I think my cousin might be in a cult

[Robyn_p]

I have a cousin, she’s 30, and well…she believes some…strange things. The biggest one being that the earth is flat and it’s propped up by literal pillars. Space isn’t real, the satellite images are all forged by the government. Oh and rock formations like Devil’s Tower are actually giant trees that were chopped down. I’m not making this up!!!

But it’s the videos and status’ she constantly shares on Facebook that freak me out. I’d never heard of the Flat Earth Society before, but those people are serious anti-intellectual loons. They mock science they don’t understand and then proof text the bible to back up their beliefs. It’s embarassing. But what makes me worry that it’s a cult is how different my cousin is now. All of her posts on Facebook are about Flat Earth junk, and she’s constantly talking about “opening your eyes to the truth in front of you” blah bla bla. It’s creepy honestly.

What the heck do you do in a situation like this? I’m really worried that once she wakes up to how stupid all this is, she’ll be crushed and lose faith in God entirely because she honestly believes the Bible teaches this.

 

[Strydersroom]

Just avoid talking politics or religion. I have a few 9/11 truther conspiracy theorist friends and we just don’t talk about it. If anything, watch the great show cosmos together, it’s very well done. Or take a field trip to NASA.

 

[John_Lazarus]

Just avoid talking politics or religion. I have a few 9/11 truther conspiracy theorist friends and we just don’t talk about it. If anything, watch the great show cosmos together, it’s very well done. Or take a field trip to NASA.

Actually, the Universe is posited to be flat now…maybe the Flat Earthers just need to “scale up” a bit.

 

[Garyjohn2]

Sometimes people read in to these things…hidden truths and deeper meanings…borderline occult stuff. They find one type of fallacy and latch on to it, and based on it the weirdness gets deeper and deeper. It can be almost intoxicating. C.S. Lewis calls it a type of spiritual lust.

I would pray for her. As simple as it sounds, there may not be much else you can do in terms of debating or convincing her otherwise.

However, if you want to convince her, maybe you guys can arrange to see a space shuttle launch in person. Or perhaps take a plane ride, and observe the obvious horizon – and the fact that you fly past it to reach places unseen (because of the curvature of the earth.

If you want to put in extra effort into it, you can talk to her about how the ancient greeks proved the earth was round by observing shadows from far away places. Look up Eratosthenes. There are also mathematical/geometric proofs.

Anyways, I doubt that stuff will help if she is really into it though. Just pray for her.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I have a cousin, she’s 30, and well…she believes some…strange things. The biggest one being that the earth is flat and it’s propped up by literal pillars. Space isn’t real, the satellite images are all forged by the government. Oh and rock formations like Devil’s Tower are actually giant trees that were chopped down. I’m not making this up!!!

But it’s the videos and status’ she constantly shares on Facebook that freak me out. I’d never heard of the Flat Earth Society before, but those people are serious anti-intellectual loons. They mock science they don’t understand and then proof text the bible to back up their beliefs. It’s embarassing. But what makes me worry that it’s a cult is how different my cousin is now. All of her posts on Facebook are about Flat Earth junk, and she’s constantly talking about “opening your eyes to the truth in front of you” blah bla bla. It’s creepy honestly.

What the heck do you do in a situation like this? I’m really worried that once she wakes up to how stupid all this is, she’ll be crushed and lose faith in God entirely because she honestly believes the Bible teaches this.

The best you can do probably is pray for her and be the best Christian you can be as an example. Unfortunately, what you stated in your last sentence often is what happens to those who leave a cult. They become thoroughly disillusioned with any religious belief, although that does not always happen.

 

[PraiseChrist]

I have a cousin, she’s 30, and well…she believes some…strange things. The biggest one being that the earth is flat and it’s propped up by literal pillars. Space isn’t real, the satellite images are all forged by the government. Oh and rock formations like Devil’s Tower are actually giant trees that were chopped down. I’m not making this up!!!

But it’s the videos and status’ she constantly shares on Facebook that freak me out. I’d never heard of the Flat Earth Society before, but those people are serious anti-intellectual loons. They mock science they don’t understand and then proof text the bible to back up their beliefs. It’s embarassing. But what makes me worry that it’s a cult is how different my cousin is now. All of her posts on Facebook are about Flat Earth junk, and she’s constantly talking about “opening your eyes to the truth in front of you” blah bla bla. It’s creepy honestly.

