I am grateful to see that the media is also addressing the issue of the danger of Pentecostal Christians in politics (links here , here , here ).
Many people thought I was dealing with a socially marginal and insignificant topic when I spoke about the danger of Christian sects. Until it happened that members of Christian sects such as Heger, Krajčí, Milanová, and Remišová became prime minister and several ministers.
What is and what is not a sect
The definitions of a sect may vary. By the term sect, I mean a religious community that sophisticatedly manipulates the psyche of an individual and builds negative pathological psychological phenomena in a person. Sects can also arise under the wings of ordinary churches – these are the so-called Christian communities. Any Catholic priest who cultivates religious fanaticism in his believers and can effectively manipulate believers is guilty of sectarian practices.
The secret service also deals with sects, I'm afraid they strongly underestimate the monitoring of Christian sects – after all, what is there to fear when many of them belong to the Catholic Church.
And be very careful. Pentecostal Christians are not the only Christian denomination where sick religious fanaticism is cultivated. The issue also concerns non-Pentecostal Christian communities. However, Pentecostals are dominant in religious fanaticism.
Community
Christian communities strive to build the strongest possible social ties and social life among their members. On the one hand, it may seem positive that a person experiencing a crisis has someone to share their problems with, but on the other hand, we observe mostly negative phenomena of this overly social community life. Instead of honestly seeking the truth and critically examining religion, members of the Christian community only confirm and encourage each other in religious fanaticism and bigotry, and that is not good.
We see a massive, very negative trend of how easily people get carried away by the effect of mass psychosis on social networks and how easily they fall for absolutely absurd disinformation. The manipulation is even stronger in Christian communities, where people are reinforced in their lies not through social networks but through direct personal contact.
The overly social life of members of Christian communities causes a highly manipulative effect – the individual acquires a collective mind. The individual completely loses their own judgment, their own reason, any critical thinking, and free will. Their mind is reprogrammed to what should cause them joy and what negative emotions.
An individual who is on their own, if they make a mistake, can acknowledge it and correct themselves. However, with the collective mind of a crowd, which is like a train that has already started, this is no longer possible.
Psychology – why a person is tempted to join a sect. Empathy and understanding for this person.
I will now try to approach the victims of Christian sects with sincere understanding. A desire to engage with something deeper than just the surface, a desire to engage with philosophy, spirituality, and the search for truth, is naturally rooted in man. Unfortunately, we live on planet Earth, where the dark principle pulls the longer end, and the matrix has quite effective traps/snares prepared for truth seekers. And this applies not only to Christianity but also to esotericism. As a person who is deeply spiritually inclined myself, I openly say that in this world it is best not to engage with philosophy at all, because in 95% of cases people go astray, either in Christian sects or various misguided currents of esotericism. People who do not engage with spirituality or philosophy at all are closer to the truth than Christians or esotericists. So I have already slightly deviated from Christian sects to esotericism, but it is related.
Many people ask legitimate philosophical questions about God, the afterlife, and the soul. Christianity gives superficial answers to these questions. It is never right if a person starts to consider these answers as the only truth and fanatically adheres to them.
Even a religious fanatic should be understood – they do not mean ill in their thought processes. If we were to assume that the Christian idea of God is real, that the Christian God truly requires us to observe all dogmas, and that the afterlife will truly be as described and based on the rules Christianity outlines, then it would indeed be worthwhile to be a religious fanatic. We would have a successful life with minimal suffering during our earthly life, and we would gain great advantages in the afterlife. If the Christian idea of God were real, then it would truly make sense to observe all commandments, prohibitions, and restrictions out of love for God, to please Him. ….. In practice, however, a Christian very quickly realizes that Christianity does not help them in life, so they try to satisfy themselves by thinking that the more suffering on earth, the better the afterlife. It is not that difficult to lie to oneself and suggest that Christianity makes one internally happy even when one's life is full of suffering. …. I no longer understand why a long-time religious fanatic does not critically reflect on their religion even a little and does not come to their senses even in old age – here even my reason fails me. … A religious fanatic puts religion first and tries to dedicate as much time and energy as possible to religion, believing that it will pay off in the afterlife.
Many Christian believers realize that the Catholic Church is ossified and are looking for a breath of fresh air and a "living faith". Unfortunately, in their search, people can be very mistaken and go from the frying pan into the fire, from bad to even worse. They try to find spirituality in even greater religious fanaticism than the mainstream church. But Christianity is rushing into the abyss – we are observing a dangerous trend that soon the mainstream will be Christian sects.
