Cult-like behavior (read, religion) is one of humankind’s oldest preoccupations. Whether centered on God, gods, aliens, or energy forces, people have always been willing to believe and subsequently sacrifice for what they believe in. Here are a few of the strangest yet on record:
1. Heaven’s Gate
A monastical, secretive society, dedicated to the belief that the Planet Earth was on the verge of recycling itself, and therefore it was important to evacuate it as soon as possible. Based on leader Marshall Applewhite’s near death experience, and his attending nurse’s instability, the cult began searching for ways to disconnect from or to leave Earth, including “hating this world, even our flesh body”, selling all worldly possessions, castration of males, and most famously, leaving on a spaceship trailing comet Halle-Bop. Well known (and criticized) among UFO groups, Heaven’s Gate was propelled to infamy in 1997, when thirty nine members committed mass suicide, in attempt to jump on a spaceship that Applewhite alleged was following the comet. Apparently, the UFO would pick up the kamikaze souls, and take them to another level of existence. To prepare, the group allegedly first completed a citrus cleanse of the impurities in the body, and then ingested a cocktail of applesauce or pudding, phenobarbital, and a vodka chaser, then tied plastic bags around their heads to induce asphyxiation. The thirty nine were found on March 26, 1997, in matching black sweatsuits, brand new matching Nikes (in case they were running a little late?), with five dollars in quarters and a purple armband reading “Heaven’s Gate Away Team.”
2. Mormonism
It’s almost impossible to leave the state of Utah without seeing one of the enormous temples, or to turn on the television on Sunday mornings without being offered a Bible from the Church of Latter Day Saints, Masquerading under a guise of only mild delusion, the reality of this religion is a little less beneficent. Focused on a God who came from another planet, and now lives in heaven with his goddess wife, continuously birthing all souls, the first of which was Jesus and the second the devil, Mormonism began in the 1820 with founder Joseph Smith Jr.’s writing of the Book of Mormon. Ignoring the evolution of Christian doctrine, Mormonism retreats back to primitive Christian beliefs, considering other factions as corrupted from the real ‘truth”. Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers, who both proposed a plan for saving humanity. Jesus won out, but was unable to completely cleanse all sins, so it is still necessary to prove yourself to get into heaven, Each member of the church is given a special piece of underwear, a “garment” that he or she must wear at all times, representing the “religious conviction” of the wearer. The church leaders are considered as receiving direct communication from God (which comes in handy when LDS philosophy becomes outmoded, such as the outlawing of polygamy in the late 19th century and the admission of African American members in 1978). All people carry a memory of everything they have ever done in their bodies, and this will be used by God to judge which level of heaven they will enter. Each male member may eventually, through “good” behavior, such as tithing, not drinking coffee or alcohol, not eating a lot of chicken, and having a bunch of babies, become a god himself. Women are allowed the dubious honor of bearing their husband’s spirit children forever.
3. Breatharianism
lthough general medicine, common sense, etc. would generally place people who don’t eat within the confines of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, Breatharians are led to depriving themselves of food by “spirituality”. Led by Jasmuheen (aka Ellen Greve), a housewife with a refrigerator loaded to the gills (for her husband, of course), and Wiley Brooks, a man who could lift ten times his body weight in 1980 (shown on the TV show “That’s Incredible!”), the Breatharians believe that a person can “live on light”–eating nothing but air, and allowing the divine to feed them, using chi, prana, or energy from sunlight, depending on the extent of immersion in New Age mumbo jumbo the individual Breatharian is. Eventually, your body turns into your “light body” in a miraculous ascension to a divine plain–Jasmuheen claims to have stretched her DNA from a mere 2 strands to a whopping 12 to absorb more hydrogen–although she refused to undergo genetic testing to prove this miraculous development. Breatharians quickly go on to clarify that they eat because they want to, not because they have to. Of course! This explains Jasmuheen’s full fridge, and the 1983 sighting of Wiley Brooks exiting a gas station with a Slurpee, hot dog, and Twinkies (because his environment is so full of junk, he also must fill himself with junk–this also from the guy who thinks Diet Coke is “liquid light”). Jasmuheen, in a 60 Minutes interview in 1999, stated, of the practice: “I don’t advocate it–in fact I’ve spent three years traveling the world telling people that it’s completely unnecessary.” Jasmuheen’s beliefs were put to the test, and she attempted to prove her beliefs to the world. She was put in a hotel room, under guard, for four days, at the end of which she was extremely dehydrated, and headed towards kidney failure. Yet, these travels have racked up, as she goes on to claim, about a hundred million supporters, and over 6000 active participants in her own personal plan. The 60 Minutes interview goes on to quote Dr. David Millikins, who put the point quite bluntly: “If people believe it, then they’re going to die”. Unfortunately, this is too true, with at least three documented deaths reported thus far.
