What’s going on horror fans - and welcome back to the most hauntingly horrific channel
on YouTube - the place where the altar is set and the summoning is about to begin - Top
5 Scary Videos.
As per usual - you know the drill by now - I’ll be your host Jack Finch, as we don our ceremonial
garb, light the beacons - and take a look at 5 Scary Modern Cults That Still Exist Today.
Roll the clip.
I hope you enjoyed our recent Scary Ancient Cults video, where we managed to take a look
at some of the more perplexingly perverse forms of religion in humanity’s early history
- but, the thing is, a lot of the same principles of secrecy, brainwashing and centralized worship
- are still applicable to organisations that exist today.
If you’ve never heard the term “Cult of Personality” - then look it up, because
with the right amount of charisma, misinformation and bad intentions - the correct person can
do some really scary stuff.
Kicking off at Number 5 - we have the Church of Bible Understanding.
Founded in 1971 by Stewart Traill - this communal organization was originally known as the Forever
Family - at it’s home location of Allentown in Pennsylvania.
It gathered steam in the late 70s - after moving its headquarters to New York - where
it developed a controversial network of churches and communes - and amassed over 10’000 members
at its peak.
Bizarrely enough - Traill’s motive was to encourage members to break off contact with
their families, forcing them into their communal lifestyle, and working, essentially as free
labour - for a number of businesses.
These included a carpet cleaning business, and a used van venture.
The group has been accused of being a cult on numerous occasions, and it’s suspected
that their leader - Stewart Traill - became a multi-millionaire from the exploitation
of young, vulnerable adults.
In later years - after a string of controversies - its members dwindled to a few hundred, but
recently in 2013 - the Church was accused of gross misconduct at a number of their orphanages
in Haiti, despite claiming to spend 2.5 million dollars on their upkeep annually.
Next up at Number 4 - Raelism.
One of the most notorious cults in modern history, Raelism began in 1974 after a Frenchman
named Claude Vorilhon claimed he’d had a vision of an alien spacecraft descending over
southern France.
He said that the craft was filled with strange beings, that told him humans were the only
hope for the future of the universe, and then handed him a Bible.
Apparently - he was there for over six days - and the head alien, coincidentally named
Yahweh - explained that the Old Testament is actually a record of humanity’s early
days, and that he needed to construct an embassy ready for the aliens when they would eventually
return to inhabit Earth.
Sounds pretty kooky, right?
Well - for the next three decades, his teachings amassed a following of over 20’000 people
- where they essentially worshipped aliens, opposed violence, championed science and participated
in mass orgies.
Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Well - things got even weirder in 2002 - when the cult claimed to have done the impossible,
and cloned a human - a baby girl named Eve.
Of course, everyone went nuts - even the White House got involved, lawsuits were filed - but
the Raelist’s stuck to their guns, and still to this very day claim to be producing human
clones.
Coming in at Number 3 - Congregation for the Light.
Now, the majority of this list are organisations that are happily out in the open - that try
and amass as many members as they can get under their leadership.
Well, these guys like to do things a little bit differently.
Strangely enough, though - they like to be out in the open, avoiding the backwater compounds
synonymous with many other cults - and instead having their headquarters deep in the heart
of Manhattan.
They’re controlled by one, all powerful leader.
Tom Baer, a 73 year old Ohio native who denies that the Light is a cult.
He preaches bizarre racial theories regarding Aryans and Atlantis, preps his people for
a doomsday event, speaks about complex mythology involving owls and squirrels - and has an
all powerful grip on the relationships and love lives of its members.
The Congregation of the Light is an incredibly small cult, having only roughly 200 members
- but the scary thing is how secluded the group are, with the majority of them being
born into the Light.
Bringing us in at Number 2 - Happy Science.
Happy Science.
Well - its name definitely doesn’t reflect the tone of its actual nature, in fact - as
far as terrifying modern cults go - Happy Science is probably near the top of the list.
An absolute mish mash mashup of world religions, from New Age hocus pocus to far-right nationalism
- the leader of Happy Science, a man named Ryuho Okawa - claims that he’s a supreme
being called El Cantare, a combination of Jesus Christ, the Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad.
Formed in 1986 by the former salaryman, Okawa initially called the group, the God Light
Association.
His pursuit is to create a nine-dimensional heaven, whatever that may be - which himself
at the head of the whole Cult of Personality shenanigans.
Here’s the kicker, though - the group claims to have over 12 million members worldwide
- and have also founded their own political wing called the Happiness Realization Party.
And here’s the crazy part - this group advocates violent Japanese nationalism, denying historical
atrocities and advocating for war between China and North Korea.
Let’s hope they stay just a cult, right?
And finally, at our Number 1 spot - NXIVM.
If you’re wanting to find a modern cult that is incredibly recent - then look no further
than NXIVM.
According to their website, NXIVM is a company whose mission is to raise human awareness,
foster an ethical humanitarian civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.
Well - apparently that translates to being at /best/ - an abusive pyramid scheme - and
at its disgustingly worse - a human-trafficking operation and sex cult, subsidised by expensive
brainwashing.
NXIVM and its owners have been indicted on several federal charges - including sex trafficking
- and have been accused of being a recruiting platform for a cult operating within it, variously
known as DOS or The Vow - where women members in particular were forced into sexual slavery
and physical abuse.
It’s a disgusting modicum of the abuse of power demonstrated at the expense of vulnerable
individuals.
The cult was founded in 1998 by Keith Raniere, who through several decades of deception managed
to coerce over 17’000 under the organisations influence.
This has included a huge amount of celebrities - actors, actresses, models and other public
figures.
The lid was blown fully in March 2018, when Raniere was arrested and federally indicted
- shortly followed by other important figures in the cult.
They go to trial in October 2018.
Well - that’s the end of that list, what do you guys think?
Let us know in the comment box down below.
As always guys, it’s been a pleasure making this video for you all - and I hope you’ve
enjoyed it.
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As always - you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos - I’ve been your host Jack Finch
- and until next time, take it easy.