ON ORTHODOX CULTS

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

Today, I was struck with a cartoon circulating on the internet, portraying a little bug inspired by a butterfly’s metamorphosis then falling for a spider’s trap disguised as guided help towards his own personal transformation. The fetters that the little bug submitted to, begging for it to be "tighter," thinking that it would be a cocoon to facilitate the change, actually were the bonds of its own death and destruction. 

This is what we see constantly in "convert culture," where good-meaning and aspirational people are attracted to predatory and destructive cult leaders, who, while insisting that they have all the answers, bind those seeking growth and transformation in ideas and practices that lead to fear, infantilization, codependency, and ultimately, spiritual death. 

Don’t fall for leaders who appeal to your fear or reaction, counting on negative emotions to bind you to them. If they ever act in anger or insistence when you push back on their requirements for you, rather than giving you absolute freedom, you know they are a spider and not a butterfly. This doesn’t mean that there are no spiritual laws or that there aren’t best practices, but it does insist that the motivation is always love, self-sacrifice, and putting the ego down.

Our Vicariate must strive against this damaging trend that we see on the Orthodox internet, where there is extreme spiritual abuse happening under the guise of asceticism, good order, and Church infallibility. It requires us to always be self-effacing, quiet, truthful and never taking advantage of people’s pain and suffering to build up our own little kingdoms. We must put ourselves down and lift Christ up, knowing that we are sinful, prone to error, easily mislead, and that the desire to use religion in ways that are unhelpful and unhealthy will never completely go away. 

The tendency towards abuse is why we need Synodality and mutual accountability, the ancient guardrails of Church order and structure. This is why none of us can be confident in ourselves and our own interpretations, but must always seek communion with Christ, our brothers and sisters, and the saints throughout all ages. The process of Church is as much about our own salvation and sanctification as it is about the people who follow us, and we can never forget that clergy will always be held to a higher standard by God, because we claim to represent Him in a way, interpreting Scripture and teaching how to live. "To whom much is given, much is required." (Luke 12:48)