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Today’s Agenda

Today’s Agenda. Reading @ Fletcher’s Finish the Simpsons Cults Note Journal Entry Start Studying!!. Cults. The Dark Side of Religion. Cults.

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Today’s Agenda

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  1. Today’s Agenda Reading @ Fletcher’s Finish the Simpsons Cults Note Journal Entry Start Studying!!

  2. Cults The Dark Side of Religion

  3. Cults Areligion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. (dictionary.com)

  4. Characteristics of Cults • Captivating leader (see below) – 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

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

  6. 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

  7. How Cults Control Members • Love bombing – show warmth and caring at first • Exploiting personal weakness(es), fears, dreams • Using group pressure – conformity! • Discouraging critical questions – offer explanations later

  8. 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

  9. Cults – Past & Present • “The best method for preventing destructive cult involvement is preventative education. If students and the public at large are more aware of destructive groups beforehand they may better understand and resist their recruitment efforts.” Rick Ross (taken from Brainyquote.com)

  10. Raelism • A Ufo Basic belief: “scientifically advanced extraterrestrials known as the Elohim created life on Earth through genetic engineering, and that a combination of human cloning and “mind transfer” can ultimately provide immortality.” Wikipedia.org

  11. Heaven’s Gate • 2 founders – believed that suicide was necessary so that the soul “could take a ride on a spaceship that they thought was hiding behind a comet” (wikipedia.org) • 39 followers died in 1997 – same time as the appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet

  12. "We know, and we must never forget, that every path leads somewhere. The path of segregation leads to lynching. The path of anti-Semitism leads to Auschwitz. The path of cults leads to Jonestown. We ignore this fact at our peril." • Rabbi Maurice Davis (www.culteducation.com)

  13. Scientology • Scientology - Church of Scientology Official Site • Term means the study of knowledge • Founder is L. Ron Hubbard • Established in 1952 • Encourages the “development of the human spirit” (wikipedia)

  14. Order of the Solar Temple • Leader was Luc Loret • Sections in Canada, France & Switzerland • Belief that an apocolypse was to occur through environmental disasters • Group suicide a common practice, 74 deaths in total as of 1999 – 11 of which were children (culteducation.com)

  15. Branch Davidian • Made famous by the 1993 standoff at the Waco, Texas compound • Leader was David Koresh • 51 day standoff ended with gunfire & Koresh gassing the compound – 80 people died, 25 of which were children

  16. Creativity Movement • Racist, anti-semitic, and white-supremacist group • In favour of a “white” religion • Denies the Holocaust • Has 16 “commandments” to follow for the purification of the world • Has changed names several times since the 1970s

  17. Jonestown • A town in Guyana created by People’s Temple cult leader, Jim Jones • Moved all followers from California – approx 900 • Followers believed it would be a safe utopia; became the opposite • Mass suicide – 913 of 1100 died, including 276 children

  18. Other Groups • Doomsday cults • People’s Temple • Polygamist groups • Herbalife

  19. Last Journal Reflection • Why do you think people are drawn into cults? • Do you think you would be susceptible to groupthink? Explain why or why not? • Are you the one who asks questions about what is going on around? Provide at least one example of a time when you questioned.

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