There are a few commonalities in the beliefs and actions of a religious cult. They believe they have the “real” truth and think what they believe is the only way a right thinking person can believe and behave. Anyone who doesn’t agree with their beliefs is evil. There is an implicit idea to make members afraid to leave for anyone who leaves their group will have terrible things happen to them. Often some in the group make attempts to cause harm to those who leave or criticize the cult. Ties with family are expected to be cut if the family does not accept, join the cult or believe the same way as the cult. The cult becomes the new family with cult loyalty and obedience expected. Life is no longer about the individual person it is always for the “greater good.” Life is completely about promoting the cult and working to achieve the cult’s mission. This is a brief description of some of prominent characteristics of a religious cult. Replace the word “cult” with Democratic Party.

Elon Musk tells story in a recent interview that many can relate to. He was at a good friend’s birthday party enjoying the friendship over dinner when he happened to mention Donald Trump by name. Musk describes what happened next was like many of the party goers suddenly being hit in the neck with a dart containing methamphetamine and rabies. Musk growled and pantomimed as Musk does a zombie impression. A normal conversation was impossible. Many people who are progressive, woke, left leaning etc behave like religious cult members. Only they have the truth, don’t agree and you are evil. They become aggressive, family and friendship matters less than their beliefs so you may be “cancelled.” Somehow you become a destroyer of the world whether it be destroying the Constitution, civility, the climate or freedom! Fortunately, more and more people are speaking up against the cult. Many are defecting because of impossibility of holding opposite logical views together as one. Some many be captured Christians but most will be people in mental and spiritual crisis. Their worldview is being shattered, there is huge uncertainty in their souls. The real Christian church, not the progressive liberal ones who are part of the cult, need to devise ways to express forgiveness and compassion to welcome them into the love of Christ.

John G. Clark Jr., an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Harvard University Medical School says those who come out of a cult show characteristics of depression, guilt, fear, paranoia, slow speech, rigidity of facial expression and body posture, indifference to physical appearance, passivity and memory impairment. Margaret T. Singer, professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, said, ”The techniques of many cults fall under the general rubric of brainwashing.” There will be a battle to re-integrate many former of what is generally known as the progressive left into rational society. Christians have a great opportunity to win many into the kingdom of God by patiently and lovingly listening to the angst of the left in their crisis of a shattered worldview with questions about their own sanity. They are now dismissed with some belittled and ridiculed by the majority secularists. This is a golden opportunity to win people to Christ, not by humouring them with delusions of gender re-assignment, free speech defined as hate in being contrary to their beliefs, irrational climate concern, ruinist socialist economic policies, support for wars, open borders etc. The choice is stark to them, a doubling down on logical delusions to hold views clearly illogical or a change in their spiritual orientation.

At the end of World War 2 Japan was completely broken. In November 1945 General Douglas McArther, who was in charge of rebuilding Japan, welcomed four Protestant leaders telling them: “Japan is a spiritual vacuum. If you do not fill it with Christianity, it will be filled with Communism. Send me 1,000 missionaries!” He also asked for 10,000 Bibles. Unfortunately, he was surrounded by weak men without any Christian foundation. His staff members told him this was going too far: What would the Buddhists and Shintoists think? He should speak of “religious principles” rather than “Christian principles.” Eventually he backed off. It wasn’t until his New Year’s Day message of 1948 that he managed to speak of religion only in the abstract. He never made public references to Christianity again. Shintoism soon became the defacto state religion in Japan, upto today. The opportunity was lost for the Christian missionaries that did go to Japan.

Today we have a great opportunity to show by word, gospel outreach, proclamation and not by works the hope in Christ. Not by works as they will only make those lost think they were right. Hope must be preached, love has been twisted by Satan. We can not leave the left in the psychological hell Satan has unleashed by twisting love.