers via fear (including the fear of losing salvation, fear of shunning, etc.), guilt, and indoctrination.”
So, if healthy Christianity is not a cult, what are its characteristics?
The Gospel seeks to:
Focus on the heart rather than behavior. Christ removes the burden of the law, and the cycle of guilt and shame that comes with it. We’re accepted and loved by Jesus through a living grace-filled relationship, not through obeying rules.
Cultivate honesty and knowledge. The Bible is full of exhortations to gain knowledge, understanding and wisdom (both natural and God inspired). No subject is taboo, and no book prohibited from reading. While not all subjects of learning may be beneficial, nothing is off limits.
Encourage open discussion and free thought. Christians must have their own personal revelation of Jesus as the truth through their relationship with Him, rather than believing in a set of prescribed doctrines. While good doctrine is vital, the Gospel is powerful because it’s realized through open discussion and personal revelation, rather than propaganda.
Emotionally emancipate people. Jesus removes the tyranny of fear, guilt and condemnation through God’s grace, and motivates though relationship with God and people based on unconditional love, encouragement and joy.
When we communicate the Gospel, it’s important that our efforts result in people and communities that embody these points. If we want to see the Gospel produce good fruit in people’s lives, our challenge is to trust that God will do the good work in people’s lives.” From the article: Is Christianity a Cult?
“Trumpism exhibits characteristics that serve as identifying markers of a cult. These include:
A strong authoritarian leader.
Followers exhibiting unquestioning loyalty to the authoritarian leader.
The group maintains a strong us-versus-them mentality.
The group adopts views that run counter to objective fact and scientific scrutiny.
The lies and alternate reality are repeated so often and so loudly that mental blocks are put up by followers who double down.
Shame is used to keep people loyal and in line, and dissent is ridiculed.
The leader is not accountable to anyone.
Group loyalty divides families and causes adherents to cut off lifelong relationships.
Another thing my evangelical upbringing taught me is that when religious leaders in the Gospels fell prey to idolatry for the sake of political power, Jesus had no qualms about offering clear moral denunciation of rife hypocrisy and corruption. That kind of thing, as it turns out, can get a rabi crucified.
How long before the cult of political power erodes the faith and witness of evangelicals to the point where clear worship of Christ has ended and a new thing has formed altogether? Evangelical public witness already is a shell of its former self. How much longer until the final breath?”
It’s ironic that the very people who feel they have the solution to America’s decline are actually part of the decline itself.
Video from CNN
Cults like Qanon, KKK etc. are dangerous and have the potential for violence. Take note as our culture spirals more and more out of control with Daily Mass shootings etc., a government who is indifferent to these horrors and mainly concerned about serving their “Master” many other things will breakdown.
As healthy Christians we must be sober minded. How? Pray, confess your sins, repent and ask Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit for clarity and wisdom. Read scripture and stay away from the media and all its delusions and rabbit holes.
Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan (link)
Want help? Cult-escape.com
Cult Escape: Inspiring courage and hope for anyone seeking freedom from religious control.