When Leaders Go Astray

 

                                               (image: Inquirer.net)

Ginoo ko!

Inq.net reported: Cited for contempt on a motion by Sen. Risa Hontiveros were SBSI (Socorro Bayanihan Service Inc.) Jey Rence Quilario, the group’s 82-year-old vice president Mamerto Galanida, and members Janeth Ajoc and Karren Sanico. Known in the organization as “Senior Aguila,” Quilario, 22, has styled himself as a messianic “Son of God,” according to former members who testified at the hearing.

Why do people leave their stable jobs and join in cult-like groups? This question often bothers an onlooker when news similar to what is happening in Socorro, Surigao del Norte takes place.

Adrian Furnham describes in Psychology Today that humans crave clarity. Many people join cults because they believe they are offered solid, absolute answers for questions such as good versus evil, religion, the meaning of life, politics, etc.

Many cult leaders promote messages that are simple and seem to make sense, the exact opposite of what we’re often provided with in typical, everyday life.

What is a cult? It is a religious or quasi-religious group characterized by unusual or atypical beliefs, seclusion from the outside world, and an authoritarian structure.

History tells us that cults often lead to harm among its members especially if the leader has experienced a form of insanity. More than 900 people, many of them children, died in a mass murder-suicide in 1978 by drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid at the order of cult leader Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana.

Having an increased focus on religion and the belief that one is God are symptoms of mania and hypomania in bipolar disorder. This heightened focus isn't necessarily unique to bipolar disorder, however, as it is also associated with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and other psychotic disorders (Purse, 2021).

It is saddening that women and children are being oppressed and victimized in the recent events related to cult-like activities around these area. Indeed, there is a need to carefully look at our leaders whether they are sane or not.