Thought Reform
The International Church of Christ uses various means of the thought reform that Tobias and Lalich discuss. Beginning with the idea of deception, the recruiter tends to lead the potential member into a spiral of unknown information; they will not tell you from the start that they are a part of the International Church of Christ; instead they will say they are from a local congregational church that is interested in having new members join their congregation. Recruiters and members are also able to deceive potential members by being able to combine social events with Bible studies, not telling the person that they are actually attending a Bible study (Rauchno). Members are also being deceived by having this idea that they must fully submit themselves to the lead evangelist in order to ultimately reach salvation. People feel as if they must do everything the leaders ask for, whether it is time to do activities or financial contributions, which many ex-members complain about. Members are not given an option to contribute money; the church creates mandatory minimums placed on contributions (The letter). People do not go into the religion thinking they will have to give a particular sum of money a month; typically churches are happy with whatever amount of money one gives.
Dependency is also substantial within the church in order to maintain its members, and is seen as another method of thought reform. The act of using discipleship in order to make sure new members are on board with the churches beliefs and practices is a large portion of the type of dependency used in the church. The discipler, as previously mentioned, pretty much dictates what the disciple does in their life in regards to almost everything. There i...
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...st is known for, as well as its exclusive approach to being the only people who will ultimately be saved by God. It is very easy to see why someone would consider this group a cult.
However, they follow many biblical principles such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit, and salvation by grace. Although they do have deviations from mainstream Christianity, it can just be seen as a denominational split. Also, since Kip McKean resigned in 2002, the church has been taking many steps to reconstruct the churches reputation by lessening the degree of the discipleship as well as reconstructing the overall structure of the church. Therefore, by CARM standards, the religious group is not a cult, but a more radical Christian religion (CARM). However, the extremism it takes does not deny any question of abnormality and the ultimate decision is up to yourself.
The New Salem also believes that when they preach, the words come from God and not man. The other associations of the Old Regular Baptist also believe this to be true as well.
From 300-600 CE The Roman Empire allowed new religions to be formed and universalized. The Religion that was associated with The Roman empire was Christianity. Christianity became the religion of Rome because of a man named Constantine who allowed Christianity to spread and flow throughout the empire create a harmony throughout the people. Constantine allowed for the Roman officials to adopt Christianity and this led to the building of the Constantinople. Christianity had basilicas which were opulent churches that were open to all which meant any person could go there allowing Christianity to be very universal. Christianity was also very appealing because the worshiped deity walked on land with the people. Christianity split and became the Roman Catholic church which consisted
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.
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
The Church of Scientology is a global organization with over 270 churches or missions worldwide. For decades, it has possessed followers with an almost fanatical devotion to their leader, L. Ron Hubbard. Since the advent of the Internet, the Church has begun to resort to various legal actions to maintain the secrecy of their “scriptures.”
..., to note that there seems to be no adverse effects while a person is in a cult, as their levels of stress goes down and they seem happier. Overall, the cult mentality is one that continues to be an enigma to society today.
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.
Cults can be dangerous as manipulative strategies are used to control large groups of people into behaviour they may not usually be comfortable with. A cult is a counterculture that is an extremist group usually lead by religion and a charismatic leader (Winner 2011:417). Counterculture is the rejection of popular norms and values and replaces them with extreme views on violence, family and loyalty (Winner 2011:417). Cult leaders often preach about religious history as they take it very seriously. Usually, these religious views guide the bizarre behaviour and conformity within the cult. Anthropologists see cults as a way for people to find self-identity and belonging within a group which they are not receiving from outside of the group.
The sociological studies on cults and those who join them have found “that many of the converts are young people, often without strong family ties, who are unsuccessful in dealing with life’s problems and are seeking instant solutions supplied by others” (U.S. News and World Report 23).
In conclusion, being a part of that cult has taught me a great deal. Now, I am able to understand people better and also much more aware of lies that society perpetrates. I believe that most any group will knowingly or unwittingly use cult techniques. Fr. Stanich has given me a great deal to think about. He was a classic narcissist and one of the vainest people I have ever known. But, I am now able to understand much more about persuasive rhetoric and the phony lies that are told to control people.
The Heaven’s Gate Cult is one of thousands of millennial cults and UFO- based cults throughout the world. It has existed for over 22 years now. The cult was lead by a man named Marshall Applewhite and a woman named Bonnie Nettles. They were referred to as “Do” and “Ti” by the cult. These were said to be their spiritual names. Bonnie met Marshall as a patient in a psychiatric hospital where she worked as a nurse.
The definition of a cult, as defined by Meriam Webster, is “a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous” or “a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious” (Websters). Both definitions pertain to the Westboro Baptist Church. Even though Baptist is in their name, they are not affilitated with any Baptist denomination. The two largest Baptist demoninations, The World Baptist Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, have denounced the Westoboro Baptist Church (Rubics). So the WBC is not a part of a larger, more accepted religion. As to the second part of the definition, many people view the WBC as extreme. We saw society's view of the WBC in Theroux's documentary. The children did not have friends in school. Megan Phelps-Roper blatenly stated this in the film. Some kids at school specifically avoided them because of their radical beliefs. Megan tried to play it off that she did not want those kids as friends anyway because they are going to Hell, but I could see that their dislike of her and her family did affect her on some deeper level. At protests, people curse and throw trash at the WBC members. The documentary showed one of the younger boys being hit with a full cup. The adults in the church as endangering their children by having them stand on the side of the road and waving around offensive signs. Where ever the WBC protests, large counter protests emerge to show that people oppose the WBC's radical beliefs. Quite a few members of the church find the beliefs radical and that is why they leave.
After reading this book about her Jenna’s journey through out the Church of Scientology and Jenna’s struggles I am amazed something like this is allowed to go on. To me this does not sound like a religion or a church, to me it truly is a cult. People bribing people to stay in. Child manual labor, blackmailing having to sign a contract at the age of 4 to state that you will be here forever. This truly makes me sick and I wonder how we can let this go one. It was a very powerful book about Jenna’s journey. This church gets so much attention because of the famous people that are a part of this so called church. Like I stated above to me this is not a church it is a cult.
The members in a cult most usually follow the leader and not the ideas of the leader. They are there to make the leader happy and to make them happy they become a follower and practice the same beliefs as the leader. “Cults often originate with a charismatic leader, an individual who inspires people because he or she seems to have extraordinary gifts, qualities, or abilities.” (Henslin 2013:405) The leader of the group is usually seen as something more than human to the followers, such as a God or that they are connected to God in some way. The leader possesses the ability to give them salvation and save them from damnation. “People feel drawn to both the person and the message because they find something highly appealing about the individual-in some instances, almost a magnetic charm.” (Henslin 2013:405) Without the leader the members feel like there is no way they can be saved. They use conflict theory ...
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...