It is easy to join a Christian sect, but very difficult to leave, as it is a highly manipulative psychology. A well-manipulated person feels good in the sect, thinks that everything is fine, sees no problem in the sect, so why should they leave?
Testimonials – Highly Manipulative Practices
First, the Christian sect lures as many non-believers or hesitant new members as possible to a religious event. Through so-called testimonies, the speaker on stage, who presents himself as an ordinary member of the community, tries to convince the flock that before he was a Christian, he was unhappy and had many problems in life. But then "God" touched me, I was enlightened, Jesus healed me, and suddenly I am completely happy and live without problems.
Imagine a young, inexperienced, and disoriented person who is currently going through some kind of crisis. (Cults mainly specialize in young people). Such a young person can easily become prey to greedy Christian cults.
The leaders of the sect or the speaker themselves do not consider it manipulation, because the end justifies the means. After all, we are nothing, we musicians, we are just saving the whole world from Satan and helping secular people to save themselves from damnation with our testimonies.
I wish there were lessons at schools, or that some NGO could go to schools and warn children against such manipulation.
Savior Syndrome
About the thought processes of either cult leaders or ordinary members:
They think they are saving the world, that they are saving people from damnation, that they are the elite, that they are indispensable to society. We save people from damnation, people need us incredibly.
Membership in Christian sects is attractive to psychologically complexed individuals who feel that by imposing their faith, they are saving the whole world from damnation. A person with an inferiority complex feels useful.
The Savior Syndrome is a very dangerous psychopathological phenomenon that is cultivated in sects.
Inability to see flaws in religion/community
A religious fanatic sees only one fault – and that fault is that we are not fanatical enough. The opposite fault, that there is too much fanaticism, does not even occur to believers in Christian communities.
It is a very sad sight that even older people, who have had many years of experience with religious fanaticism and must see for themselves that religion gives them nothing, do not reduce their fanaticism even in old age.
The phenomenon of the inability to see the flaws in religion is the strongest and most dangerous program in religion.
A religious fanatic also has their thinking completely switched off. A person who does not think cannot see the flaws in religion. They can only think in one direction, only in the direction of confirming their error.
A mentally balanced person would seek critical arguments even on their own, but if one actively tries to help a religious fanatic, they react very irritably and are very hurt.
A Christian fanatic is critical of Jehovah's Witnesses and is able to see their faults. He is objective towards Jehovah's Witnesses. He can be critical of Islam. However, the Christian fanatic has forgotten self-reflection. He cannot understand and cannot realize that his own religious community is making exactly the same mistakes and exactly the same manipulation as Jehovah's Witnesses.
The blindness of Catholics to see the faults in their church was also evident in the case of sexual abuse. All the believers and Catholic priests I knew always spoke of sexual affairs as fabricated, invented attacks by secular media against the Catholic Church. A change of opinion among priests and fanatical believers only occurred when the strongly reformist Pope Francis very harshly named these problems. However, even today, I observe a significant reduction in the perception of this problem among believers.
The inability of a believer to see flaws in the church and religion is also due to the fact that it means doubting the faith. And doubting the faith is considered a weakness and a snare of Satan. Any critical argument against religion is considered a snare of Satan. The believer is obliged to immediately dismiss the critical argument from his mind and not even think about it. This is the mentality and thought processes of a believer.
A distorted perception of what is normal, what is the norm.
Religious fanatics have created their own world, and they reinforce themselves in their vision of their world. Being a religious fanatic is the norm for them. They perceive secular people as sick people who need help, who need to be cured and returned to the norm.
A religious fanatic would not even think of considering that enslavement to their religion/sect is not actually the norm.
Superiority and intolerance
A religious fanatic is full of intolerance not only towards secular people but also towards moderate Christians. The task of a religious fanatic is to "awaken" and "heal" even moderate Christians and make them fanatics as well.
In a way, Christian fanaticism is a hidden Nazi ideology. While Nazism preached superiority based on race or nationality, Christianity preaches superiority based on faith.
While society is very tolerant of the intolerance of religious fanatics, its tolerance of the intolerance of racists is practically zero. We observe a double standard in society regarding religious and racial intolerance.
