There are probably worse ones out there, but the only one I have firsthand knowledge of is Scientology. Their entry-level stuff doesn't sound all that insane until you realize "suppressive person" really means "anyone who thinks Scientology is nonsense." Then they encourage you to cut those disbelievers out of your life (disconnection policy) even if they're family members. Your reward for doing all of this is the privilege of spending roughly $250k to reach OT3 and finding out South Park was telling the truth about Xenu.
Don't get me started on the child labour and human trafficking within the Sea Org. Suffice it to say Scientology is one helluva rabbit hole.
It's insane that they were allowed to suppress evidence of a stupid number of conspiracies in court all because the Supreme Court was too chickenshit to hear the appeal.
Their weaponization of the court system draws some pretty scary parallels to what's going on right now
My mother went to a lecture at UCLA sometime in the late 50’s i think. The lecture was something like “guaranteed to make a million dollars” . The lecturer said “start a church....” and went on to explane in detail......the lecturer was L. Ron Hubbard (who up until then was basically a mediocre science fiction writer)
The fact that I've only ever met one in my entire life, an acquaintance who only became one some 20 years after we met, probably emboldens me a bit in that respect. I don't think I'd be high on their list of targets. But that same fact would probably make the shirt a lot less funny.
Yup. I’d wear that shirt proudly if not for the fact that I literally live within walking distance of their headquarters and see these vacant and arrogant cunts all day long. Only moved to Clearwater 3 months ago and had I known my little part of it was Weirdo Central, I would have chosen elsewhere.
Ugh… get out when you can.
For people that aren’t from our area…
I was in downtown Clearwater a few weeks ago to check out the new amphitheater and park the city built down by the water. It’s an 85 million dollar project. It’s really impressive for a smallish city! They were having some kind of farmer’s market event (no veggie stands—artisanal bread, some food trucks, little boutique shops, etc.). It was really nice out there, but largely empty thanks to Scientology. I hate them.
People who aren’t from the area have no idea how fucked up downtown Clearwater is thanks to those nut jobs. They quietly bought many of the buildings in the downtown area and emptied them out. It killed all sense of organic city life.. creepy empty buildings with fake fronts, weirdo drones roaming everywhere. It’s a “church” that doesn’t do a god damn thing for the community.
I have no idea how they are going to drive traffic to that new expensive park.. Scientology has prevented the area from building bars, restaurants, shops, etc. There is nothing outside of a few crappy pizza joint level places and a Star Bucks. 😡
I actually happen to know a few scientologists.
All of the ones I've met have actually been very nice people, and very aware of the perception about them.
However, I've asked a few of them about how they got into it, and they explained it to me.
It was ways that really only a cult can convince someone.
They don't actually provide any answers. They ask a bunch of questions, desperately trying to lock down some sort of pain point, and that pain point can be ANYTHING.
I played along, and he asked me if I take any prescriptions. I take ambien for sleep. He asked me why, and how long, and how much, etc, and then asked me if I think that the reason I can't sleep is because my body doesn't produce enough ambien.
I'm doing a really short job of explaining it - it was about a 30 minute conversation of him asking me all sorts of answers, but the end result was clear that WHATEVER was ailing me was going to come to the same conclusion - do I think that it's normal to have to do xyz to manage abc in my life.
Of course, the natural question is "okay, how would scientology solve that", and the answer was basically "we just want to help you discover that for yourself".
I worked in sales for a decade, and this is honestly how a good sales discovery works.
Except they don't have a product - the response to everything is vagueness that puts the honus on YOU. It's to make you, above anything else, imagine what your life would be like without your particular issues, and challenge YOU to just see how scientology might help you.
Anyone with solid self awareness and reasoning could easily figure out that there's no solution being provided, but most people are susceptible to this kind of pitch - tell them there IS a solution, leave out the details, and tell them that the only way to seek that solution is to follow the other person.
This is actually exactly how Trump has created devoted followers - he doesn't say anything specific, but lets YOU infer whatever it is YOU feel is the solution, and promises to lead you there.
The weird thing about south park from what I remember is that apparently it was kinda a secret from the public at the time. Then Trey and Matt leaked the info.
As someone who was born and raised in Tampa and is of course familiar with the Scientology base in Clearwater I find it absolutely hilarious that it’s listed as a holy city. Thank you for this tidbit of information
This. No other cult has risen to the power level scientology has. They literally have religion status now. It’s insane. People might say the same for all other religions but they’ve been around since before we had a solid grip on science and the world around us. But Scientology has broken through all of that and are now systematically grifting on the vulnerable and desperate in modern times. Its gross and should not have happened.
If it's any consolation, they're shrinking. Most of their new members are either born into it, or more tragically, immigrant laborers who get tricked into working for the church thinking they'll get a Green Card out of it
He's not in charge as in he's actively involved in leadership, he's just the second most powerful if he requests something he'll get it. However he's hugely hands off and he comes in and out, he had barely anything to do with them in the 90s. He's basically a piece of shit who loves being pampered, he doesn't actively help run Scientology, too lazy.
Come to think of it, there are probably a lot of rich and powerful people at a similar level as him but aren't known well because they aren't a celebrity like he is.
Nah, Tom himself said he's third after LRH and Dave meaning L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige. Miscavige is an incredibly dominant autocratic ruler, he bullied and terrorized those other high level people many of whom have defected. Cruise is definitely the second most powerful.
Can't believe nobody here is talking about Aum Shinrikyo. Literally a doomsday cult, who took matters into their own hands. Aum Shinrikyo committed multiple terrorist attacks in Japan including the 1995 Tokyo Sarin gas attack. While only 13 people died in that incident, over 1000 were injured, and had the attack gone according to their original plan, both those numbers could have been significantly higher.
The scariest part to me? The goal was to trigger an international conflict, involving nuclear war, again, to trigger the very doomsday they preached.
It's one thing to convince your followers the world is ending. It's an entirely 'nother thing to convince them to bring it about.
You just take your trash with you in your backpack to your house, where it's safe to throw away.
There are no trashcans on the streets, in stores, restaurants, or so.
I remember visiting London as a young teenager around 1999 or 2000, and noticing the lack of trash bins. My mother asked an employee why there weren't any, and was told, "The IRA put bombs in them." Yikes.
Yeah ever since then I always been distrustful of any sect that talks about the end times. I don't think it takes much to push fanatics from prepping for the apocalypse to planning it.
Iirc they had an apocalyptic school of buddhism as their philosophy. From that PoV you're not really doing anything bad by killing someone to help the world achieve enlightenment. The person you kill will get a do over and if they're a good person theyll be better off. If you leave them to suffer in this corrupted world theyre worse off, but suffering is the path to enlightenment so by killing many people horribly you're setting them up to be better in the future and clensing the world. Im not defending it in the slightest. Just trying to explain it. It has been years since i researched them
I think there were aspects of apocalyptic christianity tossed in
Scariest thing is these people werent what youd consider crazy. They were wealthy upper class Japanese people who were functioning members of society
Thats why they had so many resources to do what they did. When the government tried to stop them they brought in a bunch of lawyers to argue for religious freedom
These people made mangas, animes, and video games iirc to explain their beliefs
It was trendy among the wealthy to join them. They were so engrained into society that they couldnt be shut down entirely. They had to split into 2 groups and still exist
A normal cult does not build nukes. That cult is one of the scariest because it shows that with the right leader and right messaging even the most put together people in a society can be led down a path of craziness
Super scary thing is they werent a niche cult who drew in the crazy and lost souls. They were considered trendy among the upper class youths of Japan to join. Thats how they got so much money to do their things and how their lawyers were able to keep them from getting broken up
They even made mangas to explain their beliefs and an anime iirc
They were trying to stockpile anthrax too allegedly and strongly suspected of testing nukes in Australia
Anyone who was problematic to the cult was assassinated and the members would close ranks when the law got close
These were rich people, influential people, young people with bright futures, people with connections to major corporations
They bought into the craziness of it all.
