Disgusting Cults That Tragically Lured People In

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Disgusting Cults That Tragically Lured People In

Drink the Kool-Aid ... or don't. Actually, please don't.

Published 9 months ago in Creepy

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the stuff of movies, old news reports and whatever documentary happens to be making the rounds on HBO and/or Netflix, there is a whole lot more to cults than Kool-Aid and charismatic leaders.

From the Manson Family to the Westboro Baptist Church and even a handful of suspicious groups that lurk among us, here are 16 of the most terrifying cults from around the globe.

1
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
“FLDS. Basically, when Warren Jeffs took over he turned it from an ultra-conservative religious cult to a p—e cult. Men were marrying off their own daughters at age 12 and taking wives of the same age for themselves. Meanwhile, the boys were kicked out at age 13-14 so all the young girls would be available for the old men.”

2
Children of God
The Children of God cult. A p—lic polyamorous "Christian" cult most prevalent in the 70s and 80s. One of the members brought up in the cult, made to perform s-x acts, with his mother's approval, since the age of 3, killed himself at the age of 30.

3
Twelve Tribes
“12 Tribes. What's not to hate? They have it all, really: child labor, racism, glorifying slavery, child abuse, appropriation of Jewish holidays, possibly causing the Marshall Fire, recruiting in their own restaurants...the list goes on and on.” —OtherThumbs

4
American Evangelicalism
“American Evangelicalism - Just the number of people I know who left these psychotic churches and the stories they tell me about not only how manipulative these people are but how physically and s—y abusive they can be… Yeah that’s a firm stay away from me.”

5
The Manson Family
“The Manson Family. The barbarity of their attacks is truly horrific. And then throw in Manson's own belief that it would start a race war, which he hoped the acts would start. Quite possibly the most unhinged Cult pre-Jonestown.” — Scotsgit73

6
Heaven's Gate
“Heaven’s Gate… ended with 39 people dead in a mass s—e which they believed would free their souls to leave the body so they could board an alien spacecraft. Look them up, it’s wild.” —KCLinD5N

7
Troubled Teen Schools
“Not a cult in the traditional sense, but worth mentioning are Residential Schools where parents send their "troubled" children to be "fixed." There's an astounding webcomic about one of them, the Elan School. By the end of it (although note that the author is still uploading chapters), you truly understand how the indoctrination happens, and just how fundamentally powerless the kids trapped in these schools feel. You also wonder who is more brainwashed, the kids, or their parents.” —itzsommer

8
Snape Wives
“It was called Snape wives or Snape sisters or something, a group of women who just worship Snape” —Nattie_Pattie

9
Breatharians
“Breatharians aren’t the worst necessarily but pretty sick. They teach that you don’t actually need food to survive and can subsist off light. They specifically target people with eating disorders. Several people have died.” — ThatPancreatitisGuy

10
Scientology
“Scientology. It's part cult, part MLM scam. They are flat-out criminals, who require the one thing common to cults: shunning of family members who don't toe the line, or who reject the ‘faith.’ Were talking about ripping families apart. It's flat-out evil. And when it comes to dealing with people who question their practices, they use lawyers and private investigators to harass and intimidate people who speak out. They were so vicious in their harassment of IRS agents that were pursuing a case against their tax-exempt status, that the IRS basically gave up.” —niceoutside2022

11
The Branch Davidians
“My grandmother taught at a tiny school district outside of Waco. The Branch Davidian kids went to school there. She told me she always got an uneasy feeling from the girls specifically. She didn’t have any solid proof to do any mandatory reporting though. I’m going to say Branch Davidians.” —BrokenCowsSayWoof

12
Jehovah's Witness
“My girlfriend recently got out of this and it’s absolutely disgusting to me how her family shunned and disowned her. They threw her out like a piece of trash and made her feel like the guilty one. She still has night terrors about stories they told her about demons and the apocalypse. Oh and all her friends were married at the age of 17 to older men.” — TSM_PraY