Cult, Cultology

In the sociological classifications of religious movements, a cult is a religious or other social group with deviant and novel beliefs and practices.^[1] However, whether any particular group's beliefs and practices are sufficiently deviant or novel enough is often unclear, and thus establishing a precise definition based on these criteria is problematic.^[2]^[3] The English word often carries derogatory connotations^[4]^[5] and is used selectively by proponents of mind control theory.^[6]

The word "cult" has been controversial. One reason is that it (as used in the pejorative sense) is considered a subjective term, used as anad hominem attack against groups with simply differing doctrines or practices, and without a clear or consistent definition.^[7]

Beginning in the 1930s cults became the object of sociological study in the context of the study of religious behavior.^[8] Certain groups have been labeled as cults and opposed by the Christian countercult movement for their unorthodox beliefs; and since the 1970s by the secular anti-cult movement, partly motivated in reaction to acts of violence committed by members of some groups. Some of the anti-cult claims have been disputed by other scholars, leading to further controversies.

Terminological history[edit]

Further information: Cult (religious practice), Sociological classifications of religious movements, Holiness movement, Faith healing,Anti-cult movement and ritual abuse panic

Howard P. Becker's church-sect typology, based on Ernst Troeltschoriginal theory and upon which the modern concept of cults, sects, and new religious movements is based.

The word "cult" was originally used not to describe a group of religionists, but for the act of worship or religious ceremony. It was first used in the early 17th century, borrowed via the French culte fromLatin cultus (worship), from the adjective cultus (inhabited, cultivated, worshiped), derived from the verb colere (care, cultivate).^[9]

While the literal sense of the word in English is still in use, a derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century. The termscult and cultist came to be used in medical literature in the United States in the 1930s for what would now be termed faith healing, especially for the US Holiness movement which experienced a surge of popularity at the time, but extended to other forms of alternative medicine as well.^[10]

The concept of "cult" as a sociological classification was introduced in 1932 by American sociologist Howard P. Becker as an expansion of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch's church-sect typology. Troeltsch's aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious behavior: churchly, sectarian and mystical. Becker created four categories out of Troeltsch's first two by splitting church into "ecclesia" and "denomination", and sect into "sect" and "cult".^[11] Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cults were small religious groups lacking in organization and emphasizing the private nature of personal beliefs.^[12] Later sociological formulations built on these characteristics while placing an additional emphasis on cults as deviant religious groups "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture".^[13] This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.^[14] In this sociological terminology, sects are products of religious schism and therefore maintain a continuity with traditional beliefs and practices, and cults arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.^[15]

By the late 1930s, the Christian countercult movement began using the term cult to what would formerly have been termed heresy.^[16]From this time, i.e. from the perspective of the Christian anti-cult movement, the term "cultist" acquired the connotation of Satanism.^[17]This usage became mainstream by the 1960s, e.g. via the best-selling The Kingdom of the Cults (1965). This terminological development which had so far been characteristic of the religious sociology of the United States entered international use with the "ritual abuse" moral panic of the 1980s, which originated in the United States, but by the late 1980s to early 1990s saw international spread throughout most of the Anglosphere, and some parts of Europe.^[18]

Also from the 1990s, as part of the discrimination discourse at the height of the US "culture war", US neopagan, especially Wicca, literature began to protest the classification of these movements as cults as discriminatory,^[19] and usage of "cult" began to be discouraged in favour of the neutral new religious movement in sociological literature.^[20] Proponents of such an approach within the study of new religious movements, have in turn been denounced as "procult apologists" by adherents of the Christian anti-cult movement.^[21] "Cult" in the sense of groups using manipulative brainwashing techniques to control adherents and induce excessive devotion or dedication to the group or its leader is still used in the anti-cult movement, e.g. by the International Cultic Studies Association (so renamed from "American Family Foundation" in 2004). An anti-cult movement comparable to the one in the United States originated in Russia in the 1990s.^[22] In 2008 the Russian Interior Ministry prepared a list of "extremist groups" which included groups adhering to militant Islamism as well as "Pagan cults".^[23] At the height of the counter-cult movement and ritual abuse scare of the 1990s, some governments published lists of cults;^[24] The US Project Megiddo specifically addressed concerns over millennialist cults in the time leading up to the year 2000. Since the 2000s, some governments have again distanced themselves from such classifications of religious movements.^[25]

http://clles.blogspot.com/2014/08/newer-and-old-religious-movement-s.html

New religious movements[edit]

