Spiritual people naturally venture out into many groups of people to find knowledge, wisdom, and especially truth. As we venture into new groups and meet new people, we should know some keys to recognizing harmful groups of people.
They lead by fear
Examples:
- “Burn in hell.”
- “Enemy of church (apostate)”
- “If you leave, judgment will come upon you double.”
- “God’s wrath will be upon you if you do this or that."
- Spiritual warfare (good vs evil) to justify violence and control”
Truth: Hell and the Devil were invented by man to scare you into doing what they wanted. God is a loving God. Love is a high vibration. Fear is a low vibration. True Spiritual warfare involves being positive and keeping a high vibration.
Break bonds with people you love
Examples: Not allowed to talk to Family or Friends,
Truth: Family is key. If you run something by your family and they tell you that it isn't right, that might be a warning sign.
They tell you what to believe.
Examples:
- “You are dumb/stupid if you do not believe this.”
- “Doubting comes from the devil.”
- “Guard your thoughts.” Don’t think for yourself
- Not open to questions
- “Do not read books, magazines, newspapers, or watch news.”
- “We are the only ones with the truth; everyone else is wrong.”
- May require you to radically alter your personal goals
- they may even tell you what to feel.
Truth: If they tell you how to feel, that is especially dangerous when it comes to the Law of Attraction because it messes with your emotional guidance system. Another side effect of someone telling you what to feel is you may loss of sense of humor.
Spirituality teaches philosophy and science with religion. Philosophy and science are led by logic. We should also be led by logic. Personally, I take the approach that everyone has a little of the Truth. We are here to learn. We don’t have to believe the same thing.
They have an “us vs them” mentality
Examples:
- “We have a special place in heaven above others.”
- their money coming in does not benefit society (No benevolence)
Truth: We are equal and we can all learn from each other. No one should be raised up on a platform.
Take away free will.
Examples:
- “You can’t wear a skirt under a certain length.”
- “You can’t wear that color.”
- “You can’t talk to outsiders.”
- “You can’t celebrate holidays.”
- in extreme cases they may even tell you who to marry
- they have a pyramid structure.
Truth: God gave us free will and I believe he knew knowing what would happen. We have more power than most people realize. It comes from being created in the image of God. Talking to outsiders is how we learn. Celebrating holidays is one way to use the law of attraction to attract another year of marriage or life.
In closing, there is no us vs them. We can learn a lot from other people, be they friends, family, or another group entirely. We can pick and choose what we believe. We can fit together those ideas in the way that is most true to each of us, even though it may not be the same. Then, we can share and compare those ideas with a supportive group like our blog.