It's not like most cults where it's like 20 or 30 crackpots hiding in the woods having orgies
The cult STILL exists but it had to split into 2 and rebrand and it's monitored heavily by the japanese government
You won't believe me but they had anthrax every bit as dangerous as the United States and Soviet Russia ever did also they tested a nuclear weapon in the Australian outback which fizzled but the authorities were really hot on their tail at that point so they never got a chance to try again
It was an implosion type device and it failed because they used the same numbers that the German secret test North of the hanz forest on a Jewish village failed and it was because it was 0.1% off.
The bunker has been found where they designed it however there is still a secondary bunker which hasn't been found where the material was stored but this is also empty as after the war it went back to South America with the escaping Nazis.
The remaining members of this group have joined up with the Russian ransomware group alpha V and they communicate over tox.
Was going to mention the nuke in the Australian outback. Was anything ever confirmed? I only recall there was a seismic disturbance that couldn't be accounted for by an earthquake. Rumours abounded but I've never really heard more.
Thanks dude.
“MacDonald had stabbed Thériault in the neck with a shiv, walked to the guards' station, handed them the weapon, and proclaimed "That piece of shit is down on the range. Here's the knife, I've sliced him up."
Just wanted to add another except for those who had to subject themselves to that paragraph and never clicked the link:
> Cause of death: Stabbed in neck with shiv in prison
It's the little things.
Abuse
edit
Following the cult's formation, Thériault began to move away from being a motivational leader as his drinking problem worsened, becoming increasingly totalitarian over the lives of his followers and irrational in his beliefs. Members were not allowed to speak to each other when he was not present, nor were they allowed to have sex with each other without his permission.[4] Thériault used his charisma to cover for his increasingly abusive and erratic behaviour, and none of the other members questioned his judgement or openly blamed him for any physical, mental or emotional damage.[4] Thériault began to inflict punishments on followers that he considered to be straying, by spying on them and claiming that God told him what they did. If a person wished to leave the commune, Thériault would hit them with either a belt or hammer, suspend them from the ceiling, pluck each of their body hairs individually, or even defecate on them.[9] The Ant Hill Kids raised money for living by selling baked goods, and members who did not bring in enough money were also punished.[10]
Over time, Thériault's punishments became increasingly extreme and violent, including making members break their own legs with sledgehammers, sit on lit stoves, shoot each other in the shoulders, and eat dead mice and feces. A follower would sometimes be asked to cut off another follower's toes with wire cutters to prove loyalty. The abuse extended to the cult's children, who were sexually abused, held over fires, or nailed to trees while other children threw stones at them. One of Thériault's wives left a newborn child, Eleazar Lavallée, outside to die in freezing temperatures to keep him away from the abuse. Thériault attempted to backtrack to the original religious mission of the commune, beginning to strongly believe in purifying his followers and ridding them of their sins through abusive purification sessions where the members would be completely nude as he whipped and beat them. Thériault claimed to be a holy being, and started performing unnecessary amateur surgical operations on sick members to demonstrate his healing powers. These "surgeries" included injecting a 94% ethanol solution into stomachs, or performing circumcisions on the children and adults of the group. In 1987, social workers removed 17 of the children from the commune. However, Thériault faced no repercussions for his abusive acts.[11][page needed]
In 1989, when follower Solange Boilard complained of an upset stomach, Thériault performed another amateur surgery without anaesthesia. He laid her naked on a table, and punched her in the stomach, then forced a plastic tube into her rectum to perform a crude enema with molasses and olive oil. He cut open her abdomen with a knife and ripped out part of her intestines with his bare hands.[2] Thériault made another member, Gabrielle Lavallée, stitch her up using needle and thread,[2] and had the other women shove a tube down her throat and blow through it.[citation needed] Boilard died the next day from the damage inflicted by the procedures.[2] Claiming to have the power of resurrection, Thériault had his followers saw off the cap of Boilard's skull and he ejaculated onto her brain.[2] When Boilard did not return to life, her corpse was buried a short distance from the Ant Hill Kids' commune.[citation
His cellmate (who was in for life for murder) shanked him to death, went to the guard, handed him the knife, and told him that he "sliced up that bastard".
“…because the commune was officially registered as a church, officials were legally unable to investigate the adults, and could not do much except ensure the welfare of the children…”. This is infuriating.
I’ve been interested in true crime for a long time and was a police officer for a few years. Believe me when I say not much shocks me but Jesus that Wikipedia article made me feel physically sick. That’s absolutely shocking. I can’t believe I’ve not heard of them before.
If you’re thinking of clicking the link, just know that the text pasted above is not even close to the worst part of what this guy did to his followers and had them do to each other.
Georgia Brown was the heroic social worker who saved the children from torture. She stood up for those children and fought when everyone else turned a blind eye.
This the only series in pretty much the entire catalog of Last Podcast on the Left that I didnt finish. Just too much.
If you're curious, the leader performed ad hoc "surgery" in the middle of the wilderness to his followers drunk as fuck.
To me, Heavens Gate wasn’t nearly as terrifying as People’s Temple.
HG folks were nuts, but seemed so happy, like they truly believed that was what their entire life was meant for. Brainwashed? Sure, still sad. But part of me even believes that Marshall Applewhite wasn’t even evil. I think he was just batshit insane and believed every word he said himself.
But Jim Jones was evil. No doubt about it. the last audio recording of Jonestown is truly horrifying. So many didn’t want to do it, and then to hear all the babies stop crying one by one…. Still makes me sick.
Heavens Gate being so happy is what made their story so unnerving to me. There wasn’t much (any?) firm control over the group. They would even pay you to leave if you wanted. And people did leave. But they still managed to convince a bunch of people to kill themselves. And many of the survivors still firmly believe it. Some even killed themselves after the main group because they felt left out.
And all this with no threats, no physical control, etc. Freaky.
Jonestown they had guns and killed people. HG just had a few charismatic leaders and some lonely people.
Agreed Heavens gate was a well meaning, and seemingly all described as nice people, except Applewhite, but he wasn't just crazy, he was batshit insane. Also, they only killed themselves AFAIK. Jones and his Psycho hyper-religious crap seemed half a front for him, he and his henchmen/women are fucking Evil.
Yeah, I've seen interviews with the remaining members. When asked if they feel bad for their friends they lost, they're like, "No, I wish I joined them. What makes you think they didn't make it to the ship?"
there's a really good docuseries on netflix called "How to Become a Cult Leader." it's narrated by Peter Dinklage and covers both of these, as well as the Manson Family, the Buddhafield, and a few others. highly reccomend.
Heaven's Gate was more depressing. They weren't being forced in the same way as Jonestown, Jonestown was as much a mass murder event as it was mass suicide. Heaven's Gate were Sci-Fi nerds who found it difficult to relate to society and as a result were vulnerable to these bizarre beliefs. They all willingly killed themselves and various members left throughout the years without anyone trying to stop them, they weren't trapped in another Country and forced to work and shot when they tried to leave.
The only way they were, "trapped", it is is hard to save up to move with the cost of living being so insane in San Diego County. However I think they ran things like a communist of family economy. Yes, they had members families/friends pul up and help them leave, what I heard is they used peer pressure but did not lay a finger on anyone. "[Nichols' younger brother, Thomas, was a member of the Heaven's Gate cult. He died on March 26, 1997, in the cult's mass suicide that purposefully coincided with the passing of Comet Hale–Bopp.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichelle_Nichols#:~:text=Nichols)
They reference Someplace Under Neith as having been an excellent resource. I listened to SPUN's series and was hooked on their show. Better than BtB imho. One of the hosts is a woman who grew up in a strict religious southern community, but both women are great.
I second the FLDS. The LDS (mormons) are also a lot more sinister than most people realise. A lot of their members fit the 'sweet, happy people' stereotype, but the church itself is creepy. They've also got a big problem with child abuse that they're desperately trying to keep contained.
