...Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs puts the desire for belonging and affection as second only to that of survival as a source of motivation. So why then, if the need for survival is paramount, are people able to disregard this desire in order to find acceptance and belonging? This has been the case in a variety of destructive cults that have ended in the groups’ mass or partial suicide, due to the command of their charismatic leader. Outsiders often assume that anyone who joins a cult is mentally unstable, although this is rarely the case (Langone, 2010). Blaming the ascension of destructive cults on the individual is an unconstructive approach, as we must look at the psychological afflictions encountered by many as the result of the...
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...difference between a sect and a cult?" Answer: The word sect comes from the Latin word secta, which means “school of thought.” It is a subjective term that may apply to a religious faith or denomination, or it may refer to a heretical splinter group. Sometimes, the connotation is one of disapproval, similar to the “destructive heresies” spoken of in 2 Peter 2:1, though there are no consistent or accepted exemplars to use to identify a sect. Sects are found in all religions. Islam has Sunnis and Shias, Judaism has Orthodox and Karaites, Hinduism has Shiyaism and Shaktism, and Christianity has Baptists and Lutherans. These are all examples of religious sects, and they can be thought of as “branches” of different religions. There are also non-religious sects, such as capitalists and socialists among economists, or Freudians and Jungians among psychiatrists. In contradistinction, the word cult always carries a negative connotation. There are specific criteria used to identify a cult. In Combatting Cult Mind Control, deprogrammer Steven Hassan singles out what he refers to as “destructive cults,” which he defines as “a pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have dictatorial control. It uses deception in recruiting new members (e.g. people are NOT told up front what the group is, what the group actually believes and what will be expected of them if they become members).” Hassan also correctly points out that cults are not only religious; they...
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...effects that these tools for change have had on people’s lives. Like any powerful tool in the right hands it can repair, but in the wrong hands it can destroy, it all depends on the intention and moral judgments of the user. My purpose for writing this book is to shine a light on those who choose to use these transformative tools for their own personal gain. Cults, are just some of the organizations which use countless techniques to get its members to commit themselves and take part in what may be harmful activities. The sum of these techniques constitutes what many professionals have come to call “Repatterning." It's also known as "thought reform," "hypnotic programming", "mental conditioning," and “mind control”. These techniques involve the systematic breakdown of a person's sense of self. Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst publishing fortune, became famous in the 1970s after she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, which has come to be known as a "political cult”. Hearst was locked in a dark closet for several days after her kidnapping and was kept hungry, tired, brutalized and afraid for her life while Cult members bombarded her with their anti-capitalist political ideology. Within two months of her kidnapping, Patty had changed her name, issued a statement in which she referred to her family as the "pig-Hearsts" and appeared on a security tape robbing a bank with her kidnappers. Emotional Repatterning is an umbrella term for any number of techniques used to...
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...Cults are intriguing and arouse curiosity in the minds of people who have accepted life in society and joined humanity the way it is. It is amazing to think that people leave their life of normalcy to put their trust in something that is alien but promises them something in return or will save their souls from whatever will harm them. There are many causes that affect people s minds to make them join cults. Cults are very promising, can be very eye-opening, and may be the only option left for some people because of what has happened to them in their life or the mental state they are in. Cults, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, are systems or communities of religious worship that may include obsessive devotion to a person or ideal. In our society, cults are common and have the potential to be destructive. This paper will focus on the factors such as education, stake in conformity, turning points, and strength of local religious organizations that may cause people to join cults, as determined by Stark and Bainbridge. It will also discuss the methods used by cults to influence new recruits and current members. Cult leaders employ tactics such as information deprivation, extinction of former identities, and scarcity in order to maintain their authority. All these techniques combined create an environment that can be classified as a cult. Traditionally, cults have formed after or during turbulent periods of history, when people are most vulnerable. However, not...
