THE COUNTER-CULT MOVEMENT (CCM)

Definitions of terms; history

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Topics covered in this essay:

Overview of the Counter Cult movement (CCM):

The CCM generally target groups that regard themselves as Christian but who hold some unorthodox, non-traditional beliefs. Examples of the latter are the  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon church), the Unification church, Christian Science, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Some within the CCM also attack non-Christian faith groups. e.g. Agnosticism, Atheism, the New Age Movement, Buddhism, Hinduism and other Eastern religions. Some in the CCM consider the Roman Catholic church to be non-Christian at best, and a Pagan cult at the worst.

The CCM is almost entirely composed of conservative Christian individuals and agencies. They teach that any new religious group which rejects one or more of the historical Christian beliefs is a danger to the welfare of its members, and to Christianity itself. This is consistent with their theology. Conservative Christians generally believe that the vast majority of humans are headed to Hell when they die. It is only by being saved that one can attain heaven. But if a person accepts the non-traditional beliefs of a new religious movement, then personal salvation may be jeopardized.

It is difficult to underestimate the motivation experienced by those in the CCM. They see tens of millions of North Americans naively believing falsehoods and being led down a path that leads to eternal suffering in Hell. They are desperate to save as many souls as they can.

Definitions of some terms:

Religious terminology is confusing. People frequently assign different meanings to the same terms. Within the counter-cult movement (CCM), the following definitions are common:

History of the CCM in ancient times:

CCM groups has existed in some form since the dawn or organized religion. It has historically come in two forms:

Perhaps the largest and most harmful counter-cult religious group in the West was the Christian church itself, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. They engaged in intra-religious wars of extermination, against Christian groups which they considered heretical, including the Cathars, Knights Templar, and others. But their prime targets were inter-religious. They carried out mass murders of Jews for not accepting Christianity.  They hunted down people who they called "Witches" and who allegedly worshiped Satan. The Christian churches burned alive (or hung) uncounted thousands of innocent people. Inspired by the teachings of the Church, civil courts in Western Europe judicially murdered tens or hundreds of thousands of persons accused of Witchcraft.

The CCM in modern times:

Although much inter-religious conflict continues today in North America, the CCM is now largely focused on combating heresy within Christianity. There are now hundreds of groups ₃ in the United States alone whose prime mandate is to preserve what they view as the doctrinal purity of Protestantism. They attempt to raise awareness among other Christians about the existence of new religious groups which are teaching beliefs different from traditional Christianity. They are sometimes referred to as "heresy hunters," "heresiologists," or "witch hunters." Although these terms are sometimes literally true, we advise against their usage, because they most people consider them emotionally laden, snarl words. The CCM views cultic activity as intentionally misleading individual believers away from the established faith to their eternal doom.

The CCM appears to be found almost exclusively within the conservative wing of Protestant Christianity, among Fundamentalists and other Evangelicals. This is to be expected, because conservative Christians tend hold fast to fundamental, historic Protestant beliefs. Most also believe that only a small percentage of the human race will attain heaven after death; the vast majority who are not "saved" will go to Hell. This motivates those in the CCM to try to convince as many people as possible to leave NRMs. Many CCM groups teach that while a person is in a NRM, their salvation is in doubt. Any groups that do not meet their minimum standards of belief are called sub-Christian, cultic or non-Christian. On the other hand, liberal and mainline Christian groups rarely, if ever, join the CCM. They tend to be more inclusive. They accept as Christian, many groups whose beliefs and practices vary greatly from their own. 

Many individuals in the CCM are ex-members of new religious movements. They entered a faith group because it appeared to offer advantages over more established denominations at the time. But, after some months or years, they became disillusioned and left. Some terminated their membership with a great deal of animosity - perhaps fueled by anger at having invested so much time and effort in what became, for them, a spiritual blind alley. Other CCM members are parents. Often their children had entered a faith group against the parents' wishes and were seen as wasting their time on spiritual matters when they should be committing their time to obtain higher education or further their work career. 

Jeffery Hadden wrote: "...counter-cultists and anti-cultists speak to different audiences. The counter-cultist aim their message at conservative Christian groups. They are prolific producers of books and pamphlets, as well as audio and video tapes from Christian radio and television. Most Christian book stores have a special section of cult literature.... Many of them are skilled communicators and they are often permitted to present their views virtually unchallenged to large television audiences." ₂

Some CCM groups offer support services to persons who have recently left NRM faith groups. Sometimes, a person will be deeply involved in a high-demand religious organization and obtain most of their economic, social, spiritual, relationship, accommodation and other supports from that group. When they leave, they may need help to establish new support systems.

Umbrella groups and denominations which are occasionally part of the CCM:

Sometimes individual denominations and national groups of denominations perform an anti-heretical, counter-cult function. A few examples are: