CULTS AND THEIR IMPACT IN THE SOCIETY
The word cult in current popular usage is a pejorative term for a new religious
movement or other group whose beliefs or practices are
considered abnormal or bizarre by the larger society
Usage of the word has been controversial. One reason is that the word
"cult" (as used in the pejorative sense) is considered a subjective
term, used as an ad hominem attack
against groups with simply differing doctrines or practices, and without a
clear or consistent definition.
The word originally denoted a system of ritual
practices. The word was first used in the early 17th
century denoting homage paid to a divinity and borrowed via the French culte
from Latin cultus "worship", from the adjective cultus
"inhabited, cultivated, worshipped", derived from the verb colere
"care, cultivate."
In the 1930s cults became the object of sociological study in the context
of the study of religious behavior. They have been criticized by mainstream
Christians for their unorthodox beliefs. In the 1970s the anticult movement arose,
partly motivated by acts of violence and other crimes committed by members of
some cults. Some of the claims of the anti-cult movement have been disputed by
other scholars, leading to further controversies.
Discrimination against cult members has been an ongoing issue in some
nations, as well as concerns about doomsday cults and destructive cults.
Governments have undertaken various policies towards cults, ranging from
tolerance to hostility, and this has also been a source of controversy.
Origins of concept in
sociology
The concept of "cult" was introduced into sociological
classification in 1932 by American sociologist Howard P. Becker as an expansion of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch's church-sect typology.
Troeltsch's aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious
behavior: churchly, sectarian and mystical. Becker
created four categories out of Troeltsch's first two by splitting church
into "ecclesia" and
"denomination", and sect into "sect" and "cult".[5] Like
Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cults were small religious
groups lacking in organization and emphasizing the private nature of personal
beliefs.[6]
Later formulations built on these characteristics while placing an
additional emphasis on cults as deviant religious groups "deriving their inspiration from outside of the
predominant religious culture". This is often thought to lead to a high
degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding
it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.[8]
Sociologists have said that unlike sects, which are products of religious schism and therefore maintain continuity with traditional beliefs and practices, cults arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and
practices.
Doomsday cults
"Doomsday cult" is an expression used to describe groups who
believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can
refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about. A 1997
psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people
turned to a cataclysmic world view after they
had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements. Leon Festinger and his
colleagues had observed members of a doomsday cult for several months, and
recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from
their charismatic leader. The cult members believed that most of the Western Hemisphere would be destroyed by a cataclysmic flood on
December 21, 1955. Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy
Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the
Destruction of the World.
Destructive cults
The Thuggee were a
criminal cult active in India for at least 500 years before being supressed by
the British in the 1830s.
"Destructive
cult" has generally referred to groups whose members have, through deliberate
action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other
individuals. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance limit use of the term to
specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to
cause loss of life among their membership or the general public." Psychologist Michael Langone, executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, defines a destructive cult as
"a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically
and/or psychologically damages members and recruits." John Gordon Clark cited totalitarian systems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult. In Cults and the Family the authors cite Shapiro, who defines a "destructive cultism" as a sociopathic syndrome, whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders."
In the opinion of Benjamin Zablocki, a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, destructive cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members. He states that this is in part due to members' adulation of charismatic leaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power. Zablocki defines a cult as an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and the demand of total commitment. According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is sexual abuse. According to Kranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.
Destructive cults and terrorism
In 1984, a group of followers of Osho (then known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) carried out what has come to be known as the first bioterrorism attack in the United States. Over seven hundred and fifty people became ill from salmonella poisoning, after the group had deliberately contaminated the salad bars of ten restaurants. They had intended to influence voter turnout in an upcoming election. The March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo movement, as well as their prior experiments with anthrax, were also seen as chemical and bioterrorism events.[84]In the book Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History, psychiatrist Peter A. Olsson compares Osama bin Laden to certain cult leaders including Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro. And says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.[85] In the book Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society authors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a "destructive cult leader."