Main article: New religious movement

Most sociologists and scholars of religion also began to reject the word "cult" altogether because of its negative connotations in mass culture.^[26] Some began to advocate the use of new terms like "new religious movement", "alternative religion" or "novel religion" to describe most of the groups that had come to be referred to as "cults",^[27] yet none of these terms have had much success in popular culture or in the media. Other scholars have pushed to redeem the word "cult" as one fit for neutral academic discourse.^[28]

Using the term new religious movement instead of cult does not remove all negative perceptions. In a survey study containing 258 participants negative perceptions of the terms "new religious movement", "cult" and "satanic cult" were found. These perceptions however differed significantly (i.e., not due to chance) in how negative the participants perceived them. "New religious movement" was found to be the most favorable term followed by "cult" and then "satanic cult."^[29]

Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time spiritualism andesotericism were becoming popular in Europe and North America.^[30] Scholars have estimated that new religious movements, of which some but not all have been labeled as cults, number in the tens of thousands world-wide. Most originated in Asia or Africa. The great majority have only a few members, some have thousands, and only very few have more than a million.^[31] In 2007 religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that although no NRM had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as "New Age" ideas) have become part of world-wide mainstream culture.^[32]

Scholarly studies[edit]

Max Weber (1864–1920), one of the first scholars to study cults.

Pioneering sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) found that cults based on charismatic leadership often follow the routinization of charisma.^[33] Sociologist Roy Wallis (1945–1990) argued that a cult is characterized by "epistemological individualism" by which he means that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member." Cults, according to Wallis, are generally described as "oriented towards the problems of individuals, loosely structured, tolerant, non-exclusive", making "few demands on members", without possessing a "clear distinction between members and non-members", having "a rapid turnover of membership", and are transient collectives with vague boundaries and fluctuating belief systems. Wallis asserts that cults emerge from the "cultic milieu".^[34]^[35] In their bookTheory of Religion, American sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge propose that the formation of cults can be explained through the rational choice theory.^[36] In The Future of Religionthey comment "...in the beginning, all religions are obscure, tiny, deviant cult movements."^[37]

In the early 1960s sociologist John Lofland lived with South Korean missionary Young Oon Kim and some of the first American Unification Church members in California and studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members.^[38] Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.^[39] Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctorial thesis entitled: "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hall as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion.^[40]^[41]

Anti-cult movements[edit]

Christian countercult movement[edit]

Main article: Christian countercult movement

Walter Martin (1928–1989), American author and leading figure in theChristian countercult movement.

In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions or/and supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized Christian countercult movement in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered cults.^[42] Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologically deviant by members of other Christian churches.^[43] In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults (first published in the United States in 1965) Christian scholar Walter Martin defines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bible accepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unity as examples.^[44]

The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bible are erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a cult if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christian teachings such as salvation, theTrinity, Jesus himself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, theDeath of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.^[45]^[46]^[47]

Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionary or apologetic purpose.^[48] It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bible against the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults.^[49]^[50]^[51]

Secular anti-cult movement[edit]

Main article: Anti-cult movement

In the early 1970s, a secular opposition movement to groups considered cults had taken shape. The organizations that formed the secular "anti-cult movement" (ACM) often acted on behalf of relatives of "cult" converts who did not believe their loved ones could have altered their lives so drastically by their own free will. A few psychologists and sociologists working in this field suggested that brainwashingtechniques were used to maintain the loyalty of cult members,^[52] while others rejected the idea. The belief that cults brainwashed their members became a unifying theme among cult critics and in the more extreme corners of the anti-cult movement techniques like the sometimes forceful "deprogramming" of cult members became standard practice.^[53]