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...a different set of rules and principles. For practical reasons, a cult or sect is sometimes defined as `any religious group with a distinctive worldview of its own derived from, but not identical with, the teachings of a major world religion. As we are speaking here of special groups which usually pose a threat to people's freedom and to society in general, cults and sects have also been characterized as possessing a number of distinctive features. These often are that they [groups] are often authoritarian in structure, that they exercise forms of brainwashing and mind control, that they cultivate group pressure and instill feelings of guilt and fear, etc. Sects are found in all religions. Islam has Sunnis and Shias, Judaism has Orthodox and Karaites, Hinduism has Shiyaism and Shaktism, and Christianity has Baptists and Lutherans. These are all examples of religious sects, and they can be thought of as “branches” of different religions. There are also non-religious sects, such as capitalists and socialists among economists, or Freudians and Jungians among psychiatrists. In contradistinction, the word cult always carries a negative connotation. There are specific criteria used to identify a cult. In Combatting Cult Mind Control, deprogrammer Steven Hassan singles out what he refers to as “destructive cults,” which he defines as “a pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have...
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...unorthodox religions or cult practices become inhumane or unjust Introduction This research project examines when unorthodox religions or cult practices either becomes or perceived as inhumane or unjust by specifically focusing on unorthodox religions during a twenty year period between the 1950’s through the 1970’s. The research focuses on five different unorthodox religions: The People’s Temple, founded by Jim Jones, Heaven’s Gate, founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, Scientology, founded by L. Ron Hubbard, Children of God, founded by David Berg, and Branch Davidians, founded by David Koresh. Langone, M. D. (1995). These five unorthodox religions or cults may have had or have different doctrines and practices, but research shows that they may all share the common trait of being inhumane or unjust. Rationale/Thesis Statement In the International Cultic Studies Association article, by Dole and Eichel (1985), a survey was conducted about dangerous practices associated with cults and referenced different actions that they deemed destructive, from coercion to enslavement, which they believe to be inhumane and unjust. This research study will attempt to uncover some of these practices and find out what draws people to these unorthodox religions or cults. Likewise, this research project also attempts to determine the point at which practices become inhumane or unjust. It’s interesting to note, that three out of the five unorthodox religions or cults included in this...
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...Candace T. Cults: A Dangerous Devotion “The most dangerous lie is that which most closely resembles the truth” - Jan Groenveld This quote above is by Jan Groenveld an Australian who has her own experiences as a former member of the LDS Church which deals with Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and was featured in Richard Guilliatt’s book Talk of the Devil. Her definition of a cult is any group that has a pyramid type authoritative figure with all teachings and guidance coming from the person at the top. The group will claim to be the only way to God and will use thought reform and mind control to keep their members. Unfortunately, after 15 years in a cult she finally realized that she was being controlled rather than controlling her own life. She wanted to let people know about her experiences in order to help others. She is so hated by the church of scientology for exposing them that her name is not even allowed to pop up under scientology on Google. In the United States, it is estimated that there are 5,000 cults that are actively recruiting people, no matter the age and walks of life. Jan Groenveld made it her mission to help people recognize cults, spiritually abusive behaviors and how to defend them from persuasion. Because the beliefs in cults are so believable people become locked into a “thinking box” which makes them unable to see the world around them. The topic that I chose to analyze is religious cults. I chose this because I thought...
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...Yana Garcia Mander 13.0 hw. Assess the view that cults and sects are fringe organisations that are inevitably short lived and of little influence on contemporary society. Cults and sects are often hard to differentiate from one another, as a lot of them have very similar features such as a world-rejecting values and the offer of alternative explanations to traditional beliefs. According to Troeitsch, sects tend to be small, tight-knitted groups of individuals that often disagree with mainstream values and attempt to change society for the better. Cults on the other hand, are loosely knit, require a lot less commitment and do not always hold concrete beliefs. While some sects are low profile and harmless, others carry out horrific actions and rituals which have become apparent to the public through the media, such as 'Heaven’s Gate': a sect that conducted mass suicides as a way of gaining access to heaven, and the 'People’s Temple', a sect lead by the Reverend Jim Jones who famously drove a mass suicide in a jungle campsite in South America. The idea that neither sects nor cults are long lasting is an important one, with theologians such as Richard Neibuhr suggesting that sects cannot survive beyond one generation. He states that as they are often led and “held together” by one charismatic individual who claims to have some kind of “divine power”, following the death of this leader, the sect usually disappears. Furthermore, second generation members that are...
