Cultists don’t always wear cloaks or live in compounds. Some preach on livestream, sing in choir, sit beside you in polyester glory. Speaking in tongues of hope, they proffer illusions in forked belonging, wrapping control as a gift from God. Promising answers to age olde questions – punishing any who dare ask their own. 

One doesn’t recognize a cult by outward appearance, rather how experience hits at heart. Are you free to leave without fear? Permitted to think differently, yet still belong? Are doubts/misgivings met with empathy – or exile?

Cults don’t advertise in rusted chain. They approach with subtlety, evanescent charm. From love-bombing to promise of purpose and enlightenment, they’ll have you intoxicated, resistance futile. Embraced within circles of the “Chosen” prey are gathered for the Beast. Ever so deftly, without realizing, walls close in as brambles lacerate, causing one to isolate from those of previous ilk, where the only salve offered is deeper devotion. Conformity becomes righteousness, while very identity – from intuition, lingering doubt, even dreams of a brighter tomorrow, are traded for cult approval.

High-control environments are particularly insidious, using scripture as a shield and shame a veritable weapon. They twist a longing for truth into loyalty for the cause/church – a registered business, literally. They convince adherents how disobedience results in damnation, while questioning leadership (Lord’s anointed) is one with blasphemy – the unforgivable sin. 

These groups exploit vulnerability, targeting seekers, idealists, minors, and trauma survivors. They don’t need shackles to ensnare – just enough fear, guilt, and a meticulously crafted measure of dependence. Expect submission framed as holiness and any semblance of autonomy tagged as “Rebellion!” 

Should any of these resonate, you might be in a cult: 

• Doubt is treated as sin.

• Questions are met with suspicion or punishment.

• Leaders are beyond reproach, claiming divine authority.

• Ex-members are slandered, shunned, or painted into monsters. 

• Family members outside the group are labeled “Worldly” even “Demonic.”

• Pressure to sacrifice time, finances, even relationships to prove your devotion.

• Policing your own thoughts, repressing emotions, distrusting natural instincts.

For those raised within such environments, warning signs are harder to spot. When obedience is taught before critical thinking develops, lines between reverence and repression are blurred. The first time any express doubt, pride, even arousal – they’re forced to repent opposed to reflect. Humanity is treated as a scourge to overcome, suppression of autonomy is praised as it were spiritual maturity. 

For the unsuspecting parent witnessing a child cave to cult perversion – that carries unparalleled grief. Unmarked by physical death, rather dehumanizing pit of erasure. A parent may be told they’re inadequate, their influence dangerous – unless they submit or convert, their very presence becomes a threat. This too is by design. Cults will isolate susceptible minors under false pretences, severing familial bonds to swell dependency. Recognizing a cult is not condemning faith. In fact, it’s more in line with affirming it. Active belief does not demand compliance nor punish investigation. It doesn’t require amputating parts of oneself to be counted worthy. True faith/love invites growth, just as community welcomes difference. Spirituality leads one deeper within – trading ego for selfless acts. 

To recognize a cult is to recover one’s mind, reclaiming dignity from forces which rewrote your story! While confronting truth may prove a lonely, even disorienting road, it’s a journey toward clarity, sovereignty, and integral healing. Always examine actions to ensure congruency with love and inclusion.

Truth seeker, 

You haven’t lost your way – merely departed from those undeserving of your trust. 

– ReLOVution