What the heck do you do in a situation like this? I’m really worried that once she wakes up to how stupid all this is, she’ll be crushed and lose faith in God entirely because she honestly believes the Bible teaches this.

Maybe you can talk to your pastor about this, you can also share the Thomistic philosophy, which emphasizes faith and reason in union with Catholicism.
To disprove the earth being flat, you can mention that when youre out sailing at sea, and see a ship approaching from the distance, it approaches gradually, something that a curved earth can do, not flat.
You can also memtion that since God made material matter, there isnt a contradiction between natural order and supernatural order. You can say that the Catholic Faith is fine with any reasonable discovery science makes, unless there is a good reason not to believe. Simply calling the govt liars because they made an actual discovery is rash judgement. Again, these “cults” may be uncomfortable with any scientific research about the universe, but the catholic faith has said that it is fearless of any discovery, knowing that religion asks "why?, while science only asks “how?”

 

[jane_doe]

What the heck do you do in a situation like this? I’m really worried that once she wakes up to how stupid all this is, she’ll be crushed and lose faith in God entirely because she honestly believes the Bible teaches this.

For yourself: don’t let her choices faze your choices. If her Facebook post are irritating you, then unfollow.

For her: all you can do is pray and wait until the Spirit touches her heart.

 

[Robyn_p]

Maybe you can talk to your pastor about this, you can also share the Thomistic philosophy, which emphasizes faith and reason in union with Catholicism.
To disprove the earth being flat, you can mention that when youre out sailing at sea, and see a ship approaching from the distance, it approaches gradually, something that a curved earth can do, not flat.
You can also memtion that since God made material matter, there isnt a contradiction between natural order and supernatural order. You can say that the Catholic Faith is fine with any reasonable discovery science makes, unless there is a good reason not to believe. Simply calling the govt liars because they made an actual discovery is rash judgement. Again, these “cults” may be uncomfortable with any scientific research about the universe, but the catholic faith has said that it is fearless of any discovery, knowing that religion asks "why?, while science only asks “how?”

Unfortunately she’s not Catholic, so I don’t know how much that will mean to her, but I think this is probably the best way to help her (besides prayer obviously). Maybe just showing that faith and reason CAN co-exist will help her still have some faith in God if and when she gets away from this group.

 

[Robyn_p]

Sometimes people read in to these things…hidden truths and deeper meanings…borderline occult stuff. They find one type of fallacy and latch on to it, and based on it the weirdness gets deeper and deeper. It can be almost intoxicating. C.S. Lewis calls it a type of spiritual lust.

Yeah that definitely describes her. She even thinks the Zika virus is a hoax. She seems like she is really searching for meaning though, which I guess is a positive thing. It’s just sad she got sucked into this stuff.

I would pray for her. As simple as it sounds, there may not be much else you can do in terms of debating or convincing her otherwise.

However, if you want to convince her, maybe you guys can arrange to see a space shuttle launch in person. Or perhaps take a plane ride, and observe the obvious horizon – and the fact that you fly past it to reach places unseen (because of the curvature of the earth.

If you want to put in extra effort into it, you can talk to her about how the ancient greeks proved the earth was round by observing shadows from far away places. Look up Eratosthenes. There are also mathematical/geometric proofs.

Anyways, I doubt that stuff will help if she is really into it though. Just pray for her.

Sadly that won’t help. Other people have tried explaining all that, but she just says “There is an answer for everything you are saying” and posts a web link. So yeah you’re probably right that prayer will be the only thing that will get her out of their grip at this point.

 

[Padres1969]

I have a cousin, she’s 30, and well…she believes some…strange things. The biggest one being that the earth is flat and it’s propped up by literal pillars. Space isn’t real, the satellite images are all forged by the government. Oh and rock formations like Devil’s Tower are actually giant trees that were chopped down. I’m not making this up!!!

But it’s the videos and status’ she constantly shares on Facebook that freak me out. I’d never heard of the Flat Earth Society before, but those people are serious anti-intellectual loons. They mock science they don’t understand and then proof text the bible to back up their beliefs. It’s embarassing. But what makes me worry that it’s a cult is how different my cousin is now. All of her posts on Facebook are about Flat Earth junk, and she’s constantly talking about “opening your eyes to the truth in front of you” blah bla bla. It’s creepy honestly.

What the heck do you do in a situation like this? I’m really worried that once she wakes up to how stupid all this is, she’ll be crushed and lose faith in God entirely because she honestly believes the Bible teaches this.

I’d ask her to go on an around the world flight…