As we look at some of the most extreme ideas being accepted in today’s society, many of us are scratching our heads as to how insanity has become the new normal and normal has almost become a criminal offense.

Look at what drives humans to actions and behaviors that demonstrate an utter lack of reason and understanding. Sarah Steel, author of the book Do as I Say, which provides an in-depth look at cults and how people get sucked into them, writes: “Cults prey upon vulnerabilities that are core to our species: our need for acceptance, to be part of a group, to connect, to feel safe. Cult leaders themselves manipulate, dominate and control because, sadly, those are also very human behaviors. If you know where to look, you’ll see cult-like behavior showing up in other parts of society, too.”

Generally we associate “cult-like behavior” with infamous groups like the Branch Davidians. David Koresh had large groups of people believing he was the final prophet of the Seventh Day Adventist religion, and in that dedicated belief he used the tactic of mixing religious text and ideas that were already familiar to his followers with just enough deception to convince them to view him as their savior.

The Jonestown cult, led by Jim Jones, pulled people in who were motivated by his promises of social justice, fixing racism, and building a utopia by implementing the ideas of communism and control that he had learned from early study of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Vladimir Lenin.

Both Koresh and Jones demanded that the men in their groups sacrifice their wives to them and that the mothers hand over their babies to the community. The children were to be raised by people who were determined to be the most dedicated and qualified to ensure that every minute of every day would be spent enforcing and repeating only the ideology of the belief system to these young cult members.

As recently as 1998, a group called NXVIM (pronounced “nex-ee-um”) was established by narcissistic, sociopathic, sex offender Keith Raniere, who sold the idea of being a part of a women’s empowerment group to women from all kinds of backgrounds and cultures. They were heavily indoctrinated into his ideas of what truly gave women their value and strength in the world — only to find themselves demonstrating that empowerment by calling Raniere “master.” They joined an exclusive group within the organization called DOS, which stands for “Dominus Obsequious Sororium” and in Latin translates to “Master Over Female Slave.”

At its peak, NXVIM had over 700 active members — young women, many of whom were being starved and sexually preyed upon by Raniere himself and completely isolated from their families.

Yet somehow these women would preach to each other and potential cult recruits about how lucky they were to have found this community, attempting to inspire more of their peers to join.

From the rational perspective of spectators on the sidelines, we can observe the behaviors and actions that members of these groups are expected to perform. We see the harm that they seem to be willing to inflict on others, on themselves, and even their own children. We wonder how on earth people can be convinced to participate in things that are so obviously destructive, by people who clearly have no concern for their wellbeing, despite repeatedly and emphatically expressing otherwise.

Yet, in 2023, it doesn’t take familiarity with The People’s Temple or Heaven’s Gate to recognize the signs and symptoms of the “cult-like behavior” spreading through society as we speak.

The schools on Warren Jeff’s compounds were really hours-long, daily classes filled with teachings that affirmed him as a prophet. Similarly, some very bad apples in today’s public schools are slowly replacing actual academics with rooms filled with books that “affirm” that, as human beings, our gender is meaningless and that we can be whatever we want.

In place of the American flag, children are encouraged to pledge their allegiance to the Pride flag.

Instead of ideologically neutral clothing and goods that we expect to find in the local supermarket, shoppers are instead blasted with gender ideology in the form of Pride displays, clothing that supports queer theory ideas, and decor to encourage us to set up our own “Pride” shrines in our homes.

If you’re familiar with Scientology, children are taught and raised in an environment where even the entertainment they consume must be produced by a team of fellow members — which might sound reminiscent of the Disney movies, Nickelodeon cartoons, and ideology-friendly celebrities used to assist in creating a new reality for the next generation of devotees.

Maybe the most disturbing aspect of this rapidly spreading ideology is that the destruction of the body and mind is encouraged and reinforced by “experts” and proposed as the way to elevate human beings to some kind of mental and physical utopia. Parents readily hop on board, and as a symbol of their undying allegiance to the cause, they fight to be the first to offer their child to the hormone and scalpel lords.

As with all of the previously mentioned groups, dissent is punished, people are bullied and intimidated if they question ideas, and anyone who chooses to leave and discuss the realities of the inner-workings is immediately called a liar — by the same people who were their family and community just minutes before.

No matter how horrible the stories are, and how much personal destruction happens, the group is programmed to see what they’re told to see and ignore what they see with their own eyes.

A suffering and depressed child who has been denied an actual education has been convinced to be a victim of their own body. They’re told that the outside world hates them, even though they don’t interact with people who do not believe.

Individuals dealing with unaddressed trauma, anorexia, anxiety, or loneliness are diagnosed with “gender dysphoria,” and those around them refuse to acknowledge the harm of a one-size-fits-all assessment. That’s devastating, and potentially fatal.

I guess the old adage “actions speak louder than words” is easy for us to say when our brains haven’t been thrown into a blender and rebuilt into a mechanism for unquestioning devotion toward bizarre and alarming concepts.