Cults by Madelyn Goodwin

Cults Epidemic:

Introduction:

            Imagine this: a group of people, under a leader they believe, has the divine right, who will do anything they’re asked even if it means going against their own morals or taking the lives of others. These groups of people do exist, and they’re known as cults. The earliest known cult existed during biblical times, and have continued throughout history. These groups of individuals with diverse motives and absurd beliefs have progressed cults into the past, present, and possibly future epidemic. Professor Adrian Furnham at University College of London and the Norwegian Business School explains that cults offer “friendship, identity, respect, and security” (Furnham). Could this be why so many fall victims to such an absurd way of life that cults seem to offer?

History:

            Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a cult as this, “a group with a great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work.” The history of cultic groups can be traced to a group of Pharisees in Acts Chapter 15 in the Bible. For many cults, the ends justify the means. That is how this group of Pharisees seemed to spread their ideas. They were deceptive in speaking the word of God, they attacked churches trying to convert member’s ideas and force them to see the “full truth”, and lastly they twisted the words of scripture to fit their wants and beliefs (Deffinbaugh). It is evident that even in biblical times using cult-like tactics to devote and spread your ideas existed. The relevancy of cults in society has only increased since these groups of Pharisees.

Some well-known cults that have impacted populations are The Church of Scientology, The Children of God, The Ku Klux Klan, and The Manson Family. These cults and others are usually come about from a “charismatic leader who uses deception in recruiting, thought-reform methods, demands absolute devotion, and has strict control over the member’s daily routines” (Layton) These leaders often refer to themselves at God and lead their members to believe that they have divine right and ultimate say. The members of destructive cults most often believe that this single person (their leader) can save them for eternity, and without them, they’ll be doomed to hell (1). These leaders usually come about from one to two ways; they are rejected by a mainstream church for showing signs of perversion or are just corrupted individuals who have a talent for manipulation (1). As you know, a leader needs members to fulfill their ideas and work and the only way to do so is through cult recruitment. A psychologist who studies cults, Dr. Michael Langone, found this, “A person is more likely to be recruited if: they have an intense desire to belong, they’re gullible, they have a blind belief that everyone is good, and thy have a desire to find a higher purpose in life” (1). Cult recruitment relies solely on lies, deception, manipulation, and isolation. Slowly these recruited members buy into what the cult is teaching and commit themselves to the will of the group. As cults evolve their sense of morality dwindles, their methods become more irrational, and their ideas more absurd.

Social Impact:

            A cult not only impacts the individuals involved, but they also have an impact on society. As mentioned earlier, many cults live by the philosophy, “the end justifies the mean”. Saying, whatever it takes to achieve a goal will be worth it in the long run, even if it means going against morality. When this philosophy come into play, it no longer affects just the cult itself, but also society as well. Cults recruiters take advantage of people’s weaknesses. They recruit in places such as college campuses, support groups, and unemployment offices when you feel most vulnerable (Layton). An unnamed, ex-cult member comments, “People don’t realize how susceptible we all are. Those smiling faces lead you to buy it when you’ve naïve and

accepting” (1). Their lies and manipulation of the vulnerable threaten society to losing family members to these destructive groups. The threat not only affects individuals but communities as well. Many cults have destructive tendencies which lead to suicides and murders causing hysteria and havoc throughout cities. Some cults, such as the Church of Scientology, have so many members that they have an impact on media and politics gaining influence over whole communities. Cults are not a thing of the past, and it is important to be knowledgeable of these dangerous groups even in modern society.

