Dive into the dark and disturbing world of active cults that continue to operate under the radar. From snake-handling churches to UFO religions, we'll explore the most shocking and controversial groups still recruiting members today. Prepare for a chilling journey into the depths of human manipulation and extreme beliefs.
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00:00Warren Jeffs was arrested, you know, we wanted to watch the community.
00:03You know, we're taking it very seriously, we're looking into it, we're concerned.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the creepiest cults that are still active
00:12and looking for new members to this day.
00:14Every Friday night we gather to celebrate this life we have been given.
00:19The Church of God with signs following.
00:22If the world can feel this, every church in the world ought to have a box of Stacy.
00:28There are some extreme religious practices that are from a different time,
00:32and maybe should have stayed there.
00:34Snake handling, an act of worship that dates back to the second century, isn't practiced by many.
00:39Many who do are in congregations inspired by the Church of God with signs following,
00:44a cult dedicated to preserving the custom.
00:46While the exact founder is contested, the most prominent figurehead is George Wendt Hensley.
01:02Throughout the 1930s, he traveled across the southeast, convincing devotees that they
01:06should be able to hold the reptiles and drink poison in order to prove their faith.
01:10Even though he died from a snake bite in 1955,
01:13his beliefs continue to live on today in a few churches within the Southern Bible Belt.
01:18How on earth is handling a snake a religious expression?
01:23Just the same way, to me, taking up serpents in our religious ceremonies is just like
01:29the Catholic who use wine in their communion on Sundays.
01:32Zenos Christian Fellowship, aka Dwell Community Church.
01:36I think with the average church, it's more focused around the pastor or perhaps the staff.
01:43In this church, we do believe in leadership.
01:46That's very important and surely equipping, but at the same time, it's really focused on the people.
01:53Even seemingly mundane groups can have dark secrets lurking just beneath the surface.
01:58Started in 1970, the Zenos Christian Fellowship,
02:01now known as Dwell Community Church, doesn't seem like much on the surface.
02:05Its most obvious distinguishing characteristic is its focus on home worship rather than
02:10traditional services. However, looks can be deceiving.
02:13I really wasn't aware of how sheltered I really was from the outside world.
02:20Several accusations of mistreatment have been made by former members,
02:24ranging from inappropriate interactions with minors to making medical decisions
02:28on behalf of their followers. Should anyone step out of line,
02:32they stand the chance of being swiftly punished via excommunication.
02:35The fear of being ousted has kept a majority of devotees from speaking out.
02:39They really promote going to Ohio State or Columbus State,
02:44and anything else, you're turning your back to God,
02:46because God's given you this community in Columbus.
02:48Kingdom of God Global Church, aka Joshua Media Ministries.
02:53Is David E. Taylor a genuine community leader or merely an opportunistic man with dark intentions?
02:59Followers of the Kingdom of God Global Church would say it's the former.
03:03Their leader improbably claims that his work has led to trafficking rings being busted
03:07and people being revived from the dead. But that contrasts with several reports
03:11alleging sexual abuse, depriving people of sleep,
03:14and misusing donation money to fund his vacations.
03:25Taylor has used his identity and status to distract from his financial crimes.
03:29His congregation is still active today, and his purchase of another multi-million dollar
03:34estate in 2022 makes it clear they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
03:39Family is tripping you up every time you turn around.
03:42Your family is blocking your calls.
03:44Your family is blocking you from hearing the word.
03:46Your family is blocking you from life!
03:49The Church of Euthanasia.
04:00With a slogan encouraging people to end their lives,
04:04it's easy to see why this cult is so notorious.
04:07Associated with antinatalism, which decrees that repopulating is itself an immoral act,
04:12the Church of Euthanasia has one goal, to encourage a willing mass death event.
04:18By day's end, 260,000 people will have been added to the Earth's population.
04:25Before you go to bed, two nights from now,
04:27the net growth in human numbers will fill a city the size of San Francisco.
