10 Most Dangerous Religious Cults in the World

Have you ever wondered what are the 10 most dangerous religious cults in the world? Today, our list is all about these dangerous groups that are notorious for their occult practices. The word „cult” is mostly used as a formation of a social group that is connected to its beliefs, and it tends to work in the shadow of their secrets.

The fundamental principal of a cult is preaching of the existence of one and only absolute ideal, individual, or an object. Most of them don’t seem to be dangerous at the beginning, but later on, their activities become extreme.

What defines a cult? The basic scheme consist of new teaching that is devoted to a particular person, or a group of people, convincing its members that the traditional religions are heretic and that their cult preaches the only truth of the human existence.

The thing that characterizes cults is a strong leader or a small group, with the power of persuasion and active teaching and skills to maintain control over its members. The cult almost every time has the same principal of combining apocalyptic ideas, isolation, and spiritual experience through the process of indoctrination. Indoctrination is the cult’s most powerful weapon that uses all these three ideas to manipulate and increase the influence over its members.

While we were searching for answers, we came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to determinate which one is the most dangerous because of the complex nature of the problem. The primary characteristic of a cult is that the most of the time they act undercover, with criminal activities well hidden, making it impossible to find the correct information.

Considering all this, we have tried to come up with our list of 10 most dangerous religious cults in the world, by ranking them for their perilous methods and human causalities involved, especially the children casualties. Next, we considered the number of followers, the extreme behavior within the cult, and the extreme behavior of the cult leaders to their supporters. The way the whole cult behaves to the outside world is also considered in our list; some cults were more extreme in public while getting bizarre and strange while hidden from the public, and vice versa. The overall casualties and potential danger to the society of every sect, as well as influence and worldwide recognition,  are following features that contribute to the positioning of the cults in our list. Be sure to check our previous list about 11 most infamous cults and cult leaders in American history.

Here are the 10 most dangerous religious cults in the world:

10. Scientology

The Scientology is not the typical “Judgment day” cult. It has many followers, and it is among the most famous cults in the world. Their preachers tend to use brainwashing to manipulate their followers. This cult’s fundamental principle is the idea of rejecting all “negative” emotions and memories and bringing out humans’ “full potential” to the surface during the intense therapy. It is said that it is based on science and research facts. The rumor is that this organization tends to kill critics and members who try to get out making this group very mysterious. It has some celebrity followers like Tom Cruise and Priscilla Presley.

9. Hare Krishna

Founded in the late 60s, Hare Krishna is famous for their supreme God “Krishna” who was a novel character from the book Mahabharata. They were popular because of their chanting practice that meant “the energy of the Lord.”The cult preached a Spartan way of life with little sleep, and they even suffered for their beliefs, because they thought that they will reach a spiritual haven after reincarnating. Not all of the members of this organization suffered; the ones in the higher positions lived a comfortable life at the cost of their members.Members were often engaged in criminal activities and even murders for their beliefs. The most well-known followers of this group were The Beatles, Steve Jobs, and Russell Brand.

8. The Family

Charles Manson created this notorious group in the 1960s. His idea was based around an apocalypse called the “Helter Skelter.” His followers were his “Family”, and he promised to save them by hiding in the desert, so they could build their Utopia after the world is over. He convinced them that they needed to start a civil war against the African – American population who he blamed for everything bad that’s been happening in society.He was involved in several brutal murders in the late 60s, culminating in Sharon Tate’s murder.

7. The Ku Klux Klan (or KKK)

KKK’s end goal was white supremacy. Their rituals consisted of murdering African Americans after the Civil War. At one point, they had almost 4 million followers all over America.These cults’ activities were described in the movie “A time to Kill” with Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey. Today every mainstream media and political and religious leaders in the US judge this organization harshly.

6. Order of the Solar Temple

In 1984, Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret created this underground society and claimed it to be the modern successor of the medieval Knights Templar. They combined the learning of the Christianity and the known occultist Alister Crowley. The concept of death dominated their teachings, and they believed it to be an illusion that you must pass to reach new world on some another planet. This cult organized mass murders in October 1994 in Quebec and they even sacrificed a child. The total number of the mass deaths that these cults’ members provoked is 74 including children victims.

5. Children of God

This group is one of the weirdest cults that are on our list. Founded by David Berg, they advocated free sexual relation with children. They tend to turn their female members into prostitutes who use their bodies to persuade men to enter the cult. It is interesting to know that the actress Rose McGowan, famous for her role in The Charmed, was raised in this cult. This cult’s sexual system of attracting new members makes them particularly dangerous.

4. Aum Shinrikyo

Aum Shinrikyo, meaning Supreme Truth, is the famous Japanese cult that was established by Shoko Asahara in 1984 in Tokyo. The Japanese government gave them the official religion status. Their cult combines Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga, Christianity and the Nostradamus prophecies. In the late 90s, they had over 40 000 members all over the world. They were notorious for using poison gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and severely injuring over 980 people. It is said that the cult convinced the members to donate money, and those who didn’t obey were held as prisoners, or even killed for trying to leave the organization.

3. The Heavens Gate

Marshall Applewhite created the Heavens Gate at the beginning of the 1970s. They believed in modern science fiction combined with Christian apocalypse theories. They thought that if you want to reach the next level of reality you need to give up all of your possessions including your friends and family and in the end the cult would claim your life. The followers committed mass suicides that were organized at the precise moment making them believe that they will reincarnate in an alien spacecraft. Applewhite and his 38 disciples committed suicide on March 26, 1997, in the cults rented house.

2. The People’s Temple

The infamous leader of this group was Jim Jones, who was a strange child interested in religion very early. He claimed that the Bible was a joke, and his followers were manipulated through his high persuasive abilities. The main concept was built around death, and because of his strong and negative influence the cult was banished from the United States. The cult escaped to Guyana, where they committed one of the most disturbing mass suicides in the world history where 909 people including small children were poisoned.

1. The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

The fundamental idea of The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandants of God revolves around the apocalypse. They thought that it would happen in the year 2000. Their particular behavior is the cause of putting them so high on our list. They spoke little, they forbid sex and soap, and they had only one meal on Fridays and Mondays. Because the apocalypse didn’t happen on the January 1, they set a new date, March 17, 2000. The followers were trapped inside the church that exploded, killing 500 members. After the investigation, the police found 1000 more bodies that were killed way before the Judgment day making this cult on top of our list of 10 most dangerous religious cults in the world.