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Religious Cults - A Threat to Society?
On November 18, 1978, in a cleared-out patch of the Guyanese jungle, Reverend Jim Jones ordered the 911 members of his flock to kill themselves by drinking a cyanide potion, and they did. It seems cultists were brainwashed by this megalomaniac Jones, who had named their jungle village after himself and held them as virtual slaves, if not living zombies. Jones himself was found dead. He'd shot himself in the head, or someone else had shot him. Is it plausible that more than nine hundred people took their own lives willingly, simply because he told them to?
This paper will examine aspects of certain religious groups around the world that have shocked us with similar types of behavior. Most of these groups have been categorized into what we refer to as cults. While most of these new religious groups are extremely passive in their methodology, it is my objective to look at those that have gone outside the boundaries of our norms and done such things as mass suicide and acts of terrorism.
I will try to understand how the leaders of these groups are able to persuade members to give up all of their possessions and in some cases their lives. What causes people to remove themselves from their jobs, and families?
A cult is any group of people who surround themselves around a strong authority figure. Cults, like many other groups, attempt to expand their influence for the purposes of power or money. However, to achieve these ends, destructive cults employ a potent mixture of influence and deception over members and new recruits. Using methods such as brainwashing, thought reform, and mind control. A successful conversion into a destructive cult removes a person's former identity and replaces it with a new one. This is where the new member accepts all of the beliefs of his new group and a new identity is created. However once a member of the group, any deviation from the cult leader's teachings is strictly forbidden. Individuality is suppressed, and subject to fear and suspicion of everyone around in the group.
What could cause people to join such groups when it is common knowledge that these groups are known to go against the norms of our society? Many of those who study these groups say that people tend to be more susceptible to manipulation in times of major change and crisis. During the 1960s there was an explos...
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... is often which is defined as direct contact with the divine, generating a sense of belonging to something profound and of being a somebody.
The modern cult may be viewed as a group that gives its members an identity and a sense of meaning in a world that has somehow failed to provide them these things.
With over 3000 destructive cults in the U.S. claiming over 4 million members, it seems that there may only be more trouble to come with these new religious organizations popping up almost out of nowhere. Their leaders seem to pray on the vulnerable and lonely. Perhaps causing them to behave in a manner that would not be in their normal behavior.
I am not suggesting that all of these religious groups are threat to our society. In fact I believe that these self-help groups are an asset to the people that they help. However trouble arises when the leaders of these groups lose control, demanding complete and total obedience. It is quite evident that one person's cult may be another person's religion, and history has proven that yesterday's fringe group may be tomorrow’s mainstream religion. All of our popular religious groups once started as out as a cult at one time or another.
...e is incarcerated in Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y. he was eligible for parole in 2002. He did not attend his first parole hearing. In his second parole hearing he stated that he felt he did not deserve parole and that he only wanted to apologize.
The cult had many beliefs that our human bodies were only vessels, occupied by members of the “Kingdom of Heaven.” They believed that Marshall Applewhite was a link between their cult and their god. It was said that god spoke to them through Applewhite. He was considered an equivalent to the Christian religions Jesus. And that people need to follow him as people had followed Jesus 2000 years ago. The cult believed that their time on earth was only a schooling to learn how to become a member of the kingdom of heaven. Do (Applewhite) taught them that in order to leave behind this world and move on to the next, people had to give up their family, sensuality, selfish desires, your human mind and your human body if necessary.
First, people slowly started to realize this may not be what they want yet have no option, leading to psychological torture. It was said to be that if anyone was caught running away Jim Jones and his guards would use tactical skills to torment the people into staying, basically scaring them into any other idea. Also, Jones convinced his people that they were under attack by the government and that the US wanted to shut them down, using brainwash. After hundreds of nights practicing the suicide he finally called the actual drinking of the cyanide-laced kool aid (Jonestown and peoples temple, chidster). The people of Jonestown were manipulated and brainwashed into thinking that the life they were living was a hell and that suicide would bring them to peace. Jim Jones had implanted false thoughts in their heads causing emotional distress and ultimately leading to the mental break down of killing their children and themselves. The people of Jonestown were taken to the level of abnormal living and held high reliance on Jim. It was because of all these adaptions that Jim forced on these people that they became a cult (Cult, Gallagher). Jim Jones is one of the main and biggest examples of the difference between a religious leader and a cult leader. Another key example of a cult that used psychological techniques to persuade people
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.
Charles Manson is one of the most sinister and evil criminals the world has ever seen. His troubled childhood and twisted view of society led him to organize a cult that committed bizarre and brutal murders that shocked media, and struck fear into the hearts of every American in the 1960s and still does today. Charles Manson and the Family had a huge and pivotal influence on American culture, which ultimately lead to the fall of the love generation and hippie counterculture.
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.
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.
For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through 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.
...fortunately, when a person is given that much power and control over a large group of people their decisions as well as reasoning can become altered. In the case of Jim Jones his power lead to an enflamed ego, which led to a greed, not only of loyalty but of money. Money then lead to drug use, and in the end, drug use led to insanity. Those who are gifted with the ability to influence others have a huge responsibility. They must recognize what they have as a gift and not abuse what God has given them. Jim Jones is a person who had this gift as well as good intentions, yet he could not balance and keep in perspective that what he was doing was to benefit the world, not to benefit himself.
In conclusion, the entire aura of the Heaven’s Gate cult seems like something straight out of a late night TV movie. Like most millennialist groups, members held a firm belief in an oncoming apocalypse and that only an elect few would achieve salvation. The spread of their doctrine on the Internet brought about widespread concern over the power of the web. The argument has subsided, however, with the passage of time. I, for one, find the supposed link between the Internet and cult activities rather absurd. Extreme gullibility and brainwashing, I believe, would be the only ways a recruit would ever accept such an outlandish set of beliefs.
Cults can be bad influences in several different ways. This article is about real facts of why cults make society a much worse place. Cults can result in crimes, torture, and forbidden worship.
The cult sacrifices innocent people for their own self-amusement to appease Satin. Both Oceania and Matamoros attempts to create a perfect society so they can carry out their immoral plans. The totalitarian leaders try to convince the followers/citizens what they want but actually they are victims of constant surveillance, and freedoms restricted.
…groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership’s demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders (Salande, and Perkins 382).
Throughout our history, cults have become a prevalent part of our society. More and more cults are forming every day. Although not all of them are dangerous, some can perform practices that are toxic to their members. Cults use fear and control to gain more and more members. Once members join a cult, they are forced to perform the practices that the cult leaders require. It is through these practices that cult leaders convince their members to stay in the cult. Through mind control and scare tactics, cults have become a very powerful and dangerous part of our society.
“Flovent is used to prevent asthma attacks. It will not treat an asthma attack that has already begun.”(Drugs.com, 2014). Flovent should not be used to treat an asthma attack because it will not work fast enough to reduce and reverse the attack. Salbutamol (Ventolin) should be used during an asthma attack because it is a fast-acting inhalant. Salbutamol will open up the airways allowing for oxygen or other inhalants to enter.