04:32They care about saving the Earth by any means possible,
04:35including advocating for extreme acts such as cannibalism and self-inflicted death.
04:41While those who follow it insist the death must be voluntary,
04:44their aggressive sloganeering causes discomfort among many.
04:48Though their presence in the mainstream media has definitely died down
04:51and their website is not updated,
04:53it's believed many still subscribe to their warped ideas.
05:14The LaRouche Movement
05:16Back on the campaign trail in the mid-80s,
05:18he told newsnights the British royal family are global drug dealers.
05:22In relation to the Queen,
05:23of course she's pushing drugs.
05:25If you need proof that cults can be formed around anything or anyone,
05:29look no further.
05:30Inspired by a political figure, Lyndon LaRouche,
05:32who unsuccessfully ran for president several times,
05:35the LaRouche movement is one of the most well-connected factions in modern times.
05:40LaRouche spent decades building up his base.
05:42As such, they became a prominent political group in the United States
05:46with connections to global leaders and businesses.
06:01In addition to their role in politics,
06:03they also made their name by causing constant discord.
06:06Followers have aggressively pushed their views
06:08and even gotten into altercations with outsiders.
06:11His influence still lives on,
06:13even long after his own death in 2019.
06:36While cults rarely have a good impact,
06:39this one managed to have a truly disastrous one.
06:42Shinshinji Church of Jesus is a specific sect
06:45that centered around the New Testament being told in riddles
06:48that, conveniently, only the founder Lee Man-hee can translate.
06:51Manipulation is rife,
06:53with followers being led to believe that
06:55everyone but them will be destroyed upon judgment.
07:04They've even been known to infiltrate actual places of worship
07:07in an attempt to indoctrinate new members.
07:10However, their most egregious offense took place in 2020,
07:13when a COVID-infected member of the congregation
07:16caused an outbreak in South Korea.
07:17Despite the super-spreader event, Man-hee went free.
07:21The Twin Flames universe.
07:24Jeff and Shalia literally say,
07:25God told us who your perfect partner is,
07:28and we will help you find them.
07:30The constant expansion of the digital world
07:32has caused many people to seek out connections there,
07:35for better or worse.
07:36Twin Flames universe preys on people's desire for love
07:39by claiming to find people's soulmates for them.
07:42It sounds great on paper,
07:43but in execution, it's inevitable.
07:51Members are required to do whatever possible
07:54to find their match and start a relationship,
07:56including stalking those not involved with the program
07:59and undergoing gender conversion therapy.
08:01They were doing the same thing that they did to them, to me.
08:05They were encouraging me to change genders
08:07because of how masculine I was.
08:10And I was like, no, I don't want to do that.
08:12And they kept pushing and pushing.
08:14The co-founders, Jeff and Shalia Devine,
08:16have gone on record claiming that they aren't a cult.
08:19However, many would say their actions don't reflect that.
08:23Twin Flames update.
08:24I took work off for the whole week
08:25and booked an Airbnb in Maine,
08:27where I know he either lives or lives very close to.
08:32That's my man.
08:33This is my HTFU, and I claim it completely.
08:36The House of Yahweh.
08:37House of Yahweh members follow the word of their leader.
08:40The great Qohan Israel Hawkins.
08:43And believe in Yahweh's laws, all 613 of them.
08:47Though not as expansive as the similarly named Nation of Yahweh,
08:51they've still managed to create a negative religious impact on their own.
08:54The House of Yahweh is primarily known
08:56for their various attempts at predicting the end of the world,
08:59dating back to 1999.
09:01Founded by Israel Hawkins in the 1970s,
09:04it's centered around the idea that it is both the oldest and only real faith,
09:09and that anything outside of its particular beliefs is blasphemous.
09:12I think there are members within the House of Yahweh
09:16who are exploited financially, emotionally, and sexually.
