Editing Church Universal and Triumphant (section)

==Beliefs and practices==

The sociologist of religion [[David V. Barrett]] described the Church Universal and Triumphant as having "its own distinct theology".{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=376}}
The CUT teaches that people are born with an innate spark of divinity and can realize oneness with God.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=375}} It maintains that those who have reached their full potential have become Ascended Masters and can assist humanity.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|pp=375-376}}

The Ascended Master [[Count of St. Germain|Saint-Germain]] is believed to have sponsored attempts to promote the freedom of the soul.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}} The Church taught that Saint-Germain lives on Earth as the prophet [[Samuel]], [[Joseph]],{{which|date=October 2024}} [[Merlin]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[Christopher Columbus]], and [[Francis Bacon]].{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}} It also espoused the belief that Saint-Germain inspired the United States constitution.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}}

The CUT identified as being part of the [[Judeo-Christian]] tradition.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=376}} It presented [[Jesus of Nazareth]] as an Ascended Master who was in full touch with his inner God consciousness and who ascended to God immediately after leaving his human body.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}} The Church also claimed that Jesus studied in India and Tibet between the ages of 12 and 30, ideas it put forth in publications including ''The Lost Years of Jesus'' and the four-volume ''The Lost Teachings of Jesus''.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=376}} It also involved [[Mary Magdalene]] in its teachings, referring to her as the Ascended Master Magda.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}}

The Church teaches the existence of [[reincarnation]], a system which is escaped via ascension.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=377}}

===Millenarianism===
The Church was millenarian,{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=xii}} having displayed millenarian tendencies from its formation in 1958.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=7}} Like other millenarian groups, the CUT blended religious and political concerns.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=8}} 
It was also characterised as being utopian.{{sfn|Starrs|Wright|2005|p=98}}

From the early 1960s, the group was claiming that the Ascended Masters' plan for humanity was being countered by those the Prophets called "Dark Forces" or "Fallen Ones."{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=31}} Mark Prophet believed that the agents of darkness were most apparent in world communism, left-wing groups, and elite power brokers.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=8}} Believing that elite power brokers and communists worked in collaboration, Elizabeth referred to "an International Capitalist/Communist Conspiracy of the power elite."{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=96}} The political scientist Bradley C. Whitsel described this particular stance as having "a far-right political tone".{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=93}}

{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=12}} This trouble would be cause, the group claimed, by a global growth in negative karma.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=12}} The group linked this belief in end times to the close of the Piscean Age and its replacement with the subsequent Aquarian Age.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=12}}

Elizabeth Prophet regarded American society as existing in a state of decay, comparing it to the last days of the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=82}} Elizabeth Prophet used the myth of [[Atlantis]] to highlight the fate of a society that deviates from God's plan. She claimed that the Atlanteans had become wicked and so God destroyed them so as prevent this wickedness from spreading.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=86}} She saw the spread of the [[AIDS]] virus during the 1980s as further evidence of an apocalyptic scenario, suspecting that it had been deliberately manufactured and was used to try and harm the genetics of "Lightbearers" so as to prevent the evolution of "a golden age race".{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=100-101}}

The Church did not welcome this nuclear catastrophe and hoped that it could be averted.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=114}} They did this through prayers and decrees, although also adopted a survivalist strategy as an attempt to survive such a cataclysm.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=84}} The Church hoped that they would be able to emerge from the apocalypse to build a new age.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=85}}

===Affirmations and decrees===
Affirmations and decrees were an important part of CUT practice.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=175}}
Followers of the group were encouraged to recite statements called decrees; doing so was claimed to have multiple functions, including to mitigate karma and to attune the Earth to the power of light.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=36}} Decreeing was a practice previously established by [[Emma Curtis Hopkins]], a key figure in the [[New Thought]] movement,{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=5}} and was then adopted by Ballard's I AM group.{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=11}}

===Morality, ethics, and social views===

Outlining a conservative morality,{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=379}} the Church expected members to take an active stance on various social issues.{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=18}} This for instance included a defense of the family unit and a condemnation of abortion.{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=18}} Observers often termed it [[right-wing politics|right-wing]];{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=379}} it generally viewed left-wing politics as being associated with anti-Americanism, decadence, and moral failure.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=100}} Elizabeth regularly included condemnations of communism in her sermons,<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-56/> and opposed [[socialism]] in all forms, seeing it as part of the global elite conspiracy's plot to control all facets of society.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=94}} She instead emphasised a philosophy of individualism.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=94}} Palmer and Abravanel characterised the Church's viewpoint as a "conservative Republican stance".{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=175}}  Every altar of the church has an American flag, an oversized, framed copy of the U.S. Constitution is mounted in the main chapel of the church headquarters.<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-56>{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |page=56 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref> The Church's communicants pledge not to consume alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=380}} The organization recommended a [[macrobiotic diet]] with little red meat.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=380}}
[[Rock music]] is frowned upon, with some practitioners deeming it unhealthy.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=380}}