Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991, Page 11
on many panel discussions and radio and TV shows discussing religious cults, does not
officially represent the NCC on this issue and that he sweeps criticisms of cults under the
rug of First Amendment freedom of religion issues, thereby often aligning the NCC with
these questionable groups.38
Some cults have specifically targeted the black Protestant community for membership. The
Church Universal and Triumphant once had special recruitment programs directed at blacks
(and women).39 The Rajneesh Foundation, in an apparent attempt to swell the voting rolls in
its town of Rajneeshpuram (formerly Antelope), Oregon bused hundreds of homeless men,
many of them black, to its commune.40 In 1983 The Church of Bible Understanding raided
Covenant House, a shelter for homeless and runaways in New York City, promising the
predominantly black teenagers jobs.41 The Unification Church, pointing to its few black
members, has attempted to recruit others.42 However, with the exception of Jim Jones‟s
People‟s Temple, which had many black members among the 911 who perished in the
Guyana jungle,43 and such all-black cults as The House of Judah and the Black Hebrew
groups in the United States and in Israel, experts agree that most cult members are
white.44
Dr. James Polk, a prominent black churchman who was Executive Director of the Council of
Churches of the City of New York, explains that cults are just not a high priority issue for
the black community. “We have too much else to worry about, like employment and
education. The numbers of blacks in cults are not sizable enough to worry about, or else
we‟ve just ignored them. And because the black community is so pluralistic it is more
tolerant of religious diversity than the white community. We have Haitians and Jamaicans,
for example, that belong to unusual religious groups, some of them meeting in storefronts.
So cults are just not seen as a threat.”45
If there is any strong impact of cults on membership from the Protestant community it is on
the Evangelical segment. Although Sociology Professor Ronald Enroth of Westmont College
in California, himself an Evangelical Protestant, claims cults are not drawing many
Evangelicals46, most cult observers believe many more Evangelicals are joining cults than
are liberal Protestants.
Some groups, particularly cult-like Covenant Community Shepherding/Discipleship
organizations, drain away membership from mainstream religions not only by direct
recruiting of individuals and families, but through infiltration of existing church structures,
thus threatening the very identities of the churches themselves.47 The Bread of Life
infiltrated a Catholic church in Akron, Ohio48 the People of Hope --allied to the larger
charismatic body, “Sword of the Spirit” --troubled the Little Flower Church in Berkeley
Heights, New Jersey49 and the Lamb of God Catholic Church in Baltimore, Maryland.50 While
some of these Covenant Community groups are officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church,
others such as the People of Hope are challenging established Catholic hierarchical
leadership. So, the presence within Catholic congregations is troublesome not only because
they are cult-like, but because their attempts to operate either independently or under the
aegis of a parent covenant group, such as the Sword of the Spirit, cause jurisdictional
disputes and threaten the official structure of the Catholic Church upon which its authority is
based.
Mainstream Self-Scrutiny
Because religious cults are so successful in attracting members from other religions, one
major effect of cults on the mainstream Western religious community is the intense self-
scrutiny religious leaders have been forced to undertake. They are asking, “Why are people
turning to cults instead of to their own religions? Are our religions failing to provide spiritual
sustenance and emotional vitality? Are we driving lonely seekers into the arms of the
cults?”
on many panel discussions and radio and TV shows discussing religious cults, does not
officially represent the NCC on this issue and that he sweeps criticisms of cults under the
rug of First Amendment freedom of religion issues, thereby often aligning the NCC with
these questionable groups.38
Some cults have specifically targeted the black Protestant community for membership. The
Church Universal and Triumphant once had special recruitment programs directed at blacks
(and women).39 The Rajneesh Foundation, in an apparent attempt to swell the voting rolls in
its town of Rajneeshpuram (formerly Antelope), Oregon bused hundreds of homeless men,
many of them black, to its commune.40 In 1983 The Church of Bible Understanding raided
Covenant House, a shelter for homeless and runaways in New York City, promising the
predominantly black teenagers jobs.41 The Unification Church, pointing to its few black
members, has attempted to recruit others.42 However, with the exception of Jim Jones‟s
People‟s Temple, which had many black members among the 911 who perished in the
Guyana jungle,43 and such all-black cults as The House of Judah and the Black Hebrew
groups in the United States and in Israel, experts agree that most cult members are
white.44
Dr. James Polk, a prominent black churchman who was Executive Director of the Council of
Churches of the City of New York, explains that cults are just not a high priority issue for
the black community. “We have too much else to worry about, like employment and
education. The numbers of blacks in cults are not sizable enough to worry about, or else
we‟ve just ignored them. And because the black community is so pluralistic it is more
tolerant of religious diversity than the white community. We have Haitians and Jamaicans,
for example, that belong to unusual religious groups, some of them meeting in storefronts.
So cults are just not seen as a threat.”45
If there is any strong impact of cults on membership from the Protestant community it is on
the Evangelical segment. Although Sociology Professor Ronald Enroth of Westmont College
in California, himself an Evangelical Protestant, claims cults are not drawing many
Evangelicals46, most cult observers believe many more Evangelicals are joining cults than
are liberal Protestants.
Some groups, particularly cult-like Covenant Community Shepherding/Discipleship
organizations, drain away membership from mainstream religions not only by direct
recruiting of individuals and families, but through infiltration of existing church structures,
thus threatening the very identities of the churches themselves.47 The Bread of Life
infiltrated a Catholic church in Akron, Ohio48 the People of Hope --allied to the larger
charismatic body, “Sword of the Spirit” --troubled the Little Flower Church in Berkeley
Heights, New Jersey49 and the Lamb of God Catholic Church in Baltimore, Maryland.50 While
some of these Covenant Community groups are officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church,
others such as the People of Hope are challenging established Catholic hierarchical
leadership. So, the presence within Catholic congregations is troublesome not only because
they are cult-like, but because their attempts to operate either independently or under the
aegis of a parent covenant group, such as the Sword of the Spirit, cause jurisdictional
disputes and threaten the official structure of the Catholic Church upon which its authority is
based.
Mainstream Self-Scrutiny
Because religious cults are so successful in attracting members from other religions, one
major effect of cults on the mainstream Western religious community is the intense self-
scrutiny religious leaders have been forced to undertake. They are asking, “Why are people
turning to cults instead of to their own religions? Are our religions failing to provide spiritual
sustenance and emotional vitality? Are we driving lonely seekers into the arms of the
cults?”
