Adolescent loyalty: Unraveling the mysteries of baby cults

When you think of a cult, you immediately think of extremists like Charles Manson or members of The Children of God Cult. We never seem to wonder if youth groups are just “baby” cults in the making.

One thing that stuck with me while watching a documentary called How to Become a Cult Leader (2023) on Netflix, is that cult leaders often influence those who are most vulnerable in society. Particularly young adults and adolescents who struggle with identity, self-esteem and free will. Charles Manson made full use of this method by targeting teenage runaways and other “lost” souls. Similarly, youth groups use welcoming gestures and tactics to make members feel that they “belong” to this group and must follow “all” practiced faith-based ideologies. It begs the question of why we don’t call the local youth group a “baby cult” or a place for “coming-of-age cults.”

Growing up, I also attended a youth group organized by the Catholic Church. But sure Mine group wasn’t that the case? We didn’t brainwash people and call it ‘enlightenment’, nor did we force our views on others – or at least that’s what I thought until I watched my poor friend’s reaction when I was invited to this group as we sang “ Shine, Jesus beam” to her. Fuck.

And just like that, those red-tinted glasses were thrown off. The youth group’s iconic cheese pizza was no longer iconic, and the religious chants no longer sounded like I was in a community.

Sometimes you have to look at things from a different perspective to realize how heated that reality is.

To explore these issues, I conducted a survey on “Youth Group Experiences,” where participants anonymously gave their experiences of both “enlightenment” and being “brainwashed.” While it is important to recognize that some have had a welcoming and wonderful experience, I am here to address the tainted youth created by toxic, harmful, and self-loathing narratives.

An anonymous participant, who attended a Pentecostal youth group, reflects on their experience of being brainwashed during “Worship Nights” and a youth leader who “dimmed the lights and sang a repetitive Jesus choir with the same four lines over and over again. Another youth pastor came by, laid his hands on me and shouted at me in tongues.”

Another variant of cult-like behavior is the use of fear to manipulate members into performing certain acts. When these survey takers were asked about experiences with religious youth organizations using harmful tactics, many responded with “the ‘devil’ as a tool to scare us into doing the right thing.” Such “right things” meant practicing intense, faith-based ideologies and bringing others into the “path to salvation.”

The normalization of cult tactics – why was this never questioned?

In retrospect, the purpose and cult tactics of youth groups have never been questioned, as they are often associated with religious organizations. Although Australia declares itself a secular country, religious institutions have played a major role in our society since the beginning of colonization. Over time, cult tactics have been used consistently, becoming the normalization of cult behaviors within certain groups. And with that association comes a normalization for young children to go to church with much older “youth leaders” and speak in tongues.

It has become clear that this normalization has become a problem; it has become an epidemic with former youth members who have now become adults coming forward to discuss their disturbing experiences and/or religious traumas. This means that religious organizations may only offer ‘community’ groups for adults, as many children are too young to express their commitment to these religious beliefs.

To be honest, I think we were all too young to be a part of it some organization that promoted oppressive, homophobic, sexual prejudice and fear-mongering dogma beliefs.

To this day, I still remember a childhood friend who converted to Mormonism (also recognized as Latter-day Saints) so they could join and talk to the Morman youth group. “the hot Mormon boys” –– her words, not mine. In that scenario, do we think it’s a good idea for young girls to be part of religious institutions and doctrinaire with certain dogmas in the name of interacting with ‘hot religious guys’? The answer should be no.

‘Thanks God’ these youth groups don’t encourage the murder of celebrities – because then these dedicated youth groups would commit these murders. And thanks God’ we do not see the extremes of youth giving up their identity as individuals to become part of the whole. However, the idea that youth groups are using cult tactics to both lure young individuals and provide a zero-exit strategy must be recognized.

Cult tactics

Trojan horse

A common cult tactic is ‘The Trojan Horse’, where youth groups have used innocent events as a platform to introduce ideological or religious concepts. Like cults, members are never given true intentions. Newcomers are often told that the Youth Group is organizing a ‘movie night’, ‘pizza night’ or even a ‘party’, but are shocked when it comes to reality. I never recovered from the time I invited my boyfriend over for one of those “movie nights”; we were told we would be watching Finding Nemo (2003) but it was miraculously missing and we watched God Is Not Dead (2014) instead of.

Transactions

Within this Trojan Horse cult tactic comes another: the conditioned belief in transactions. These groups have often lured young people with free food in exchange for God’s complete salvation. I think this is ethically questionable. In our context of cult behavior, cults have incorporated transactional concepts into their practices, such as quid-pro-quo relationships and emotional transactions.

Another survey participant revealed this transactional behavior when he attended a youth group for the first time: “It was a very strange experience – I was really just there for the company and free food.” As a former Youth Group member, the discourse was always focused on “God loves you, here’s some free food, help our community now.”

Youth groups have conditioned members from an early age to believe that life itself is a transaction. But the transaction of chanting intense dogmatic beliefs to receive free food in return is an exaggeration.

Isolation and zero-exit strategy

Have you ever heard someone call their “second family” or “community” their youth group?

If not, you might be surprised to learn that it’s a widespread sentiment, in part because many youth groups use social and emotional manipulation tactics to give their members a sense of “us versus them.” These “zero-exit” and derivative isolation strategies are expressed in snarky comments and are disparaging to those outside this group. It instills in members raised by these religious groups a sense of urgency and dependence on their fellow group members.

Some may argue that these youth groups are virtuous and build a sense of community and close friendships, but my question to you is this:

What happens to those friendships when someone leaves a youth group or is kicked out?

In most cases, these ‘withdrawals’ are merely categorized as ‘others’ and parted from amicably. At worst, they are completely ostracized from a community that once promised to be a safe place for self-expression and friendship.

Knowing this and being completely dependent on your youth group makes it very difficult to leave these communities. One survey participant who grew up with a youth group shared his last encounter this way: “the last time was painful, mainly because I no longer enjoyed it, but also because I had a hard time letting go because it was all I wanted. knew my life. entire life”.

The end

I don’t want to say that youth groups are cults. However, most youth groups fall into the category of ‘cult-like behaviour’ due to the use of the Trojan horse and the actions emphasizing ‘outsiders versus youth members’ – as such it becomes alarming.

Perhaps we were too young to encounter such religious organizations that pressured us to do so their future and spread alarming dogmas about sex, the queer community, and “accusations” about anyone in their appointed church. It’s time for us to become our own individuals.