Examples:

            You may have heard of a group of young hippies living together in San Francisco during the late 1960’s under the leadership of a man named Charles Manson. Charles Manson was born to a 16-year-old mother and spent 20 years in and out of prison for the earlier half of his life (Garber-Paul). Once being released from prison in 1967, Manson began recruiting members (mostly girls) to his “Family”. Together they lived in temporary homes, such as Beach Boy Dennis Wilson’s, until landing at Spahn Ranch, an unused movie set (1). Living here, the cult gained their name, The Manson Family. While living amongst each other at the ranch, Manson preached his beliefs known as “Helter Skelter”, and provided his followers a little bit of food and an abundance of drugs. High on LSD and infatuated with Manson’s “love” for them, the family became loyal and began to buy into his philosophies. His beliefs of “Helter Skelter” were rooted in The Beetles “White Album” which he believed to be preaching of a rising race war in the United States. Being pawns of Manson’s strategic game, he ignited in his members his passion for beginning the war. The cults first murder was at the house of pregnant actress Sharon Tate violently killing her, Wojciech Frykowski and his partner, coffee bean heiress Abigail Folger, and hairstylist Jay Sebrings (“Charles Manson”).  The group was arrested in 1969. While their motives were a mystery, law enforcement’s best guess was his absurd beliefs in “prophetic visions” led the group to commit the crimes. Manson and those involved in the crimes were sentenced to life in prison. This group is a prime example of a cult. It began with a manipulative leader, who gained followers and preached his ideas leading those involved into dangerous and immoral situations.

            While Charles Manson does not have hippies still carrying out his beliefs, there are other cults to be aware of in modern society.  In November of 2016, a former member of The Church of Scientology, celebrity Leah Remini, exposed the church in her show “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath”. She talked about the destructive nature of the “church” and its cult-like tendencies shedding new light on the organization. The Church of Scientology was first started by a man named L. Ron Hubbard in the 1940’s declaring, “Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.” (Methvin). This quote in itself shows the manipulative intentions the leader had beginning the “beliefs” of Scientology. Today there are around 30,000 members of the church and 5,000 of those belong to the Sea Organization which are the most dedicated members, signing billion-year contracts and working for well below minimum wage (Ortega). While the beliefs of this cultic group are absurd and irrational, the means to achieve their goals are where cult practices are put into use. They teach of reincarnation and that a person is living to clear their brains in order to make decisions to become closer to oneself (1). In order to work your way up the highest level of the spiritual bridge, you must pay thousands of dollars to the church. This is spent buying books of L. Ron Hubbard’s works and purchasing auditing sessions which, simply put, are interrogations with special lie detectors. The current leader, David Miscavige, has been known to have a short temper and lash out violently at members. Former member Jeff Hawkins, once Miscavige’s go-to guy, remembers this, “He jumps up on the table, launches himself at me, knocks me back against the partition wall, starts hammering my face, knocks me down on the floor. I was scratched up. My shirt was ripped off” (Jensen) Other destructive aspects, such as mind-control, isolation, promising spiritual powers that are unattainable, forcing family disconnection and a longer list of further irrational ideas make this a dangerous modern day cult.

Solutions:

The issue of “solving” cults does not offer black and white solution. Many cults began by influential people, and are a spin-off of different religions that the leader was once a part of. They create more rules and set themselves higher than the members they recruit, but they base some of their morals from their old religion. This is where ending cults gets tricky. For example, The Church of Scientology has recently been exposed for abuses and manipulation they force upon their followers. When the IRS gave Scientology tax exemption, the government officially viewed it as a religion (Lauren). Many argue that intervening in these certain “organizations” is taking away their right given to them in the United States Constitution, freedom of religion. This argument makes it difficult for any government action to take place. Without the help of authorities, it is up to the people to be aware of cults and know the affect they have on their members and the threat they pose to society.

            The large majority of recruited cult members are entering their early adulthood. This age group is usually entering college. They are being overwhelmed with new ideas and they’re trying to form their own beliefs. Cults take advantage of this vulnerable time. They recruit on college campuses and offer community, opportunities, and most importantly a new set of values and beliefs. These often include violence, break down of social values, moral corruption, and criminal tendencies (“Cultism and Ways of Prevention”). A key way to dwindle down the membership numbers of destructive cults would be to spread cult awareness on college campuses. Within the past two decades’ colleges have began taking action on preventing cult-like groups on their campuses. Students at Georgetown University received a broacher upon arrival title “High Pressure Religious Groups” that’s warns of groups that are “persistent, manipulative, and use dishonest persuasion to recruit” (Murphy). This should be a practice used by every campus to keeping students less likely of falling victim to cultic lifestyles.

            While there are some ideas of spreading cult awareness, there is also the issue of helping a friend and loved one who has already been sucked into a cult. While a person may want to rescue their loved one from a cult, it’s no that simple. The cult member has probably been brainwashed into thinking the cult’s values and ways of life are right, and convincing them otherwise may be task. The first step of helping would be to increase your knowledge in the cult behavior and general beliefs. Without knowledge the family will rush in and use words such as “brainwashed, mind-control, or cults” and this will only anger the member (Smith). The second step would be to stay in contact. The cult’s leaders will want to isolate group members from family which could tear them away from the cult (1). The third step would be take advantage of opportunities presented to talk or spend time with your loved. This is where you must plant seeds of doubt and asks questions that contradicts the cult’s beliefs (1). While the result is not immediate, these steps will keep you close and may eventually lead to your loved one detaching from the cult.

Camus & Absurdity:

            Albert Camus, who was an author of absurdist fiction once said, “This world in itself is not reasonable. But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the world longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart” (Quotes About Absurdism). This quote answer’s the question on Albert Camus’s thoughts on the epidemic of cults. Between the irrationalism of the world and the hearts longing to find more of a meaning to life, you get the absurd idea of entering a cult to satisfying a desire. Camus would say it is natural for the human heart to long to something more, which cults to seem to offer. Cults also go hand-in-hand with the absurd nature of our existence. Humans cannot exist without meaning, and to find meaning people yearn to be apart of a group with similar beliefs as them. Camus would contemplate the ideas of cults and how they’ve been prevalent throughout centuries due to his beliefs on absurdity. They find vulnerable people who have a desire to find clarity and they take them under their wing. Camus could give no solution for the extinction of cults. He would say that people will always be searching for meaning, and people are willing to go to extraordinary measures which results in the creation of cults. Camus would contemplate the ideas of cults and how they’ve been prevalent throughout centuries due to his beliefs on absurdity.

Conclusion:

When thinking of cults, most people think of them as things of the past; cults such as The Ku Klux Klan, The Manson Family, The Branch Davidians, and The People’s Temple. While cults have been established through history, there are always new up-and-coming people with a desire to lead and a handful of absurd ideas to spread to others. From the outside these cults may seem illogical and bizarre, but for the people on the inside they offer community, security, and a belief system. Is this the reason these groups spur from one person’s ideas and grow to have hundreds and even thousands of members?

Work Cited:

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"CULTISM AND WAYS OF PREVENTION." Penalysis. N.p., 17 Sept. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Deffinbaugh, Bob. "The Characteristics of a Cult (Acts 15:1-31)." Bible.org. N.p., 28 June 2004. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

 Furnham, Adrian. "Why Do People Join Cults?" Psychology Today. N.p., 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Garber-Paul, Elisabeth. "Manson Family: Where Are They Now?" Rolling Stone. N.p., 27 July 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Jensen, Erin. "'Scientology' Accuses Church Leader David Miscavige of Physical Abuse." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Lauren. "Can Scientology Be Stopped?" Crasstalk. N.p., 18 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Layton, Julia. "How Cults Work." Culture. How Stuff Works, 13 Apr. 2006. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Mehvin, Eugene H. "Reader's Digest Article, May 1980." Reader. N.p., 1980. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Murphy, Justin Gillis; Caryle. "CONCERNED ABOUT CAMPUS CULTS, COLLEGES ARM STUDENTS WITH FACTS." The Washington Post. WP Company, 09 Dec. 1997. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

Ortega, Tony. " Scientology Reveals a Key Fact about the Size of Its Membership." The Underground Bunker. N.p., 31 Aug. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"Quotes About Absurdism (66 Quotes)." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

Smith, Steve. "How to Rescue Someone From a Cult." Liberty For Captives. N.p., 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.