In both films the leaders use brainwashing when people first join. When Martha first arrives at the farm in Martha Marcy May Marlene she is confused and unsure of herself. After a while, she began to feel comfortable and trust them. In Going Clear when people first get into the church they go into an auditing session and are told that they need to be cleansed of everything and tell all of their secrets to the auditor. They begin to trust the people of the church and let them continue to treat them horribly. It takes a long time for the people of both films to realize that the group they are a part of is actually hurting them. In Martha Marcy May Marlene it takes Martha two years for her to realize that she doesn't want to be a part of the group …show more content…
They don’t really care about the hygiene or well being of their members or their children. One lady named Spanky had a child in the daycare facility and her baby got so sick that there was mucus coming out of her eyes. The management of Scientology were also very manipulative. They sent Spanky out to get John Travolta back to the church and when the auditor went out to him, Travolta was told not to trust her anymore. So they used Spanky as bait to ensure that Travolta didn’t leave them. They needed him because he was famous. The longer they were able to keep him the more people would join because of how influential he was. They also isolated Tom Cruise from everyone he loved. When he fell in love with one of his co stars they ruled her a suppressive person because he was so close to her that he was distancing himself from the church. They made them break up and paired him up with someone else that they thought suitable. With Jesus Camp the radical Evangelicals are harmful towards the kids’ mental health. Some of the kids are okay and mostly normal they just have very strong beliefs, which is perfectly fine. However, the one little boy with blonde hair that was crying on the stage describing how he felt was the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen. He felt so guilty because there were some times when he doubted his faith, but he was only six years old. The adults in the room during his little confession were looking at him like he just did the most disgraceful thing in the world. He was only six though, it should’ve been fine for him to question and wonder things without being put on the spot for it and making him feel guilty about
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.
Over the past weeks we have learned a lot of new things. I learned about different races, ethnicities, and cultures. The world would not be the same if everyone was the same race and it is a great thing to learn about everyone and where they are from, and where they have come from. Everyone is different in their own way and it is our duty to accept everyone as a whole. I am going to talk about the social construct of race today, some of our readings, and a lot of our discussions that are always fun.
2. the visibly tragic results of some cults do not attend the average New Age participant. Persuasion is not about ends, its about means. Some use persuasion to a tragic end, some do not.
They are forcing people to come together under regimented beliefs and social structures, while teaching them to abandon their own identity and opinions. The sole focus of this community is to create generations upon generations who are replicas of one another. It is a community that functions amidst uniformity. Jesus Camp is a tell tale documentary that depicts such clear cut standards. It is showcasing the brunt of such rigid standards and how they translate into the lives of innocent children. They are being stripped away from their innocence and molded into a disciple of the religion. These children are being cognitively disabled of all righteousness and integrity they bestow. A community without boundaries, one that functions on the basis of prolonging the disparity of the evangelical
Individuals with certain preexisting or underlying psychological issues can render them more likely to join a cult. It’s evident that there are severe psychological problems originating in childhood including physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect in the cult members. There seems to be a life-long pattern of self-destructive patterns of behavior that manifests in early childhood, which include self-mutilating behavior, chronic substance abuse, absent parents, and sexual perversion. Placing these individuals in emotionally and physically vulnerable situations such as in a cult seems to have adverse effects. The severity of the cult members’ psychological problems...
Brainwashing could be explained through two opposite claims: First, by social traditions that have been victims of authoritarian regimes, and second, by political opponents responding to certain fiascos that contradict their religious and political beliefs by claiming that their citizens are victims of brainwashing or thought reform. Reasons to why brainwashing is an inaccurate phrase is because, prisoners of war tend to claim to have been brainwashed in order not to be held responsible for revealing confidential information, no scientific experiments have found evidence to measure how brainwashing is done and many people couldn’t be brainwashed against their will.
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 consist mostly of middleclass Caucasian male youths, who are usually Christian or Jewish (Nelson 2006). Most are insecure people trying to find a sense of identity and security through the d...
...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.
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” ― Albert Einstein. According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, religion could be defined as, “an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group”. In other word a religion could mean a belief in a supernatural controlling power. In todays society there are many well renowned religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The main thing that all of these above mentioned religions have in common is that they serve as guides on how one should live their life. On the other hand many people started to question religions and their stories. Which in turn led to many individuals becoming atheist. According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, atheism is defined as, “a disbelief in the existence of deity”. Basically atheism is the belief that a supreme overlord does not exist. Let’s forget about atheism and concentrate on religions. There are many religions beside the big three that many people don’t know about. Many may not believe this but scientology is considered a religion. A science fiction author named L. Ron Hubbard created the religion, which is now known as scientology. Hubbard was born on March 13th, 1911 in Tilden, Nebraska. He later attended George Washington University, where he studies engineering and molecular physics. From 1934 to 1936 Hubbard started to write novels and gained much success in 1937. On 29th of March 1941, L. Ron Hubbard earned his Master of Sail Vessels license for Any Ocean. Three months later, he is commissioned as Lieutenant of the United States Navy Reserve. With United States involvement in the Second World War, Lieutenant Hubbard was dispatched to Australia. After a couple years in ...
Opinions? Yes everyone has an opinion but that doesn’t give them the right to press and force their opinion onto other people. Brain washing is a very extreme form of persuasion. Physiological abuse is what the people claim that the brain washing technique is. The word brain washing came from as early as the Korean War when American soldiers saw communism first hand. Although having everyone on the same page can be nice, brain washing should not exist and be against the law because people should be able to decide and control their own life instead of being persuaded to do what other people want them to do.
Based on the short story “A matter of balance”. As the actual reader, what do you think about the end of the story? How do your own experiences, beliefs, circumstances, values, and prior reading experiences shape the way you view this story? (4
Scientology is a religion that is becoming more and more popular and known. One of the reasons for this is the amount of press it gets. One of the biggest churches for scientology is located in LA this could result in the amount of celebrities involved in this religon. There is also a great amount of controversy concerning this religion. After taking this world religions class I have come to learn that this controversy is true with all religions.
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...