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...2 “Losing My New Religion”: Rachel was just a 17-year-old girl who had fallen in love with Wayne, a 24-year-old member of the Children of God cult, now formally known as the Family International. Taking six months off work to educate herself about how a cult works, Rachel’s mother fought to prevent Rachel from joining the Family International. Her efforts paid off when Rachel started having second thoughts and started questioning the ways of the cult. Realizing the idea that she would have to live communally with other members of her husband’s cult, Rachel began to get cold feet. She was upset knowing that she would have to join the Family in order for them to have a sexual relationship together. Eventually Rachel decided to not be involved with the cult. It is obviously clear on why Rachel had thought about joining the cult. She was young and thought that she had really fallen in love. In the religious economic theory, a cult is defined as ‘a religious movement that represents faiths that are new and unconventional to society’. Even though their doctrines are viewed as unconventional and immoral by the media, the Family International still firmly believes in abandoning all responsibilities and cutting all ties with family and friends, and handing over or “donating” their entire possessions to the group. The cult also used sex to win support, recruit members, and meet influential friends at socially public places such as bars. Its former leader, David Berg,...
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...© Kamla-Raj 2006 J. Soc. Sci., 12(3): 193-198 (2006) A Critique of Students’ Vices and the Effect on Quality of Graduates of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions Oto J. Okwu Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria E-mail: oto079@yahoo.com KEYWORDS Students; vices; education; socialization; society; social problems ABSTRACT One of the most pressing issues in minds of people in Nigeria as far as education is concerned today is that pertaining to the quality or standard of education. Qualitative education should lead to detectable gains in knowledge, skills and values. There are, however, several students’ vices that seem to be militating against realization of the desired qualitative education in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Some of these vices are cultism, drug abuse, examination malpractice, obscene dressing and sexual promiscuity/harassment. Each of these vices and the possible social and academic implications are explained. Major employers of Nigerian graduates have widely agreed on quality decline in higher education in the country, particularly in the areas of communication in oral and written English and technical proficiency. It is recommended that the responsibility of preventing or curbing general students’ vices in Nigerian tertiary institutions be a collective one resting on parents, teachers, religious leaders, authorities of the institutions as well as government. This can be done through appropriate upbringing...
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...Assess the view that cults and sects are fringe organisations that are inevitably short lived and of little influence on contemporary society. Cults and sects are often hard to differentiate from one another, as a lot of them have very similar features such as a world-rejecting values and the offer of alternative explanations to traditional beliefs. According to Troeitsch, sects tend to be small, tight-knitted groups of individuals that often disagree with mainstream values and attempt to change society for the better. Cults on the other hand, are loosely knit, require a lot less commitment and do not always hold concrete beliefs. While some sects are low profile and harmless, others carry out horrific actions and rituals which have become apparent to the public through the media, such as 'Heaven’s Gate': a sect that conducted mass suicides as a way of gaining access to heaven, and the 'People’s Temple', a sect lead by the Reverend Jim Jones who famously drove a mass suicide in a jungle campsite in South America. The idea that neither sects nor cults are long lasting is an important one, with theologians such as Richard Neibuhr suggesting that sects cannot survive beyond one generation. He states that as they are often led and “held together” by one charismatic individual who claims to have some kind of “divine power”, following the death of this leader, the sect usually disappears. Furthermore, second generation members that are born into sects may not maintain...
