During the 1950’s, as a by-product of the Cold War, secret groups were organized in several Western European countries to serve as the basis for resistance movements should the Soviets ever try to conquer Western Europe. According to the German news magazine Focus, for example, “79 secret weapon depots” were set up in Austria during this period. Not all European countries were even aware of these groups. A newsmagazine realistically reported in the early 1990’s: “Still unknown are how many of these organizations are alive today and what they may have been up to lately.”

Yes, indeed. Who can really know how many secret groups may at this very moment be posing a threat greater than any of us might imagine?

A POISON-GAS attack on the Tokyo, Japan, subway in March 1995 killed 12 people, sickened thousands more, and helped reveal a secret. A religious sect known as Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) had secretly built up an arsenal of sarin gas to use in pursuit of mysterious goals.

A month later a bomb blast shattered a federal building in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., and sent 167 to their death. Evidence seemed to indicate that the attack was in some way connected to the government standoff with the Branch Davidian religious cult in Waco, Texas, exactly two years earlier. At that time some 80 cult members died. The bomb blast also revealed what was a secret to most people: Dozens of paramilitary militia groups now operate in the United States, at least some of which are suspected of secretly planning antigovernment action.

Later, as 1995 drew to a close, the charred bodies of 16 persons were found in a forested area near Grenoble, France. They had been members of the Order of the Solar Temple, a small religious cult that in October 1994 had been in the news in Switzerland and Canada when 53 of its members either committed suicide or were murdered. But even after this tragedy, the sect had continued to function. To this day its motivation and goals remain wrapped in secrecy.

In view of such occurrences, is it any wonder that many people cast a wary eye in the direction of religious groups? Certainly no one would want to support a secret organization—religious or nonreligious—that misuses his trust and causes him to pursue goals with which he does not agree. What can people do, though, to avoid falling into the trap of involvement with secret societies of a questionable nature?