A beautiful example of how intolerant religious fanatics are is the huge attacks on the Tribal Shamanism YouTube channel, which seems to have faced huge reporting from religious fanatics. It's sad that the fact that a person tries to help victims of sects, the victims perceive it as an attack against them and as the snares of Satan.
Comparison of a religious fanatic, a psychiatric patient, and a drug addict or alcoholic
All these things are related.
An alcoholic or drug addict and a religious fanatic have a lot in common. While an alcoholic cannot give up alcohol and is enslaved by it, a religious fanatic is addicted to religion and is enslaved by it.
While an alcoholic and a drug addict acknowledge their weakness and try to fight it, a religious fanatic, on the contrary, considers their handicap to be their greatest asset. An alcoholic and a drug addict are better off than a religious fanatic.
While a psychiatric patient is aware of their disorder and considers it a handicap, a person consumed by religious fanaticism considers their handicap their greatest asset. A psychiatric patient is actually better off than a religious fanatic.
Extreme Obsession with Sexuality in the Catholic Church
Catholics don't care about anything else but to prevent premarital sex among young people at all costs. This is the number one topic, and Catholics don't care about anything else. Some Catholics try to downplay this problem, saying it's not that bad, but the Anna Kolesárová affair is clear proof that Catholics are truly obsessed with sexuality to the extreme. Sexuality is a tool of Satan that must be eliminated at all costs. Anna Kolesárová was declared a saint at all costs, contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church – nothing is more important than creating a new symbol of sexual rejection. From Anna Kolesárová, Catholics created a narrative built on lies – after all, the end justifies the means – for a higher good, we can even lie just to create a symbol of sexual rejection.
Psychological centers and the non-governmental sector to help Christians and victims of Christian sects
I wish that psychological centers would be established throughout Slovakia to help victims of Christian sects. I would imagine a strong volunteer non-governmental sector to help victims of Christian sects, which would raise awareness and spread critical arguments against religious fanaticism.
The basic task of a psychologist is to endlessly explain to the victims of sects that the religious idea of God does not have to be the only correct one and that the Christian teaching about the afterlife does not have to be the only correct one.
The psychologist's task is to explain to the victim that they do not profess religion of their own free will, but that they are enslaved by religion. The victim should understand that being enslaved by religion is a handicap and not something that should be considered an advantage.
Working with cult victims is not always easy. The victim may not perceive help as help. I have tried to help several victims of Christian cults, and instead of gratitude, they perceive the offered help as an attack against them, against their faith, and they perceive awakening and therapy as Satan's traps. Aggressive and irritated reactions are common. There are people who cannot be helped.
Mass departure from the church and Christian sects, similar to what is happening with Jehovah's Witnesses?
It is known that Jehovah's Witnesses in Central Europe are experiencing a mass departure of their members. One reason is that the ossified Jehovah's Witnesses do not use nearly as sophisticated manipulation methods as Christian communities and do not have nearly as well-developed PR marketing. Compared to Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses are pathetic amateurs who have a lot to learn from them.
Nevertheless, I am an optimist and have a strong belief that Christian sects will also experience a similar period as Jehovah's Witnesses. Once a group of people starts leaving, a domino effect will be triggered, and departures could turn into mass exits. A Christian has their brain switched off and doesn't think. However, once a close friend leaves the sect, they will be forced to at least think a little about why they left and will, against their will, also consider critical arguments. This could trigger a nice domino effect. It is important for the leavers to group together as much as possible to create the strongest possible protective energy field, the strongest egregor. The leavers could also help others leave and assist them with psychological counseling.
Apostasy in Islam and Christianity
Although Christians are critical of Islam, they lack self-reflection and do not realize how much they have in common with Islam. Muslims can tolerate people of other faiths, but they punish apostasy from Islam with death. It is similar with Christianity. Christians are still very tolerant of people of other faiths, but if a family member, who has been raised in the conservative Christian faith since childhood, apostatizes from Christianity, Christian love suddenly disappears, and it brings great division to the family. Christians claim that their religion is strongly pro-family, but they do not realize how their religion can divide families. Divide people.
It is no different when someone falls away from the Christian community.
Does Christianity really make a person better?
Links
Psychology of Christian communities / sects. Analysis https://filozofia.nett.to/krestanstvo/sk/psychologia-krestanskych-spolocenstiev
Properly psychopathic Pentecostal prayers aimed at exorcism and "healing". One can easily understand why Pentecostals are a sect, download here