During my career as a police detective, I worked with, and studied, cults. I
attended schools designed to teach law enforcement officers how to deal with
brainwashed cult followers and to attempt the extremely difficult task of
freeing someone from the grasp of a controlling cult leader and
deprogramming them from the cult’s philosophy.
A cult leader offers a solution or relief to a problem or fear perceived by
his followers. Most cult leaders recognize an existing fear or problematic
circumstance, and then formulates his own solution and offers that idea to
his followers in order to attract their attention. Once the cult leader has
the attention of his subjects, he then begins a systematic process designed
to gain control over the follower’s ideas and thinking. The subject that the
cult leader uses to gain control is usually a subject that is looked upon by
the majority of the normal populace as strange or even ridiculous, but is
perceived by the followers as logical. Anyone not agreeing with the cult’s
philosophy is looked upon as the opposition.
There have been many religious cults. David Koresh led the Branch Dividians
religious cult in Waco Texas. Koresh convinced his followers that they were
the “students of the seven seals” spoken of in the Bible referring to the
last days. Koresh offered his followers a solution to surviving Armageddon.
Jim Jones organized the People’s Temple cult. Jones convinced his followers
that he could protect them from growing fascism in the United States by
moving the group to Jonestown Guyana. Jones used scriptures taken out of
context to convince his followers he was a prophet sent by God to lead his
followers to safety.
Marshall Applewhite was leader of the Heaven’s Gate cult in San Diego
California. Applewhite realized that there were a large number of people who
had serious concerns about the end times and Armageddon. With a limited
knowledge of the Bible, Applewhite devised a solution to the fears of those
people and offered them a way to avoid the war of all wars. He convinced
them that he could save them from Armageddon by taking them with him to his
space ship that was following behind the Hale Bop comet.
Ken Ham is the leader of Answers In Genesis. Ken Ham realized that there was
a large number of Christians who feared that the theory of evolution would
destroy the Christian community’s belief in the Biblical account of God’s
creation. This fear was most evident in Christians raising children. Many of
those parents pulled their children out of the public school system to
shield them from being taught evolution in the classroom and began home
schooling their children. Enter Ken Ham, someone who appeared to offer a
logical answer to the age old question of where dinosaur fossils came from
and how and when the dinosaurs lived and died. His intent was to convince
his followers that everything, including dinosaurs, was created by God 6000
years ago and that the theory of evolution was destroyed using Biblical
facts. To his followers, this was the perfect answer to their questions
about prehistoric dinosaurs.
It’s possible at first that Ken Ham believed his theory that the earth is
only 6000 years old, that dinosaurs were created along with other animals on
day six of the account given in Genesis, and that Noah’s flood caused the
fossilization of the dinosaur remains. But Ken Ham professes to be an expert
on Biblical facts. It is highly improbable that since 1979, when Ham founded
the Creation Science Foundation, that he has not realized the serious flaws
in his theory. There is now overwhelming evidence that Ken Ham deliberately
alters the meaning of the Biblical text, deliberately omits and hides
scriptures from his followers that conflict with his theory, and continues
in this course of deceit even after he has been shown what the Bible really
teaches. Answers In Creation, an Old Earth Creation organization, has
publicly accused Ken Ham of “deliberately misleading” his followers on
matters of both science and theology. If Ken Ham was exposed as a fraud, he
would lose his multi-million dollar empire.
There are five main tactics used by cult leaders to deceive and control
their followers. Which ever one of these techniques is used, it is repeated
over and over again to the followers.
Most importantly, all cults misrepresent God’s Word and change what the
Bible really means by taking passages out of context and reinterpreting what
the words really mean in order to fit their theory. They are careful to omit
any scriptures from their presentations that would conflict with their
theory.
Cult leader convince their followers that everyone else is wrong. They must
convince their followers that even though the overwhelming majority of
people do not agree with them, everyone else has been misled.
Cult leaders mix in just enough truth to make the lies believable. Most
cults are religion based, and mix in Biblical truths that do not interfere
with the cult’s philosophy. Most cults teach the redemptive value of the
blood of Christ and preach true salvation. The intent is to gain the trust
of the followers with a subject they feel completely comfortable with.
Cult leaders convince their followers that other teachings present a danger
to their belief and society as a whole. The majority of the time, followers
are taught that other teachings cause violence, sinful activity, and are
disappointing to God.
Cult leaders warn their followers to never listen to other doctrines or they
will be deceived. The cult’s philosophy is usually contrary to common sense
or what is believed by the majority. The cult leader has the difficult task
of making those common sense points illogical.
A Young Earth believer once told me that Christianity could be considered a
cult. There is one major reason true Christianity can not be classified as a
cult. All cults misrepresent what the Bible really says in order to promote
their beliefs. True Christianity is the constant dedicated search for what
God’s Word really tells us. Any sect that deliberately changes the meaning
of Biblical text and hides scriptures from their followers that conflict
with their philosophy, is a cult.
Most cults are religion based. The most trusted document in mankind’s
history is the Holy Bible. If a cult leader is going to convince their
followers of a false doctrine, then it is paramount to convince their
members that the scriptures do not actually mean what has generally been
accepted. There are two ways to deceive followers into believing what the
cult leader is teaching and to hide from the members what the Bible actually
teaches.
