Signs of destructive religious associations/movementsWays to get involved into destructive movementsConsequences of getting involved into destructive religious movements

How to protect oneself against the influence of destructive religious ideas

Введение

Religious extremism and terrorism have become one of the most important threats to humanity today.

A destructive religious movement is a set of religious views, ideas, and teachings that pose a threat to protected human rights and freedoms, capable of disrupting public order, and damaging the spiritual, cultural values, and traditions of society.

A destructive religious movement is a destructive religious or pseudo-religious (imitating religious) organization that seeks to establish complete (total) control over the consciousness and will of its followers.

Here we will tell you how to avoid the danger of being drawn into destructive religious movements.

Ways to get involved into destructive movements

There are 4 categories of citizens, who are potentially prone to be enrolled by targeted religious groups:

  • youth;
  • migrant workers who live in a state of serious economic and psychological stress;
  • socially vulnerable segments of the population;
  • prisoners.

Also, a special risk group involves individuals engaged in intensive spiritual searches and aiming at “complete and absolute truth”.

Involvement into destructive cults occurs the following ways:

  • Social networks are the most effective and broad-based recruitment tool.
  • Sports is one of the favorite areas of recruitment. Especially susceptible to this are those sports in which representatives of different nations are traditionally strong – wrestling, boxing and martial arts.
  • Also the most accessible in this regard are orphanages, crisis centers, nursing homes and centers for the disabled.
  • Penitentiary institutions.

Signs of standard enrollment methods:

  • This is the friendliest person you have ever met, surrounds you with love and care;
  • This is a person who is too interested in what you, as he found out, like to do;
  • The one who showers you with compliments and praises; and coolly assesses what can be taken from you: enthusiasm, energy, physical or intellectual strength, money, apartment, etc.;
  • The one who has all the answers to all questions.

Signs of destructive religious associations/movements

The following should alert you, if people you met claim that:

  • In their group you will find what you have been looking for in vain until now.
  • It is forbidden to turn to official sources of information, including religious associations.
  • They know exactly what you're missing.
  • The very first meeting with them will open up a completely new way of looking at things for you.
  • The worldview of the groups is stunningly simple and explains any problem.

They tell you that:

  • The group has a teacher, medium, leader or guru. Only he/she knows the whole truth;
  • Teaching of a group is deemed as the only real one, i.e. eternal true knowledge. Conventional science, rational thinking and common sense are rejected because they are negative, satanic, unenlightened;
  • Criticism from people outside a group is considered as prove of its truth;
  • The world is heading for disaster and only a group knows how to save it;
  • A group is the elite. The rest of humanity is seriously ill and lost as it does not cooperate with a group or does not allow a group to save the world;
  • You should become a group member.

As the result:

  • A group limits itself from the rest of the world, for example through clothes, food, special language, clear regulation of interpersonal relationships;
  • A group wants you to break up your "previous relationships" as they hinder your development (first of all, they try to get rid of relatives/parents as it is usually them who try to save a person from being zombified);
  • The management of the group regulates sexual relations, for example, the management selects partners, etc
  • A group fills all your time with tasks by making you selling books or newspapers, recruiting new members, attending courses, meditating;
  • It is difficult for you to be left alone, someone from the group is always with you;
  • If you start to have doubts and a promised success does not come, then it is you who will always be guilty for it, because you allegedly did not try enough, participate or act enough.

Consequences of getting involved into destructive religious movements

As the result, a person does not understand that he/she has become a puppet and is controlled by someone. 

His/her personal "I" is dulled and the collective "We" is imposed.

A person finally loses his thinking, opinion, self-awareness, psychologically he/she becomes a part of a large collective organism, in such a situation it is no longer possible to rely on his/her logic, critical thinking.

Society loses a person, future engineer, doctor, astronaut, scientist, teacher, etc., while the extremists are glad that another "brother in faith" has joined them, ready to do anything for the common goal.

At the same time, the goals can differ, from a simple deviation from true religious values, which creates conditions for the imposition of selfish ideas, to a riot aimed at establishing a theocratic form of government.