These Groups May Have Been “Cults” All Along!

(USNewsMag.com) – According to a former member of a climate activism group, the two most prominent groups in the UK show the hallmarks of being cults.

Stunts pulled by Extinction Rebellion UK and Just Stop Oil have made headlines in recent years. Notably, members of Just Stop Oil glued themselves to famous paintings in 2022, including a Van Gogh and da Vinci. Extinction Rebellion UK has engaged in demonstrations aiming to disrupt the normal flow of life for their fellow citizens. In one 2019 stunt, they targeted the London Tube and successfully shut down the service during rush hour.

According to Zion Lights, a former member of Extinction Rebellion UK, Roger Hallam, the man who was involved in creating both groups, sent up “red flags.”

Zion describes Hallam as a charismatic leader who used predictions of imminent calamity to convince his followers that the only way to stop a looming social collapse that would purportedly be caused by climate change is through extreme protest methods. One young member told Zion they didn’t expect to reach the age of thirty due to Hallam’s dire predictions of impending doom. Emotional and thought control are common practices in cults.

Hallam compares himself to notable leaders of the past, specifically Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. He also refers to himself as a prophet. Allegedly Hallam’s young female followers fawn over the charismatic doomsday leader. The deification of the founder is another common quality of a cult. His predictions of climate induce social collapse are visceral and disturbing, as described in a pamphlet he wrote in 2012, and the exact type of terrifying prophecy that can turn young minds obsessive in their desperation to avert a catastrophe they believe is imminent.

When Zion Lights left Extinction Rebellion UK, the group smeared her as a climate denier to discourage the media from speaking with her, another tactic often used by such extremist groups.

Hallam no longer works with Extinction Rebellion UK, but his second activist group, Just Stop Oil, has won financial support from several high-profile people including the heiress to the Getty oil fortune, and The Climate Emergency Fund.