Managing Cultism in Tertiary Institutions

I appreciate your contribution to this week's topic "Cults." You indicated, "That demonstrates impartiality, and openness, and willingness to engage in discussion the individual. The individual already believes he or she may be right, or that their possible doubts are because of their personal lack of faith." To further elaborate on your point, it appears that most cult members are extremely witty and lose the love and hope of being, thus "the members" covet to be in a group, to feel a sense of love, hope, and belonging. What these cult members do not know is that, they are headed for destruction and calamity. No man or woman will ever be able to fulfill the emptiness without God's presence. Muck declares, in contemporary cultures, there

Historically, cult refers to a system of worship and more specifically to an innovative religious system, as opposed to a sect, which is a breakaway group from an established religion. During the past 30 years, however, cult has taken on a pejorative connotation arising from disasters such as Jonestown and Waco, and hundreds of media reports of individuals and families devastated by involvement in cults.

The definition of a cult sometimes seems to vary but for the most part has a central theme. A cult is essentially a form of a religious group that follows an individual. It can be easily identified because the

It is estimated that there are between 2,000 to 5,000 cults in the United States. Many do not gain national attention until something implodes with violence, gets extremely costly or has a sensational side. For the purpose of this exploratory, cult will be defined as, “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object” (Merriam Webster). Cults are deemed as mind-control systems, and have religious practices typically known as sinister. Jim Jones of the Jonestown massacre and the Peoples Temple leader, Charles Manson leader of the Manson Family, and David Koresh of the Branch Davidians are just a few of the notorious cult leaders in history. These individuals have a common characteristic of pathological

“Did you know there are roughly five to seven million people who are in a cult or cult like group in America? As of July 31, 2013 there were an estimated 316,330,350 people in America alone." One way cults attract there members is by using psychological techniques to make young people in America want to join them in their holy journey. But are the leaders really insane? Some would argue yes others not so much, but how could someone who thought they knew everything there is to know about a book, written thousands of years ago, not be questioned on their sanity. Cults can affect many people as a society or individually, the effects cults have on certain people can be a great one due to they take away all your rights and give you certain rules to follow. The reason cults are shameful to society is because they control individuals and manipulate them into what they see as beneficial for a whole group not individually.

Religion is an ideal that is thought to bring people together, in actuality, it is a force that divides nations. Religious groups carry large amounts of power and influence over its followers. To put it differently, these groups have the potential to become dangerous through the supremacy they hold. The religion featured in the fiction The Chrysalids is focused on the control and elimination of deviations through regulatory practices that followers must abide. The characters in this novel written by John Wyndham experience the restricting rules of their religion and consequently, how it destroys them.

What is a cult? The purpose of a cult is so an individual and/or group claiming to be sent by God, to rule the one true religion. To become a cult member you must believe the exact same things in the exact same ways with no room for differences. Entering a cult is a lifetime commitment. Systems of intimidation are used to veer the people from ever thinking about getting out. More specifically, a cult by the name of Aum Shinrikyo, was a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The attack launched by this cult was seen to be terroristic

To forget all pleasures and possessions. To replace family and friends with someone else's obsessions. Fulfilling this tall order is a prerequisite to ascending through the ranks of the wicked cults from the bygone era. Luring in struggling individuals with grandiose promises of spiritual healing and self-actualization, these malevolent organizations pray on the weaknesses of the desperate. Through these methods they amass an army of loyal followers and a high degree of political clout, however, we must ask ourselves, “why?” What is the psychology behind these actions? In order to fathom the true nature of cults, we must first examine the minuscule fibers that form the infrastructure of what may be defined as a cult, we must dare to dive into the psyches of the charismatic personalities that led them, we must

Cults have been around in various degrees throughout human history. These generally begin in small groups of devotion, and while most of them stay within their small groups, others can manifest into larger religions. However, due to extremist behaviors, cults have a tendency to carry a negative connotation. A cult is defined by the Meriam-Webster dictionary as an unorthodox/spurious religion with great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work.

Religion is a particular faith and worship by a group of individuals. Religion can vary by location, type of theism, group of individuals, leaders, and many other characteristics. When reviewing religion, it is important to consider how the religion began and the various factors that contributed to the formations of the religion to its current state. The leaders of a religion shape the religion from one state to the next; hence, creating possible transitions in the religion. The situation of the communities/society during the religion’s era also assists in shaping the direction and success of the religion.

The website dictionary.com defines a cult as “a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.” In the most general sense of the current definition, a cult is merely a group that worships. Other sources have added their objective meanings of the word. Carter quotes Roger Finke as saying that cults are religious groups that are not spin offs of other accepted religions. This definition includes many world religions, regardless of size. It carries no negative connotation, but instead classifies cults as a term for a certain origination of religion. Another definition is a “sharply bonded social group or diffusely bounded social movement ... held together through a shared commitment to a charismatic leader” (Lalich). This definition can stretch so far as to include non-religious groups. Atheism, agnosticism, even political movements and societies and clubs can be considered cults. Once again, this definition carries no connotation, just the requirement of a personable leader. The word CULT comes from the Indo-European word ‘kwel’ which meant to revolve around something, sojourn together, and to dwell. These etymological meanings led to the traditional definition of cult: to worship, which is not so far from the dictionary definition of today. Though many other sources use qualifiers and details about the described groups, the true definition and the traditional meaning of the term are both

Dr. Furnham analyses the reasons why individuals join cults. In his initial assessment, he argues that certain benefits that cults can offer such as connections, an identity, and a chance to contribute. Throughout his article, Dr. Furnham questions if the motives are similar to groups such as Al Qaeda, Hamas, or the Order of the Solar Temple He

Throughout society, there is an immense amount of religious organizations and groups. Though some may have been derived from ancient times, one may ask what is it that makes these groups exist so strongly today? In this paper, I will explain the components within religious groups and organizations and relate it to a contemporary example.

A new religion movement or a cult is explained by Myers and Twenge (2013) as a group, that is typically recognized by its rituals and beliefs related to religion or a particular person (leader). Cults are also explained by their typical isolation from others and by the intensity of their charismatic leader (Woody, 2009; Myers & Twenge, 2013). According to Woody (2009), many cults or new religious movements are identified by the power of their leaders and the influence the leaders have on their following. Members of cults tend to join cults because of the social influence the group has in relation to their search for meaning, fulfillment, social change, happiness, and sense of belonging (Salande & Perkins, 2011). Cult like organizations and

There are numerous amounts of cult members in this world, there is an extremely low probability that they are all persuadable because they are self- conscious or tend to seek attention or want to be valued by someone. This all depends on the cult leader, because of what they offer for example friendship, connections, identity, an opportunity to make a contribution.