Interesting, Dangerous and Bizarre Religions and Cults

The Children of the Moon Church. Those who take part in this religion practice attend the Unification Church, founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, in 1954 and became popular in the USA in the 1980s. Myung Moon (or as followers call him the "True Father"), a now 90 year old Korean man, calls himself a Messiah. There is an estimated 21,000 active Unificationists in the United States (it is most popular in Japan and South Korea), including 7,500 blessed children, who are thought to be children born without original sin. The church holds "matching ceremonies" akin to arranged marriages in which they hold elaborate public ceremonies to marry couples. They believe in biracial marriage as a way to end conflict.

The Body of Christ. A cult that began in the Attleboro, MA area, led by Jacques Robidoux, who tried to isolate his members from society. The group denounced seven mainstream systems: banking, medicine, science, arts, entertainment, religion and government. He encouraged members to close their bank accounts, turning in their social security cards and driver's licenses. Members were also not allowed to listen to music, wear wedding bands or eye glasses, play cards, read fiction or fantasy novels, eat processed food or white sugar, celebrate holidays, seek the advice of doctors, take photographs, or keep photo albums. The demise of the religious cult ended in 2002 after Robidoux was charged with first degree murder after he starved his 11 month old son to death after claiming God had advised him to stop feeding the child solid food (His mother was pregnant with another child and had stopped producing milk). He is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Order of the Solar Temple. Founded in 1984, by Belgian Congo native and homeopathic and originally, medical doctor, Luc Jouret, and Swiss native Joseph Di Mambro. The teachings preached that the apocalypse was imminent and eventually lead to the mass suicide of 53 people in Quebec, Canada and in Switzerland (including Jouret). Those who were found were clothed in ceremonial robes, lying in circles with their hands clasped together in prayer. Many of the bodies in Switzerland were found badly burned. Some of the rituals of the cult involved secret bank accounts, sex rituals, and illegal arms dealing. Jouret was never married but rumored to have many wives within the cult. He gave lectures on personal development throughout Quebec and wrote books on homeopathy medicine. Some of the Canadians found dead included a mayor of a small town in Quebec, a tabloid journalist, and a senior advisor in the provincial finance ministry.

The Raelian Movement. A religion/cult in Brisbane, Australia that claims to have cloned 15 children around the world and to communicate with aliens. The founder, a former French motorsport journalist, Claude Vorilhoun (or Rael, his adopted name), founded the group in 1973. He claims that he was visited by aliens and told that there is no God and that humans were cloned from extraterrestrials. Further, he believes that members of the sect should clone their consciousness at the age of 70 years old and download them into 18 year old bodies in order to live forever. In 2006 the group was said to have 500 full-time members and 66,000 overall members.

Scientology. Created by science fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard, the church was formally incorporated in 1953 in New Jersey. The church uses the process of auditing, a form of therapy in which people are forced to re-experience traumatic events in order to free themselves and their conscience of them. The church also runs a rehab of sorts to help those struggling with drug addiction, a prison rehabilitation center, and has Scientology run schools. The religion rejects the use of modern psychology and use of drugs to cure or help psychological disorders. This religion was put under a microscope due to the membership of a great deal of actors and other celebrities including: Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kristie Alley, Lisa Marie Presley, Jason Lee, and Issac Hayes. The church even has designated "celebrity centers" to accommodate these A-list parishioners.

Sources: Boorstein, Michelle. "Children of Moon church's mass-wedding age face a crossroads." The Washington Post. January 3, 2010
Wedge, Dave. "Former member tells court of cult's bizzare journey." The Boston Herald. June 7, 2002. NEWS; Pg. 002.
Laver, Ross and McLaughling, Ann. "Apocalypse Now." Mackeans's. 10/17/94. Vol. 107, Issue 42, p14, 4p.
Robson, Lou. "Cloning sect targets city-Founder heads push for recruits." The Sunday Mail. Brisbane, Australia, pg. 43.