Lack of Self-Esteem Called Major Reason Why Youth Join Cults

MILL VALLEY, Calif. —  Lack of proper self-esteem is a major reason why young people join religious cults and New Age movements, according to a Southern Baptist specialist in interfaith witness.

Addressing the annual chaplains’ conference of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Gary Leazer said that “most of the time when people make decisions about religious groups, they do it for other than theological reasons. One of the issues we have to deal with is self-esteem, especially the lack of it.”

Leazer, who directs the board’s interfaith witness department, noted that groups such as the Church of Scientology, The Way International and some New Age movements use such slogans as “You Can Gain Self-Respect,” “Abilities Beyond the Norm Can Be Yours” and “What Stands Between You and Real Happiness?”

He asserted that “negative self-esteem is always present in people involved in satanic worship.” Likewise, Leazer said, “persons who have a well-balanced view of their own self-esteem do not get involved in New Age movements.”

Leazer also cautioned against the effects of heavy-metal rock music with obscene or violent lyrics.

“When kids who have a bad self-esteem listen to this kind of music for hours on end, in their own minds it begins to give them permission to act out the feelings they’re having during crisis,” he said. “It doesn’t cause them to do it, but it gives them permission.”

While noting that self-esteem “is something a child must develop for himself,” Leazer said that “parents can help make the process easier.” He said parents can do so by teaching responsibility, allowing children to make decisions, offsetting peer pressure and communicating with their children.

“It is important that you listen, really listen, to what your child, teen or adult has to say--especially if you don’t agree,” Leazer advised.