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Introduction To Cultism
social psycholgy of cults
social psycholgy of cults
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Recommended: Introduction To Cultism
The Rise of Cult Activity Cult activity has been on the rise over the past few decades. With it there has been an increase in the fear surrounding it. From this fear, society has learned much about cults, how they get members and what to look out for as far as cult recruiters go. Society as a whole has also learned what can be done to deal with cults. Cult activity and the fear that surrounds it Throughout the last couple of decades more and more stories of illegal cult activity or murders by satanic cults appear on the news each night. This surge of reported cult activity has caused a spark in public interest. There has been a large increase in the fear that surrounds cults over the past couple of years. A cult is “a therapeutic or unconventional religious movement (McBride, 1985, 22),” and the more cults that fall beneath the public eye, the more serious the fear of cults becomes. Much of this fear has been sparked by major cult related incidents such as mass suicide by the People’s Temple or the murder of Sharon Tate. These incidents, and incidents like them, grab the nation’s attention and create widespread panic. But as the nation reads about these stories in the paper, the same questions seem to surface. Questions like “How does this happen?” or “What can we do to stop this from happening again?” are often asked. The panic and fear of cult activity in our country seems to continue to grow with the more unbelievable stories that hit the news. The first big news event that was cult related occurred in 1969. Five dead bodies were found by the maid at 10050 Cielo Drive. Beautiful actress Sharon Tate who was pregnant at the time, and her friends Steven Earl Parent, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, and... ... middle of paper ... ...hat were demanded to be answered. It was from this fear that society now knows who is at risk, what to look out for, and how to get someone out a cult safely and legally. Bibliography: References Bugliosi, Vincent. (1974). Helter Skelter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Futterman, Ellen. (1989, February 5). Hints of Darkness: Satanism Reports Stir Worry. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, pp 1A+. Green, Caroline. (1993, Febuary). The Far-out World of Cults. Focus Magazine, pp. 34-38. McBride, James, Sheperd, Williams C., & Robbins, Thomas (Eds.). (1985). Cults, Culture, and the Law: Perspectives on New Religious Movements. The American Academy of Religion. Miller, Maryann. (1990). Coping With Cults. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. O’Reilly, David. (1993, July 18). The Devil, You Say. The Philadelphia Inquirer, pp G1+.
A cult is defined as a small group of people that do not adhere to the larger widely accepted belief system, instead they are often regarded to have extreme or dangerous beliefs (Cult). Cult leaders engage in many different methods and actions to gain their followers. Some cults last for a long period, others end shortly after creation. Cults nevertheless hold a stigma that brings terror and confusion to many outsiders looking in. The public questions why people could become so consumed in someone else that they could bring themselves to take their own lives. 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. Marshall Applegate invoked various methods of persuasion to gain followers, who in the end would commit suicide in attempts to reach their idea of heaven.
One aspect of this control is intimidation and threats. Cults will threaten members and their families to make sure they remain in control and make their leaders seem larger than life. A new recruit to the Church of Wells met with her family, after she left to join the group without any warning, and throughout the meeting she would always look to the church leader before saying anything (Smith 86). Cults also use isolation to manipulate members. One family described their daughter’s behavior when she first join the Church of Wells, “She seemed to withdraw from the world, dropping out of choir and quitting her job” (Smith 85). Cults have more control when their new recruits and other members are isolated from the rest of the world. If the members’ only source of information is the cult, they are less likely to question it. One cult that uses these harmful methods is The Children of God. This religious sect grew out of the 60’s counter culture and was founded in 1968 by David Berg (Zuckerman 108). Zuckerman states that “the children were kept very separate from the parents” and used to control the parents (Zuckerman 106). There is also a constant social pressure that comes with being in a cult. An escapee from The Children of God described the pressure, stating “you weren’t allowed to have imperfection. I had a little wart on my thumb, and I remember walking down this hallway-- a
Cults are becoming more and more of an issue for Jews every day. Many cults are beginning to target Jews. They say you can believe in Jesus yet remain a Jew, or many other things like that. It is important for people to educate themselves of these cults and their recruiting techniques so that they will not be taken advantage of by these cults. Cults now are very different than they were in ancient times though. The Jews, rather than being targeted by cults, were themselves a cult. In fact they were one of the first documented cults.
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.
...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. Cult leaders used various ways of molding a follower's mind and brainwashing them to do things for them. Some cult leaders used punishments as a way of breaking the follower's that were resistant to their demands. Others used and perfected the art of persuasion. Either way, the mind of their followers or 'family' are in total control of the leader.
In order for cults to continue to exist they persuade people to join, at any cost. In trying to persuade people, leaders use both physically and emotionally techniques. Margaret Thaler Singer is a clinical psychologist and professor of the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a cult researcher and teacher for fifty years. According to Dr. Singer’s investigations, members of cults are often subjected to unhealthy persuasion techniques.
Satanic cults are known to be one of the most darkest cults in the world. There have been reports of Satanic worship across the nation. It is not entirely known of what kind of activity goes on in most Satanic cults, but there are quite a few crimes that have been committed that lead to Satanic worshipers such as, kidnapping, rape, and murder. It also has been reported that people are being kidnapped for so called “religious purposes”. Many believe that people that are kidnapped, are then put into “sacrificial ceremonies” and some believe that they are then “brainwashed” into joining the cult, but it is not a real fact that these events really happened. There have been many court trials over suspected Satanic cult members that have committed major crimes in the past.
Fine lines proceed to subsequently blur the separation between a religion and a cult. Throughout history, the label cult has consistently succeeded in disparaging numerous religions including Christianity. To bring a standstill to the confusion amidst all personages, the narrow slash between these two matters need to be entirely divulged and established. Distinctions separating a religion and a cult are elucidated primarily by their treatment of individuals and relations. Variances can be seen through examples of behaviors, the “Moonies” cult, and the works of the Christian religion.
There have been many horrible crimes that have been committed by members of some cults, including crime cases such as murder, kidnapping, assault, and sexual-assault. There have been terrorist attacks against certain cults that made death threats in the past. (Richardson).
Lifton, R., foreword, Cults In Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer & Lalich (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995).
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.
Cults are different from other groups. According to the American Journal of Psychotherapy, two factors distinguish how cults are different from other social groups. First, the ...
Throughout our history, cults have become a prevalent part of our society. More and more cults are forming every day. Although not all of them are dangerous, some can perform practices that are toxic to their members. Cults use fear and control to gain more and more members. Once members join a cult, they are forced to perform the practices that the cult leaders require. It is through these practices that cult leaders convince their members to stay in the cult. Through mind control and scare tactics, cults have become a very powerful and dangerous part of our society.
In 1969, the US uncovered a cult called The Family, when the police found nine bodies in Los Angeles. The cult’s leader was a charismatic Charles Mansion who had managed to captivate the attention of young girls, only to end up killing them.