Cults

[LeicsDom]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65363585
Kenyan police have exhumed 21 bodies near the coastal town of Malindi, as they investigate a preacher said to have told followers to starve to death.
Dead children were among those exhumed, and police said they expected to find even more bodies

I really don't understand how people get sucked into these extreme cults.
'Religions' like Scientology are toxic enough but, as far as we know, they have never encouraged their members to kill themselves

 

[unloadonme]

'Religions' like Scientology are toxic enough but, as far as we know, they have never encouraged their members to kill themselves

Yeah, they usually encourage their members to kill members of other religions.

 

[Charon]

Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

[johaninsc]

...
'Religions' like Scientology are toxic enough but, as far as we know, they have never encouraged their members to kill themselves

Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple told his followers to commit suicide in 1978. over 900 died.

 

[gsdx]

^ It's horrifying to think that the parents gave 'lemonade' to their kids to drink before they drank it themselves. Truly horrifying.

 

[NotHardUp1]

There are tomes of books on cults and how they work. It is not unlike political extremism. They use rhetoric that is familiar, sensible, and mainstream, and gradually explain their real meanings (within the cult) so that the shift to extremism happens by degree, and is less noticeable to the inducted member.

The cults all operate on some similar basic principles:

They target isolated, needy and impressionable individuals.

They target the poor and uneducated (the Scientologists are the exception in this one.)

They actively work to supplant parental or social ties with the cult's leader.

They progressively ask the members to sacrifice for the cult, and to isolate from society in general.

They establish an "us and them" mentality so that members interacting with the public do not regard them as trustworthy or equal.

They usually imbue cult membership with some divine rank or status, such as the only real believers, etc., or the only ones who will get to "go on the comet."

 

[pigface]

What makes *any* religion different from a cult?

 

[NotHardUp1]

What makes *any* religion different from a cult?

That's a common question, but it is pretty straightforward. Cults are extremes.

Typical churches, mosques, and temples do not ask you to take on poverty and ascetic living to give inordinate amounts to the organization. Tithes, offering, and alms are a low fraction of the adherent's income.

Most religions support strong families, and some even teach familial piety and ancestor worship.

Many religions run institutions of higher learning, the opposite of exploiting uneducated followers. Universities in the West began as church institutions.

Most religions thrive in the larger society, and do not teach withdrawal from it. There are sects in most major religions that do cloister, but they are voluntary and only attract a small fraction of the larger membership.

The average church, synagogue, or temple has a hierarchy of clergy, sharing authority and responsiblities, many right down to the lay person as member. Even with examples like Holy Roman Catholicism, the apex leader does not have unchecked and arbitrary authority, absent of councils and other powerful leaders and caucuses. Almost all cults gravitate to an autocratic leader, who has almost absolute authority. That is not absolute, but is a typical pattern in cults.

Many religions may interpret sacred texts to identify pious practices and disciplines, but do not necessarily divide the world so sharply between "us" and "them." Some do.

 

[Charon]

 

[gsdx]

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones

Amazing made-for-TV movie starring Powers Boothe as Jones and a host of Hollywood stars.

The only way we know the story is from the few cultists who managed to avoid being shot and killed during their attempts to escape.