Here is a riddle: When three or more people come together with a common understanding of divine revelation, how can you tell it’s an apocalyptic religion, a “the end is near” type religion of questionable authenticity, a religion maybe somehow dangerous to the rest of us?
Easy: They live in a compound.
Have you ever noticed this? The rest of us live in houses or apartments. If we live in the country, we live on farms or ranches. But if our beliefs deviate drastically from mainstream religion, our houses, apartments, farms or ranches become “compounds.”
Consider for example this story by Deborah Baker, an Associated Press Writer:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – A 13-year-old girl who had been removed from an apocalyptic sect in northeastern New Mexico was released from state custody and eventually could move back to the group’s compound.
That tells us all we need to know about this sect. They’re dangerous. They live in a compound, after all. If they were decent folks, they’d live in houses like the rest of us.