Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 43
(Dianetics), Children of God or Family of Love, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishna,
Ananda Marga, Divine Light Mission, and the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh group.
Controversial Groups
In this category of controversial groups are those that do not utilize thought-reform
techniques. They take advantage of the misery and marginality in the Latin American
continent. They work in the humble neighborhoods and are primarily aided by what is called
the Electronic Church, originating in the United States. These groups have grown the most
throughout the continent. In 1970 their numbers did not exceed 4 million in Latin America,
and today they reach a total of 50 million.
One way to quickly recognize these groups is to analyze their attitudes: rigid in belief, no
cooperation with other churches, convinced there is no possibility of salvation in them, and
a marked emphasis on insignificant details (second baptism, and prohibition of smoking,
alcohol, and dancing). Other distinctive characteristics, primarily in some evangelical
groups, are the following:
They form a simple interpretation of God and a literal interpretation of the Bible.
They are apocalyptic and await the end of the world.
They consider themselves elected by God, which leads them to isolate themselves
from society.
They use simple, emotional, and sentimental language.
The majority of these groups base their sermons on curing and healing.
They believe this world is essentially evil and perverse, yet they do not try to change
it.
In these groups we can find the Jehovah‟s Witnesses, the Mormons, Afro-Brazilian groups
(Umbanda), spiritualists, Gnostics, and an important sector known as the evangelical-
pentecostal churches, with its tie to the Electronic Church.
The Electronic Church
The veteran evangelist Billy Graham says that he can preach to as many in one night as the
apostle Paul did in all his life. While the historical calculations place the number of Jesus‟
followers within his life at no more than 30,000 people, the Electronic Church, with the
assistance of satellites, allows one billion people to be reached simultaneously by the
evangelical message.
In the 1960s the theologians asked themselves without hope if God had died. In the 1970s
and 1980s a multitude of people believe that they have been reborn. And those directly
responsible for this change are the televangelists, that is, those who preach over the radio
or television. According to the Gallup organization, more than 60 million North Americans
have received at least minimal exposure to some form of religious programming.
In the 1970s the televangelists allied themselves with the New Right and the
neoconservative sectors, and they actively worked for Ronald Reagan‟s presidential election
in 1980. During those years they decided to send a great crusade of preachers to Latin
America with the ostensible aim of trying to halt the hypothetical advance of Communism,
as well as to place a wedge in the Catholic Church, the largest church on the continent.
Beginning with the Episcopalian conferences of Medellin (1968) and Puebla (1979), the
Electronic Churches targeted the poor. In the early 1980s a great number of televangelists
passed through the cities and filled the stadiums. They assimilated many popular
evangelical-pentecostal churches whose reactionary ideology in turn drove them to isolate
themselves from society.
(Dianetics), Children of God or Family of Love, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishna,
Ananda Marga, Divine Light Mission, and the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh group.
Controversial Groups
In this category of controversial groups are those that do not utilize thought-reform
techniques. They take advantage of the misery and marginality in the Latin American
continent. They work in the humble neighborhoods and are primarily aided by what is called
the Electronic Church, originating in the United States. These groups have grown the most
throughout the continent. In 1970 their numbers did not exceed 4 million in Latin America,
and today they reach a total of 50 million.
One way to quickly recognize these groups is to analyze their attitudes: rigid in belief, no
cooperation with other churches, convinced there is no possibility of salvation in them, and
a marked emphasis on insignificant details (second baptism, and prohibition of smoking,
alcohol, and dancing). Other distinctive characteristics, primarily in some evangelical
groups, are the following:
They form a simple interpretation of God and a literal interpretation of the Bible.
They are apocalyptic and await the end of the world.
They consider themselves elected by God, which leads them to isolate themselves
from society.
They use simple, emotional, and sentimental language.
The majority of these groups base their sermons on curing and healing.
They believe this world is essentially evil and perverse, yet they do not try to change
it.
In these groups we can find the Jehovah‟s Witnesses, the Mormons, Afro-Brazilian groups
(Umbanda), spiritualists, Gnostics, and an important sector known as the evangelical-
pentecostal churches, with its tie to the Electronic Church.
The Electronic Church
The veteran evangelist Billy Graham says that he can preach to as many in one night as the
apostle Paul did in all his life. While the historical calculations place the number of Jesus‟
followers within his life at no more than 30,000 people, the Electronic Church, with the
assistance of satellites, allows one billion people to be reached simultaneously by the
evangelical message.
In the 1960s the theologians asked themselves without hope if God had died. In the 1970s
and 1980s a multitude of people believe that they have been reborn. And those directly
responsible for this change are the televangelists, that is, those who preach over the radio
or television. According to the Gallup organization, more than 60 million North Americans
have received at least minimal exposure to some form of religious programming.
In the 1970s the televangelists allied themselves with the New Right and the
neoconservative sectors, and they actively worked for Ronald Reagan‟s presidential election
in 1980. During those years they decided to send a great crusade of preachers to Latin
America with the ostensible aim of trying to halt the hypothetical advance of Communism,
as well as to place a wedge in the Catholic Church, the largest church on the continent.
Beginning with the Episcopalian conferences of Medellin (1968) and Puebla (1979), the
Electronic Churches targeted the poor. In the early 1980s a great number of televangelists
passed through the cities and filled the stadiums. They assimilated many popular
evangelical-pentecostal churches whose reactionary ideology in turn drove them to isolate
themselves from society.
