The thing is these are the most dangerous cults, with the most dangerous cult leaders. Especially what I am seeing with this cult. I have read stories of people having all kinds of bad experiences with this already.
I found a couple of forums, where there are LDS people defending this cult, there are also those that oppose it too.
What is particularly dangerous, is how he is teaching this. I don't think your average Christian is going to understand how crafty and insidious this is. Probably a good thing for anyone to know.
The techniques used can apply to a lot of belief systems that we all hold. At the core, this is based on psychological warfare. Sometimes this is very obvious, and in your face. Other times, it is very subtle, and sneaky.
Have you ever changed your mind about something? Of course, we all have. Knowing why we do so can be a valuable tool.
What he does, is he takes scriptures (that he cherry picks), combine this with familiar terminology (in this case LDS terminology), then makes an argument based on this framework.
He uses several other tactics: he is careful to say that that this may not be for you, that you may not be ready for this.
This does several things. Anything bad happens, he can say it's not his fault, the person wasn't ready. The second thing this does is work on a person's psyche. This is why peer pressure works so well, it uses the same line of thinking.
Next, he carefully crafts a message using scriptures, terminology, and widely held beliefs to convince his followers that this is doctrinal. He carefully creates an argument to fit the narrative.
I understand how this works, very well. I spent 4 years in H.S. and 2 in College on Debate teams. What you learn really fast, is that truth can easily be manipulated to fit the narrative. The really crafty, charismatic speakers use techniques to play on people's emotions. This can easily be seen in our culture today.
As an example, here are some very explosive topics, that have people very divided to the point that friendships can be ruined over it. The main ones are what we all know: Religion, politics, and sex. If you really research any of these topics, in depth, you can start to see why people could believe either extreme, or anything in between.
The next sneaky tactic he uses I don't know the name, but maybe someone here does. I will call it "You're a Special Immortal"
. Basically what this is, is that most people want to feel that they are "special" in some way, or because they are so "special" they can "save" others. You see this throughout our culture, here are some words it can go under: The White Knight, Narcissist, God Complex, Conceited, Hubris, etc. You get the general idea.
This is where someone who is strongly religious can fall for this trap. They ask themselves some of these questions, have these type of thoughts, and make statements like the following (as an example only):
- Well he is using scriptures. That's good, I'll keep listening.
- He is saying that this works for him (validation), but I might not be ready (Sure I am ready)
- Alright he is using religious terminology that I am familiar with, that makes sense.
- What he's saying makes sense. I'll keep learning about this.
- He's not saying anything bad, he's using scriptures, referring to terminology I am familiar with.
- I'm special (I just knew it), I am so ready for the mysteries. Of course I am one of those 144,000 "Immortals"
- This all makes sense now, I am a true believer.
This is how someone gets pulled into this, it happens gradually over time, and they convince themselves that this is true. There are a lot of techniques that good cult leaders use. Most of them are very experienced with psychology, and how to manipulate one's will. It's basically brainwashing, except the victims are compliant and willing to subject themselves to it.
I'll tell you right now, using this same framework, you could (in theory - please don't) carefully craft a religion that is radicalized and slowly but surely lead people away from God.
This group has already caused people to leave their spouses, believe in reincarnation (they call it something else though), believe they are transitioning to "immortals", and who knows what else.
MOO
