Argument Essay : ' Heaven 's Gate '

The beliefs of the Manson family i’ve found to be sick, mind-controlled to people like robots. There teachings seemed to revolve around armageddon scientology and more obscure cult churches such as Church of the final judgment were also fleeting interests. “It was these ideals and teachings that led Manson and his followers on a murderous crime spree. The Family, along with Manson, are thought to have carried out at least 35 murders” (topsecretwriters, 2010). In research most of the “Mason Family” members seemed never be tried due to the lack of evidence or because the alleged perpetrators were already serving life sentences for the Tate/La Bianca killings sadly.

Nowadays when people hear the word “Cult” they immediately think of brainwashing, bombings, murders, and people who have turned away from our society. This is primarily because of what has happened with cults in

The Counsel of Heaven on Earth is a book written by Ian F. Jones on the topic of Christian counseling. Jones makes sure to let his readers know that this book is not meant to be a guide for Christian counseling; he in no way means to advocate a particular methodology, system, or school of thought. Instead, Jones is “[trying] to identify and explain the essential features of Biblical Christian counseling. No attempt has been made to engage in formal theory building or to develop systematically any counseling strategies or techniques. [His] intention is to show how the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, provides counselors with the blueprint for developing an effective counseling ministry”.

There are many groups that hide behind religion in order to get these benefits. Scientology is one group that refers to themselves as a “New Religion.” They protect themselves with this right in order to get away with their actions. There have been many reports accusing Scientology of exploiting members physically and financially. They get away with these illegal activities by lying. Lying is something that the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, has presented as acceptable in the religion, which isn’t tolerated in many real religions. However, if the Charter was to address groups like Scientology with more severity, they would not be able to hide anymore. No longer would they get away with their crimes, but these groups, and so-called religions, will actually face the consequences. In addition, freedom of religion is misused when these groups go against their religion. This refers to religious movements that state they are preaching a religion. In reality, they are going against the basic principles of that religion to do what they feel is right. For instance, many cults like the KKK are based off Christianity, but they don’t follow Christian principles. They do this so that they can have the benefits of being a non-profit religious group, like tax exemptions, but then take advantage of this label to perform hate crimes and get away with them. For this reason, it is

However, the first amendment makes it difficult to pass anti-cult legislation in America. Legislation to allow parents to hospitalize their adult children, as well as other laws of the sort were proposed and subsequently shot down. Though anti-cult legislation was and still is needed, it is hard to pass laws of this type that do not interfere with the American Public’s freedoms or constitutional rights 5.

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

     In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, there is a group portrayed that is similar to what society would call a cult. A cult is defined as a religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. Totalism is described as the principle of complete and unrestricted power in government.

Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon who believed for many years that when people explained their near death experiences it was just the hard wiring of the brain. Of course ,though, he had refined medical training. It wasn't until Alexander had caught a rare disease which caused him to fall into a coma and had a near death experience himself. Alexander talks about his journey towards the afterlife in his book which leads to many questions to everyone as to whether it really happened or if it was all just a hallucination. The paper talks about how he recounts what happened during his experience

To quote the textbook: "A cult represents a distinct break from other traditions". So by that definition, all religion is cultist in nature. One major difference between Mormonism and most Christianity is Baptism of the Dead. Mormons believe that

Cults have existed throughout history since the beginning of time. A cult is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “system of religious worship with a devoted attachment to a person, principle, etc.” Over the past thirty years numerous religious cults have caused “ tens of thousands to abandon their families, friends, education’s, and careers to follow the teaching of a leader they will never meet”(Beck 78).

Most historians use the more neutral term ‘new religious movement’ instead of the cult, because there is no one definition of cults, their number and membership cannot be accurately measured even today (Sarah Pike, 2016). New religious groups are regularly developed from another, more accepted religion. An example of this is Christianity, which first began as a cult extending from Judaism (Sarah Pike, 2016). While this was regularly the case, many cults did not begin as religious groups. A famous example of this is the movement called Synanon, which was originally organised to rehabilitate drug addicts, but then later changed into a commune and won legal recognition as a religion (Sarah Pike, 2016). A theory among UFO groups, there is a widespread belief that extraterrestrials have no vocal cords, an atrophied digestive system and no sexual organs (B.A. Robinson, 2009). This is symbolic of three common religious disciplines: silence, fasting and celibacy. These attitudes may have somewhat shaped what the UFO group Heaven’s Gate believed in.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines cult as: "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents." Indeed, any religion involving unconditional worship and unquestioning obedience to God could be labeled as a cult (using the derogatory suggestion of the word), since such a religion would have that high level of dependency, obedience, and unwavering compliance ascribed to cults by definition. Many mainstream religions still require their members to believe in God unquestioningly, to have faith that he is good and that what he does is good, to consider one's own wants and needs as unimportant while accepting the will of God as paramount. All of these are certainly characteristics commonly attributed to cults, but while it would not be unreasonable to apply this definition of a cult to any dogmatic religion that requires strict compliance with God's word and will as a condition of membership, the notion of applying the word "cult" to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or any other major world religion today is considered absurd. There are those who make this very claim: that those who worship God fit the classic depiction of cult members in their dogmatism, unswerving

When someone hears the word cult they quickly think of the many mass murders or they scare children by telling them not to “drink the red koolaid”. Today, there are thousands of cults and cult leaders worldwide. For many years, the leaders of clut have had a powerful psychological hold onto their followers minds. Some cult leaders have brainwash their followers by using fear, guilt and violence as a weapon to control the minds. However , in other cases cult leaders leave behind those methods and use spiritual and persuasive speeches making their followers believe in what they are doing is the right thing.

Cults can be classified as destructive, considering the methods used and how membership affects individuals. According to the International Cultic Studies Association or ICSA, cults can be considered destructive to its members. Reports form former cult member’s reveals that they have trouble trusting others, problems forming and maintaining relationships, and feel disconnected with the world. In addition, former cult members report being diagnosed with depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD often having flashbacks of events that occurred while they were in the cult. Finally, it is important to mention that cults also cause injuries or death. Considering these reports cults can be classified as destructive because members may have a difficult time adjusting to life outside the cult, difficulties in living life

Cult: (noun) a religious group, often living together, whose beliefs are considered extreme or strange by many people. This is the short definition of a cult extracted from a dictionary. This essay outlines the various uncanny traits of the Pythagoreans which strongly suggest that they were in fact, a cult. The Pythagoreans are indeed a religious following; believing and elevating numbers to the status of a God. Their sheer dedication to numbers and the philosophical belief in numbers is often viewed as extreme, radical and strange. In addition, they kept their discoveries and secrets a close guarded secret. Their way of living was also very restricted due to their religious living and practices.