Joining Cults

It is known to all that organized religion has noticeably shaped every aspect of human identity for numerous years. In fact in today’s society, freedom of religion is declared as a fundamental right which allows individuals to practice without interference. However, despite its growing popularity, many scholars believe that the line between healthy and unhealthy religion has increasingly blurred. For instance, James W. Jones in his text, Terror and Transformation: The Ambiguity of Religion in Psychoanalytic Perspective” describes healthy religion as one that allows the individual to grow and mature (Jones 2002). On the other hand, Jones explains unhealthy religion as one that allows the devotee to be in a state of submission. This debate is especially relevant for the film “Jesus Camp”, where unhealthy religion can be easily observed. With that in mind, this paper aims examine the film Jesus Camp using Jones’s ideas on religious idealization. First, following an overview of Jones’s ideas from his text, the film Jesus Camp will be used as an illustration of an unhealthy religion. Ultimately after analyzing the film, it will be argued that the religious idealization depicted in this movie as unhealthy rather than mature.

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

This paper will look at the meaning behind the word Watchtowers. I will define the word and discuss such things as what it means to me and how it is used in practice. I will discuss why this word is important to me and why it is important to know. I will discuss how I will use this work and why I will use this word in my own practice.

This paper has presented a definition of religion, as well as an examination of its parts to determine if the definition is adequate to apply appropriately. Secondly, this paper has examined several practices and experiences common to both major religions of the worlds, as well as indigenous religions. Lastly, the key critical issues of the study of religions and reasons for their consideration have been identified and discussed.

The religion of Scientology is a very controversial topic all over the world and is even considered a cult by many. Those who chose to participate in the beliefs and practices of this faith form their own unique culture with other like-minded individuals. The purpose of my research is to gain insight into the world of Scientology by closely examining the lifestyles and opinions of its followers. What are the lives of Scientologists like and how does it affect them psychologically?

Everyone is in a consumer’s hypnosis, even if you think you are not. When you go to a store and pick one brand over the other, you are now under their spell. The spell/ hypnosis is how companies get you to buy there things over other companies and keep you hooked. Either through commercials or offering something that you think will make your life better by what they tell you. For example, you go to the store and you need to buy water, once you get to the lane and look, there is 10 different types of water you can buy. You go pick one either because the picture is better or you seen the commercial the other day and you want it. During the length of this paper we will talk about two important writers, Kalle Lasn the writer of “The Cult

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.

No one has ever been able to articulate just what makes a cult, and what makes a religion different. Yet most people, when listing mainstream religions, name Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among others. These religions have existed for thousands of years and have millions of followers; they have thus earned a degree of respect even from outsiders. However, Mormonism—the tradition of the Latter Day Saints movement—is considered strange, and by some, a cult. In the modern age, many consider its very premise a hoax. Mark Twain criticized the Mormon holy scripture, calling it “chloroform in print” (Turner 229), and Jacob Weisberg (editor of the Washington Post) called Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, “an obvious con man” (Ostling xv). Yet

Since europeans have arrived in America women have been abused by various cults. Through the different cults women are abused and used in different ways. Cults are not only religious groups but are groups who have certain beliefs and dilemmas. Cults can rein from the religious groups like christianity to certain groups like the pueblos. Multiple cases have been found where history has proven that women have been abused in cults from the 1500’s all the way till today. This is a problem that we want to discuss and come up with a solution.

An extensive component in one declaring a religion deals with the concepts that supporters hold to be true- their beliefs. These beliefs then become a fraction of that person’s identity. L. Ron Hubbard presumed that he had found a specialized theory in which the behaviors of the human population could be anticipated and contained through a set of “natural laws.” Hubbard made sense of humanity by using these laws to expose the obscure factors that make up the imperfections of mankind (“75

Church-sect theory was never intended as a theory of origins. It is surprising that it had dominated the empirical literature on both established and new religious movements. The main of church-sect theory in modern social psychology has been Reinhold Niebuhr’s work on the social sources of denominationalism that are what many persons think of us as churches which is groups commonly accepted as legitimate religion organizations within their host cultures. Niebuhr work is a modification and popularization of church, sect, and mysticism that are the three types of religious organizations articulated in Troeltsch’s classical work called the social teachings of Christian churches that are church-sect-mysticism in favor of a two-part typology which are church-sect. He suggested that persons who are dissatisfied with the commonness and permissiveness of churches as they successfully appeal to the masses seek more demanding criteria for membership. Niebuhr’s modification of Troeltsch’s typology is confounded when it is recognized that Troeltsch’s three-type typology was derived from two independent dichotomies done by Max Weber. Weber had two typologies, which are church-sect and mysticism-asceticism. Troeltsch single typology was a modification to simplify and clarify his friend Weber’s dual typologies. Garret argues that a significant disjuncture separates Weber’s and Troeltsch’s typologies, when it comes to consider mysticism. Church-sect theory can contribute in organizing the

The second factor is the outcome. People in cults often come out of the group in a worse position than when they first joined the cult. They could be worse off financially, psychologically, or relationally to give a few examples. More times than not, people in groups that are not considered cults do not produce the effects listed above. Instead, members of these groups report that they improve as a person in some way (Salande, and Perkins 382, 383). Cults can be differentiated from other groups because of the methods that cults use, and the effect that cults can have on its members.

Religion can be defined as a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. It contains a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices that allow its followers to live their life a certain way. The world consists of 19 major religions, which are further subdivided into 270 larger groups. According to David Barrett et al, editor of the “World Christian Encyclopedia,” there are 34,000 separate Christian groups around the world. Just from those numbers alone, we can conclude that religion has a prevalent effect on people and society. Religion is viewed as a positive influence on an individual both psychologically and physically. Throughout history we can study the various effects that religion has on society. Studies generally provide great evidence in favor of religion having a positive effect on individuals and society as a whole.

traditions, values, and norms, recruits members deceptively without informed consent, and retains them by continually reinforced direct and indirect manipulative techniques which cause personality and behavior change, deny freedom of choice, and interrupt and obstruct optimal personality development" (MacHovec, 1989, p.10).

To understand the religion as a social control tool, it is necessary to understand the term socialization. Many sociologists have placed more focus on defining the term socialization. Ward (2011) defined the term socialization as the process through which an individual acquires the ways of a social group or a society so as he or she can fit in it. In his invitation to sociology, Koenig (2013) defined the term ‘socialization’ as the process through which acquires knowledge of how to become a member of the society. It is only through socializing that an individual is able to learn normative values, skills, beliefs, languages as well as other essential arrangements of action as well as thoughts significant for any given social life.