Personal Narrative -Slumber Party
Thump-thump, breathe thump-thump, breath. My heart beat as if it was pounding out through my brain; I tried to catch my breath. I heard footsteps coming up behind me like an elephant chasing at my heels. A scream pierced my ears and echoed many times in my mind. My thoughts raced from one thing to another. After locking the door, the four of us clinched in a corner for nearly an hour.
My day had begun normal. I remember I woke up, went to school and found myself with my friends that afternoon. My company was five of my closest pals; Becky, Alex, Meredith, Lee, and my boyfriend Cody. We all had hung out many times before and knew each other well. For most of the evening, we sat around telling horror stories and gossiping about classmates. Time passed quickly and soon, it was time to head home.
The girls were all planning a slumber party at Becky's. Her parents had gone out of town for the weekend, and she was not willing to stay alone. We began our evening of leisure by getting into our P.J s, and returning to our scary stories. Before realizing it, another hour had passed. All the stories must have gotten to us because before we went upstairs we made sure every light was on in the house.
The hair on the back of my neck began to rise as we listened to the cold aching silence. In the distance we listened to three loud car horns and a door slam. We, then, jumped away from the window and started down the stairs. Half way down the stairs, we stopped dead in our tracks. The roof began to rattle as if someone was climbing across it.
Our pulses raced as we flew down the remainder of the stairs. Thump-thump, breath. We huddled together in the kitchen. For our safety, we gathered a sharp knife and a phone. We came up with explanations to relieve our minds deciding that the horn was a neighbor and the thump on the roof was the cat. Calming our thoughts down, we relaxed into a group, sitting on the counter.
We laughed at the fools we had been, and grew quiet as we heard several car doors slamming, again. Silently staring at one another our eyes grew wide as we hesitated to jump. Alex tried to explain "It's just the neighbors.
Cultic activity has taken place since the practice of religion was established thousands of years ago. Since then, literally thousands of denominations have been inoculated throughout the world, especially in the United States. A cult, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is a system of religious beliefs and rituals. By definition, this includes organizations such as Baptists, Catholics as well as Satanists and Witches. While this maybe true, cults have been popularly perceived as Separatists who are consumed by the belief of apocalyptic events, and the leader is someone who believes he or she is chosen by God or some other deity to lead those who are to follow him or her. One group that fits this description is the Branch-Davidians. In the early 1990’s the Branch-Davidians made national headlines when they had a deadly standoff with government agents in Waco, Texas, where many perished, including their infamous leader, David Koresh. To understand why this happened, we must understand the history, beliefs and the determination of the Branch-Davidians to defy the government by stockpiling arms, supplies and taking refuge in Waco, Texas. We must also enter the world of David Koresh to make sense of how he was able to have the impact he did on the minds of members of the Branch Davidians.
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.
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
A cult may be defined as a group of people centred about one person’s religious, social or political ideology (Martin, 2003). It is a movement that venerates a specific person, and uses manipulative techniques to recruit members and raise funds. Cults demand complete obedience from the members and use them to work, provide money and provide sexual favours for the benefit of the leaders. Most cults engage in criminal activities such as child marriages, sexual abuse, kidnapping, assault, arson and even murder (Snow, 2003). Over the years, there has been a brisk rise in the number of people starting up cults and those joining them. Individuals are in a bid to discover their significance through passionate and spiritual experiences, which are provided by cults. Reasons why people turn to cults include loneliness, lack of personal identity and alienation (Martin, 2003). There have been many cults in the course of American history. One of the most infamous cults is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). This paper will give a brief history of the cult, its methods of action, the toxic effects of its beliefs and the methods of treatment used for survivors.
Imagine driving in Marin County, you miss your turn, suddenly you find yourself surrounded by 40-50 men and women with shaved heads, wearing blue bib overalls, yielding ax handles, clubs, and baseball bats, shouting, “Kill Them, Let’s Get Them!” Sounds like a horror movie. The word cult, from the Latin word Cultus, means a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object (Oxford English Dictionary). Robert J. Lifton, M.D., a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York defines the characteristics of a cult as: 1) a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power; 2) a process called coercive persuasion or thought reform; 3) economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader (8.1) Numerous experts in both sociology and psychology supplementally include many other characteristics for cult classification, such as recruitment and isolation, but, the characteristics listed above prove prevalent amongst them all.
