Cults Essay

Cults can be evil and mind controlling. They can also be extremely dangerous. According to Rick Ross, an expert consultant and intervention specialist, “there are several signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader.” These signs include: “absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability; there is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil; followers can never be good enough; and the group or leader is the exclusive means of knowing the truth or receiving validation, no other process or discovery is really acceptable or credible.” Cult leaders use mind control to control their group. This could be dangerous or life threatening. Leaders are

While individual cultic groups may vary in discipline (political, religious, social/philosophical), they often operate with a similar premise: the world is bad, we are good, become a part of us (Salande & Perkins, 2011). Viewing the world in this way is not, in and of itself, destructive; and many mainstream religious and political movements embrace similar philosophies (2011). However, cult leaders often reinforce these ideas in frightening ways. By making their members use hallucinogens, sleep deprivation, group sex, strict prayer rituals, and deprogramming. Deprogrammers usually used “facts” about their religious group to shake up the person’s faith, this confrontation would often transpire in intense, emotionally charged situations (Donald & Robbins, 1982). The point of this was to rid the cult member of their ego, and past beliefs. The goal was for the member to have a blank slate, they could then me made to believe whatever the cult leader wanted them to.

Cults influence society in many ways. They shape people’s behaviors and emotions to get them to align with the cult’s beliefs and thoughts. The people that join cults are usually very insecure about themselves and want to be accepted by then group. Cults offer people acceptance, friendship, community, and family. These qualities often appeal to someone who feels the need to be accepted by others. Cults are groups that use tactics such as the foot in the door phenomenon, entrapment, and obedience to achieve the leader's ultimate desires as seen through the cults of Jonestown and Family International.

The history surrounding cults is not as simple as one might think. Cults raise a

Ever since we were little, our parents, guardians, or even ourselves grew up to know the difference in between was would be considered peversive and what isn’t. Many people find it difficult to understand how people can be so devoted to a religion or something that can’t be scientifically proven, but the real question is how can a normal resident be allured by cults. A religious cult may be well known to us as a religious imposter who claims to lead the way to salvation and a lifespan of well being filled with blessings and free of the damnation a disease may bring, only because he or maybe even she may claim that he was sent from the heavens to the filthy earth. People who are believers in a omipitent kind believe this to be a ludicrous idea ,

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 essay, The Cult You’re In, Kalle Lasn not only used rhetoric devices and imagery to allow readers to come to a better understanding of who ‘you’ are and the role you play through the reality of the detrimental reality of life. Kalle used these devices to almost scare readers into a reality check insinuating that not everything is perfect or how we image them to be. Reality is described as only being a figment of one’s mind, by being a meager front. From birth to teenage year’s life was almost picture perfect being a “This is your life moment.” You would be living the life of a diligent and optimistic child, but you quickly realize like Lasn said, “Those big dreams of youth didn’t quite plan out.”

	Cult leaders and members use mind control to inundate their message into the minds of prospective and existing followers.Groups that demonstrate exaggerated devotion or commitment to some person, idea,

A cult is a group of people with similar interests, and lead usually by a trusted leader. This leader will have to convince others into believing or provide a place where they can worship

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

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).

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

…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).

destructive cult is a rigidly structured absolutist group usually under an authoritarian, charismatic leader which isolates itself from established societal

Because cultic behavior underlies more than extremist religious sects, many psychologists refer to these groups as charismatic groups. "A charismatic group consists of a dozen or more members, even hundreds or thousands. It is characterized by the following psychological elements: members (1) have a shared belief system, (2) sustain a high level of social cohesiveness, (3) are strongly influenced by the group's behavioral norms, and (4) impute charismatic