4. Dionysian Mysteries
Who would have thought that a cult could arise out of a group of women waking up and thinking : “I was so wasted last night…what happened?” The cults of Dionysus, cloaked in mystery due to their secretive nature, and mostly comprised of women members, did just that. Attaching the god of wine to their drunken escapades, the Ancient Greeks formed an astonishingly bizarre set of ritualistic, orgiastic practices to hide their burgeoning alcoholism. Essentially, these Dionysians would drink themself into a stupor (“trance” or “spirit possession”) and proceed to really get wild, engaging in group sex and role playing. They also were initial proponents of metempsychosis, the transmigration of souls from body to body, during their group sessions. The bestial possession of their bodies by the spirit of Dionysus supposedly caused their wanton behaviors. Comprised of secret and public rites, the Dionysians made a religion out of their debauchery (literally–the word derives from the Roman name for Dionysus, Bacchus). A.E. Waite, in the New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, writes of the alleged rituals of the cult:
“Whatsoever may have remained to represent the original intent of the rites, regarded as Rites of Initiation, the externalities and practice of the Festivals were orgies of wine and sex: there was every kind of drunkenness and every aberration of sex, the one leading up to the other. Over all reigned the Phallus, which – in its symbolism a rebours – represented post ejaculation the death-state of Bacchus, the god of pleasure, and his resurrection when it was in forma errecta. Of such was the sorrow and of such the joy of these Mysteries.”
Author: Alexandra Wayson Copyrighted © paranormalhaze.com
The mocking commentary on Mormonism couldn’t have been written better than by Michael Moore himself. I’m a practicing Mormon convert who was raised an atheist. I’m quite well read with all the Mormon “standard works” including the KJV of the Bible. I can come to no other conclusion than the BOM is what it says it is. I’m perfectly fine with others coming to totally different “rational” conclusions. It’s kind of a color blind test to determine if your an a**hole or not.
Cult- The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
So….. pretty much every religion is a cult then huh? Weird.
So why is Christianity not on this list? Worshiping a Jewish zombie is not crazy?
bah, cult number 3 is banned in my fanfiction. Members are immediately shot. DON'T FALL FOR IT PEOPLE DON'T FALL FOR IT D:<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,
i am definately appaled at this, i am a practicing mormon and most of what you listed under your mormon cult listing, is false. if you are going to list someone’s beliefs as a cult, please, at least get them right. try mormon.org for the real facts
Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and knowing that as a family we can be together forever…who could ask for anything more? Sharing this message with others brings so much joy!
The Breatharians one is ridiculous. I would imagine that starving to death is a fairly slow and painfully obvious process, how to people continue to believe until the point of death?
Bizzare.
Where is Scientology and Christianity?
3 Deaths for Breatharianism[seriously that's very small number], isn't there an old man who supposedly hasn't eaten for 70years.[or something]
Why isn't Aum Shinrikyo on there, it's an Apocalyptic cult, they pretty much want to recreate a doomsday and those who survive this dooms day are considered blessed. To jog your memory think 1995, Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo.
