Cults And Sects Essay

Assess the view that cults and sects are only fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in contemporary society.
A cult is an organisation that emerges as a result of a group breaking away from a ‘parent’ church, with the individuals often sharing a common interest, such as astrology or reincarnation. They predominantly emerged during the 1930’s, in which time they became the object of sociological study in context to religious behaviour. Although some may face the difficulty of state disapproval, such as Scientology, they often have no connection to the state, as the groups are often small and therefore would seem insignificant to the state as they have no impact on them. The structure itself of the organisation is least like the structure of a church, as they are very loosely organised and structured, with very little leadership. In terms of membership, cults are not as exclusive of sects as they are accepting and open to all individuals from all levels of society, with members being recruited through self-selection, conversion or by being born into the cult.

Because of the lack of commitment cults require, many often tend to believe them to be ‘short lived’, as it means members can

To support this, it would be useful to consider how some cults have experience the struggle of facing disapproval from the state, such as Scientology cults, and so it is logical to assume that any group that is not accepted by the government will fail to last in the long term future. However, the Scientology movement are still around in today’s society and even have members as well recognised and idolised as Tom Cruise, suggesting that some cults could possibly have a slightly higher influence on members of the public than