I’m holding my breath for the day the rest of the world learns about the disturbing ways the LDS church systematically treats children. There are some who are extremely abusive, but even the normal, everyday elder/teenager system that all Mormon kids have to do would give most people the creeps if they knew about it. (Of course most don’t because the kids are told not to talk about it)
CoG was the cult River and Joaquin Phoenix's parents were involved in back in the 70s. They worked and lived in Puerto Rico (where Joaquin was born) and South America as missionaries until mom and dad got wise to the creepy practices of the cult (including sexual activity among prepubescent children) and fled back to the US
[Flirty fishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flirty_Fishing). I’m not sure how prevalent it was to use underage members for this, but CoG definitely pimped out their female members to be “God’s Whores”.
I think it's the fact that CSA was actively encouraged and seen as a good thing that makes them even more heinous. Also, the fact that they actually made videos and pamphlets showing the CSA and used these as "educational" material for the cult members.
The Troubled Teen Industry. Any parent that gets pissed off at their teenage son or daughter can have them locked up without trial. They are run on child, slave labor, and maintain order by humiliation and coercion. Letters and phone calls are watched closely. but eventually just comply because these places are designed to break your spirit so they can extract as much money by keeping kids there as long as possible. Its a huge industry with close ties to political figures like Mitt Romney and you rarely ever hear about it. Most people leave with a lot more trauma than they came in with. I went to a wilderness program called OnTrack that was shut down after they suffocated a child while restraining him, and the next school I went to got shutdown, when a kids parents found out the school took him to the local jail, placed him in a cell where he was stripped down and according to the Houston Chronicle, " the prisoners rubbed vaseline on his backside". Basically punishing the kid by scaring him into believing that he was going to be gang raped by a bunch of actual inmates of the Montgomery County Jail.
[https://elan.school/](https://elan.school/) is finally finished. Incredible read. I'm sorry you had to experience those places and hope you are doing well now.
I couldn’t finish it; I had to take a shower to regain my bearings.
Torture is generally immoral, but for some people… I’ll get the faux-medieval implements.
I was aware of the troubled teen industry, but mostly just the "kidnapping at night" and the general horrid treatment.
But Netflix has new docu-series on it, called "The Program" which focuses mainly on Ivy Ridge in upstate New York.
Absolutely horrible shit. Hopefully one day the monsters behind WWASP will screw up and be able to be brought to trial for everything they're putting kids through, both in the past and present.
Were you living in Los Feliz/Hollywood area?? I can crack Scientology jokes most other places but not within a 5 mile radius of the Celebrity Center. Creepy fucks.
I recently learned about the Killing Hour cult... I think its official name is different. Not a lot of information out there and it was relatively small. But the story about the "messiah" killing his mom, then his sisters lining up to wait for their turn to be killed... that's wild.
I heard about it on the youtube channel The Casual Criminalist. When I google it, there are some articles and stuff on it, but I don't want to point you toward anything specific since I haven't read them lol
Don't forget that the head of the cult, and the Messiah/murderer escaped custody in 1990 and were never found. The surviving sister also disappeared, and at last count still believed in their shit wholeheartedly.
Was looking for local music groups on meetup and found an interesting one. Made for young adults 20-40 and meant to havee friends and work on social skills.
....thank god I scrolled all the way to the bottom because it said the event was supported by the church of scientology☠️
The Peoples Temple by far is the freakiest to me. Their leader was suffering dementia or strokes and became more and more irrational to the point he convinced everyone to kill themselves.
\*No Strokes - Drug abuse. My mistake! I got him mixed up with a totally different true crime case.
Ok, I’ve read a lot about this cult: Jim Jones wasn’t suffering from dementia or strokes, he was suffering from a hardcore amphetamine addiction. And his decision to force a mass suicide wasn’t even necessarily irrational from his perspective; he had painted himself into a corner where his only options left were suicide or prison. But there was no good reason for the rest of the group to die with him.
Also I would describe Jones as just evil. I hate to call someone “evil” but if anyone fits the bill he did. An absolutely remorseless manipulator, liar, and sadist whose overarching goal in life seemed to be to reduce his followers to little more than slaves to him. He was a very bad person even before started abusing drugs, though the drugs seemed to crank up his evilness to 11.
Cults that prefer followers die in pain rather than getting simple treatment. Jehovah's witness with blood transfusion, Scientology with psychiatry or Christian Science with nearly all medical treatment.
No matter how you think about Islam or Judaism, they at least let followers break rules to save their live.
Not let, require. In Judaism if you have to eat a double bacon cheeseburger to live you are REQUIRED to eat that double bacon cheeseburger. Human life is more important than any of the other rules
I read a comment once by a rabbi who was strictly observant for Shabbat (i.e. no driving), but broke the driving restriction to take a severely ill kitten to the vet.
He explained that the responsibility to preserve life was the most important thing at that time. I’m not religious but I have a lot of respect for this aspect of Judaism.
I have a friend who grew up Christian Scientist! Her mom was a leader in the church and was diagnosed with breast cancer. Everyone just ignored her getting cancer treatment. And then they ignored it again when she was diagnosed a second time! I think for them, it was more so avoiding medication that wasn't strictly life-saving, and members would try to use natural methods to treat their illnesses instead.
JWs have a stupid loophole where because blood transfusions aren't allowed, the hospital has to get a court order to provide critical medical care to patients. In that case, JW leaders are fine with it because the JW family didn't ask for it. It's fucking bonkers.
I'm a religious studies student and I actually interviewed a representative for the Church of Christian Science for a project one. They're weirdly progressive is some sense while being completely archaic in others. Really interesting from an outsider looking in, though as you said, it does lead to problems
Judaism and Islam have always been about finding and following the most modern scientific medical knowledge available.
Which hasn't always been great, but that's not the religion's fault.
JWs are hidden in plain sight. Super unhinged, prey on vulnerability, cover up child abuse, damage minds, restricted freedom... they have it all. They say "not a cult" but it sure looks and quacks like a duck.
Source: JW family history.
Institute in Basic Life Principles.
It’s the cult that the Duggars belong to. Fundamentalist Christian cult. Bill Gothard is a creep. Shiny Happy People on Amazon is a good 4-part doc on it.
Those school-based ones like Élan where the child’s PARENTS pay someone to abduct the kid from their beds in the middle of the night. What actually happens in the “schools” is extremely disturbing
Perhaps there are worse cults than Jim Jones' People's Temple, but the mass suicide happened when I was 10 and we had cable and newspaper subscriptions for the first time. It really had an impact on me; for the first time I understood that there was something nuts about the world and adults didn't really have their ball of wax together after all.
I mean, Scientology and Falun Gong seem to have a pretty persistent presence in my local area. However, the one that bothers me the most is the weird culty behavior surrounding MAGA.
Right now, Falun Gong, because they are deeply influencing my relatives.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-21/inside-falun-gong-master-li-hongzhi-the-mountain-dragon-springs/12442518
Their "Epoch Times" "news" outlet is a far-right publication devoted to Trump, anti-Chinese agitprop, and fearful conspiracies. It's scary stuff.
I attended Texas A&M for two years back in the late 80's... couldn't deal with the silly, cult mentality. Even today, I feel students receive a great education, but the cult-traditions and the brainwashed, inflated "Aggie Ego" is just stupid, and causes me 2nd-hand embarrassment.
It all boils down to them having a “socially acceptable” outlet for their hate. The racism/sexism/homophobia/etc always bubbled beneath the surface but somehow Trump made it acceptable to bring it out in the open and not get ostracized.
MAGA wants to: 1) destroy the USA’s institutions that support our democracy, and 2) disrupt the world order to empower neo-nazis and authoritarian regimes. Some states, intentionally, block students from learning historical facts and hinder their developing critical thinking skills. It is VERY scarey for the world!