09:20Several members have faced legal issues for mistreatment of minors,
09:24including one harrowing case where a mother gave her own daughter surgery.
09:28Even the death of Hawkins in 2021 has not dissuaded members,
09:32and we can only assume there will be further doomsday predictions in the future.
09:36The church has been known to authorities and former members as a cult.
09:40There have been reports of wrongful death, forced child marriage,
09:44child labor, and sexual assault.
09:58Weight loss is a sensitive subject for many,
10:01and intertwining it with religion seems like a recipe for disaster.
10:05Gwen Shamblin Lara combined them when she created Remnant Fellowship,
10:08but her motives were anything but pure.
10:11She preached that love for God should outweigh that for food.
10:14Even encouraging people to slash their portions.
10:17This is God's hand.
10:20Thousands upon thousands of pounds of weight loss in this congregation.
10:25That was only the tip of the iceberg.
10:28Her manipulation tactics knew no bounds,
10:30convincing believers they were part of the only valid church
10:33and should continuously donate,
10:35all while keeping tabs on their every last move.
10:38She also promoted corporal punishment for children,
10:41apparently to a severe degree.
10:43Even her death in 2021 wasn't enough to end the movement,
10:47with some still subscribing to her teachings years later.
10:58The Branch Davidians.
11:07You've probably already heard of this infamous cult,
11:09but may have had no clue they were still around in a post-Waco world.
11:13The Branch Davidians are known for their role in a siege
11:16between them and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
11:20However, their history doesn't end with David Koresh.
11:23I believe that using CS gas against infants,
11:27against old people with respiratory problems,
11:30there were 60-70 year old men in there,
11:32and there were young children.
11:34That's torture.
11:35In recent years, previous members have tried to rebuild their numbers.
11:39They not only believe Koresh was in fact chosen by God
11:43and that the world will eventually end,
11:45some are even convinced that those who were killed in 1993
11:48had to die to further the cause.
11:50It goes to show how a huge violent event
11:53can sometimes make people double down on their twisted beliefs.
11:57You're not going to be defined by David Koresh?
11:59Absolutely not.
12:00To me, he's the boogeyman.
12:05He's the person that you want your children to never come across.
12:10The Brethren.
12:11My daughter Brittany, or how do you say it?
12:14Shelby, is in the group for seven years now.
12:18The Brethren, also known by names like Brothers and Sisters
12:22and the Road Ministry,
12:23was founded around 1971 by Jimmy T. Roberts.
12:27Roberts considered modern churches
12:28to have become more materialistic than spiritual.
12:31His goal was to form a group of traveling disciples
12:34that would mirror the people who followed Jesus in the New Testament.
12:37Members were instructed to leave their possessions and families behind.
12:41Though I don't intend on telling you where I am geographically,
12:44I can tell you where I am spiritually.
12:47I'm in the company of the most God-fearing people I have ever known.
12:51At times, the nomadic group was seen relying on dumpsters for meals.
12:55The Brethren also draw criticism for making it difficult
12:58for those outside of the group to get in contact with their loved ones.
13:02Documentaries like God Willing have made it clear
13:04how unsettling it can be when people disappear
13:07into the Road Ministry's standards of living.
13:09Now, when you say you have a burden, what does that mean?
13:12I feel like a lot of left-leaning.
13:13Oh, okay.
13:14If you could tell her, I don't know if I could tell her how much I have already.
13:18Congregation for the Light
13:20Referred to in headlines as Manhattan's secret cult,
13:24the Congregation for the Light was formed in the 1960s.
13:27Once inside the secretive group,
13:29members are encouraged to keep their practices
13:31and teachings they learn away from anyone outside.
13:35First-hand accounts say that everyone in the congregation
13:37must prioritize weekly meetings above any other obligation.
13:41Additionally, they believe that past karma directly affects
13:45if people get sick or suffer other bad consequences.
13:48Members have reacted negatively to LGBTQ plus initiates,
13:52discourage women from attending college outside of New York,
13:55and believe in enforcing physical punishment to young members.
