Yesterday I talked about some of the Christian cults in Africa, but what may be more shocking to many Christians is that we have them in the US as well. It’s not just Mormon polygamist compounds either, it can happen to even relatively mainstream churches such as the Calvary Temple, according to this article by The Washington Post from November 16, 2008.

Formerly part of the Assemblies of God, Pastor Star Scott dropped the denomination in 1986 and struck out on his own path as Calvary’s “apostle” and presiding elder, which has given him nearly complete control over the church’s considerable assets as well as its theology and congregation whose faith is increasingly leveraged against them.

Perhaps in an attempt to more fully brainwash future generations, Calvary runs its own school (K-12) which all children in the congregation are expected to attend, and no outsiders are allowed into. In this school children are still beaten with thick wooden paddles and subjected to other physical abuses, and I can only guess at what nonsense the children are taught.

A few of the other abuses of the congregation include heavy and mandatory tithing (sometimes well in excess of the traditional 10%), use of church money for Scott’s rather extensive personal expenses, and demands that those who leave the church be shunned.

This includes not only friends, but family. Spouses are to be divorced. Even children who rebel or reject Calvary are to be kicked out of their parents’ houses and cut off.

“Don’t be afraid of social services if you throw rebellious children out of the house, because you obeyed God.”

“Deuteronomy says if your kid doesn’t follow your God, kill ‘em. That’s what we do, but not physically. To us, you’re dead if you’re not serving our God.”

- Star Scott, Calvary Temple Pastor

Lest we think that Scott only applies Old Testament principles to his followers though, we have the fine example of his second marriage.

In 2002, 19 days after the death of his wife, 55 year old Scott announced that the next week he would be taking a 20 year old virgin bride from the congregation, just as widowed high priests in the Old Testament did.

He then proceeded to take her on the road with the collection of expensive racing cars and motorcycles he purchased, using church money of course, as part of an “Automotive Outreach”. A young virgin bride and fast, expensive cars paid for with other people’s money? It’s interesting how well God’s desires match up with Scott’s.

Pretending piety and obedience to Jesus, Scott appears more a self-serving cult leader who is not only abusing his own congregation at home, but shipping his cult overseas. Again, Africa is the lucky recipient of another one of the horrible fundamentalist Christian cults our more credulous and obedient populations seem so good at turning out. They already have dozens, possibly hundreds of churches in Africa, and they are still spreading.

If there is a god out there, then maybe Africa needs it after all, if only to protect it from the cancerous Christian cults spreading through its populations. This is one disease that condoms can’t stop.