ah well if he's visibly miserable...

can you ever talk to him with out other aliens around?

yes, even though it breaks their rules.

the thing is he is very religious, but I think he has confused loyalty to god with loyalty to Xenos

Maybe you won't have to bring down this Xenos cult but "offer" him better things to do. I mean, you probably know him better than this guys do so you should know what your friend likes doing, what does he like to talk about and so on. So maybe by doing this you could make him forget about the cult. This, however, would be the mild way of facing it.
The shock therapy would definitely involve talking to him honestly -I mean you and the other friends/family members who are concerned about the situation- and try to take the wool out of his eyes.

I recommend going to a pastor. You could ask, for instance, a catholic priest or a Lutheran minister for advice and help. I suggest those groups because the clergy in them get good religious training and are fairly common in the mid-west, Columbus being in in the mid-west. Also, being pastors in the area, they may have already had run-ins with Xenos and may know more about it than you and have more experience. Also, older-fashioned clergy (as opposed to those who do praise-band, rock and roll type worship services) would probably be better as they take their own denomination more seriously, and, as a result, would be concerned about someone's being in a cult. Plus, see if you can get into contact with any family you friend might have.

I've had a number of friends in cults or in drug-related situations over the years. I can honestly say that it's a difficult situation, especially if the child lives in the home with his/her parents who are members of the same cult.

I feel the best way to approach the situation is to begin by praying consistently and when you talk to the person involved, first understand the situation they're in. Many times, the cult is all they know and all they have grown up in. When talking to them, it seems to me that simply questioning what they believe and why they believe it is the best approach. If you find error in what they believe, then introduce Scripture. After all, the Christian cults use the same (mostly) Bible that we use but add or take away things. The JW run all things through the Watchtower Society while the Mormons have additional books that they add to the Bible.

Tackle questions like:
Who is Jesus? Who did he proclaim to be? Do you have verses that show this? What about these other verses, what does your church tell you about them? For example, the cults remove the Deity of Christ and often make him out to be Michael the Archangel or something of that nature and they change what Scripture says. The Mormons change the way a lot of the Bible has to say about Christ, but so much of the Bible points to the Deity that they miss many verses such as Matthew 3:3 and Isaiah 40:3 which state plainly about the Deity and do so even in their copy of Scripture.

For the JW, some common means to quesiton them is about the end times and if they're going to heaven, etc.

Find out what your friend gets out of being in the cult, and find something else that provides it.

Sic,

I think you're attacking this problem from the wrong side. This Xenos group seems to be a pretty demanding lot; I think getting Xenos to dump your friend may be easier than getting your friend to dump Xenos. Based on the two testimonies you posted, I would recommend having one of your attractive and promiscuous female friends seduce this guy (preferably after getting him drunk somehow) to get him kicked out for immorality. That would probably be the quickest and easiest way to get him out. But a quick and sharp break from the familiar like that may not be the best thing for him in the short term and would probably result in some bad feeling between the two of you.

I think a more practical and patient approach is probably best; at this point, just be patient and let him know you're there for him. Don't try to argue religion with him or tell him he's been brainwashed; threatening his present worldview will only make the rift between you both that much wider. Hopefully, he will at some point become disillusioned with this group; if he knows he has somewhere/someone to go to, it will make leaving easier when the time comes. If he is as unhappy as you say, I expect that time will come sooner rather than later. Unless you're willing to do something drastic, I don't think you can force him to leave until he is ready to go himself.

@Tolstoy's first paragraph:
The guy is a member of a strict cult. It's not like he's going to allow himself to be seduced in the first place, and, even if he did, he would be very emotionally devastated. The more "practical and patient" approach from your second paragraph is better.

The first paragraph was largely tongue in cheek (not to be taken seriously).

My friend is a very attractive man, and has dated some of the most attractive people I our have ever met. If he hasnt given in yet he never will.

yeah tolstoy I like your idea. dont know how I would get them to drop him thogh, hes like their golden boy lol.

btw, I AM willing to do something drastic. I'm actiually already planning a kidnapping to rescue my other friend from a cublicle. (not the same at all granted, but he gave his explicit permision to do so several years ago) I just want it to work. so if you have another idea you just thought was too out there shoot

I had a brush with a cult a couple of decades ago. Some Christian friends of mine had family members who were very enthusiastic about a church called "Coniah Chapel" in a town near here, We were first introduced to some nice young ladies who lived together in a "Women's House" that was set up and administered by the church. One of them was very pale and thin and said that she was on a juice-only fast--and not much juice, either. So two of my Christian friends and I decided to visit the church.