13:59Since congregation leaders don't write much down,
14:02many of their specific tenets remain shrouded in mystery.
14:06Apostles of Infinite Love
14:08After a man named Michael Collin reportedly had a vision of God,
14:12he formed a Catholic group that merged with a reclusive religious group in Saint-Jovic, Quebec.
14:17They all became known as the Apostles of Infinite Love.
14:20The group came under scrutiny soon after their organization was founded.
14:24When police tried to investigate reports that young people were being mistreated in the 60s,
14:29the authorities found it hard to locate the vulnerable victims.
14:33A former member named Jean-Marc Currier later claimed that adults in the group
14:37actively kept him from being discovered.
14:39Despite the complaints about what younger people endured,
14:42the Apostles of Infinite Love,
14:44now known as the Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God, are still around.
14:50Love Has Won
14:51Carlson has led a group that today calls itself Love Has Won.
14:55The dozen or so core members live shacked up together
14:58in an incredibly stressful house in Colorado.
15:00Through a combination of personal conversations and online videos,
15:04Amy Carlson recruited followers to her movement.
15:07Love Has Won members believed that she was nearly 20 billion years old
15:11because she had been reincarnated countless times over the years.
15:14This ideology also got her followers into trouble.
15:1714,000 years you've been on this earth before Christ.
15:24That's correct.
15:26It's no wonder you're tired.
15:27At times, members were made to feel guilty for transgressions they committed in past lives.
15:32Followers also spent multiple hours being criticized by the other members of their group.
15:37Their food and sleep schedules were also reportedly controlled by their leader.
15:42When Carlson fell ill,
15:43they allegedly didn't take her to a hospital due to some of her own teachings.
15:47Following her death,
15:48the group splintered into the Joy Reigns and 5D Full Disclosure groups.
15:53How did she die?
15:55I actually do not have an answer to that.
15:58Sincerely, I don't know.
16:00Kashi Ashram
16:01I have been given a very special gift.
16:08And that gift is the ability to take pain.
16:13Kashi Ashram was founded in 1976 when Ma Jayasati Bhagavati,
16:18born Joyce Green, established a commune in Florida.
16:21Years later, the founder was found at the center of serious accusations
16:25surrounding marriage and its youngest members.
16:27Members were allegedly encouraged to have children
16:30so Ma Jaya could take care of more young people.
16:33There were cases where the founder's name
16:35was placed on birth certificates of infants outside of her family.
16:46The religious leader also reportedly made one of her daughters
16:50marry a man against their will.
16:52There were also numerous accounts of people of all ages
16:54being physically assaulted for not doing what Ma Jaya commanded.
16:58Her organization still continued to move forward
17:01after the leader's death in 2012.
17:03So you take from it what you want to.
17:09Symbolic, perhaps.
17:12True, perhaps.
17:13Word of Faith Fellowship
17:22There are conflicting reports as to whether people in this organization
17:25follow a list of rules that range from asking permission to buy cars
17:29to having to ask what their college major will be.
17:32But the Word of Faith Fellowship has definitely stirred up a lot of controversy.
17:36According to former members,
17:38congregants who didn't follow rules were subject to physical or mental torment.
17:43Clearly remember different times growing up
17:47when people would literally be chased through the woods
17:50and tackled and manhandled and brought back to the church.
17:54Known as blasting within the organization,
17:57members were allegedly punished for their sexual orientation,
18:00impure thoughts, acting out in school, and more.
18:03Over 40 members once came forward to the Associated Press
18:07to detail horror stories about what happened to them.
18:09To this day, founders Jane and Sam Whaley continue to insist
18:13that the fellowship is free of wrongdoing.
18:16And they're going to say he had to do this because Jesus told him.
18:19Correct, yeah.
18:20The Nawabian Nation
18:21Jerry, our tour guide, says he came here from Alabama.