I heard a blood-curdling scream and I jumped. I felt silent tears running down my heavily scarred face, but they weren’t out of sadness. Mostly. They were a mixture of pain and fear. I ran into the eerie, blood-splattered room and screamed as I felt cold fingers grab my neck.
The term cult has many different meanings. According to Jan Groenveld, a cult researcher and author, Christians define a cult as anything that differs from traditional orthodox teachings, but the general definition is that, a cult is defined as a pyramid structured group with a single, often charismatic leader. If the cult is religious in nature then often the group will claim to be the one true religion (Groenveld).
...Gate, one cannot be quick to judge a deviant religious group and inhibit their practices simply because they oppose mainstream religious beliefs. While several groups do engage in violent, harmful, and involuntary practices that warrant the involvement of the government, others possess practices that mainstream society may not agree with, but infringement on their right to practice would be unlawful. It is important to identify the difference between illegal, harmful practices and practices that defy mainstream society before any efforts to inhibit cult groups ensue. The term “cult” carries immense stereotypes and negative connotations which often result in the quick infringement of the religious rights of these groups. Therefore, it is crucial to objectively approach the situations of each group in order to avoid unlawful discrimination of any one group.
I believe that a cult is considered a smaller scale social group that shares it religious believes or philosophical beliefs. In other words is a very unorthodox social group. One of the first cults to come to mind when I think of the word is the Charles Manson cult from the 1960s. Usually, when you think of cults the first thing that comes to mind is some form of inherently bad or evil cult. I believe this is mostly due to the way that the media has talked about cults in the past. Examples being the Manson Family or the Heaven's Gate group that was all over the news in 1997. The word cult seems to only focus on the bad or the absolute oddest groups of people. What about groups like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses or even Scientology? These
“Most sociologists of religion note that cults represent a break with the mainstream of the religious tradition of the society in which they exist” (Enroth, 1987, p. 20). These terms “mainstream,” “culture,” and “society” are becoming more and more difficult to define because we live in an ever shrinking world. What happens in Japan at noon can be easily accessed here in the United States within a few hours. The culture that we live in is becoming ever more integrated with other cultures. For this reason, maybe a framework would be easier to
Chaucer's very first poem was “The Book of the Duchess”. A poem of over 1,300 lines, the poem was originally a funeral song for the Duchess of Lancaster.(GradeSaver) This poem was published in 1370. To write The Book of Duchess Chaucer used a new style of writing, a “Dream-Vision”. This new genre was a type of 13th-century love poem, which Chaucer translated into English. (GradeSaver) During the next twelve or fifteen years there was no question that Chaucer was constantly engaged in writing new stories, though for the first part of his stories he had no job, no income was available. Rich favors were shown him by the new king. (Jokinen)He was paid twenty two dollars as a reward for his later missions in Edward III's reign, and was allowed an annual bonus of ten marks in addition to his pay of ten dollars as comptroller of the customs of wool. (Jokinen)
When I got home I quickly got ready, I ironed my cap and gown, did my make-up and hair, and made my last phone call to Andrew. I called him right before I left and asked him if he was sure he did not want a ride. Again he responded politely and on my way I went. When I got to the high school everyone was taking pictures, laughing, and talking about how they were g...
It was just another day of my life. The fourth ring of my alarm woke me up. As usual, I was not feeling to go in school. I slept a couple of more minutes.After while, the shine of the sun coming from the window woke me up.I slowly stretched my arms and slid out of bed. I brushed my teeth and took the shower. Downstair,my mother was calling me for breakfast.I was still undecided what should wear for school. After browsing for while I found something to wear,and finished getting myself ready for school. When I checked the clock, I was running late as usual, which was not a surprised. I quickly ate my half sandwich and left the rest of the sandwich on the table.I took my car key, jump in my black Lexus and made my way to school.During my way to school, I got a call from my friend John. John is my best friend since when we were in middle school. He told me that his car was broke down and he needed to ride to school. Fortunately, my friend house on my school way. I told my friend. I am on my way to pick you up from your house. As I got there, john come out from his house and jumped in my car. With sound of Drake singing and music blasting, it was a
We ran around the apartment that night. Our minds clouded with energized excitement and smiles upon our faces. Her mother wasn’t home that night, it was a weekend, so we were being extra loud. Our laughter and shouts were to be clearly heard by the other with purposes of reminding the other of our mission.