A prophet’s guide to the galaxy

The cult of personality can cover a multitude of sins [View this email in your browser]( March 25, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, “The work of God is a benevolent dictatorship,” Warren Jeffs once told his congregants. “It is not a democracy.” Jeffs is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous denomination. He is currently running his church from behind bars after he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is serving a life sentence with an additional 20 years. He was on the run for a year before the law caught up with him in Las Vegas. Shepherd Bushiri, the founder of Enlightened Christian Gathering megachurch in South Africa, fled to his home country, Malawi, amid fraud and money-laundering charges, leaving the two nations to argue over his fate. Last week, the Mail & Guardian [exclusively sourced court records of the extradition request]( South Africa has sent to Malawi detailing crimes allegedly committed by Bushiri — leader of one of the most popular and richest churches on the continent — and his wife, Mary. As reported by Golden Matonga, the eight counts of rape, dating back to 2016, have been added to charges of fraud, money-laundering, jumping bail and contravention of the foreign currency act that Bushiri was already facing before his escape in November last year. Bushiri has rejected past allegations of rape, [accusing Hawks officers of “intimidating women” to make the accusations](. He also accuses the Hawks officers of extortion. In his book Thought Reform and Psychology of Totalism (1961) Robert Jay Lifton explains in considerable detail the three primary characteristics that are the most common features of destructive cults. 1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power. That is a living leader, who has no meaningful accountability and becomes the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority. 2. A process of indoctrination or re-education is used that can be seen as coercive persuasion, thought reform or, as it is commonly referred to — “brainwashing”. The culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader. It can also be seen as an inability to think independently. 3. Economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie. Lifton’s latest book Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry makes clear that the apocalyptic impulse — that of destroying the world to remake it in purified form — is not limited to religious groups, but is prominent in extremist political movements. Some groups that were once seen as “cults” have historically evolved to become generally regarded as religions. Power devolved from a single leader to a broader church government and such groups ceased to be seen as simply personality-driven and defined by a single individual. For example the Seventh-day Adventists, once led by Ellen White, or the Mormon church founded by Joseph Smith (by the way, Jeffs’s FDLS is an offshoot of the latter). Cult is a term that doesn’t refer to religion at all, but is applied to a social movement. But for South Africans, who once heard how the governing party would rule until Jesus returned, or watch the fantastic obfuscation of a certain opposition party and the zealotry of those who attack journalists, it may seem like one and the same thing. Strengthening our knowledge economy is the only way we can inoculate ourselves against manipulation. This is the perfect juncture to remind you that our world-famous (really) God Edition goes live next Thursday. Make sure to grab yourself a copy if you’re looking for the perfect distraction from family over the long weekend. Yours in solidarity, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences or unsubscribe here.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa