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Cults are dangerous institutions that have existed for many years, corrupting and reforming the minds of innocent people into believing outrageous doctrines that eventually result in disaster. Horrifying cases involving men such as Charles Manson, Jim Jones and David Koresh have bewildered people and raise the question: how could individuals be easily susceptible to the teachings of these men, so influenced that masses go as far as to commit the unthinkable? Individuals who are in a vulnerable position in search for an identity are attracted to cults because they offer a sense of belonging. In addition, isolation from society contributes to the functioning of a cult for it creates an atmosphere where submissiveness and obedience runs high. These two factors seem to hold true for one of the most notorious cults currently established in the United States and Canada. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or, FLDS, is an international polygamist sect that incorporates belonging and isolation along with a dangerous mentality that have resulted in the abuse of women and children in the name of God. The FLDS is a breakaway sect from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and was established after a group of Mormons refused to renounce polygamy, which in their eyes, was the only way to reach salvation. According to the FLDS mindset, the only way a man could reach heaven and have status in the community is through having multiple wives. The FLDS community functions as a hierarchy, at which the prophet stands atop of the pyramid as the crowning jewel of God’s favored people. For the past few decades, Rulon and Warren Jeffs have ruled over the church as the prophets, taking unprecedented power over... ... middle of paper ... ...e women and children who live in the community are being limited or denied. The United States is a country of freedom and independence. By allowing an authoritative community, such as that instituted by the FLDS to exist is against the foundations and liberties provided by the United States. Works Cited Goodwyn, Wade. “Warren Jeffs and the FLDS”. npr.org. National Public Radio, 3 May 2005. Web. 12 February 2011. “Interview with Women from Texas Polygamist Group.” Youtube. Youtube, 16 April 2008. Web. 14 February 2011. Jessop, Carolyn. Escape. New York: Random House Inc., 2007. Print. Sachs, Andrea. “Polygamy Survivor Carolyn Jessop.” Time. Time, 24 October 2007. Web. 14 February 2011. Waller, Matthew. “Jeffs’ pre-trial hearing scheduled for Today”. gosanangelo.com. San Angelo Standard-Times. 30 January 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.
forefront of time, never waning and never dying out. It has evolved overtime to include interesting ways of worship and faith basis. From the standard worship of God, or he who is all powerful, to the ideological notion that our bodies are occupied by alien spirits who were brought to earth long ago and killed off due to overpopulation of their planet, religion has definitely come a long way. One such interesting religious practice that I’d like to discuss, is the snake-handling Pentecostal Christians of the Appalachian Mountains. Furthermore, I will discuss the relevancy to the groups’ stereotype and attempt to showcase how it’s virtually nonexistent in today’s society as it used to be by comparing and contrasting Mary Lee Daugherty’s piece
Before the founding and organizing of the LDS church and introduction of polygamy, Joseph Smith received bitter persecution. He was tarred and feathered by a mob, but this was nothing compared to the treatment the saints received when their practice of polygamy became well known (Arrington JS 26-7). In order to escape the torture, Joseph Smith led one hundred and fifty or more saints from New York to Kirtland, Ohio in 1831 (Arrington JS 21). After living in harmony with the native Gentiles for several years, the town of Kirtland be...
Scott, Donald. "Mormonism and the American Mainstream." Teacher Serve. National Humanities Center, Aug. 2004. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Sabina Magliocco, in her book Witching Culture, takes her readers into the culture of the Neo-Pagan cults in America and focus upon what it reveals about identity and belief in 21st century America. Through her careful employment of ethnographic techniques, Magliocco allows both the Neo-Pagan cult to be represented accurately, and likewise, scientifically. I argue that Magliocco's ethnographic approach is the correct way to go about this type of research involving religions.
A cult society is an organization that basically disguises itself as a religion. In a cult, they normally perform rituals. There are usually many people in these societies. In Jim Jones’s cult, there were at least one thousand people in this community.
Bloody rituals and moonlit sacrifices define a cult. As long as religion exists, cults also exist. Initiation involves feats of courage and skill and often results in fatality. Once they complete their initiation they gain the status of an official member. Members advance in rank by following the regulations and being faithful to their deity. New recruits rank lowest and the priest or prophet are the highest ranking members; climbing through the ranks takes years. Judith Lorber, the author of “Believing Is Seeing: Biology as Ideology,” assists in understanding the ideas presented in Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber’s article “The Spread of the Cult of Thinness…” ; society gives “cult” members body expectations they must follow for them to secure their places in the “cult” of thinness, or society rejects them.
The church of Scientology has been the subject of controversy since its inception. Its methods and beliefs have attracted the attention of scholars from around the world. The church has been under government investigation and has endured a countless amount of lawsuits (Reitman 14). It is also a hot topic by the media with several endorsements by some of the most recognized Hollywood celebrities. However, the main topic of debate regarding the Church of Scientology is its status as a religion. Some members claim that the church has helped them overcome their struggles and that they are happier people, while others condemn it as a dangerous cult (Sweeney). The church of Scientology is a religious group whose purpose is to retain their members with the promise of spiritual enlightenment. Its controversial history, beliefs, and practices reveal the church’s commitment to keep its members.
Terry, Maury. The Ultimate Evil: The Truth About Cult Murders: Son Of Sam & Beyond. New York: Barnes and Noble Publishing Company, 1987.
Cults have existed throughout history since the beginning of time. A cult is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “system of religious worship with a devoted attachment to a person, principle, etc.” Over the past thirty years numerous religious cults have caused “ tens of thousands to abandon their families, friends, education’s, and careers to follow the teaching of a leader they will never meet”(Beck 78).
In conclusion, the entire aura of the Heaven’s Gate cult seems like something straight out of a late night TV movie. Like most millennialist groups, members held a firm belief in an oncoming apocalypse and that only an elect few would achieve salvation. The spread of their doctrine on the Internet brought about widespread concern over the power of the web. The argument has subsided, however, with the passage of time. I, for one, find the supposed link between the Internet and cult activities rather absurd. Extreme gullibility and brainwashing, I believe, would be the only ways a recruit would ever accept such an outlandish set of beliefs.
Jim Jones and his infamous cult entitled, “The People’s Temple,” holds an interesting value to social psychology. Jonestown is a topic that can relate back to many sociology terms and ideas. Jonestown can be related to social deviance, the effect of American culture on social groups, labelling theory, charismatic authority, and even shows how societal history often repeats itself. American society during the late 60’s-70’s is what led to the creation of Jonestown. Jonestowns downfall provided a lot of insight to the American public of how society needed to change, proving that the deaths of about 900 people weren’t for nothing.
Reynolds, Larry. “Patriot and Criminals, Criminal and Patriots.” South Central Review. Vol 9, No. 1.
“History of Fundamentalist Mormons.” Wheat & Tares. Wheat and Tares, 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
The cult was mainly composed of men and women both. All members had crew cuts and were between the ages of 26 and 72. Although many members lived together in a mansion in California, they came from all parts of the country. Many were from California, but members also came from Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Minnesota, Utah, Ohio, and Florida. There were approximatly 39 members who lived in the 1.3 million dollar Rancho Santa Fe mansion. They operated a web site for their cult called “Higher Source”.
The boys’ pose appear as competition, “...while boys are seen by older men as competition for the girls”(Vere). As part of the polygamy beliefs, the young boys’ develop the idea that, they themselves are “Satan’s temptations”(Jessop). Many cases, young boys’ are abandoned and rejected from the compound. The FLDS serve as a community called The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a well known polygamous compound. This polygamous community is well known in North America, “Although the practice is widespread across cultures, we know it best in North America as characterized by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS)”(Mack). The FLDS in many cases, will find rather ridiculous offenses to banish the boys’. Clearly, the main goal here is to simply eliminate the competition, “FLDS leader Warren Jeffs 's insistence that parents expel their young male children from the community to eliminate competition for wives”(Billie 127). These youthful boys’ are forced into a society they are unaware of and with no family to guide them, a challenge young boys may