Complexity Of Cult

Cult development is fascinating phenomenon that occurs all around the world. Their membership growth is a complex interaction facilitated by conformity and manipulation. Cult membership can have a major impact on those who are involved. Leaving a cult can cause much distress for both the ex-member and their family. It is important to understand cult affiliation factors and the development of their membership in order to provide proper therapeutic intervention for those who leave cults.

The word “Cult” has not always had such a negative connotation attached to it. Many religions would’ve been considered cults when they first began. By the end of the 19th century many visionaries had revealed radically new religious systems, claiming immunity to the impurities of the old ones (Powers, 1997). These were no more than a group of people organizing themselves in worship and devotion for a person, object, or movement. They practiced rituals different to other “mainstream” religions, and were therefore considered cults.

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

Cults are just simply new religions or as Donald Stone reports in the text, “emergent religions”. They offer friendship and a social connection of like –minded people and offer people a place to make this connection. As older religions grow and change, new sects may break off in either disagreement or as a way to return the religions to its roots. Members of these new religious groups come from very different walks of life, countries or just different regions but they have a new purpose, restoring the traditions or returning back to the fundamentals of the religion. Many of these new religions are centered on college campuses and about 10 % of the population join the cult and remain in it for about two years. (Diem p16) An interesting note is that many of the new members

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).

There are many different categories that a cult could be sorted into. Apocalyptic, Utopian, Spiritualistic, Satanic, and Witchcraft/Voodoo cults are just some of the more basic types. While an Apocalyptic cult would focus on the end of the world, a Utopian cult would center more on a perfect land, or in other words a heaven on Earth. Spiritualistic cults

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

People generally seek comfort in cults when that comfort cannot be found elsewhere- within their family, friends or community- thus those who join tend to be vulnerable, seeking a place where they feel safe and secure. But as they become more involved, cults often force people to cut ties with their outside life to force full reliance, giving more and more time and money, thus increasing the cult’s power (Zimbardo). These actions are often present in church-like organizations as well, begging the question of determining the difference between a church and cult. Both can provide comfort and security to a person who feels vulnerable, with the possibility of becoming overly extremist, leading to religious fanaticism- utter devotion and strict adherence to a religion with little to no regard for anything outside beliefs set around that religion and its subsequent ruling laws. Religious fanaticism is widely regarded as dangerous become of its extreme nature, often leading to lack of free will. At that point, a religion would likely be classified as a cult. Devotion to the cult or religion results in a person taking on characteristics of the organization, like their moral sense, which is often not in alignment with society’s moral

Because different researchers use different definitions of the word cult, their conclusions can't be compared to each other and can't be held as a standard to judge other groups by. Lalich says that “cult scholars are as the blind men examining the elephant”: each with their own frame of reference and own conclusions. The term “cult” as an analytic category, as researchers have attempted to use it, has just as unclear parameters as when it is used to delineate dangerous groups. Often what some see as only aspects of cults are used by others as definitive characteristics. Without a knowledge of specific qualities, the results of each researcher are independent and unhelpful, and only contribute to the confusion of the meaning of the term

There is not a set, universal definition of a cult. When looking at multiple sources or even making a quick search on the internet, many contradictory statements and definitions are brought about, most of them carrying a negative connotation. Upon hearing the word “cult,” one tends to associate it with satanic rituals, black magic, murder, and many other dark, mysterious things. In its simplest form, a cult seems to be a group of people with a charismatic leader. However, this definition is not complete. The definition of a cult can be subdivided into two categories: the benign or positive cult, and the bad or destructive cult. In a benign cult, the leader will share leadership with other group members. The cult as a whole

Since from the beginning and as far as the eye can see, cults have been and will continue to be part of human life. These small religious groups can happen anywhere and have been the cause of much debate and interest. For humans have an innate need to know why things are the way they are. Cults for one have done some rather unmoral things that lead the people to ask, "Why did they do it?" The People 's Temple, Aum Shinrikyo, and Ku Klux Klan are extraordinary examples of wicked cults that begged the question "Why?"

When we think of cults, we think of a charismatic group that differ from known beliefs. The characteristics of such cult groups include exhibiting strong cohesion, the support of the specific belief system they follow which appears strange to people who aren’t a part of this organization, the influences towards their behavior and recognizing leaders as being charismatic. Various cults have beliefs that could be considered a deranged disorder and many could also share a psychotic disorder. Cult members participate in violent actions based on a related belief including murder. Based on this, the courts decide if cult faith would represent religion or delusions. One example would be Charles Mason and his family who killed multiple people in an

One day I come up to you and start telling you about this amazing group I joined that gather together every week to worship a higher being whom I had never met or personally talked to. I go on to explain to you that the only reason I knew he exists was because there was a book written a long time ago by a bunch of people who had supposedly talked to this higher being and he granted them magical powers that allowed them to perform great tasks, and now the group is being lead by a man who can talk to this higher power directly and we believe everything this man tells us because he speaks for this higher power. Based off of all this information, you could say this group is a cult because they clearly fit the description. So if early versions of what are now considered to be major religions at one time were perceived as dangerous cults, then isn’t the definition of what constitutes a cult dependent more on how powerful groups in society define and interact with the group? If you take a look at the LDS church, they faced persecution on a daily basis here in America when they were first founded because they were seen as a dangerous cult. Now, after the acceptance of the church by the U.S. Government, they are an established major religion all over the world and are clearly no real danger to it’s members or anyone else. Jonestown helped set more of a solid definition of a cult. They tend to have a "we alone are right" mentality

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

The first phenomenon that occurs in cult conversion is a seeming “zap” into the cult mindset. Davis (1996), in his article Joining a 'cult': religious choice or psychological aberration, refers to this as the "rays from outer space" theory. In this, a young person from a well-off family comes across a cult recruiter, and is easily manipulated into joining the cult. The second approach to cult recruitment is as follows; the recruiters have individuals convert through a brainwashing method, carrying severely manipulative conversations with the individual. These conversations tend to have little to with the beliefs of the institutions, but they do carry processes of indoctrination (Davis,