Losing my religion

As a member of the International Church of Christ (ICOC) cult for almost 12 years, I was a victim of spiritual rape. It can sound like a taboo term, but it makes sense when understanding what rape means.  Rape is not limited to sex. Rape is about power. Definition of  rape   1 :  unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person's will or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception — compare  SEXUAL ASSAULT ,  STATUTORY RAPE 2 :  an outrageous violation 3 :  an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force

  I came across a post on social media from a member of a cult recovery and support group. This person wrote the following: "It is important to remember to not blame the ICoC for ALL of your problems. Your personal and inner problems originated with you before you entered. You won’t heal unless you realize this. Make no mistake the ICoC made all of your problems WORSE. Much of it came as they implied that those problems weren’t important-just focus on all “this” instead." I agree with this statement. I also think the person lacked a sense of awareness of who they were talking to. The audience in this group are survivors of spiritual abuse from a particular church cult [the ICOC]. Many in the comment section were triggered. I understand why. Saying "not to blame the ICOC for all of your problems" is triggering. I told the author of this post they could have said this better. And I stand by that. I shall explain. This "blame" statement infers that people ARE...

All cults are groups, but all groups aren't cults.  It's similar to how all judges are lawyers, but not all lawyers are judges. Lawyers can become judges. Groups can become cults. Here is the definition of a group that I found online: A group is a collection of people with some common characteristics or purpose. A group can consist of any number of people. People in groups interact, engage and identify with each other, often at regular or pre-determined times and places. * group definition taken from this page [ click here] What about cults? The first thing you see when typing "what is a cult?" or "definition of a cult" is what pops up, courtesy of google: A cult is a group or movement held together by a shared commitment to a charismatic leader or ideology. It has a belief system that has the answers to all of life’s questions and offers a special solution to be gained only by following the leader’s rules. It requires a high level of commitment from at leas...

If you ask the average person what a cult is, a religious cult comes to mind. In fact, it's safe to say that most people see cults as religious. However, part of why I publish content on cults is to educate people on what a cult actually is.  A cult is NOT a religion. A cult is a group dynamic.  A cult is not a religion. It is a group dynamic. Any group can become a cult. All it takes is a charismatic leader, loyal followers, a grand vision, and viola! You've completed the cult starter kit.  Any group can become a cult. People confuse a cult with the infamous religious cult. This is not true. There are also political cults, new age cults, business cults, self-help cults..... what makes a group a cult is how it functions . For example: cults recruit people into their group. A normal group is one you can join. Joining a group is different than being recruited into one.