Cults vs. Religions
In recent years, a number of social scientists have argued that the term “cult” should be abandoned in favor of the term “new religious movement” (Olson, 2006). One reason is purely practical: “Cult” carries automatic negative connotations and can cause contention with both the outside community and law enforcement (Szubin, Jensen, & Gregg, 2000). The other reason is somewhat more nuanced; the argument that there is no true difference between a cult and a religion, because one set of religious beliefs is not inherently superior simply due to how long people have believed them, or how many people believe them. However, in answering the question of whether cults and more mainstream religious groups are different, we must examine not only the beliefs themselves but the methods of worship and living within the group. These “cult characteristics” (Shermer, 2011), including isolation, physical abuse, and suppression of dissent, enable us to compare cult groups to more mainstream religious groups and find concrete differences. While the beliefs held by one group are not inherently stranger than those held by any other, the malignant policies and practices of a cult set it apart from a mainstream religion.
The People’s Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Children of God are three groups generally considered cults, while Catholicism is considered a mainstream religion. The People’s Temple was "a secular 'church ' founded and run by the 'Reverend ' Jim Jones, who called his revolutionary gospel 'apostolic socialism '"(Scaliger, 2012). In the mid-70s—roughly fifteen years after its creation--Jones moved with a thousand of his followers to Guyana, where they started a community known as Jonestown. In 1978, Jones and...
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...of the church. Just one example is non-traditional families; according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, 43% of Catholics believe that gay parents are just as good or nearly as good at raising children as straight parents (PewResearchCenter, 2015).
Conclusion
The Branch Davidians, The People’s Temple, and Children of God are generally recognized to fall under the admittedly fuzzy term, “cult.” The beliefs of each group have little in common, but in other ways the groups are quite similar. When compared to a mainstream religious group such as Catholicism, it becomes clear why they are considered cults. Their beliefs about God may not be inherently stranger, but their internal policies are sinister. A group can be labeled a cult not by examining its beliefs but by examining the way the members are treated, and how they treat themselves and their leader.
While dealing with Jonestown it could be perceived as both a cult and a conspiracy theory. The way it fits into being a conspiracy is that many do not believe what was reported and feel that the government, especially the CIA had involvement and made efforts to alter peoples minds for uses of a social experiment. Jonestown also could be considered a cult because in 1955 roughly 1000 citizens formed “The Peoples Temple” in Indiana. It was later progressed to California then finally in 1974 they made there final stop in Guyana. These members usually large in diversity would have mass gatherings and preach
James Warren “Jim” Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple cult and was the orchestrator of Jonestown and the following Mass suicide. Jones was born in Crete Indiana in 1931. Due to the great depression he and his family moved to Lynn and had to live in a shack with no running water or plumbing. As a child Jones was a heavy reader and studied past world leaders and philosophers including Hitler, Marx, and Gandhi. His parents, teachers and peers also noted that he had an intense interest in religion. It is
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.
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate dictionary defines cult as: 1 : formal religious veneration : Worship. 2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents. 3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents. 4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>. 5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion.
For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind.
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.
the way they act makes them seem a lot more like a cult. Hence, it
The cult had many beliefs that our human bodies were only vessels, occupied by members of the “Kingdom of Heaven.” They believed that Marshall Applewhite was a link between their cult and their god. It was said that god spoke to them through Applewhite. He was considered an equivalent to the Christian religions Jesus. And that people need to follow him as people had followed Jesus 2000 years ago. The cult believed that their time on earth was only a schooling to learn how to become a member of the kingdom of heaven. Do (Applewhite) taught them that in order to leave behind this world and move on to the next, people had to give up their family, sensuality, selfish desires, your human mind and your human body if necessary.
On November 18, 1978, a notorious religious organization lead by Jim Jones became international news. As a result of manipulation and isolation, Jim Jones influenced his followers to commit suicide. Not only, but his followers were utterly convinced that what they were doing was for a good cause, specifically, a political movement. With kool-aid and a dash of cyanide, 918 people, adults and children, ended their lives that day. The aftermath of this horrific event resulted in numerous documentaries, on of which being, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple. Created in 2006, this documentary gives a thorough and accurate account of the events that lead up to as well as occured that day.
Not all cults are the evils the public makes them out to be; they are not necessarily spotless institutions, however. When one thinks of a cult, they imagine death, brainwashing, and simple human robots following the reincarnation of the devil. Not all cults end in mass suicide, violence, or terror; many religions once started as cults and have thrived since. However, some cults end in the expected display of death, confusion, and regret. Heaven’s Gate, led by Marshall Applegate, is one such example.
Two decades ago a strange series of events ended in the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Though thought of as a "massacre," what occurred at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, was to some extent done willingly. This made the mass suicide more disturbing. The Jonestown cult which was officially named “The People's Temple" was founded by a reverend named James Warren Jones, also known as Jim Jones, from Indianapolis in 1955. Jones, who didn’t have medical training, based his liberal ministry as a combination of religious and socialist viewpoints.
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.
Lifton, R., foreword, Cults In Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer & Lalich (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995).