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Your one-stop
resource for accurate information
on the wild and
wooly world of modern religious groups and teachers.
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If this is
your first visit to the Field Guide you will find it important to read
the material in the Introduction section
before continuing your explorations here.
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Why "One More Website" evaluating
questionable religious teachers and groups?
There are a wide variety of websites on the Internet which critically evaluate the teachings and activities of certain religious teachers and groups. They are frequently referred to as cult-watch sites.
Click here for an explanation of the term cult.
What is different about this site? To answer that question, we need first to clarify some varieties of cult-watch sites.
Secular Cult-Watch Sites
To the average secular—perhaps atheist or agnostic—observer, the bickerings among Christian teachers and groups over doctrines, methods and styles of authority may seem silly. Not wishing to get into any debate over these "in-house" differences, their concern about religious cults is limited in most cases to those popularly believed to be actually physically dangerous to themselves or others. A group which is alleged to be involved in child physical or sexual abuse, or to be in danger of mass suicide within the group, or whose teachings—such as perhaps racial hatred—may possibly lead to physical harm to outsiders is viewed with alarm. When such groups are profiled on secular cult-watch sites, the emphasis is usually on sharing documentation of those factors of the group’s activities which give evidence of such potential danger.
Religious Cult-Watch Sites
Many Internet sites which specialize in profiling and documenting the teachings and activities of various religious groups and teachers are created by those who have a particular religious doctrinal stance they wish to defend. Their definition of cult may be any group which deviates doctrinally from a very narrow doctrinal "orthodoxy" to which they subscribe. And thus the doctrinal teachings of such groups may receive a very thorough profiling on most religious cult-watch sites.
Ex-Member Cult-Watch Sites
Once an individual or a group of individuals manage to extricate themselves from involvement in a religious group which they are convinced held them in some sort of spiritual bondage, they may feel called to warn others to avoid the group. And they may desire to reach out to those still in the group and attempt to help them also "see the light." In most cases, their primary focus is not so much on the error of the doctrines of the group that they left, but the methods used by the leadership of the group to keep them deceived. Thus the material on most ex-member cult watch sites may emphasize historical documentation on the abuses of power exercised by the founder and/or later leaders of the groups, and incidents of deception used to mislead members.
Christian Apologetics Cult-Watch Sites
While many religious cult-watch sites, as mentioned above, define a cult as any group which deviates from their own narrow doctrinal perspective, some Christian Apologetics sites take a broader view. While allowing for wide doctrinal variance across denominational lines, they start with the assumption that there is a minimum standard of "historical orthodoxy" which a teacher or group needs to adhere to in order to be accepted as authentically "Christian." Any group which deviates from this standard may be considered a cult. Thus much of the material on such Christian Apologetics cult-watch sites is devoted to comparing the doctrines of questionable teachers and groups to their particular definition of "historical orthodoxy."
"Spiritual Abuse" Cult-Watch sites
An increasing number of websites, as well as books available in Christian and secular book stores, have brought to the attention of the public the reality that abuse within religious groups is not limited to just physical matters. When a leader or group’s teachings and practices harm the mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being of participants, the result may be termed "spiritual abuse." And it can be just as dangerous and debilitating as physical abuse. Thus much of the content on "spiritual abuse" cult-watch websites may be devoted to documentation of those factors in the teachings and methods of the groups and teachers under consideration which may contribute to the potential for spiritual abuse.
All of the above perspectives have merit. And I have found sites from each variety very helpful. Even if one does not agree with the ultimate subjective evaluation, by the site authors, of the teachers and groups which they profile, most of them do include accurate documentation from which one can glean useful information.
So why one more site covering the same general issue of questionable religious teachers and groups? Because the specific issues which concern me regarding the potential harm of such teachers and groups are different in kind, or in detail, from all of those perspectives above. And I believe my concerns to be perhaps even more fundamental than those expressed on most of the types of sites listed above. They are even more fundamental than whether a group can be classified as a "cult" by any definition, or its leader classified as a "cult leader."
I am concerned about
any religious setting in which the freedom of the individual to have a personal, one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father is inhibited in any way.
I am concerned about
any religious organization, any leaders of such religious organizations, and any teacher who in any way insert themselves or their system or their teachings between the individual believer and that believer’s immediate access to God … and to the simple truths of the scriptures.
I am concerned about
any religious teaching which subverts the basics
of simple faith in the teachings of Jesus as seen in the Sermon on the
Mount, and turns faith and
salvation and the
daily Christian walk into a complex, convoluted process through twisting of scripture and through requiring or encouraging extra-biblical and unbiblical gimmicks and standards.
I am concerned about
any teacher or religious group which takes the simplicity of the truths of the Bible and distorts them to use for an illegitimate or evil purpose—whether it be to validate their own warped views such as rabid racism, to justify oppression of one group of people over another, to excuse their own sinful actions, or any other reason.
And I am concerned about
any teacher or religious group which would, subtly or openly, strip from the individual believer their right and ability to think and act for themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore the primary purpose of this site is
to share documentation regarding those groups and teachers
which I believe to exhibit
one or more of those characteristics listed above.
Unless otherwise noted, all original material on this Field Guide website
is © 2001-2006 by Pam Dewey.Careful effort has been made to give credit as clearly as possible to any specific material quoted or ideas extensively adapted from any one resource. Corrections and clarifications regarding citations for any source material are welcome, and will be promptly added to any sections which are found to be inadequately documented as to source.
Pam Dewey
Pam Dewey
Pam Dewey