At a 2002 meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), Steven Hassan said that Al Qaida fulfills the characteristics of a destructive cult. He added: "We need to apply what we know about destructive mind-control cults, and this should be a priority with the war on terrorism. We need to understand the psychological aspects of how people are recruited and indoctrinated so we can slow down recruitment. We need to help counsel former cult members and possibly use some of them in the war against terrorism."
In an article on Al Qaida published in The Times, Mary Ann Sieghart wrote that al-Qaida resembles a "classic cult", commenting: "Al-Qaida fits all the official definitions of a cult. It indoctrinates its members; it forms a closed, totalitarian society; it has a self-appointed, messianic and charismatic leader; and it believes that the ends justify the means." A similar comparison was made by former UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke, as well as UK Home Secretary John Reid, who stated that "..fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombings, grooming them to kill themselves in order to murder others."
The Shining Path guerrilla movement active in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s has been described variously as a "cult" and an intense "cult of personality." The Tamil Tigers have also been qualified as such. The People's Mujahedin of Iran, a leftist guerrilla movement based in Iraq, has been controversially described as a political cult and as a movement that is abusive towards its own members.
Former Mujaheddin member and now author and academic Dr. Masoud Banisadr stated in a May 2005 speech in Spain :
If you ask me: are all cults a terrorist organisation? My answer is no as there are many peaceful cults at present around the world and in the history of mankind. But if you ask me are all terrorist organisations, some sort of cult? My answer is yes. Even if they start as ordinary modern political party or organisation, to prepare and force their members to act without asking any moral question and act selflessly for the cause of the group and ignore all the ethical, cultural, moral or religious code of the society and humanity, those organisations have to change into a cult. Therefore to understand an extremist or a terrorist organisation one has to learn about a Cult.
Government policy
The poster reads "Firmly support the decision of the Central
Committee to deal with the illegal organization of 'Falun Gong'"
In the 1970s, the scientific status of the "brainwashing theory"
became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to
justify the use of the forceful "deprogramming" of cult members.
Meanwhile, sociologists critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedom in
defending the legitimacy of new religious movements in court. While the
official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some
governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of
distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and
"dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy.
France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept
"brainwashing" theories uncritically, while other European nations,
like Sweden and Italy, are cautious about brainwashing and have adopted more
neutral responses to new religions. Scholars have suggested that outrage
following the mass murder/suicides perpetuated by the Solar Temple as well as the more latent xenophobic and anti-American attitudes have
contributed significantly to the extremity of European anti-cult positions.
For centuries, governments in China have categories certain religions as xiejiao
(邪教) The term
is sometimes translated as “evil cult,” but a more literal translation is
“heterodox teaching.” The classification of a religion as xiejiao did
not necessarily mean that a religion’s teachings were believed to be false or
inauthentic, but rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were
not authorized by the state, or that were seen as challenging the legitimacy of
the state. In modern China, the term xiejiao continues to be used to
denote teachings that the government disapproves of, and these groups face
suppression and punishment by authorities. Fourteen different groups in China
have been listed by the ministry of public security as xiejiao. In
addition, Chinese authorities in 1999 denounced the Falun Gong spiritual
practice as a heretical teaching, and began a campaign to eliminate it.
According to Amnesty
International, the persecution
of Falun Gong includes a multifaceted
propaganda campaign, a program of enforced ideological conversion and
re-education, as well as a variety of extralegal coercive measures, such as
arbitrary arrests, forced labour, and
physical torture, sometimes
resulting in death. The Chinese government has sought to legitimize its
treatment of Falun Gong by adopting the language of the Western anti-cult
movement, but Western scholars familiar with the group say that Falun Gong does
not meet the definition of a cult.
Sociologists’ critical to this negative politicized use of the word
"cult" argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of
group members. In the 1980s clergymen and officials of the French government
expressed concern that some orders and other groups within the Roman
Catholic Church would be adversely affected
by anti-cult laws then being considered.
The application of the labels "cult" or "sect" to
religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative
use of the term "cult" in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in
several European languages. While these documents utilize similar terminology
they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of
these groups based on agreed criteria. Other governments and world bodies also
report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe the
groups.
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