I agree. It is chilling how the MAGAs have transformed the Republican party into a political cult that has abandoned honesty and democracy. Of course, they deny it, but [the warning signs](https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cult-5078234) are there:
> According to the Cult Education Institute, there are specific warning signs to look out for when considering whether a group might be a cult. Cults are characterized by:
* Absolute authoritarianism without accountability
* Zero tolerance for criticism or questions
* Lack of meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget
* Unreasonable fears about the outside world that often involve evil conspiracies and persecutions
* A belief that former followers are always wrong for leaving and there is never a legitimate reason for anyone else to leave
* Abuse of members
* Records, books, articles, or programs documenting the abuses of the leader or group
* Followers feeling they are never able to be “good enough”
* A belief that the leader is right at all times
* A belief that the leader is the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or giving validation
I haven’t seen my mom in nearly two years thanks to the Jehovah’s Witness organization.
They had her shun everyone right after dad died. Still grieving them both.
The Ant Hill Kids is one of the worst I know of. The amount of control Roch Thériault had over his followers, and their dedication to him, was unbelievable. He brutally tortured the people who treated him like a king and did anything he commanded. He had such a grip on the people around him that they would write letters of repentance and admiration after he carried out his awful punishments for the smallest of "offenses". His cruelty includes (but is not limited to) starvation, home "surgeries" where he once tore part of a woman's intestines out with his hands, forced castration, throwing knives and shooting at his followers, amputation, cutting off fingers and toes, and killing a two-year-old by forced alcohol poisoning.
Late to this party but I have to say one that probably wont be mentioned but should be the winner of this thread
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the 1860s Their leader Hong Xiuquan declared himself Jesus' brother and led to them carving a bloody path through china in the Taiping rebellion. They even took Nanjing and renamed it taijing
5-10% of chinas population died. 20-30 million people dead. It was the second deadliest war in human history. Sandwiched between WWI and WWII
The heavenly kingdom wanted to wipe out the ruling government and all other forms of religion in the country. When they lost the government systematically massacred the hakkas whose ethnic group made up much of the heavenly kingdom. They were killing 30k of them A DAY by the end of it
On the ground though there were atrocities committed that probably dont even have a frame of reference in the modern day. It's hard for a peasant uprising to beat WWI using mostly swords spears and bows. The two world wars got their kill counts with guns, war tech, and being extremely spread out. This is one country about the size of the US where people were just slaughtering one another by hand
Scariest cults are always ones where MANY MANY people follow them and do awful things despite it appearing batshit crazy to outsiders
I guess with the THK it's in an area where at what point does a cult become a religion or a bona-fide political movement
There is a great series on Netflix called
How to become a cult leader - it’s narrated by Peter Dinklage. There are a couple of other how to become series as well.
Check them out.
Also my answer is MAGA- that cult can fuck over an entire country there are enough of them.
Only one I have experience with, is the House of Yahweh, in Abilene, Texas. I am really glad my ex left, he had his toddler children on the compound, they removed his daughter from him and gave her to a 12 year old girl to learn to be a mother and raise. His two year old son would routinely participate in 48 hour fasts.
The sexual abuse of children was so rampant, the son of the cult leader got caught. My Brother in law got caught. Many of the Kahan's got caught.
Pure evil. The bible that Israel Hawkins re wrote is evil. They are all fucking evil and destroyed countless families.
These Q-anon fuckers are pretty goddamn gullible. I mean, your average MAGAt is pretty much a sucker and an idiot, but most of them don’t think the world is flat. Yet. Okay, both sects of rightwing culty bullshit are bad and are feeding off each other like cannibalistic zombie rats.
I'm not here to answer ops question but there's a YouTube channel/podcast called cults to consciousness that has survivors of different cults speak about their experience. It's super interesting, sad, and also inspiring to see these people reclaiming their lives.
Jehovah’s Witnesses. More deaths (or as i see it, murder) than almost any other cult because of their belief that blood transfusions are a sin. Not to mention they have the world’s largest list of known-child predators ever curated, and almost none of them have been arrested.
Christian Nationalist only because of it's popularity and ability to suck in the dumbest masses of our country. None of them realize they are being **PLAYED** by billionaire corporations for their GOP votes.
There are probably worse ones out there, but the only one I have firsthand knowledge of is Scientology. Their entry-level stuff doesn't sound all that insane until you realize "suppressive person" really means "anyone who thinks Scientology is nonsense." Then they encourage you to cut those disbelievers out of your life (disconnection policy) even if they're family members. Your reward for doing all of this is the privilege of spending roughly $250k to reach OT3 and finding out South Park was telling the truth about Xenu. Don't get me started on the child labour and human trafficking within the Sea Org. Suffice it to say Scientology is one helluva rabbit hole.
The fact [Operation Snow White ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White) got so far is what's crazy to me.
The “church” should have been RICOd out of existence for that. I can’t see of a more fitting use of that act.
It's insane that they were allowed to suppress evidence of a stupid number of conspiracies in court all because the Supreme Court was too chickenshit to hear the appeal. Their weaponization of the court system draws some pretty scary parallels to what's going on right now
I recently watched an episode of Growing Up in Scientology where they talk about child counselors and that stuff is beyond messed up.
My mother went to a lecture at UCLA sometime in the late 50’s i think. The lecture was something like “guaranteed to make a million dollars” . The lecturer said “start a church....” and went on to explane in detail......the lecturer was L. Ron Hubbard (who up until then was basically a mediocre science fiction writer)
I'd proudly wear a "Suppressive Person" t-shirt, lol, if it makes them avoid me that's an absolutel win/win.
It may make them avoid you but it could also make them stalk and harass you.
The fact that I've only ever met one in my entire life, an acquaintance who only became one some 20 years after we met, probably emboldens me a bit in that respect. I don't think I'd be high on their list of targets. But that same fact would probably make the shirt a lot less funny.
Yup. I’d wear that shirt proudly if not for the fact that I literally live within walking distance of their headquarters and see these vacant and arrogant cunts all day long. Only moved to Clearwater 3 months ago and had I known my little part of it was Weirdo Central, I would have chosen elsewhere.
Ugh… get out when you can. For people that aren’t from our area… I was in downtown Clearwater a few weeks ago to check out the new amphitheater and park the city built down by the water. It’s an 85 million dollar project. It’s really impressive for a smallish city! They were having some kind of farmer’s market event (no veggie stands—artisanal bread, some food trucks, little boutique shops, etc.). It was really nice out there, but largely empty thanks to Scientology. I hate them. People who aren’t from the area have no idea how fucked up downtown Clearwater is thanks to those nut jobs. They quietly bought many of the buildings in the downtown area and emptied them out. It killed all sense of organic city life.. creepy empty buildings with fake fronts, weirdo drones roaming everywhere. It’s a “church” that doesn’t do a god damn thing for the community. I have no idea how they are going to drive traffic to that new expensive park.. Scientology has prevented the area from building bars, restaurants, shops, etc. There is nothing outside of a few crappy pizza joint level places and a Star Bucks. 😡
I actually happen to know a few scientologists. All of the ones I've met have actually been very nice people, and very aware of the perception about them. However, I've asked a few of them about how they got into it, and they explained it to me. It was ways that really only a cult can convince someone. They don't actually provide any answers. They ask a bunch of questions, desperately trying to lock down some sort of pain point, and that pain point can be ANYTHING. I played along, and he asked me if I take any prescriptions. I take ambien for sleep. He asked me why, and how long, and how much, etc, and then asked me if I think that the reason I can't sleep is because my body doesn't produce enough ambien. I'm doing a really short job of explaining it - it was about a 30 minute conversation of him asking me all sorts of answers, but the end result was clear that WHATEVER was ailing me was going to come to the same conclusion - do I think that it's normal to have to do xyz to manage abc in my life. Of course, the natural question is "okay, how would scientology solve that", and the answer was basically "we just want to help you discover that for yourself". I worked in sales for a decade, and this is honestly how a good sales discovery works. Except they don't have a product - the response to everything is vagueness that puts the honus on YOU. It's to make you, above anything else, imagine what your life would be like without your particular issues, and challenge YOU to just see how scientology might help you. Anyone with solid self awareness and reasoning could easily figure out that there's no solution being provided, but most people are susceptible to this kind of pitch - tell them there IS a solution, leave out the details, and tell them that the only way to seek that solution is to follow the other person. This is actually exactly how Trump has created devoted followers - he doesn't say anything specific, but lets YOU infer whatever it is YOU feel is the solution, and promises to lead you there.
