(Second Sunday of Easter (B): This homily was given on April 6, 1997 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Acts 2: 42-47; 4: 32-37.)

"What’s the difference between a cult and genuine Christianity?"

What’s the difference between a cult and genuine Christianity? That’s the question I want to consider this morning.

Early last week, out in California, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed suicide. I’m sure that’s not news to any one of us. The story was on the front page of every newspaper in this country for several days. Apparently these individuals thought that after killing themselves they would suddenly be transported to the Hale-Bopp Comet (the comet that’s been visible recently in the sky). At that point, they were supposed to meet up with some space aliens who were flying along behind the comet. (I presume they thought that these were friendly space aliens, and not the kind you see on "Star Trek.")

Now, unfortunately, this type of group is not unique. I wish it were, but it isn’t. The sad fact is, there are many cults out there. Some, like this one, are rather extreme in their views. Others, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are much more ‘mainstream.’ And many men and women are attracted to them--even some bright, intelligent individuals who are highly educated. The members of the Heaven’s Gate cult, for example, were not lacking in intellectual gifts. They were all bright people. They were computer experts who had relatively high IQ’s.

I bring up this subject this morning, in light of today’s first reading. In this text, from Acts, chapter 4, we’re told some important things about the very first Christians. We’re told about their lifestyle. We’re told about their attitudes. St. Luke tells us, "The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common. . . . nor was there anyone needy among them, for all who owned property or houses sold them and donated the proceeds. They used to lay them at the feet of the apostles to be distributed to everyone according to his need." And then we have this line in Acts, chapter 2: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

Here we have a picture of the early Christian community--a community which is supposed to serve as a model for every Christian Community today. This is a scriptural ideal that the Holy Spirit wants us to try to emulate. But, you see, at first glance, it seems almost cultish--does it not? (Sharing a common life, helping one another, following the teachings of those in authority--Isn’t that what they did out in California?) What’s the difference between this community of early Christians and the Heaven’s Gate community? Is there a difference?

Now make no mistake about it, my brothers and sisters, there are some people in today’s world (here I’m talking about certain anti-religious individuals) who would try to convince us that there is no difference whatsoever between genuine Christianity and cults. They would say, "Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Heaven’s Gate cult members: they’re all the same. They’re all crazy. They all advocate bizarre practices. This is why we need to eliminate all religion from society."

Well, the fact is, they’re wrong. But that still doesn’t directly address the issue and the objection. If genuine Christianity is different from cultism, how is it different?

The other night I decided to throw out this question to our teenagers at our Thursday night prayer-share group. And I’m thankful that I did because one of the young girls there said to me, "Fr. Ray, I’m really glad we’re dealing with this issue, because I’ve been trying to figure out the difference ever since I heard about that mass suicide in California. It’s really been troubling me."

What I decided to do was this: I divided them up into small groups and I asked them to put their thinking caps on; to come up with some concrete, real differences between cults and Christianity. Then I gathered them back into the large group and they gave me their feedback. And I must say, they had some very good insights. Here are some of them.

Number 1: In a cult, the leader is worshipped as a kind of god or demigod. It’s his word, and not God’s Word, that ultimately matters.

Number 2: In a cult, the members profess to have a "secret knowledge" that nobody else has access to. (For example, the knowledge that there are space aliens behind the Hale-Bopp Comet.) Real Christianity, they said, has no secrets. Everything is out on the table.. As someone at the meeting said, "If you want to know what the Catholic Church believes, all you have to do is buy a New Catechism and read the contents. There’s nothing secret about any of it."

Number 3: In a cult, people are brainwashed. Their defenses are broken down with various techniques (like sleep deprivation and isolation), and their freedom is ultimately violated. In true Christianity, however, the freedom of the individual is always acknowledged and respected. In today’s first reading, for example, we’re told that people in the early Church made donations of money and property to help the needy. Those donations were made freely and willingly. No one was mentally manipulated in the process.

Of course, every once in a while you’ll hear someone say, "The Catholic Church is evil. The Catholic Church brainwashes it’s members. The Catholic Church doesn’t want people to think for themselves." My brothers and sisters, when someone makes a statement like that to me, all I tell them to do is read the news polls! I say, "Look at the number of Catholics who say they disagree with the Church on these various issues. If the Church is really brainwashing her members, then all I can say is she’s doing a pretty lousy job of it!"

Number 4: Very often cult rituals involve sexually immoral practices. True Christianity, on the other hand, preaches the Biblical message of chastity and sexual purity. Someone last Thursday said that they had read about a cult in which the female members went out and prostituted themselves in order to lure men into the group. And she said this type of activity was considered virtuous by the cult leaders.

Number 5 (This is one that the teenagers failed to mention, but it’s true nonetheless): Very often in these cults illegal drugs are used in order to achieve what’s called "an altered state of consciousness." True Christianity, of course, considers drug abuse a sin.

And that leads to the last difference I want to mention this morning: Cults do not preach a message of personal conversion to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh. Cults most often will focus on this idea of "enlightenment." They’ll say that the true purpose of all religious practice is to achieve "a higher state of consciousness" and become "enlightened." Yes, it’s true, they will sometimes talk about Jesus. But for people in these cults, Jesus is not the Divine Son of God. Make no mistake about it! To them, Jesus is simply one of the "ascended masters," like Buddha and Confucius and all the rest. In their view, Jesus is someone who attained a "higher consciousness" during his earthly life, and that’s why he’s important. The truly Christian idea that Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for our sins is almost completely, if not completely, ignored.

By the way, if you want to see a cult leader of this type in action for yourself, then tune in to Elizabeth Clare Prophet some Monday night. Elizabeth Clare Prophet is a cult leader from Montana. She and her group have caused quite a stir in recent years, because they’ve been stockpiling arms at their commune for a long time--presumably because they think that Armageddon is just around the corner. (Which, of course, is yet another focus of many cult groups: the end of the world and when it will happen. On that subject Jesus said, "You know not the day or the hour." True Christians accept the words of Jesus on this subject, consequently they don’t try to pinpoint a date.

But I mention Elizabeth Clare Prophet because every Monday night she has a TV program that’s carried on one of our state’s interconnect stations. Now, if you choose to tune in, Beware! You will certainly hear her speak about Jesus during the course of her talk. But be clear about it: it’s not the same Jesus that true Christians believe in.

Let me close today’s homily with a powerful insight that I once received from Fr. John Bertolucci. Fr. Bertolucci said, "It’s evident in a person’s eyes. When you look into the eyes of someone who’s involved in a cult, you will almost immediately notice something: you’ll notice a ‘glaze.’ They’ll have a far-off, glazed look about them. But when you meet someone who really knows and loves Jesus Christ, and you look into their eyes, you won’t see that glaze. You’ll see A LIGHT! You’ll see a beautiful, marvelous, radiant LIGHT!"

May that light be present in our eyes; and may it someday be present in the eyes of every human person.