It’s a common joke when anyone gets a little bit popular that they have a cult, or should start one. On social media especially, I’ve often talked about starting a cult with the followers I identify with most. It’s somewhat of a dark joke, given that most of what we know about cults is related to their downfall, whether it’s Waco or Jonestown, or even just a bit of temporary madness like the Rajneesh movement.
Watch any of those documentaries, though, and something stands out: before all the madness, the members of the cult are truly happy. They’ve found someplace where they feel like they belong, where they are free to be their true selves.
Often, this comes with shedding the practices and mores that we learn from our socialization. Cults often eschew the formalities and moralities of mainstream society. Radical honesty is encouraged in a way that isn’t appreciated or accepted outside of it. Nudism and free love are common traits. Jim Jones tore down racial barriers, and his membership was deeply integrated.
When you strip out the exploitation, isolation, and brainwashing that has been the hallmark of many cults, you find some commonalities in the underlying belief set that speak to the human condition, and explain the appeal. Humans fundamentally want to be valued, understood, desired. We share similar fears. We hunger to be loved. Cults often meet those needs in ways that most people have never experienced before. They share in collective spiritual ecstasy. They practice an almost unconditional love for all those around them. And because of this, they are willing to sublimate themselves to degrees that eventually become unhealthy.
When you look at the downfall of most cults, it almost always relates to the very thing that cults ask their members to give up: ego. And specifically, the ego of a leader who has become drunk on his (usually) power, treating members as his private workforce and harem. Sexually exploitive behavior is probably the most common, followed by financially exploitive terms. Worshippers must meet the cult leader’s physical needs, and must forfeit their worldly possessions to benefit the cult. And because they’ve found a deep sense of emotional and spiritual belonging, they often do.
But what if we could have the benefits without the madness? What would it look like to have the sense of family without a Manson; the collective spiritual experience without an Osho, the shared sense of purpose without the Koresh? Is it possible to meet those deep human needs in a way that is genuine and sincere, without having it go down the path that so many others have?
I think it might be, if some lessons can be learned from the failed (and often deadly) cults of the past. Here are the traits I think that would be required:
Non-Hierarchical
The number one reason cults suck is because their leaders suck. They quickly devolve into service platforms for the ego. A better class of cult doesn’t NEED a leader; just a shared set of values and common goals. No human is the keeper of special wisdom, and we can ALL be the voice of that wisdom in the moment. A shared identity around a belief set and practices is more powerful and less likely to go sideways than some man who claims to know the voice of god. We can all contribute to sacred texts speaking of the nuance of our lived experience, and how that connects to the greater sense of the whole. And by having all voices represented, the values we hold true are likely to be more inclusive and equitable than those written by a single person. Committees could be formed for the purpose of coordinating communal activities, but their scope would be limited and specific.
Non-Exploitive and Volunteerist
Most cults tend to be all or nothing, both in how much you’re participating, and in what’s demanded of you (both in service and monetarily). A better class of cult would demand nothing, either on the financial side, or the service side. It would have tiered participation from live-in to casual outsider, without a class system which treats some participants better than others. It would inspire those who participate to help in meaningful ways through the power of the community, not through guilt trips or dogma. It would have a strict requirement of welcoming hospitality from top to bottom.
Without a leader, there would be no specific cult figure to be sexually exploitive, but it would also work to prevent sexually exploitive scenarios from happening internally due to peer pressure or the expectations of social mores. Free love does not mean compulsory love, and it should be part of the credo of acceptance that not everyone shares the same desires or comfort levels. A better class of cult would both allow for a complete disregard of greater social moral standards, while also acknowledging that personal agency in this arena is the ultimate guide of how a person engages with it.
A Humanist credo which allows for Spirituality
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. It is the foundation of innate rights versus God-given, and places great importance on the value of a human life, and our personal liberties. Starting with a Humanist foundation emphasizes the importance of every adherent to the greater cult ethos.
However, Secular Humanism is probably its most well known form, which often ties into soft or hard atheism, and this precludes from the joy of a collective spiritual experience, something foundational to the appeal of cults in general. A better class of cult would have no position on the spiritual experiences of its members, allowing them to manifest that as they see fit.
I think a set of general precepts would look something like this:
Everyone of us is as important as any one of us
We reject the social obligations of our upbringing in favor of personal exploration
We connect to each other and the universe at large in whatever way feels natural to us
We practice radical honesty among ourselves, and celebrate it in others
We hold love to be the highest human virtue
We hold joy as something to be collectively experienced
I’m not going to say that this is the perfect manifesto for a better class of cult, but I think it’s goes far in the right direction. And if that cult existed, I would join immediately.
Update:
H/T to TJ_Fox on Reddit who provided this excellent video of author Jamie Wheal talking about the concept of ethical cults, which very much aligns with this post: