Jehovah’s Witnesses
Jehovah’s Witnesses are a people known widely throughout the world. They are well-dressed people who come knocking at your door on different occasions offering religious literature for sale or trying to introduce their beliefs through carefully prepared conversation. People young, old, rich, poor, well educated and non-educated have embraced them. Their enthusiasm as proclaimers of God’s Kingdom has impressed even their harshest critics. Their love toward one another makes some non-witnesses hope and pray that more people would act in that manner. Yet, some may still wonder, who really are the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What is their history, their practices and their beliefs? Why are they the most attacked new religious group today? Even many former group members have written books or created web sites that project a negative perspective on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Due to the fact that this group has such a large following, it is not surprising that they would be attacked or their faith be denounced. It has been proven that the bigger in numbers of a group, the more controversial the group, and the larger the tension between them and society. Also, the more individuals who belong to a group, the more individuals there are who will denounce that faith and become active apostates. These apostates publish books and establish web sites proclaiming the wickness of the group to whose teachings they once adhered. When looking at it with this point of view, it seems natural that the Jehovah’s Witnesses would be heavily criticized. However, the fierceness of attack is still frightening. My thesis is that based on the questionable characteristics and backgrounds of the Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders and teachings, this criticism are not unfounded. Information on the teaching of the religion and the leaders themselves can be found in the following books: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Teachings of Jehovah Witnesses, Crisis of Conscience, What You Need to Know About Jehovah’s Witnesses, Counting the Days to Armageddon, and Jehovah’s Witnesses: Answered Verse by Verse.
In order to examine the controversies we must examine their history, organization, practices and their beliefs. We must first start at the beginning at the leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses with its founder Charles Taze Russell. The Allegheny, Pennsylvania boy had been...
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...ir followers into doing what they are told. They have repeatedly changed their doctrines and contradicted previously held beliefs, all while claiming that it alone has the truth. This religion takes a person’s ability to think for himself, his ability to make rational decisions, and his free will.
During my research on the Jehovah’s Witnesses the more material I read the more questions I had. How do they convert even the intelligent and God fearing people? Why are Jehovah Witnesses considerably successful in retaining their children within their belief system? Why are Jehovah’s Witnesses less likely to attend college? Why are 55% of Jehovah Witnesses women? Why would any parent allow their child to die instead of receiving a blood transfusion when their death would not be necessary? Do they put such little value to human life? If your religion causes you to separate from your family is your religion really worth it? These questions and others were raised throughout my paper. However, the fact is that the Jehovah Witnesses and the Watchtower Society are successful in converting people to their religion and have the ability to maintain their membership.
Society strives to feel a sense of belonging. We want to be a part of something that shares the same beliefs as us. We spend our time trying to place ourselves in a group to satisfy these needs, whether it is in a hobby club, a group of friends, or religion. Some people go to more extreme measures and find this in what we call a cult. According to Henslin, a cult is a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion. (2013:405) Cults are often identified with the ideas of mass murder, deviant behaviors, unusual beliefs, and extremely devoted members. Cults are also highly known for their leaders. The leaders of cults usually are the ones that portray the image for the entire group. Successful cults take a strong-minded and, according to Max Weber, charismatic leader.
A cult may be defined as a group of people centred about one person’s religious, social or political ideology (Martin, 2003). It is a movement that venerates a specific person, and uses manipulative techniques to recruit members and raise funds. Cults demand complete obedience from the members and use them to work, provide money and provide sexual favours for the benefit of the leaders. Most cults engage in criminal activities such as child marriages, sexual abuse, kidnapping, assault, arson and even murder (Snow, 2003). Over the years, there has been a brisk rise in the number of people starting up cults and those joining them. Individuals are in a bid to discover their significance through passionate and spiritual experiences, which are provided by cults. Reasons why people turn to cults include loneliness, lack of personal identity and alienation (Martin, 2003). There have been many cults in the course of American history. One of the most infamous cults is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). This paper will give a brief history of the cult, its methods of action, the toxic effects of its beliefs and the methods of treatment used for survivors.
Sammy is clearly intelligent, although still uneducated at nineteen, and capable of creating striking images, such as calling a girl’s hair “oaky” and describing the sunlight as “skating around” the parking lot. He is opinionated, sarcastic, disaffected teenager with a healthy interest in the opposite sex and a keen observational sense. Sammy thought of his community boring with nothing to do. He sees most adults as "sheep" or followers “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle”, all indistinguishable from one another, and symbolizes every costumer. Sammy shows no interest in his job what so ever, he demonstrates that when he says he made up a song with the cash register sounds “hello (bing) there, you (gung)hap-py pee-pul (splat)”(Updike) Since he doesn't enjoy his job he looks for something to do, he is the kind of teenager who notices everything around him. One day at the store three girls walk in with nothing but their bathing suits he didn't hesitate to start analyzing them. He drinks
The Khmer Rouge was a murderous group, and their plan was to change the Cambodian society. On April 17 of 1975, the group marched into Phnom Penh, and forced all residents to evacuate into the country side. The members of the Khmer Rouge were mostly uneducated boys who had no idea what they were doing. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, sent these people
For many decades, the cult phenomenon has fascinated the masses. A cult is an organization with deviant beliefs and practices, and is characterized by the apparent life-time membership of its participants. It seems to be very popular among troubled teenagers and adults. The psychology behind why some people are more susceptible to the charms and the lure of being in a cult is not very widely researched or understood. Many people are concerned with cultist behavior and the effect that they have on the individuals involved, believing that they have been “brainwashed” into this lifestyle. This paper deals with cult mentality and how people become involved in certain religious and secular cults. It will explore the personality traits of current and ex-cult members as well as look at case studies of members of particular cults. The format of this paper will first look at some preexisting dispositions, the psychological effects while in the cult, and any short term or long term effects upon leaving the cult, as well as some treatment options.
When most hear the word cult, they imagine mass murderings and warn their children “don’t drink the kool-aid. However, a cult is defined only as a “religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader”. These systems or communities rely on worship and ritual. There is no mention of violence or bloodshed in this definition. However, “destructive cults” are a whole other story and are often the ones making the news headlines. These destructive cults use unethical means as a way to control and manipulate to bring thought reform (defined as the systematic alteration of a person's mode of thinking). Ironically, these destructive cults give an illusion of self control and freedom to its members. It is estimated that five to seven million American’s have been in cults or cult-line groups according to the cult hotline, of course this is a hard number to properly caluclate.
From the beginning of the story "A&P" we see Sammy's boyish and immaturity reveal. And he shows it for example in the first line saying, "In walks three girls with nothing but bathing suits" (Updike 18). Demonstrating how Sammy is sexually describing the girls in a point of view that stereotypically speaking many nineteen year old guys would have as well. Following the descriptive ways that he goes on talking about each of the three girls individually, "There was this chunky one, with the two piece... her belly was still pretty pale" then the next one, "there was this one... and a tall one... the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" and the last one, "the third one wasn't quite tall." "She was the queen." "...On these long white primadonna legs." It is apparent that Sammy sees these girls as nothing more than lusting objects or what can be known as unapproachable desires of an immature boy. Furthermore making it easy to assume that a boy would so such actions, like to quit a job; to impress some girls.
“A cult is a group of religious and dedicated members directed toward a particular belief or figure” (Thriving Cults). Cults are often misjudged and mistreated because what they believe in is strange or different than what the rest of the world believe in. Lesser known cults are often persecuted for what a few evil and corrupted cults did, but they never stop and look and see if the cult is a truly peaceful group. People in cults are often persecuted for being devoted to the cause of the cult they joined. “Certain people lack the inner resources and inner abilities to fully understand the world going on around them. They do not enjoy feeling lost, feeling abandoned, or hopeless” (Church of Reality). “They have no real conception of themselves and a weak and uncertain sense of self-identity or self worth” (Campus Cults). Sometimes we feel that we lose the purpose of living and we need something to fall back to. “Naturally, we follow the advice of people or groups who seem to ...
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.
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).
McBride, James, Sheperd, Williams C., & Robbins, Thomas (Eds.). (1985). Cults, Culture, and the Law: Perspectives on New Religious Movements. The American Academy of Religion.
People join cults as a way of feeling a sense of belonging within a community (Winner 2011:417). This need for belonging is eventually why members find themselves so involved that they cannot get out. This is especially true in the case of the cult created by Jim Jones. He established a cultic Church called the People’s Temple, most famously known for being the largest group suicide consisting of 909 people, including 276 children (Nelson 2006). Between five to seven million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are involved in cult groups (“Cult statistics” 2010). Nearly 180 000 people are recruited into cults each year (“Cult Statistics” 2010). The sense of identity, purpose, and belonging are appealing aspects to why people join cults as the use of power and manipulation coerces them to stay.
Cults are identified as social groups with abnormal and unusual practices as well as aberrant beliefs, some being religious. The study of cults has been ongoing for many years and by many cultic psychologists. Ultimately, it has been determined that cults have different beliefs however they do share similar characteristics. There are several different attributes that can define a group as a cult. The founder of the group for example, is created by oneself and is not held accountable for ...
John Saliba’s approach to new religious movements is secular (despite his position as a Jesuit Priest) and well rounded. He begins by exploring how new religious movements are viewed today, how they have been reacted to in the past and why that may be. He examines the original definition of the word “cult” as well as the modern derivations of it and how it affects these new religious movements. By considering multiple opinions on new religious movements as well as looking at the historical, psychological, sociological, legal and theological context in which these religions came to be and attract new followers, he is able to advocate for a more open approach to these new religions and offer a better way to handle them; to respond to them, rather than react.
Cults are most commonly known and practiced as a system of religious worship and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Cults represent a worldwide epidemic of ideological totalism and fundamentalism. Typically cults target and recruit young adolescences, who are generally confused, curious, and looking for a place to belong and somewhere where they feel important. The naive and vulnerable youth are less likely to see through the cults layers of deceit. However not all youth are endangered from being recruited into a cult, only the ones who are easily persuaded and managed are the ones that are drawn and brought into a cult. Once accepted into a cult, the use of milieu control; control of all communication- slowly starts to separate members from the “outside”. This process is maintained through an intense group process, making the person spend as much time with their cult and as little time and communication with the “outside”. By increasingly inviting and making the people go to a sequence of events, seminars, lectures and encounters, making leaving a cult extremel...