18:24The sheriff says most of the other residents come from the northeast.
18:28New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore.
18:30When Dwight York, aka Malachi Z. York,
18:33started what would become the Nawabian Nation in New York,
18:36his followers were instructed to give up material possessions.
18:39They were also expected to raise a certain amount of money
18:42or face physical punishment.
18:44After attracting more followers, York moved his organization to Georgia
18:48and built an Egyptian-themed headquarters.
18:50After claiming he lived in a sovereign state,
18:52local officials arrested him for the reports of what happened there.
18:56York was charged with over 100 counts of mistreating young people
19:00that were a part of the Nawabian Nation.
19:02We built it. It's so beautiful out there.
19:04It's a beautiful, peaceful environment
19:06where we invite any nationality, any race to come out and visit.
19:11He was sentenced to 135 years in prison for his various crimes.
19:15However, York's followers still kept the belief system alive.
19:19So this is the compound nightclub.
19:21No, it's not a compound.
19:22Oh, it's not a compound?
19:24I'm sorry.
19:24Unification Church
19:26What is the mission of the Unification Church?
19:37This Christian organization was started by Sun Myung Moon,
19:40a man who would eventually declare himself as a new messiah.
19:43Throughout the 20th century, the Unification Church's push for members
19:47to make expensive donations that were coined as spiritual sales was criticized.
19:51This religious movement also drew ire because of its anti-LGBTQ plus stance
19:56and ties to several political causes.
19:58The latter criticism came to the forefront in the wake of a major 2022 incident.
20:03After a man named Tetsuya Yamagami saw his mother go bankrupt to support the group,
20:09I didn't expect anything like this would happen in Japan.
20:12he targeted high-ranking members.
20:14He assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
20:17because the politician had associations with the Unification Church.
20:20The crime drew more attention to the already controversial organization.
20:33The Nation of Yahweh
20:44A religious movement begun by Yahweh Ben-Yahweh became the source of serious acts of violence.
20:49After the group was criticized for promoting violent Black supremacist ideals,
20:53multiple incidents suggested that members were taking lives.
20:56Additionally, multiple people who tried to leave the group were either threatened with violence,
21:01brutally assaulted, or even killed.
21:03Those who stayed within the group were not safe from punishment.
21:06Members who failed to meet quotas to collect money were subjected to physical torment.
21:10They've been investigating for several years and that's all they can find.
21:13So they're on a fishing expedition.
21:15In 1991, Yahweh Ben-Yahweh faced jail time for his involvement in 14 murders.
21:20His incarceration eventually caused the group to retreat for two years
21:24before it returned and continued.
21:26While current leaders have moved away from the violent teachings,
21:29the movement's dark history still remains.
21:32He found a successful philosophy that people would flock to and actually start joining.
21:38The Church of Bible Understanding
21:40Trimble believes Church of Bible Understanding is a cult started by Stuart Trail,
21:45taking people's money with false pretenses for members and society.
21:50American members who left this group reported that their time with this church
21:53was exceedingly difficult.
21:55Founder Stuart Trail pushed for followers to completely disconnect from their old lives.
22:00Once inside, members were expected to give the majority of their earnings to the church.
22:04While Trail and the organization profited,
22:07they lived in overcrowded and sometimes pest-filled places.
22:10Members of the Church of Bible Understanding were also discouraged
22:14from getting information from the outside world or marrying at all.
22:17Outside of America, the organization was criticized for running orphanages in Haiti
22:22that subjected young children to horrible conditions.
22:24After Trail died in 2018, organization members continued to practice their faith
22:30and kept running homes for orphaned people.
22:32We're just trying to get their side of the story
22:34because apparently the church has come under fire for conditions at that orphanage.
22:40Can you connect us with them, you think?
22:43No, I don't think I should do that.
22:46The Rajneesh Movement
22:47Maguan Shree Rajneesh, a controversial philosophy scholar and professor,
22:51founded his movement in the late 1960s, early 70s.
