Religion is a part of humanity that all of us believe in but in different ways. whether it be Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism all religions have the same accord when it comes to the belief system. In religion, we do believe in a greater being that watches over us and is the reason for our existence while giving us our daily needs.
With religion comes an opposite to it that is cults. Cults are an ideology or excessive practice of devotion to a certain person or object. This type of cult devotional teachings by cult leaders mostly have tragic endings such as suicide or human sacrifice.
A notion spread by most cults is the end of the world, a doctrine taught to most of its congregation to create fear and dependency. This always leads to the members secluding themselves and disconnecting from reality.
With stories of cultic practices appearing such as the Shakahola story in the country, a line that differentiates cults and religion is required. Most of these cultic practices always start from a religious point with doctrines from religious books such as the bible.
The level of brainwashing that happens is surprising, believing that an individual can lead others to the point of seclusion from everything like family and civilization due to religious belief is shocking.
Individuals join cults due to different reasons with others not even being in realization of what they are getting themselves into. Yearning to belong or be accepted by people is one of the reasons one could end up joining a cult. With religious cults, a pattern of togetherness has been seen.
The Shakahola case showcased how individuals left their homes to stay in a forest and starve to death in the name of going to heaven.
Companionship is something we always want for ourselves, having someone to walk through life with makes us happy. With the sense of the world ending that is preached by cult leaders, companionship is something that is present in these cults due to them living in a community. This always attracts people who feel alone.
The sense of family that cults offer also attracts individuals to join. For a large number of people, the simple belief that the teachings of the cult are real and right is what makes them faithful to the doctrine. A conspiracy theory is what I use to explain cults to people.
Many theories go around but the presence of them does not equate to them being true. That is the same for cults just because they exist does not mean their teachings are real or have any truth to them.
The understanding that religion can be weaponized against us by individuals is needed. Walking in blind faith will have you dedicating yourself and giving out your life to a cause that you can not explain.
A major way of escaping and avoiding cults is by maintaining contact with people such as family outside the cult. This will enable them to point out red flags of the religion, that are not visible to you.
Always make sure to raise questions about things and situations you find alarming, this will save you the trouble and trauma attached to cults.
Religion is a beautiful thing that grounds us and keeps us going. The belief that God is leading our path always enables us to relax during a state of worry. Consciousness is needed because even the most beautiful things could turn ugly when placed in the wrong hands.