Being an LDS member myself, mormon, if you couldnt figure that out, this is a bunch of BS. so knowing that what is documented here on mormonism i can come to no other conclusion but to say that the others, are also BS. and you're also a moron.
their god didn't come from a different planet, they came from a different dimension, DA.
DUMBASS!
I'll bet it looks odd that you keep getting comments at the same time, seeing as your last comment was 3 weeks ago. i can assure you, it is NOT the same person, ie. me. LOL
john+justin=jomanthia, a gay love child.
When you get right down to it all religons are by defnition, cults. “Mormons” worship the same god as the rest of Christianity, so where did this false notion of worshiping a “god from another planet” come from? Sounds like rumor Satens minions want spread.
You lie.
On the Mormonism front…your report is really quite good and well thought out…if you (the author) ARE A FOURTH GRADER!!! Sorry, but you have some homework to do!
HAHAHAHA that commentary on mormonism is ridiculous. The writer of this article must be completely clueless. I don't know much about those other “cults” discussed in the article, but i can't believe there's much, if any truth behind them since the one on mormonism was SOO far off that it's truly laughable. If the writer of this article feels comfortable publishing such off base, ignorant, and completely wrong information as “fact” they don't deserve to be writing anything. (except maybe in the most absurd of tabloids)
Mormons a Cult, You people are out of your minds. Grow up for once.
all these r bs
Why is islam not on the list. Did you not know the Kabba was a pagan temple filled with 360 idols before Muhammad came in and tricked the quresh pagans into forfitting thier pagan rituals and beliefs. He smashed 359 idols leaving just one can you guess who. He is actually a rock or moon god who shared status with his daughters allat, minat and al-uzah. Allat notice is the feminine version of the name.
Christianity is not a cult, mainstream Christianity is in line with the teachings of Jusus, but over the years many false prophets and teachers have led many onto strange and remote ideology such as mormonism, Jehovah's witness and nostacism based on the the nostic gospel which is fabricated such as the account of jubilees.
Judaism without question is not a cult. Look how long they have been around the only independently existing tribe, culture, ethnicity, religion since the world was formed.
The reality is the truth you know will set you free, dont be afraid to question things. In the Bible it is wriiten that when one person comes to give an account or evidence his seems right until another comes later to question that account or evidence. this is found in the book of Proverbs in the old testament.
…Yeah, I'm just gonna keep number 4 away from my Uncle.
After reading what it says about Mormons, it is hard to believe anything else. First of all, Jesus and Lucifer did not come up with a plan, it was Heavenly Father, and they both said they would go but Lucifer was rejected because he wanted to take away our agency and thus force us to obey God. Secondly, not all Mormons are given a garment to wear, you have to be worthy of it. Third, blacks have always been allowed in the church but were not able to have the priesthood. The Book of Mormon even states that in Christ there is neither black or white. Get your facts right when you write this stuff because some people might actually believe it. By the way, what is your religion? Satanism???
As a Lds member (morning) I can state that members of the Church are very normal people and well educates. In fact , BYU graduates (a Mormon University) has more graduates that receive their PHDs than any other University. As far as the comments in this article, some are false, and all are out of context. If you want to learn about Judiasm, speak to a Jew. If you want to learn what it is like to skydive, speak to someone who has done it more than once (not just the outsider who stands and the ground and calls him crazy). If you want to learn about Mormanism, don't just google it or get hour info from an obscure blog, ask a member of the Mormon faith.
you left out the Seventh Day Adventest Church
He wasn't just a “zombie.” Jesus Christ performed amazing works through God, and rising from the dead is one of them. Don't say stuff like that which can so easily be argumentive, you stupid troll. ;P
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتبَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُ عِوَجَا
1. Praise be to Allah, who hath sent to His servant the and hath allowed therein no Crookedness:
fuck that shit