That Sunday was weird. We were WARMLY greeted by all the young ladies, looked over by the young men, introduced to more young ladies, and then the service got under way. It started out like a regular Christian church, more or less, but eventually ended with a bunch of people on the stage with their hands all on the pastor, or on the people who were touching the pastor, and they were "praying him into the next level." All this time my heart was thumping, my adrenaline levels were inexplicably up, and a though kept running through my brain over and over: "Beware of the antichrist, beware of the antichrist...."

Nothing like this had ever happened before, and I'm a rational guy, so when my body and brain start doing things that I didn't tell them too, I get suspicious. After the service is when the really weird event occurred. A couple of these sweet young ladies ran up to us after the service wanting to know what we thought of it. I said that I knew it something big was going on, but I didn't know if it was something good or not. Just as I finished saying that, a totally evil, demonic expression came over this young lady's face, just for a fraction of a second, just flashed out and then was gone. Needless to say I grabbed my friends and got out of there quick. To this day I'm convinced it was actually a demon showing itself through her eyes.

This group had all the characteristics of a cult: sleep deprivation, in this case also food deprivation, control of the individual by the group (meaning the leaders), isolation from outside influences, especially family and friends, love bombing at first and withdrawal of the love as necessary to maintain control, demonic aspects that were hidden at first.

how do you play all these webdip games if you're a hobo?

An uncle of one of my friends conducted several "deprogramming" kidnaps and rescues of people who fell into cults, some with success as the emotional dependence and sleep deprivation wore off over a day or two, but one of the people he "rescued" immediately went back to the group and the group then hired a lawyer and pressed charges. I don't know how it ended up. I would just be there for the person, and use blueletterbible.org or a similar site to search for key scriptures that you can use to show him that the group doesn't follow the Bible--such as "Be in the world, but don't belong to the world." Slightly different wording in the various translations.

But first be sure that your own spiritual house isn't empty. Taking someone out of something doesn't do much good if you don't have something better to offer them. Just my two bits.

Mujus, that didn't have enough quality to go up on the site. This one was good, though: http://www.27bslash6.com/opinions.html

why would you deem it your place to 'rescue' your friend from a sad little cult?

they may be happy, your friend may need to support of his cult, perhaps 'normal' life isn't how we are meant to live.

in fact whatever we define as normal is just society's attempt to normalize our behaviour. Abnormal behaviour has been treated a variously criminal, medical, evil (for witchcraft) dangerous or simply weird, for centuries.

This cult is just a small micro-society/culture which has it's own norms, weird as they may seem to us humans are not actually designed to be ubermensh, we are designed to live in social groups. And when a society fails to provide sufficient support (that is your friends, family and community) is it any surprise that a percentage of the population joins a cult?

What I find odd about Xenos is they've butchered the message of the bible to get the complete opposite of what they should do. Somehow you need to make him realise that communicating with non-christians is the most important part of christianity. (not for the purpose of "converting" them, but to lead by example.) Either a friend who belongs in a non-crazy christian group who knows more scripture than him or a website as Mujus suggested would help assuming you are supporting him yourself and he isn't happy there.

The real problem here is that you're completely atheist, so he's likely not listen to anything you say about his religion. You need someone who knows the bible and is happy and social.

Actually, all you need to tell him is that the word "christian" literally means "like-christ" then you need to ask him if he is christian. If he answers yes, ask him why Jesus ate with the tax-collectors and other assorted sinners. Ask him why Jesus seeked to cure those who the rest of society shunned. Ask him why he feels that the Xenos are followers of God in any way shape or form.

Or you could just tell him to read Galatians 1 with Xenos in mind. It pretty much covers this topic.

Actually, you'd have to tell him the first paragraph of my last post first, or it could backfire really bad if he thinks that Xenos is the "true" christianity.

Sorry for the quadruple post, but 2 Corinthians 11 is far better for this actually, it basically tells people to watch out for false prophets and crazy cults like this one.

@Tolstoy: so much for my sense of humor :DDD

"The real problem here is that you're completely atheist, so he's likely not listen to anything you say about his religion."

yeah thats pretty much it. All of his close friends he grew up with are atheists or close. So he has only Xenos to connect to on that level. currently at least.