I just found an online article about the Mormon Polygamist Cult in Texas that referred to the "Lost Boys" of the cult. Apparently, boys between 13 and 21 who might be competition for the older men are accused of insubordination (for things like talking to a girl, or watching a movie, or playing football). They are driven out of the compound by their fathers and left at the edge of town with the words, "Good luck," from their father.
A "lost boy" being interviewed on The Early Show said something that I noted. He said:
The thing they teach in there is, 'What we tell you to do is what you should do, and you should never, ever question what we tell you to do.'
It seems to me that indoctrination like that is how twists and turns happen that lead people down wrong roads to very bad places.
No one in the world is going to follow someone who says, "Come here and follow me and give me all your money and let me marry your underage daughter and if I decide the time is right, drink this Kool-aid."
I think, the path takes on a much more spiritual tone. Starting with people who want to follow God and a leader saying, "If you really want to follow God, you need to give the controls of your life over to the men he works through." That leader might even say, "Now that doesn't mean we are going to have you drinking Kool-aid."
I want to say with great passion that I don't believe God wants us to give the controls of our life to anyone other than him. God can work through others, God can speak through people who identify themselves as leaders. But, leaders can also be deceived.
I just reread Prince Caspian last week. There is a scene where they are trying to figure out the right direction to go. Up hill, or down. Lucy glances uphill and sees Aslan. No one else does. There is a vote. High King Peter casts the deciding vote. Downhill. Lucy weeps bitterly and goes the wrong direction thinking that the High King should always be obeyed. It was the wrong decision and Aslan is pretty hard on Lucy for following the High King and not Aslan himself. Leaders can be wrong. When they are, we should not follow.
When leaders say that we are to give the controls of our life to them, we should run away fast. They are wrong.