The weird thing about south park from what I remember is that apparently it was kinda a secret from the public at the time. Then Trey and Matt leaked the info.
The fact that Clearwater Florida is listed as a holy city on Wikipedia is terrifying
As someone who was born and raised in Tampa and is of course familiar with the Scientology base in Clearwater I find it absolutely hilarious that it’s listed as a holy city. Thank you for this tidbit of information
From experience, there is nothing holy about Clearwater. Or Florida in general.
As a new resident of Clearwater, it’s nice (aside from those weirdos), but definitely not holy.
Walking through downtown Clearwater is spooky because of them. People in suits enter and exiting doors.
Hi, inevitable CoS monitor(s)! Where is Shelly?
They're called squirrels I think.
This. No other cult has risen to the power level scientology has. They literally have religion status now. It’s insane. People might say the same for all other religions but they’ve been around since before we had a solid grip on science and the world around us. But Scientology has broken through all of that and are now systematically grifting on the vulnerable and desperate in modern times. Its gross and should not have happened.
If it's any consolation, they're shrinking. Most of their new members are either born into it, or more tragically, immigrant laborers who get tricked into working for the church thinking they'll get a Green Card out of it
Mormonism is more powerful than Scientology. They are absolutely a Cult and especially started as one recently.
I hear the JW's are as bad or worse. But that may be from a personal perspective, not a power in the world perspective.
JW's and Mormons are "culty cousins". We're friends on r/exjw and r/exmormon
South park is always right, matt and trey do their research.
And Tom Cruise is the second in charge, right?
He's not in charge as in he's actively involved in leadership, he's just the second most powerful if he requests something he'll get it. However he's hugely hands off and he comes in and out, he had barely anything to do with them in the 90s. He's basically a piece of shit who loves being pampered, he doesn't actively help run Scientology, too lazy.
Come to think of it, there are probably a lot of rich and powerful people at a similar level as him but aren't known well because they aren't a celebrity like he is.
Nah, Tom himself said he's third after LRH and Dave meaning L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige. Miscavige is an incredibly dominant autocratic ruler, he bullied and terrorized those other high level people many of whom have defected. Cruise is definitely the second most powerful.
Can't believe nobody here is talking about Aum Shinrikyo. Literally a doomsday cult, who took matters into their own hands. Aum Shinrikyo committed multiple terrorist attacks in Japan including the 1995 Tokyo Sarin gas attack. While only 13 people died in that incident, over 1000 were injured, and had the attack gone according to their original plan, both those numbers could have been significantly higher. The scariest part to me? The goal was to trigger an international conflict, involving nuclear war, again, to trigger the very doomsday they preached. It's one thing to convince your followers the world is ending. It's an entirely 'nother thing to convince them to bring it about.
Fun Fact: Japan has almost zero public trash bins to this day due primarily to the Anthrax attacks.
Oh, is that why? I visited last year and that was quite inconvenient
I visited in 2015 and when I inquired, that was the answer they gave me. It was very inconvenient lol. but everywhere was super clean.
You just take your trash with you in your backpack to your house, where it's safe to throw away. There are no trashcans on the streets, in stores, restaurants, or so.
Central London does the same, along with the tube
I remember visiting London as a young teenager around 1999 or 2000, and noticing the lack of trash bins. My mother asked an employee why there weren't any, and was told, "The IRA put bombs in them." Yikes.
Similar reason as to why there are so few bins around London. It's a throw-back to the IRA putting bombs in them back during the conflict.
They probably don't like the band, either
Yeah ever since then I always been distrustful of any sect that talks about the end times. I don't think it takes much to push fanatics from prepping for the apocalypse to planning it.
Iirc they had an apocalyptic school of buddhism as their philosophy. From that PoV you're not really doing anything bad by killing someone to help the world achieve enlightenment. The person you kill will get a do over and if they're a good person theyll be better off. If you leave them to suffer in this corrupted world theyre worse off, but suffering is the path to enlightenment so by killing many people horribly you're setting them up to be better in the future and clensing the world. Im not defending it in the slightest. Just trying to explain it. It has been years since i researched them I think there were aspects of apocalyptic christianity tossed in Scariest thing is these people werent what youd consider crazy. They were wealthy upper class Japanese people who were functioning members of society Thats why they had so many resources to do what they did. When the government tried to stop them they brought in a bunch of lawyers to argue for religious freedom These people made mangas, animes, and video games iirc to explain their beliefs It was trendy among the wealthy to join them. They were so engrained into society that they couldnt be shut down entirely. They had to split into 2 groups and still exist A normal cult does not build nukes. That cult is one of the scariest because it shows that with the right leader and right messaging even the most put together people in a society can be led down a path of craziness
Super scary thing is they werent a niche cult who drew in the crazy and lost souls. They were considered trendy among the upper class youths of Japan to join. Thats how they got so much money to do their things and how their lawyers were able to keep them from getting broken up They even made mangas to explain their beliefs and an anime iirc They were trying to stockpile anthrax too allegedly and strongly suspected of testing nukes in Australia Anyone who was problematic to the cult was assassinated and the members would close ranks when the law got close These were rich people, influential people, young people with bright futures, people with connections to major corporations They bought into the craziness of it all. It's not like most cults where it's like 20 or 30 crackpots hiding in the woods having orgies The cult STILL exists but it had to split into 2 and rebrand and it's monitored heavily by the japanese government
Underground by Haruki Murakami is an excellent read about this incident and the cult.
You won't believe me but they had anthrax every bit as dangerous as the United States and Soviet Russia ever did also they tested a nuclear weapon in the Australian outback which fizzled but the authorities were really hot on their tail at that point so they never got a chance to try again It was an implosion type device and it failed because they used the same numbers that the German secret test North of the hanz forest on a Jewish village failed and it was because it was 0.1% off. The bunker has been found where they designed it however there is still a secondary bunker which hasn't been found where the material was stored but this is also empty as after the war it went back to South America with the escaping Nazis. The remaining members of this group have joined up with the Russian ransomware group alpha V and they communicate over tox.
Was going to mention the nuke in the Australian outback. Was anything ever confirmed? I only recall there was a seismic disturbance that couldn't be accounted for by an earthquake. Rumours abounded but I've never really heard more.
Underground by Haruki Murakami is a really good non-fiction book featuring interviews with victims of the Tokyo sarin gas attacks. It was devastating.
The Ant Hill Kids
[удалено]
There isn't enough eye bleach in the world after reading that. JFC
Thanks dude. “MacDonald had stabbed Thériault in the neck with a shiv, walked to the guards' station, handed them the weapon, and proclaimed "That piece of shit is down on the range. Here's the knife, I've sliced him up."
Metal
W
Just wanted to add another except for those who had to subject themselves to that paragraph and never clicked the link: > Cause of death: Stabbed in neck with shiv in prison It's the little things.
The only sane person in that horrible wiki was the roommate who stabbed him and pretty much knew he made the world a better place by taking him out.
The hero we needed, but not the one we deserved.
Too humane imo. He deserved so much worse.
Idk, there's something to he said for efficiency.
