The Threat of Religious Cults
Cult is a new movement for a new religion. In other words it is a formal ritual excessive belief. Cults are created due the established religions' lack of fulfilling the emptiness of the individuals. However apart from this innocent explanation of cult it would be more appropriate to explain a cult as a group or movement which has an excessive devotion or dedication to some person or to an idea and which is unethically manipulated by the group's leader for his own advance which can not be justified in any case.
Sociologists tend to distinguish cults from more established religious organisations based on such factors as group size, membership characteristics and types of beliefs. As the time passes, by the human's awareness is developed due to the enlightenment by the science and knowledge none of these beliefs are enough to keep the individuals in one track so that even the technology works for parting individuals from each other. The reason why do people join cults is the search for fulfilling their psychological and social emptiness.
The importance of the individuals' psychology is the key to the aim for the cults both in the childhood and in the adulthood. In his research David Holmstrom quotes a former coroner's thought of the case "I think adults who get involved in cult groups are looking for identity, for belonging, recognition, love and discipline just like kids are, but it shows they were just as vulnerable as kids in street gangs." (Holmstrom, 1997, p.2) From the given quotation the idea of the lack of psychological and social support is clearly understood.
More over Yvonne Walsh and Robert Bor examined the psychological consequences of involving in these cults. They call this the new religious movement. They have investigated the relationship between the personality, the family and also the group membership. In their research Walsh and Bor suggests that as an alternative explanation to the personal changes of the young people is "joining a cult, may simply be the young person becoming more open about their emotions and changing loyalties, thus the movement into an alternative religious group may be a move towards independence from the primary family (Melton & Moore, 1982 in Walsh & Bor, 1996, p.2). From this point of view which can be relied on it can be easily said that the aim towards the cults are mainly occur from these sort of rebels against the families' dominance over the children which is another social and psychological reason for people joining cults.
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.
This is particularly traumatic for ex-members because many religions who practice shunning are close-knit groups that keep outside influences at arm’s length. Another reason why it is hard for members to break with these repressive religions is because many encourage their parishioners to receive only minimal education.... ... middle of paper ... ... New found isolation often exacerbates the loss that a person experiences.
Some say that cults are all religious and work together, in fact the definition of a cult is “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object”, yet this can vary. Cults are not all religious or trying to reach a spiritual goal and in a lot of cases it is mostly all about one goal that is completely derived off his followers. Most cult leaders are so infatuated with their goals that they truly believe the psychological damage they are causing is good for the world (Cults). As seen in Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate, cults tend to use psychological skills to torment, manipulate and brainwash their members to grow stronger and reach the leader’s ultimate goal.
There are numerous different kinds of social groups in the world, but clearly not all of them are cults. So what makes a cult a cult? [So where is the distinction?] Where is the metaphorical line drawn and what has to be done to cross it? Cult psychological experts Joseph Salande and David Perkins say the differences between a cult and a group are the methods of control and the negative effects on its members (Salande and Perkins 382). They define cults as “groups that often exploit members psychologically
The Heaven’s Gate Cult was founded in the early 1970’s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Applewhite was recovering, under the care of his nurse Ms. Nettles, when he claimed to have has a near death experience. Applewhite claimed that he and Nettles were the two witnesses spoken of in the Book of Revelation. And they were to prepare the worlds inhabitants for recycling.
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 Each year, hundreds of North Americans join one of the increasing, estimated 3000 unorthodox religions that exist across North America. The increasing number of cults, to date in North America, is due to the fact that cults are a social movement that attempts to help people cope with their perceived problems with social interaction. Cult recruiters target those who perceive themselves as different from the rest of society, and give these individuals the sense of belonging that they crave. Cult literature lures potential cult members by appealing to their desperate need to socially fit in. Cults provide a controlled family environment that appeals to potential cult members because it is a removal from the exterior society.
Mystery cults greatly influenced the development of Pythagoreanism as Pythagoreans adopted many of their traditions, behaviors and beliefs. Pythagoras, the founder of the Pythagoreans, established a school in which he developed and taught these adopted cultural behaviors and beliefs. "The nature of daily living in the school, both its moral and its intellectual disciplines, can perhaps best be understood as an intellectualized development from earlier mystery cults such as the Eleusinian" (Wheelwright 201). The Pythagoreans and the mystery cults were not identical, but they shared many similar beliefs on subjects such as the soul, transmigration and reincarnation, and they practiced many of the traditions of initiation, ritual and secrecy. Pythagoreans combined the mystery cults' views on these subjects with philosophical thought as a foundation to develop their own unique beliefs.
...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.
Opinions vary as to why people are drawn to cults. “Martin Marty, professor of religious history at the University of Chicago, attributes the growth of cults to the frustrations of seemingly rootless people”(U.S. News and World Report 23). Marty’s classification of a rootless person is a person who is overly frustrated by modern life and is at a loss for direction. Often the rootless individual will “short-circuit and try to hook their lives to any guiding spirit” (U.S. News and World Report 23).
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”.
...cult. When my father lost his job, our family lost many of the comforts that we once took for granted due to a reduced income. Money became a very large issue and with it came many limitations on wants and desires that were so accessible before my father had lost his job. Furthermore, the loss of his job brought about immense shame for my father. Yet, rather than become embarrassed over my father losing his job and sad due to the fact that I could no longer have as many material possessions, I came to accept the different lifestyle. By letting go and accepting, room was made for new experiences, joys, understandings, and lessons. For instance, I now appreciate things that I took for granted in the past and realize the lack of necessity for materialistic objects and desires and I feel that as a result, I have become a more appreciative human being as a whole.
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.
Cults entice people whom by nature want to belong to a group and make it hard for them to leave by altering their thought processes. Those in the psychology field have defined what makes up a cult, have determined what draws individuals in and have recognized the effects that a cult can have on
Although cults have become a very common practice in our society, not many people actually know what a cult is. A cult is a group that demonstrates an excessive dedication to an idea, person or thing. Cults will conduct manipulative and persuasive behavior to advance the goals of the leader (Langone). There are many different types of cults, but they usually fall into four categories: Religious, Commercial, Self Help and Counselling or Political. Many people mistake religions as cults, but that is not the case. Religious cults are cults that center around a belief system as many common religions do, but they are categorized as a cult because of their practices and mind control. Common religions do not practice these techniques. Commercial cults are those that are interested in gaining money. These cults use their scare tactics and mind control techniques to get members to give them money and even work for them. Self Help and Counselling cults are centered around a business that has programs designed to help people by counselling them. By taking their courses, members are told they will become better people. This of course is not the case and these cults are inte...