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...Assess the view that new religious movements are mainly for the middle classes and the young. A new religious movement is a spiritual organisation founded after world war 2. They do not only have their name 'new' because of this but also due to the way they present themselves as alternatives to traditional religions. I will begin to explore the view that these new religions are designed to appeal to the middle classes and the young. Movements set up before this time were either sects or cults. Although the definitions of these terms have developed over the years to result in different meanings and connotations, many sociologists have attempted to distinguish between the characteristics of each organisation. In 1981, Troeltsch said that the characteristics of a sect include attracting those from the lower classes and that young children cannot usually directly enter a sect. These aspects are already deemed to be contrasting with those of a NRM. A cult,,, on the other hand, has no single definition accepted by sociologists but are described by Bruce as being 'a loosely knit group organised around some common themes and interests but lacking any sharply defined and exclusive belief system.' Wallis arranged new religious movements into three categories; world rejecting, world accommodating and world affirming. World rejecting new religious movements are known for being critical of the outside world and therefore actively seek change. An example of a NRM that rejected the world...
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...Examine the view that cults and sects have taken the place of established churches as the most important religious and spiritual movements on today’s society Churches are large organisations often with millions of members. Sects are usually a break away from a church usually because of disagreement and cults are new religions such as Scientology. The view that sects and cults are more important than the church may be due to the fact there are many of these new religious movements gaining status and becoming well known in certain societies. The reason they may be seen as more important than the church may be due to the fact the church is losing members and attendance is low whereas new religious movements are gaining more members and are becoming more socially accepted. People these days are now more individualistic due to modernity. They do things that benefit themselves rather than society for example young people believe in spirituality as it aims to improve the individual. Stark and Bainbridge say sects offer other worldly benefits such as a place in heaven and cults offer worldly benefits in this life. This could be a reason that they seem to be more important than church as people rather follow the new religious movements as opposed to the church because they are fulfilling the individuals need to feel they may have a better life now and after death . This could also be showing that people feel so oppressed in this life that they need to follow a new religious movement...
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...BRAINWASHING DICTOR The word brainwashing is a process of changing the way an individual thinks and behaves. In Other words, the victim’s value systems, beliefs and goals are washed away and replaced by a new set of ideas that are beneficial to the dominate group such as cult not to the individual. There are various types of brainwashing such as thought reform, mind control and influence which cults used to manipulate their followers. The word brainwashing originated in 1950 when Edward Hunter, a journalist, wanted to describe the techniques used by Chinese Communists. Cults use more precise techniques which do not depend on physical coercion Meaning; forcing the followers to behave in an involuntary manner. The effects of cult involvement can last for sometime after a person leaves a cult. The term Mind control is being used on the public by religious organizations is the new form of persuasion. This technique helps cult leaders get what they want, without necessarily having to put a spell under the followers. Mind control allows you to enter a person unconscious and create influences. Getting people to agree with Jim Jones was easier since he was seen as a powerful leader of the group. They trusted his opinions and judgments. Back then it was not common for people to find someone to guide them toward a decision. Mind control techniques are not always negative it helps you manage your own ability to communicate within. You can use them to be more...
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...particular (religious) messages: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (St Matthew 11:28). Deprivation was seen by generations of scholars, not necessarily Marxists, as the cause of both personal religious commitment and sect and cult formation. The German scholars Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch were pioneers with regard to the relationships between sect and church membership, and social class and status group. In The Social Sources of Denominationalism (Holt 1929), H. Richard Niebuhr saw sects as the "churches of the disinherited"; because of their lack of economic and political power, the less privileged needed religion most, and sects and cults could provide their members with compensation for the lack of social and personal success. In the 1950s and 1960s, much theorizing centered on the construction of typologies. This was also the case in deprivation theory. For example, Charles Glock (1964, Glock and Stark 1965) distinguished five types of deprivation, depending on the kinds of strain felt: economic, social, organismic, ethical, and psychic deprivation. Every type gave rise to a particular type of religious group, respectively: sect, church, healing movement, reform movement, or cult. According to the class into which it fell, Glock could predict the "career" of the particular religious group. According to Bryan Wilson (1973), most new religious movements in the Third World were either thaumaturgic—that is, they responded to very specific and...
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