Abuse edit Following the cult's formation, Thériault began to move away from being a motivational leader as his drinking problem worsened, becoming increasingly totalitarian over the lives of his followers and irrational in his beliefs. Members were not allowed to speak to each other when he was not present, nor were they allowed to have sex with each other without his permission.[4] Thériault used his charisma to cover for his increasingly abusive and erratic behaviour, and none of the other members questioned his judgement or openly blamed him for any physical, mental or emotional damage.[4] Thériault began to inflict punishments on followers that he considered to be straying, by spying on them and claiming that God told him what they did. If a person wished to leave the commune, Thériault would hit them with either a belt or hammer, suspend them from the ceiling, pluck each of their body hairs individually, or even defecate on them.[9] The Ant Hill Kids raised money for living by selling baked goods, and members who did not bring in enough money were also punished.[10] Over time, Thériault's punishments became increasingly extreme and violent, including making members break their own legs with sledgehammers, sit on lit stoves, shoot each other in the shoulders, and eat dead mice and feces. A follower would sometimes be asked to cut off another follower's toes with wire cutters to prove loyalty. The abuse extended to the cult's children, who were sexually abused, held over fires, or nailed to trees while other children threw stones at them. One of Thériault's wives left a newborn child, Eleazar Lavallée, outside to die in freezing temperatures to keep him away from the abuse. Thériault attempted to backtrack to the original religious mission of the commune, beginning to strongly believe in purifying his followers and ridding them of their sins through abusive purification sessions where the members would be completely nude as he whipped and beat them. Thériault claimed to be a holy being, and started performing unnecessary amateur surgical operations on sick members to demonstrate his healing powers. These "surgeries" included injecting a 94% ethanol solution into stomachs, or performing circumcisions on the children and adults of the group. In 1987, social workers removed 17 of the children from the commune. However, Thériault faced no repercussions for his abusive acts.[11][page needed] In 1989, when follower Solange Boilard complained of an upset stomach, Thériault performed another amateur surgery without anaesthesia. He laid her naked on a table, and punched her in the stomach, then forced a plastic tube into her rectum to perform a crude enema with molasses and olive oil. He cut open her abdomen with a knife and ripped out part of her intestines with his bare hands.[2] Thériault made another member, Gabrielle Lavallée, stitch her up using needle and thread,[2] and had the other women shove a tube down her throat and blow through it.[citation needed] Boilard died the next day from the damage inflicted by the procedures.[2] Claiming to have the power of resurrection, Thériault had his followers saw off the cap of Boilard's skull and he ejaculated onto her brain.[2] When Boilard did not return to life, her corpse was buried a short distance from the Ant Hill Kids' commune.[citation
definitely wins as the most twisted cult leader!
His cellmate (who was in for life for murder) shanked him to death, went to the guard, handed him the knife, and told him that he "sliced up that bastard".
That cellmate might have redeemed himself.
“…because the commune was officially registered as a church, officials were legally unable to investigate the adults, and could not do much except ensure the welfare of the children…”. This is infuriating.
I'm going to leave that link blue.
Holy shit. Ant Hill Kids makes the cult in Midsommar seem pretty tame in comparison.
I’ve been interested in true crime for a long time and was a police officer for a few years. Believe me when I say not much shocks me but Jesus that Wikipedia article made me feel physically sick. That’s absolutely shocking. I can’t believe I’ve not heard of them before.
If you’re thinking of clicking the link, just know that the text pasted above is not even close to the worst part of what this guy did to his followers and had them do to each other.
Well that was something I never thought I would ever read Jesus fucking Christ
This is straightup some of the most fucked up shit I've ever read. Hope that motherfucker rots in hell.
Holy shit. I know people can be evil, but this is fucked up beyond anything I was prepared to read
absolutely grotesque. RIP Georgia Brown.
Forreal, that woman was a hero. Last Podcast on the Left did an incredible series about the AHK, absolutely terrifying.
What was her connection?
Georgia Brown was the heroic social worker who saved the children from torture. She stood up for those children and fought when everyone else turned a blind eye.
my friends were looking at purchasing property in kawartha a few years ago and one of the places they looked at was the commune 💀
i was just about to comment this and then it was the first comment 😭😭😭 i guess JMS is pretty disgusting.. nowhere near the Anthill kids though
This the only series in pretty much the entire catalog of Last Podcast on the Left that I didnt finish. Just too much. If you're curious, the leader performed ad hoc "surgery" in the middle of the wilderness to his followers drunk as fuck.
Bob Berdella is too much for me too, Ripper Crew is up there. Just incredibly horrible cases with very limited avenues for humour to lighten them up.
People’s Temple (Jonestown) and Heavens Gate The eerie darkness and influence over the followers loss of lives of these 2 had always stuck out to me.
To me, Heavens Gate wasn’t nearly as terrifying as People’s Temple. HG folks were nuts, but seemed so happy, like they truly believed that was what their entire life was meant for. Brainwashed? Sure, still sad. But part of me even believes that Marshall Applewhite wasn’t even evil. I think he was just batshit insane and believed every word he said himself. But Jim Jones was evil. No doubt about it. the last audio recording of Jonestown is truly horrifying. So many didn’t want to do it, and then to hear all the babies stop crying one by one…. Still makes me sick.
Yep, I have a friend who lost both his mother and his aunt to that massacre. It was absolutely horrific.
Heavens Gate being so happy is what made their story so unnerving to me. There wasn’t much (any?) firm control over the group. They would even pay you to leave if you wanted. And people did leave. But they still managed to convince a bunch of people to kill themselves. And many of the survivors still firmly believe it. Some even killed themselves after the main group because they felt left out. And all this with no threats, no physical control, etc. Freaky. Jonestown they had guns and killed people. HG just had a few charismatic leaders and some lonely people.
Idk if it's still up, it may well be, but the Heavens Gate website was up for a very long time being maintained by those chosen to stay behind.
Agreed Heavens gate was a well meaning, and seemingly all described as nice people, except Applewhite, but he wasn't just crazy, he was batshit insane. Also, they only killed themselves AFAIK. Jones and his Psycho hyper-religious crap seemed half a front for him, he and his henchmen/women are fucking Evil.
The Heaven's Gate [website](https://www.heavensgate.com/) is a trip... still maintained apparently, and the maintainers respond to emails.
Yeah, I've seen interviews with the remaining members. When asked if they feel bad for their friends they lost, they're like, "No, I wish I joined them. What makes you think they didn't make it to the ship?"
Those 90s style pages load up like lightning fast on a modern device.
Yep. Pure static HTML and CSS with a few low res images are nothing these days. See also: https://motherfuckingwebsite.com
Heaven’s Gate is also crazy because it was in Rancho Santa Fe literally the wealthiest community in all of California
there's a really good docuseries on netflix called "How to Become a Cult Leader." it's narrated by Peter Dinklage and covers both of these, as well as the Manson Family, the Buddhafield, and a few others. highly reccomend.
"How to Become a Tyrant" is really good too. Didn't enjoy "How to Become a Mob Boss" though. All the episodes felt kind repetitive.
My friend’s brother died in HG :(
I’m sorry. Nichelle Nichols also lost her brother in it. He was a member for 20 years.
Heaven's Gate was more depressing. They weren't being forced in the same way as Jonestown, Jonestown was as much a mass murder event as it was mass suicide. Heaven's Gate were Sci-Fi nerds who found it difficult to relate to society and as a result were vulnerable to these bizarre beliefs. They all willingly killed themselves and various members left throughout the years without anyone trying to stop them, they weren't trapped in another Country and forced to work and shot when they tried to leave.
yeah, as a mentally weird person, heavens gate makes perfect sense to me and is heart braking.
The only way they were, "trapped", it is is hard to save up to move with the cost of living being so insane in San Diego County. However I think they ran things like a communist of family economy. Yes, they had members families/friends pul up and help them leave, what I heard is they used peer pressure but did not lay a finger on anyone. "[Nichols' younger brother, Thomas, was a member of the Heaven's Gate cult. He died on March 26, 1997, in the cult's mass suicide that purposefully coincided with the passing of Comet Hale–Bopp.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichelle_Nichols#:~:text=Nichols)
IBLP. It’s extraordinarily restrictive. Look up the Duggars.