The method used most often is for the cult leader to confuse the meaning of
the text and to convince the members that the leader’s interpretation is
correct and the meaning that has generally been accepted by others is
incorrect. When dealing with the Bible, that is not really hard to do, since
the Bible has been translated from the original Hebrew and Greek text into
an old English version that also leaves room for further interpretation. An
excellent example of this problem is seen in Matthew 18:6, where one word,
if misinterpreted, changes the entire meaning of the verse. It reads, “But
whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were
better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea.” This verse is used by opponents of
spanking children as a form of discipline, so they adopt the “plain reading”
of the text. Except that the word “offend” does not mean to offend the
child.” The word “offend” in the original Greek is “skandalizo,” and it
means “to entice one to sin.” The anti-spanking advocate conveniently
ignores this interpretation in order to promote their philosophy. This
failure to provide the proper interpretation of scripture if the correct
interpretation conflicts with the cult’s theory is used over and over again
by cult leaders.
No reliable Bible teacher encourages their followers to depend totally on
the “plain reading of the text” when it comes to Bible study. That is,
unless the correct interpretation of a scripture interferes with the message
you are trying to convey to your followers. Then your mission is to
discourage your followers from investigating what the Bible text really
means.
But what happens when the “plain reading of the text” conveys the accurate
interpretation, and that interpretation conflicts with the cult’s
philosophy? The cult leader does the opposite of what we have just shown.
The cult leader now tries to convince his followers that the plain reading
of the text doesn’t mean what it appears to mean.
Because Ken Ham teaches that Adam’s sin was the first in the universe and is
the cause of the physical death of all living things, he is faced with a
dilemma when asked by his followers about Genesis 2:17 that tells us that
when Adam sinned, God told him that he would “surely die” on that day. Since
Adam didn’t physically die that day, God had to be talking about spiritual
death, not physical death. That conflicts with the Young Earth theory, so
Ken Ham convinces his followers that the “plain reading of the text” does
NOT apply in this case.
The original Hebrew does NOT say that Adam would start to die on that day
there would be a process where he would “eventually die.” The same literary
construction is used in Exodus 21:12, where God commands that “He that
smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.” The Hebrew
phrase “surely put to death” is the same as “surely die.” The same literary
rules are used. There is no “slow process” in the death penalty described in
Exodus 21:12, and the same words are used.
Ken Ham has just done what every cult leader does to deceive their
followers. If the “plain reading of the text” appears to support the cult’s
theory, the leader encourages his followers to depend on the plain reading
of the text. If the “plain reading of the text” appears to conflict with the
cult’s belief, the leader convinces his followers that they should not
depend on the plain reading of the text and concocts a different explanation
of the scripture. From just the two examples given here, is there any
question what Ken Ham is doing?
Ken Ham and the entire staff at Answers In Genesis also omit and
deliberately hide scriptures from their followers that conflict with their
theory. They cite verses 15 through 19 from Job chapter 40 claiming it is
describing a dinosaur, but leave out verses 20 through 24 that unequivocally
proves this chapter is describing an elephant.
And Ken Ham’s audience just sits there and nods their heads in approval
without without opening up their Bibles and reading the passage for
themselves. Ken Ham puts his verses up on a screen in a slide show instead
of having his audience follow along reading their Bibles. If the audience
was actually reading from God’s Word, they might keep reading where Ken Ham
leaves off, and discover the rest of the verses that are describing an
elephant.
Convincing their followers that the cult is right and everyone else is wrong
is also important, even if the cult’s philosophy is rejected by the
majority. This usually isn’t difficult in a religious cult since many
scriptures speak of few people being saved and the majority going to hell.
Using God’s Word to convey the message to the flock that everyone else is
wrong and the cult’s beliefs are right is pounded into the followers heads
over and over again.
Preaching the truth in matters that don’t affect the cult’s philosophy is
used by every religious cult. Every cult leader, from David Koresh to Jim
Jones, to Marshall Applewhite preached the story of salvation. This
developed a trust between the cult leader and the followers. The intent is
to make the followers believe that if the leader knows the truth of God’s
redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he can be trusted in other
matters.
The fourth technique used to control the flock is to convince the followers
that any other belief system is dangerous to their survival and presents a
danger the Christian belief and to society as a whole. This scare tactic, if
used properly, will control the followers out of fear that terrible things
will happen if they stray from the tenets of the cult.
The fifth tactic used by most cults is to shield their followers from
outside influences, and to convince them that they will be brainwashed by
the opposition if they listen to anyone who disagrees with the cult’s
philosophy.
Cult members are taught that if they engage in a discussion with the
opposition and are given a plausible fact that appears to contradict the
cult’s philosophy, to immediately disengage from the discussion. When this
happens, the cult member usually states something like “I will not discuss
this with you any further.” Police officers and professionals who are
trained to de-program cult members recognize this reaction as confusion and
doubt on the part of the cult member, and usually will present another
conflicting fact to the member. But unless the cult member is being legally
detained, they will usually at this point walk away, hang up the telephone,
or leave the chat room.
As we have shown, Ken Ham and the staff at Answers In Genesis practices all
five techniques that are used by every religious cult.
They change the meaning of the Biblical text to make it fit their Young
Earth theory. They also hide scriptures from their followers that conflict
with their theory.
They convince their followers that everyone else is wrong and that anyone
who does not believe in a Young Earth is a fool.
They mix in undeniable truths with their illogical theory in order for their
philosophy to seem more reasonable.
They convince their followers that any other belief presents a real danger
to Christianity and society as a whole.
Young Earth followers are encouraged to not listen to any opposing facts
regarding the age of the earth and to refrain from discussing other beliefs
with the opposition.
It is generally accepted in the law enforcement community that if any
religious organization alters the Word of God, and engages in at least two
of the other four techniques, they qualify as a cult. Answers In Genesis
uses all five techniques.
