Cults

“The less reasonable a cult, the more men seek to establish it by force.” ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

What are they? “A cohesive group of people devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream” There are 4 types: religious, psychological, commercial, & political.

Characteristics of Cults  Captivating leader – dispenses knowledge  Use of separation or isolation – environmental control  Psychological manipulation, brainwashing or deception – results in lower self-esteem = more opportunity for control  May use abuse – financial, emotional or physical

Characteristics of Cult Leaders  Ambitious  Attractive (physically/emotionally)  Intelligent  Demanding  Offer promises of hope/ false sense of security  Believe they are above others

Characteristics of Cult Members  Lonely – looking for love or acceptance  At a transitional point in life  Dissatisfied with some aspect of life  Often disenchanted  Often young, middle-class, white, educated

How Cults Control Members  Love bombing – show warmth and caring at first  Exploiting personal weakness, fears, dreams  Group pressure – conformity!  Discouraging critical questions – offer explanations later

Control…  Isolation/no privacy – keep people away from “outside” world  Food and sleep deprivation – makes people more open to suggestion  Guilt, confession and group approval – destroy self-esteem

Statistics…(do not copy)  5-7 million people have been a part of a cult or cult-like group  There are between 3,000-5,000 cults in existence  Cults recruit about 180,000 members each year (cultclinic.org)

Jim Jones Peoples' Temple: A Case Study  Jones had first started building Jonestown in 1974 as a means to create both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from the media scrutiny which had started in Regarding the former goal, Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent model communist community stating, "I believe we’re the purest communists there are."[58] In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the then Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist republics, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown. Jonestowncommunist[58]Soviet UnionCubaNorth Korea

The Suicide  909 inhabitants of Jonestown, 276 of them children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning, mostly in and around a pavilion..] This resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks.[91] No video was taken during the mass suicide, though the FBI did recover a 45 minute audio recording of the suicide in progress. September 11, 2001 attacks[91]  On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Ryan and four others at a nearby airstrip. The reason given by Jones to commit suicide was consistent with his previously stated conspiracy theories of intelligence organizations allegedly conspiring against the Temple, that men would "parachute in here on us," "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors.