The Right to Religious Beliefs: Cults Essay

Submitted By raisufia
Words: 3145
Pages: 13
Open Document
Katherine Maier
Professor Bassem Chaaban
World Religions
17 June 2013
The Right To Religious Belief: Cults
When you first hear the world 'cult', many things might come rushing to your mind. The main thing though in many peoples mind when they hear the word 'cult' 'brainwashing, torture, extremist group' are the first couple of words to come to mind. Throughout history there has been numerous of cults, or groups of people coming together and either practicing or worshiping something that is not main stream, or something coming out of left field for the rest of humanity and society during the time the cult exist. For some examples, The Manson Family, Scientology, Heavens Gate, The Peoples Temple (Jonestown), and The Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. But what people also don't understand is that the word Cult has been taken out of it's original context and people want to assume that anything outside of their religion could be consider a cult just for the fact they are worshiping something that is something very foreign to them. This is very correct, but even under the definition of the world cult, they are also ones apart of the organization too, if they are apart of an organized religion.
To be able to understand where most of the well known cults and what they are about, everyone must be informed on what classifies someone, or some group as a cult. Under the English dictionary, Cult is referred to as:
“a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies”, “an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers”, “a group of sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc”, “a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols”. (cult)
So under the correct definition, everyone who assumes that common religions such as, and not limited to, Mormons, Christianity, Muslims, Scientology, Islam, Judaism, ect.
But many people believe that this point of view would be a little bit too extreme for them, just for the fact that they do not like being said that they are apart of a cult being organization. So in the social context of the world Cult, is seems like it is being said to be classified under this is you are apart of a religious organization, and the leaders are corrupt, bringing false hopes, and ultimately hurting their followers, in modern society, this would be consider a cult. But in reality this is just something that should be considered a destructive cult. Some of the characteristics would be:
“Self-appointed messianic leader(s) who focuses followers' veneration upon him or her, claims divine selection, and exercises autocratic control over members' lives.”, “Use of deception and misrepresentation for purposes of recruitment, retention and fund raising.”, “Techniques aimed at controlling individual thought and person privacy that frequently lead to a coerced reconstitution of personality.” (“What is a Cult”)
A cult would have to have only one of the above qualities to be able to classified as a destructive cult. And when the media wants to talk about The Mason Family, or Jonestown, they are more aimed towards this definition, because it is something that will culture shock a lot of people in today society, and use it as a scare-tactic just for the fact a lot of younger generation people are becoming mixed up in a lot of groups of the sociology standards that is bizarre and irrational. But families seem like they are taking this a little bit too far in the fact that they do not do their research or understand where a lot of religions that are very big, and have been around for generations, that are not within the medias standard of a destructive cult, but just for the plain fact they do not like their children having a mind of their own, and finding their own place in the world and society that we live in today. In my opinion, this is the
Show More

Related Documents: The Right to Religious Beliefs: Cults Essay

Religion Vs Cult

differences between the modern understanding of a religion and cult, it is necessary to view both similarities and differences. For this reason, consider the following narrative: Two young men finish their daily prayer alongside their congregation. They follow the rest of the group down to the basement for their monthly ritual. The spiritual leader welcomes and praises the group for attending, as well as commends the strength of their beliefs. Crackers are passed around the group, which are devoured eagerly…

Words 1071 - Pages 5

Cult Vs Religion

differences between cult and religion” (#5). Whether they reach this verdict because they believe there should be no difference, and use the traditional definition or because they believe that everyone has their own versions of right and wrong, so what is a cult to some is not to others. But if we continue this sentiment, how does this connect with law, and practices such as human sacrifice which are near universally reviled? Or is there really no one qualified to judge which is a sinister cult or a religion…

Words 2031 - Pages 9

How To Cult Folllowing Essay

Tom Bergamo Mr. Mcintire Public Speaking H 3 March 2015 Cult Following: “How To” The word “Cult” has become a very unnerving colloquy in modern society. The thoughts and images associated with such terminology is not pleasing and makes many uncomfortable. Just the other day I was speaking to a teacher about my topic, and just using the word I saw a visible change in their body and level of comfort each time I used it. They even said quote, “That is a scary word, I do not like it” this proves to…

Words 1305 - Pages 6

Thesis Paper Cults And Counterculture

Alyssa Hiler HSTRY 498 March 18th, 2015 Cults and Counter­culture During the 1960’s, America was going through a drastic change in political participation, religious involvement and traditional American values. Young Americans saw this as the “Golden Age of Change”. The Civil rights movement was in full swing and had the support of the white house while the idea of fighting a domestic issue, the War on Poverty seemed hopeful to Americans. Unfortunately, the war in Vietnam took priority and sent the War on Poverty back…

Words 5136 - Pages 21

Secualrisation Notes Questions Essay

Identify and briefly explain 3 reasons why the New Christian Right may have failed to achieve its aim (9 marks) One reason is because the ‘moral majority’ was never a majority, but 15% of the population at most. The democratic values of American society mean most Americans are comfortable with legalising activities such as abortion and homosexuality. This shows that the New Christian Right were ignoring how the perception of certain activities within society had changed, therefore did not get support…

Words 1733 - Pages 7

Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard and Paper Scientology

REL 2300 Final Paper Scientology Scientology is a twenty-first-century religion that addresses the human spiritual life. It is not based on a system of faith and beliefs but on knowledge where everything is evident and demonstrable. The world Scientology comes from Scio (Latin) knowing and Logos (Greek) study of. Scientology means knowing how to know. 1. The Founder Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska, on March 13, 1911. He became known as L. Ron Hubbard, a fiction author and…

Words 2105 - Pages 9

Eth 125 Essay

Religious and Ethnic Groups Religious and ethnic groups often face several instances of prejudice and discrimination. Often times these occurrences are spurred due to stereotypes that have been created over time. In this paper, two groups will be discussed—Jehovah’s Witnesses and Asians. These groups have been the target of prejudice and discrimination many times. According to www.jw.org, Jehovah’s Witnesses practice Christianity but they differ from others who have Christian beliefs in the…

Words 441 - Pages 2

The Holy Roman Essay

food. This belief meant that they were polytheistic. Unlike later religions such as Christianity or Buddhism, Romans did not have a spiritual relationship with their gods. Along with already established gods and spirits, a group emerged to form a Caesar Cult. They believed that emperors turned into Gods upon death so they dedicated themselves to Caesar. Along with this cult, there grew a number of other cults such as the Eastern Mystery Cult and the isis. A reason for joining such a cult was that some…

Words 1233 - Pages 5

Argentina

Nations. The Argentine Republic has been in the UN since 1948. The agencies, funds and programs that make up the United Nations System in Argentina (SNUA). Contribute to equity, development and promotion of Human Rights, National Profiles and the millennium development goals. Topic 1: Human rights on the internet concerning censored access and freedom of expression. Internet just arrived ten years ago, and in such a short time internet has been giving whole borders of the political, economic, social…

Words 1019 - Pages 5

Jonestown Massacre Research Paper

His temple also became known as a cult because followers admired Jones enough to commit suicide when he told them too. The Jonestown Massacre made people more aware of how dangerous cults can be. The massacre was a tragedy that shocked family members and society. Jones’s followers were lied to so they would think like Jones. They were controlled by Jones and soon died because of the dangerous beliefs of the…

Words 1194 - Pages 5