Filo.explica│The most dangerous sects in the world

One of the first sects to have great worldwide repercussion was known as Jonestown. That was the informal name of the “People’s Temple Agricultural Project,” a community led by Jim Jones in the Caribbean country of Guyana. In 1978, that sect resulted in the largest collective suicide in history. In 2022, a documentary called “Keep Sweet” was released, which tells the atrocities of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and guilty of aberrant crimes among his followers. This is what happened with the so-called “Colonia Dignidad” in Chile for several decades. There are religions that, in the sight of those who do not participate in them, have all the appearance of being sects. Perhaps the most famous is the so-called “Scientology”, of which many famous people are part, as is the case of the actor Tom Cruise. In 1974, French journalist Claude Vorilhon, also known as Rael, founded the sect known as the “Raelian Movement.” Unlike other sects, the Raelians had a very particular characteristic: belief in extraterrestrial life. Cults sometimes reach characteristics that, if they were not tragic, would even be laughable. As in the case of Mark Hofmann, a forger among Mormons in Utah, United States.
In Spain, for fourteen years the sect called “Edelweiss” operated, founded by Eduardo González Arenas. As a result of his actions, he was convicted of child abuse and corruption. In recent years, many cases of supposed charismatic leaders were portrayed by series and films. Also the subject of audiovisual works were the murderers who organized their crimes in community. Thus, characters like Osho or Charles Manson became protagonists of fictions and documentaries. Many times, a cult not only involves crimes to freedom or loss of rights, but it is usually organizations with political connections and with large incomes of money. Suicide sects, sects that sexually abuse minors, sects with pseudo-religious goals, sects that only seek to earn a lot of money. They all have their level of danger. They are all there, expectant, looking to capture new victims.

Original source in Spanish