22:55He dismissed established religions and instead focused on free thought,
22:58meditation and sexual freedom.
23:00Now there are two ways.
23:03Either repress sex as it has been done by all the so-called religious traditions
23:09or either repress sex as it has been done by all the so-called religious traditions.
23:14He also had a marked interest in communist literature, which influenced his teachings.
23:20He moved his facility to Oregon in the early 1980s
23:23after attracting too much controversy in India,
23:26yet found the same hostilities in the states.
23:29In order to gain political influence, the movement committed crimes
23:32such as mass local salmonella poisoning and an attempted assassination of a woman.
23:37He was also accused of being a terrorist.
23:41Rajneesh died in 1990, but the movement, now called Osho, is still very much active.
23:46What's going to happen to your holy man?
23:49Bhagwan had always told me that when things get too difficult for him,
23:54he will sit in his chair, take an injection and disappear.
23:59The order of the Rajneesh Movement was to kill him.
24:02But he was not allowed to do so.
24:04He will sit in his chair, take an injection and disappear.
24:09The Order of the Solar Temple
24:11The order attracted many successful upper-middle class people,
24:15disillusioned with conventional churches, yet hungry for spiritual experiences.
24:20The Order of the Solar Temple, or International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition,
24:24was founded in Geneva in 1984.
24:26The order took its influence from the Knights Templar,
24:29which had been reformed into several factions in 1805.
24:33In its heyday, the order had a presiding council,
24:36as well as multiple lodges around the world,
24:39in which they would perform initiation rites and ceremonies.
24:53The order believed that an apocalyptic event would occur sometime in the mid-90s,
24:57and that in order to survive, they had to achieve a higher plane of existence.
25:02In the mid-90s, over 70 of its members were murdered or took their own lives,
25:07with more to follow.
25:08Investigators say the cult was obsessed with death and considered it an illusion.
25:13Experts say cult leaders told their followers
25:15that fire would lead them to a new world on another planet.
25:19Despite this, the group is still thought to have a small number of active members.
25:24Raelism
25:25The Raelians, now 30,000 strong worldwide,
25:28believe that space beings created humans through genetic experimentation.
25:33Though its classification as a cult is sometimes debated,
25:36Raelism was, or is still, at some point in the cult category.
25:40It's essentially what's called a UFO religion,
25:43and was founded in France by Claude Vourillon in 1974.
25:59They believe that an alien race known as Elohim created humans.
26:03The Elohim have been mistaken for gods historically,
26:06and any prophetic figure such as Jesus or Muhammad was created by them.
26:10Vourillon, known as Rael, is the 40th and final prophet.
26:14Followers believe that the world is in an age of apocalypse,
26:18and that new technologies must be developed,
26:20after which time the Elohim will return to Earth
26:23and share their extraterrestrial life with the world.
26:26Current Raelian members were counted at around 18,000 in 2017.
26:31The Raelian movement has two goals.
26:33One is to spread the message, and two, to build the embassy.
26:38Aleph
26:38Inside, sect members were undergoing survival training.
26:45Chemicals and drugs were used to raise, then remove, states of anxiety.
26:50Aum Shinrikyo, or more recently, Aum Shinrikyo,
26:54Aum Shinrikyo, or more recently Aleph,
26:56was founded in Japan in 1987 by Chizuo Matsumoto,
27:00later known as Shoko Asahara.
27:02It's a doomsday cult,
27:04and its beliefs combine aspects of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism,
27:08Hinduism, Christian millenarianism, yogic practices,
27:11and the prophecies of Nostradamus.
27:13The religion is a blend of yoga and mysticism,
27:16with bits of Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian teachings thrown in.
27:20His catchiest sales point, though, was a claim to levitation.
27:24It started off fairly tame,
27:26but eventually the cult became criminal,
27:28with accusations of extortion, murder,
27:31and forced membership, among other things.
