Religious Cults - A Threat to Society? Essay -- essays papers

Religious Cults - A Threat to parliamentary law?On November 18, 1978, in a cleargond-out patch of the Guyanese jungle, Reverend Jim Jones tell the 911 members of his flock to kill themselves by drinking a cyanide potion, and they did. It seems cultists were brainwash by this megalomaniac Jones, who had named their jungle village after himself and held them as virtual slaves, if non living zombies. Jones himself was found dead. Hed rotating shaft himself in the head, or nearone else had shot him. Is it plausible that more than nine hundred spate took their own lives willingly, just because he told them to? This paper will examine aspects of certain phantasmal groups virtu entirelyy the world that surrender shocked us with similar types of behavior. Most of these groups have been categorized into what we refer to as cults. While most of these new religious groups are extremely passive in their methodology, it is my objective to look at those that have gone outside the boun daries of our norms and done such things as aggregate suicide and acts of terrorism. I will try to understand how the leading of these groups are able to persuade members to give up all of their possessions and in some cases their lives. What causes masses to remove themselves from their jobs, and families? A cult is any group of battalion who surround themselves around a strong authority figure. Cults, like numerous other groups, attempt to expand their influence for the purposes of power or money. However, to master these ends, destructive cults employ a potent mixture of influence and magic trick over members and new recruits. Using methods such as brainwashing, thought reform, and see control. A successful conversion into a destructive cult removes a persons former identicalness and replaces it with a new one. This is where the new member accepts all of the beliefs of his new group and a new identity is created. However at once a member of the group, any deviation f rom the cult leaders teachings is strictly forbidden. identity is suppressed, and subject to fear and suspicion of everyone around in the group.What could cause people to join such groups when it is common knowledge that these groups are known to go against the norms of our society? Many of those who study these groups say that people tend to be more susceptible to manipulation in times of major neuter and crisis. During the 1960s there was an explos... ... is often which is defined as direct get through with the divine, generating a sense of belonging to something profound and of being a somebody. The juvenile cult may be viewed as a group that gives its members an identity and a sense of meaning in a world that has in some manner failed to provide them these things.With over 3000 destructive cults in the U.S. claiming over 4 trillion members, it seems that there may only be more trouble to get along with with these new religious organizations popping up almost out of nowhe re. Their leaders seem to pray on the vulnerable and lonely. Perhaps causing them to stock in a manner that would not be in their median(prenominal) behavior. I am not suggesting that all of these religious groups are terror to our society. In fact I believe that these self-help groups are an asset to the people that they help. However trouble arises when the leaders of these groups lose control, demanding complete and total obedience. It is kinda evident that one persons cult may be another persons religion, and muniment has proven that yesterdays fringe group may be tomorrows mainstream religion. All of our popular religious groups once started as out as a cult at one time or another.