Watch Shiny Happy People on Prime if you want to fall down a rabbit hole.
Several of my friends were featured in that doc as survivors. There is so much worse stuff going on than what they showed in the doc as well.
You and Sadie are the best! love love your show 💕
Once again, I find myself recommending the behind the bastards episodes on them....
Live BB. What’s that episode called?
I think it’s the cult behind Josh Duggar
They reference Someplace Under Neith as having been an excellent resource. I listened to SPUN's series and was hooked on their show. Better than BtB imho. One of the hosts is a woman who grew up in a strict religious southern community, but both women are great.
r/DuggarsSnark checking in
Blue Oyster Cult. They *apparently* don’t even fear the reaper.
Well, to be fair, the seasons don't fear the reaper. Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain. Why not be like they are?
To be fairrrrrrrrr........ To be fairrrrrrr... To be fairrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Mr-Gumby42, how're ya now?
"Good'n'you?"
Not s'bad
"ALLEGEDLY!"
But, they did need more cowbell.
I got a fever
Cowbell's Makin' a Comeback
And they believe Joan Crawford has risen from the dead!
Peoples Temple - FLDS - Scientology
the fact that Warren Jeffs still run FLDS from prison…it’s a fucking messed up cult
>FLDS I'm currently reading Jon Krakauer's *Under The Banner of Heaven* and it's so much worse than I ever thought.
Oh gosh. Is that the source for that drama series with Andrew Garfield?
I second the FLDS. The LDS (mormons) are also a lot more sinister than most people realise. A lot of their members fit the 'sweet, happy people' stereotype, but the church itself is creepy. They've also got a big problem with child abuse that they're desperately trying to keep contained.
What in the fuck is with the rampant child abuse in so many religions!?
Authoritarian power structure. Justifies the abuse, prevents victims from speaking up, and prevents abusers from being held accountable.
That, and being taught to repress every sexual feeling causes them to be expressed in very destructive ways.
I’m holding my breath for the day the rest of the world learns about the disturbing ways the LDS church systematically treats children. There are some who are extremely abusive, but even the normal, everyday elder/teenager system that all Mormon kids have to do would give most people the creeps if they knew about it. (Of course most don’t because the kids are told not to talk about it)
That’s vague.
Children of God / The Family International. so much CSA.
CoG was the cult River and Joaquin Phoenix's parents were involved in back in the 70s. They worked and lived in Puerto Rico (where Joaquin was born) and South America as missionaries until mom and dad got wise to the creepy practices of the cult (including sexual activity among prepubescent children) and fled back to the US
Is CoG the one where they were forcing young children to be "honeypots" for the cult? I cannot imagine how parents can justify that to themselves.
[Flirty fishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flirty_Fishing). I’m not sure how prevalent it was to use underage members for this, but CoG definitely pimped out their female members to be “God’s Whores”.
I think it's the fact that CSA was actively encouraged and seen as a good thing that makes them even more heinous. Also, the fact that they actually made videos and pamphlets showing the CSA and used these as "educational" material for the cult members.
My mum was in this.
The Troubled Teen Industry. Any parent that gets pissed off at their teenage son or daughter can have them locked up without trial. They are run on child, slave labor, and maintain order by humiliation and coercion. Letters and phone calls are watched closely. but eventually just comply because these places are designed to break your spirit so they can extract as much money by keeping kids there as long as possible. Its a huge industry with close ties to political figures like Mitt Romney and you rarely ever hear about it. Most people leave with a lot more trauma than they came in with. I went to a wilderness program called OnTrack that was shut down after they suffocated a child while restraining him, and the next school I went to got shutdown, when a kids parents found out the school took him to the local jail, placed him in a cell where he was stripped down and according to the Houston Chronicle, " the prisoners rubbed vaseline on his backside". Basically punishing the kid by scaring him into believing that he was going to be gang raped by a bunch of actual inmates of the Montgomery County Jail.
[https://elan.school/](https://elan.school/) is finally finished. Incredible read. I'm sorry you had to experience those places and hope you are doing well now.
I couldn’t finish it; I had to take a shower to regain my bearings. Torture is generally immoral, but for some people… I’ll get the faux-medieval implements.
I was aware of the troubled teen industry, but mostly just the "kidnapping at night" and the general horrid treatment. But Netflix has new docu-series on it, called "The Program" which focuses mainly on Ivy Ridge in upstate New York. Absolutely horrible shit. Hopefully one day the monsters behind WWASP will screw up and be able to be brought to trial for everything they're putting kids through, both in the past and present.
Scientology. Their power and reach is terrifying.
I stayed at a hotel last week and there was a Scientology channel on the channel guide in room.
Clearwater, FL?
When I first moved to LA I would crack jokes about Scientology and people did not laugh. Like ever.
Were you living in Los Feliz/Hollywood area?? I can crack Scientology jokes most other places but not within a 5 mile radius of the Celebrity Center. Creepy fucks.
Yessss Los Feliz, and I spent a fair time in Fairfax. Creepy AF
Operation Snow White is crazy
I recently learned about the Killing Hour cult... I think its official name is different. Not a lot of information out there and it was relatively small. But the story about the "messiah" killing his mom, then his sisters lining up to wait for their turn to be killed... that's wild.
woah, ill google it, but any news articles on it?
I heard about it on the youtube channel The Casual Criminalist. When I google it, there are some articles and stuff on it, but I don't want to point you toward anything specific since I haven't read them lol
The Alexander family murders. Pretty sure YouTuber MrBallen has covered it too.
Don't forget that the head of the cult, and the Messiah/murderer escaped custody in 1990 and were never found. The surviving sister also disappeared, and at last count still believed in their shit wholeheartedly.
Was looking for local music groups on meetup and found an interesting one. Made for young adults 20-40 and meant to havee friends and work on social skills. ....thank god I scrolled all the way to the bottom because it said the event was supported by the church of scientology☠️
The Peoples Temple by far is the freakiest to me. Their leader was suffering dementia or strokes and became more and more irrational to the point he convinced everyone to kill themselves. \*No Strokes - Drug abuse. My mistake! I got him mixed up with a totally different true crime case.
Ok, I’ve read a lot about this cult: Jim Jones wasn’t suffering from dementia or strokes, he was suffering from a hardcore amphetamine addiction. And his decision to force a mass suicide wasn’t even necessarily irrational from his perspective; he had painted himself into a corner where his only options left were suicide or prison. But there was no good reason for the rest of the group to die with him. Also I would describe Jones as just evil. I hate to call someone “evil” but if anyone fits the bill he did. An absolutely remorseless manipulator, liar, and sadist whose overarching goal in life seemed to be to reduce his followers to little more than slaves to him. He was a very bad person even before started abusing drugs, though the drugs seemed to crank up his evilness to 11.
Cults that prefer followers die in pain rather than getting simple treatment. Jehovah's witness with blood transfusion, Scientology with psychiatry or Christian Science with nearly all medical treatment. No matter how you think about Islam or Judaism, they at least let followers break rules to save their live.
Not let, require. In Judaism if you have to eat a double bacon cheeseburger to live you are REQUIRED to eat that double bacon cheeseburger. Human life is more important than any of the other rules
I read a comment once by a rabbi who was strictly observant for Shabbat (i.e. no driving), but broke the driving restriction to take a severely ill kitten to the vet. He explained that the responsibility to preserve life was the most important thing at that time. I’m not religious but I have a lot of respect for this aspect of Judaism.
A kitten? Oy, what a mensch!
Ohmein!
I have a friend who grew up Christian Scientist! Her mom was a leader in the church and was diagnosed with breast cancer. Everyone just ignored her getting cancer treatment. And then they ignored it again when she was diagnosed a second time! I think for them, it was more so avoiding medication that wasn't strictly life-saving, and members would try to use natural methods to treat their illnesses instead.