27:33They performed a number of attacks.
27:36At some point, the group began to manufacture sarin gas,
27:39and were responsible for the attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995,
27:43which left upwards of 1,000 injured.
27:46A number of the more prominent members
27:48A number of the more prominent members
27:49were executed in 2018,
27:51but there were still indications of active membership as of 2019.
27:56About 20 members live here,
27:58an austere lifestyle driven by the desire to spread the master's teachings.
28:04Hello, everyone.
28:06This is Shoko Asahara.
28:08Twelve tribes.
28:09If you're not in, you're out.
28:11If you're not with me, you're against me.
28:13If you want to have a strong identity,
28:15create a strong enemy,
28:16and then you'll really know who you are.
28:18Founded in Tennessee during the Evangelical Jesus movement of the 1970s,
28:23the Twelve Tribes might seem like a simple, wholesome community on the surface.
28:27It aspires to recreate the original Christian church,
28:30as depicted in the Book of Acts.
28:32However, it allegedly exerts authoritarian control over its followers' lives,
28:37and promotes strict corporal punishment,
28:39reportedly by parents and non-parents alike,
28:42which has led to accusations of child abuse.
28:45Tessa remembers being sent out to work on her own when she was just five years old.
28:50Sometimes working in kitchens,
28:52like preparing food for the whole rest of the community,
28:56or in like candle factories.
28:59So I remember being like four or five years old,
29:02working with this boiling wax.
29:04Once followers reach a certain level,
29:06they're allegedly instructed that Jews are cursed for murdering Jesus,
29:10that gay people should be put to death,
29:12and that black people are naturally servants to whites.
29:16The group has often flown under the radar,
29:18but there's a lot more going on beneath the smiling and folk dancing.
29:22They control your logic and your thinking,
29:24and they control your money.
29:26Happy science.
29:27So happy science have so many teachings that you can learn about them.
29:35So that is a lot of wisdom you got love.
29:41Founded in 1986 by former businessman Ryuho Okawa,
29:45happy science focuses on a fourfold path to happiness.
29:48Members of the group attend seminars and training in order to climb the group ladder.
29:52They worship El Cantare,
29:54a being that is said to have been born over 300 million years ago on Earth,
29:59and reincarnated through time until its current incarnation,
30:02which is of course Okawa himself.
30:05Ryuho Okawa.
30:06This guy's the supreme god of Earth,
30:08more powerful than Jesus, Allah, and Moses combined.
30:21The problem with this one comes in the form of major uncredited claims.
30:25For example, that the organization can cure the pandemic with quote,
30:29spiritual vaccines.
30:30Okawa's own son has left the group,
30:32and subsequently denounced his father's actions.
30:35Happy science claims to have 11 million followers.
30:38However, a former member has said it's more like 30,000.
30:42There are membership fees, there are donations for prayers, for blessings.
30:47Members may kind of rise in status based on donation to Okawa and his larger project.
30:55The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
30:59Every aspect of this family's life, who they marry,
31:03what they wear, even what they eat,
31:05is controlled by the man they call their prophet, Warren Jeffs.
31:09The LDS Church spawned some fundamentalist sects,
31:12when the core religion opted to renounce the practice of polygamy.
31:16Those who wished to continue the practice branched off,
31:18remaining Mormon but on their own terms.
31:21Polygamy remains illegal however,
31:23and in 1953, an entire FLDS community was arrested in Short Creek, Arizona,
31:29modern-day Colorado City, and most had their children taken away from them.
31:33We were taught from birth that in order to get what they called
31:37the highest degree of the celestial kingdom,
31:41you had to have at least three wives while you lived on earth.
31:46And if you did not, you could not reach that highest degree.
31:51A compound in Texas was raided in 2008,
31:54after Child Protective Services was made aware of allegations of abuse.
31:58Over 400 children were taken from the compound and placed in CPS custody.
