One office in Kalmanovitz Hall has dim lighting. Portraits and magnets of Jesus Christ decorate the room, there’s a filled bookshelf, and small gargoyle statues are displayed, constantly guarding. The professor who this office belongs to, holds out a book entitled the Divine Principle, and its teachings are followed by a cult that he, himself, once resided with.
“Parish life is in drags” adjunct ethics and theology Professor Andrei Antokhin, 50, says “despite the fact that they built this school” and the contributions that have been made towards it. Antokhin expresses his concern by explaining that young people struggle to attend church or practice religion because “they’re confused and [church is] not exciting.”
After migrating from the Soviet Union to attend college at UC Berkeley, Antokhin says although he was “not exactly a member,” he was taken in by the cult called the Unification Church to help him get settled upon his arrival to the United States. “It’s junk,” Antokhin says in regards to the Divine Principle book in his hand.
Yet although joining a cult may sound like something you wouldn’t do, Antokhin warns, “beware.” He says those who are religiously dormant are actually more vulnerable to being “trapped” by a cult and becoming a part of one, since cults appeal to their targets as much as they can.
Perhaps this all relates back to the young people Antokhin mentioned, who do not have interest in being religiously affiliated.
Antokhin’s symposium for the 2016 spring semester is called “Wolves in Sheep Clothing,” which is a class that studies Christian cults. Parents, don’t be alarmed. He says the goal of the class is in fact, to prevent students from joining cults.
Antokhin questions how and why cults are allowed to function and thrive since he has noticed time and time again that they have “totalitarian regimes.” He explains this question “why?” is a focus in his Christian cults class. “I may not be able to provide the answer,” he says, “perhaps it’s a statement of American society.”
Antokhin explains he became afraid of the Unification Church and their beliefs, ultimately disagreeing with their teachings. Although, he says he did gain an appreciation of unity and “camaraderie” which were values held high by the cult, and it made him aware of his admiration for his own religion, which is Eastern Orthodox.
“I still don’t know why God picked me up, but He did,” Antokhin recalls, explaining how he discovered spirituality in him when he was 15, after the death of his mother.
Evidently, his theological studies, although presented to him in different ways, whether it be at USF, in cults, or in his religion, continue—as some questions are still waiting to be answered.
“People can be strange entities,” Antokhin marvels, “people can be bizarre entities."