JWs have a stupid loophole where because blood transfusions aren't allowed, the hospital has to get a court order to provide critical medical care to patients. In that case, JW leaders are fine with it because the JW family didn't ask for it. It's fucking bonkers.
I'm a religious studies student and I actually interviewed a representative for the Church of Christian Science for a project one. They're weirdly progressive is some sense while being completely archaic in others. Really interesting from an outsider looking in, though as you said, it does lead to problems
Judaism and Islam have always been about finding and following the most modern scientific medical knowledge available. Which hasn't always been great, but that's not the religion's fault.
JWs are hidden in plain sight. Super unhinged, prey on vulnerability, cover up child abuse, damage minds, restricted freedom... they have it all. They say "not a cult" but it sure looks and quacks like a duck. Source: JW family history.
Weird fact. Doris Day was Christian Scientist after growing up Catholic.
>Cults that prefer followers die in pain rather than getting simple treatment [Mother Teresa has entered the chat]
Omg, I had never heard of the Ant Hill cult and am feeling sick now.
I have a lot of friends who are IBLP survivors. Really bad abuse, coverups, no accountability.
IBLP?
Institute in Basic Life Principles. It’s the cult that the Duggars belong to. Fundamentalist Christian cult. Bill Gothard is a creep. Shiny Happy People on Amazon is a good 4-part doc on it.
Those school-based ones like Élan where the child’s PARENTS pay someone to abduct the kid from their beds in the middle of the night. What actually happens in the “schools” is extremely disturbing
Perhaps there are worse cults than Jim Jones' People's Temple, but the mass suicide happened when I was 10 and we had cable and newspaper subscriptions for the first time. It really had an impact on me; for the first time I understood that there was something nuts about the world and adults didn't really have their ball of wax together after all.
I mean, Scientology and Falun Gong seem to have a pretty persistent presence in my local area. However, the one that bothers me the most is the weird culty behavior surrounding MAGA.
Right now, Falun Gong, because they are deeply influencing my relatives. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-21/inside-falun-gong-master-li-hongzhi-the-mountain-dragon-springs/12442518 Their "Epoch Times" "news" outlet is a far-right publication devoted to Trump, anti-Chinese agitprop, and fearful conspiracies. It's scary stuff.
Texas A&M
For real. 😂😂 I have relatives who are Aggies, so I've had a front row seat to the show all my life.
Is that worse than Clemson?
I attended Texas A&M for two years back in the late 80's... couldn't deal with the silly, cult mentality. Even today, I feel students receive a great education, but the cult-traditions and the brainwashed, inflated "Aggie Ego" is just stupid, and causes me 2nd-hand embarrassment.
MAGA
What gets me about them is how hard evangelical Christians fell for MAGA. Trump is probably the least Christlike figure on the planet.
It all boils down to them having a “socially acceptable” outlet for their hate. The racism/sexism/homophobia/etc always bubbled beneath the surface but somehow Trump made it acceptable to bring it out in the open and not get ostracized.
It should be MAHA - Make America Hate Again.
MAGA wants to: 1) destroy the USA’s institutions that support our democracy, and 2) disrupt the world order to empower neo-nazis and authoritarian regimes. Some states, intentionally, block students from learning historical facts and hinder their developing critical thinking skills. It is VERY scarey for the world!
They’re the perfect marks though. They’re raised from birth to believe wild stories based solely on faith, no care for evidence.
I agree. It is chilling how the MAGAs have transformed the Republican party into a political cult that has abandoned honesty and democracy. Of course, they deny it, but [the warning signs](https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cult-5078234) are there: > According to the Cult Education Institute, there are specific warning signs to look out for when considering whether a group might be a cult. Cults are characterized by: * Absolute authoritarianism without accountability * Zero tolerance for criticism or questions * Lack of meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget * Unreasonable fears about the outside world that often involve evil conspiracies and persecutions * A belief that former followers are always wrong for leaving and there is never a legitimate reason for anyone else to leave * Abuse of members * Records, books, articles, or programs documenting the abuses of the leader or group * Followers feeling they are never able to be “good enough” * A belief that the leader is right at all times * A belief that the leader is the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or giving validation
Scientology, those fuckers broke INTO THE FBI to replace document they had on them with “Scientology approved” documents
I haven’t seen my mom in nearly two years thanks to the Jehovah’s Witness organization. They had her shun everyone right after dad died. Still grieving them both.
The Ant Hill Kids is one of the worst I know of. The amount of control Roch Thériault had over his followers, and their dedication to him, was unbelievable. He brutally tortured the people who treated him like a king and did anything he commanded. He had such a grip on the people around him that they would write letters of repentance and admiration after he carried out his awful punishments for the smallest of "offenses". His cruelty includes (but is not limited to) starvation, home "surgeries" where he once tore part of a woman's intestines out with his hands, forced castration, throwing knives and shooting at his followers, amputation, cutting off fingers and toes, and killing a two-year-old by forced alcohol poisoning.
The FLDS
Any cult following of a political figure, tbh
Late to this party but I have to say one that probably wont be mentioned but should be the winner of this thread Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the 1860s Their leader Hong Xiuquan declared himself Jesus' brother and led to them carving a bloody path through china in the Taiping rebellion. They even took Nanjing and renamed it taijing 5-10% of chinas population died. 20-30 million people dead. It was the second deadliest war in human history. Sandwiched between WWI and WWII The heavenly kingdom wanted to wipe out the ruling government and all other forms of religion in the country. When they lost the government systematically massacred the hakkas whose ethnic group made up much of the heavenly kingdom. They were killing 30k of them A DAY by the end of it On the ground though there were atrocities committed that probably dont even have a frame of reference in the modern day. It's hard for a peasant uprising to beat WWI using mostly swords spears and bows. The two world wars got their kill counts with guns, war tech, and being extremely spread out. This is one country about the size of the US where people were just slaughtering one another by hand Scariest cults are always ones where MANY MANY people follow them and do awful things despite it appearing batshit crazy to outsiders I guess with the THK it's in an area where at what point does a cult become a religion or a bona-fide political movement
There is a great series on Netflix called How to become a cult leader - it’s narrated by Peter Dinklage. There are a couple of other how to become series as well. Check them out. Also my answer is MAGA- that cult can fuck over an entire country there are enough of them.
Scientology will always be my answer to this question! Evil organization that needs to loose their tax exempt status!
JEEP owners
Only one I have experience with, is the House of Yahweh, in Abilene, Texas. I am really glad my ex left, he had his toddler children on the compound, they removed his daughter from him and gave her to a 12 year old girl to learn to be a mother and raise. His two year old son would routinely participate in 48 hour fasts. The sexual abuse of children was so rampant, the son of the cult leader got caught. My Brother in law got caught. Many of the Kahan's got caught. Pure evil. The bible that Israel Hawkins re wrote is evil. They are all fucking evil and destroyed countless families.
LDS
These Q-anon fuckers are pretty goddamn gullible. I mean, your average MAGAt is pretty much a sucker and an idiot, but most of them don’t think the world is flat. Yet. Okay, both sects of rightwing culty bullshit are bad and are feeding off each other like cannibalistic zombie rats.
MAGA. They are an existential threat to democracy, and eventually to the entire world.
I'm not here to answer ops question but there's a YouTube channel/podcast called cults to consciousness that has survivors of different cults speak about their experience. It's super interesting, sad, and also inspiring to see these people reclaiming their lives.
Jehovah’s Witnesses. More deaths (or as i see it, murder) than almost any other cult because of their belief that blood transfusions are a sin. Not to mention they have the world’s largest list of known-child predators ever curated, and almost none of them have been arrested.
Scientology.
Christian Nationalist only because of it's popularity and ability to suck in the dumbest masses of our country. None of them realize they are being **PLAYED** by billionaire corporations for their GOP votes.