32:03We felt like the children out there on the property were in danger,
32:09and that's when it became a very large operation.
32:12Leader of FLDS Warren Jeffs remains in his position,
32:16despite being in prison for life after acts against minors.
32:19The sect currently has between 6,000 and 10,000 followers.
32:24Superior Universal Alignment, the second UFO cult on this list,
32:28Superior Universal Alignment, or Lineamiento Universal Superior,
32:33was founded by Valentina Giandragi in 1981.
32:36She claimed to have received messages from extraterrestrials warning her of destruction.
32:41If, however, she shared their warnings with others, she and her followers would be saved.
32:46Similar to the Raelians,
32:48SOA believes that Jesus was actually an extraterrestrial messenger.
32:52They also believe that males born after 1981 are evil,
32:56and that their lives should end as payment to the superior beings.
33:00Between 1981 and 1993, 19 Brazilian boys disappeared,
33:05were mutilated, and left to die in the woods.
33:08The guilty cult members were sentenced, but Giandragi was acquitted.
33:12The cult is still active and has been running a website since 2009,
33:16The Family International.
33:19Bird preached to the hippie generation about Jesus
33:22and recruited them to join him in his all-consuming drive to save souls.
33:25The Children of God, more recently The Family International,
33:28was founded in 1968 by David Berg and was immediately subject to controversy
33:34as it used sex to lure potential members,
33:36which was Berg's own invention which he called flirty fishing.
33:40They established colonies worldwide, as many as 130 in 70 countries.
33:46The Family International draw their beliefs from the Bible,
33:49yet with a heavy emphasis on loving Jesus,
33:51which is done through sexual interaction.
33:54Over time, there have been a large number
33:56of child mistreatment allegations raised against them.
33:59Reportedly, keeping children is a cult policy.
34:02While longing for her four lost children,
34:04Vivian lived here in this small apartment in Sioux Falls,
34:08disoriented, unable to hold a job, and subsisting on welfare.
34:12Celebrities such as River and Joaquin Phoenix,
34:14as well as Rose McGowan were partially raised in this group
34:17before finding their way out.
34:19TFI is still active, albeit as an online community,
34:23boasting 1,450 members.
34:25We were trafficked, we were moved constantly,
34:28we were never taught anybody's names,
34:31so it's very difficult to learn your abuser's names.
34:35You think that was by design?
34:37Oh, absolutely.
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34:54NXIVM
34:55To understand NXIVM, N-X-I-V-M is the umbrella company.
35:01Founded in 1998 by Keith Ranieri and Nancy Salzman,
35:04NXIVM started out as a self-help group
35:07which offered classes called Executive Success Programs.
35:10In 2017, former members urged authorities to investigate,
35:14initially for a subgroup within NXIVM called The Vow.
35:18It was a group of women branded with Ranieri's initials
35:21and on a rotation to have relations with the founder and recruit members.
35:24You think the person who's being branded
35:28should be completely nude and sort of held to the table
35:32sort of almost like a sacrifice?
35:34I don't know if that's a feeling of submission.
35:37In a sort of exceedingly complex relationship scheme.
35:40On top of this, in 2018,
35:43charges were brought against Ranieri and five female members
35:46for a number of crimes including extortion, sex trafficking,
35:49and the list goes on.
35:51Ranieri got 120 years in prison.
35:54As of 2020, a number of groups branched from NXIVM
35:58are said to be active and recruiting.
36:01We didn't even know that we were being experimented on.
36:04We thought we were just kind of learning and growing,
36:07but really they were observing and watching
36:10how we responded to the lack of sleep,
36:13how we responded to lack of food,
36:15how all of these things affected our psyche,
36:17and we were very weak.
36:18We were weak mentally and we were weak physically.
36:21Which cult are you the most surprised is still active?
36:24Let us know in the comments below.
36:26Check out these other clips from WatchMojo
36:28and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
36:30to be notified about our latest videos.
36:45you