People don’t join cults thinking they’re
walking into a nightmare. Most start out searching for purpose, community, or
even a fresh start. And at first, it all seems perfect. A charismatic leader, a
group of like-minded people, a sense of belonging. But before they know it,
they’re trapped, controlled, and sometimes, led straight to their deaths.
History has no shortage of chilling cult
stories; few are as infamous as The People's Temple. What started as Jim
Jones' dream of an equal and loving society became one of the deadliest
tragedies ever. At first, his movement promised racial harmony, social justice,
and a better life. But behind closed doors, Jones was spiraling into paranoia
and control. In 1978, in the remote jungle of Guyana, he convinced over 900
people—men, women, and children—to drink cyanide-laced punch. The
recordings from that day are disturbing beyond words: people screaming and crying,
yet still obeying. A whole community was wiped out in minutes, all because they
trusted the wrong man.
Not every cult ends in mass suicide, but that
doesn’t make them any less horrifying. Take The Manson Family—a group of
young people drawn in by the hypnotic charm of Charles Manson. He told
them he was a prophet, convinced them that a race war called “Helter Skelter”
was coming, and sent them out to commit brutal murders to trigger it. The most
shocking was the killing of Sharon Tate, a young, pregnant actress who
never even knew the people who took her life. Manson never lifted a knife
himself, yet he had complete control over his followers, turning them into
killers with just his words.
Some cults are built on fear, others on
strange beliefs. Heaven’s Gate was the latter. In 1997, 39 people
dressed in matching Nike sneakers and covered themselves in purple shrouds,
believing they were leaving Earth to board a spaceship hiding behind the
Hale-Bopp comet. They willingly drank poison, smiling in their final video
messages, fully convinced that death wasn’t the end, just a transition. It’s
easy to dismiss them as “crazy,” but they were ordinary people who got lost in
the wrong ideology—desperate for something bigger than themselves.
But cults don’t always involve mass killings.
Some exist quietly in everyday life. NXIVM, for example, disguised
itself as a self-help organization. People, including celebrities, joined,
thinking they were gaining personal growth and empowerment. Instead, they were
slowly being manipulated by its leader, Keith Raniere, who ran a secret
group where women were branded with his initials and forced into sexual
slavery. It took years before the truth came out, proving that cults can be
hidden in plain sight, preying on people who just want to improve their lives.
And then there are those cults that turn into
something far more dangerous—terrorist organizations. Aum Shinrikyo, led
by Shoko Asahara, started as a spiritual movement in Japan but evolved
into a doomsday cult. In 1995, they carried out a sarin gas attack on
the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and injuring thousands. They believed they were
fighting against an impending apocalypse, but in reality, they became the force
of destruction they feared.
Cults aren’t a thing of the past. They still
exist today, just in different forms. Some live online, where influencers and
self-proclaimed “gurus” create digital echo chambers, pushing extreme
ideologies. Others still operate in secrecy, waiting for the next vulnerable
soul to pull into their grip.
The scary thing is, no one joins a cult
thinking they’re in a cult. It always starts with something innocent—a cause, a
belief, a leader who seems to have all the answers. And by the time the truth
reveals itself, it’s often too late.
History keeps repeating itself, showing us
how easy it is for people to be led astray when looking for hope. The only way
to avoid falling into the trap is to question, to think, and to never hand over
our minds completely to someone else.