In the mass media, and among average citizens, "cult" gained an increasingly negative connotation, becoming associated with things likekidnapping, brainwashing, psychological abuse, sexual abuse and other criminal activity, and mass suicide. While most of these negative qualities usually have real documented precedents in the activities of a very small minority of new religious groups, mass culture often extends them to any religious group viewed as culturally deviant, however peaceful or law abiding it may be.^[54]^[55]^[56]

Secular cult opponents like those belonging to the anti-cult movement usually define a "cult" as a group that tends to manipulate, exploit, and control its members. Specific factors in cult behavior are said to include manipulative and authoritarian mind control over members,communal and totalistic organization, aggressive proselytizing, systematic programs of indoctrination, and perpetuation in middle-classcommunities.^[57]^[58]^[59]^[60] According to anti-cult group ICSA, methods of control employed by some cults may involve intensive ideological indoctrination, psychological intimidation, social humiliation and punishment, limitation of access to information, and outright deception. All of these methods may be applied by one member upon another, but they are often also internalized to such an extent that members do not believe that any coercion is actually taking place, as is common in many forms of social control.^[61]^[62]

The media was quick to follow suit,^[63] and social scientists sympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing.^[59]

While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part skeptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs.^[64] In the late 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started to abandon theories like brainwashing and mind-control. While scholars may believe that various less dramatic coercive psychological mechanisms could influence group members, they came to see conversion to new religious movements principally as an act of a rational choice.^[65]^[66]

Some scholars favor one particular view, or combined elements of each. According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,^[67]typical reasons why people join cults include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting thataffiliation is a more useful concept.^[68]

Former members[edit]

Anson Shupe, David G. Bromley and Joseph Ventimiglia coined the term atrocity tales in 1979,^[69] which Bryan R. Wilson later took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an "atrocity tale" as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imaginary) in such a context that they come flagrantly to violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.^[70]^[71]

Stigmatization and discrimination[edit]

Because of the increasingly pejorative use of the words "cult" and "cult leader" since the cult debate of the 1970s, some academics, in addition to groups referred to as cults, argue that these are words to be avoided.^[72]^[73]

Catherine Wessinger (Loyola University New Orleans) has stated that the word "cult" represents just as much prejudice and antagonism as racial slurs or derogatory words for women and homosexuals.^[74] She has argued that it is important for people to become aware of the bigotry conveyed by the word, drawing attention to the way it dehumanises the group's members and their children.^[74] Labeling a group as subhuman, she says, becomes a justification for violence against it.^[74]

At the same time, she adds, labeling a group a "cult" makes people feel safe, because the "violence associated with religion is split off from conventional religions, projected onto others, and imagined to involve only aberrant groups."^[74] This fails to take into account that child abuse, sexual abuse, financial extortion and warfare have also been committed by believers of mainstream religions, but the pejorative "cult" stereotype makes it easier to avoid confronting this uncomfortable fact.^[74]

In the United Kingdom the Crown Prosecution Service the Edinburgh City Council have ruled that the word "cult" is not "threatening, abusive or insulting" as defined by the Public Order Act, and that there is no objection to its use in public protests.^[75]^[76]

Sociologist Amy Ryan has argued for the need to differentiate those groups that may be dangerous from groups that are more benign.^[77]Ryan notes the sharp differences between definition from cult opponents, who tend to focus on negative characteristics, and those of sociologists, who aim to create definitions that are value-free. The movements themselves may have different definitions of religion as well.George Chryssides also cites a need to develop better definitions to allow for common ground in the debate. These definitions have political and ethical impact beyond just scholarly debate. In Defining Religion in American Law, Bruce J. Casino presents the issue as crucial to international human rights laws. Limiting the definition of religion may interfere with freedom of religion, while too broad a definition may give some dangerous or abusive groups "a limitless excuse for avoiding all unwanted legal obligations".^[78]

Doomsday cults[edit]

Main article: Doomsday cult

"Doomsday cult" is an expression used to describe groups who believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about.^[79] A 1997 psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic world view after they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements.^[80] Leon Festinger and his colleagues had observed members of a doomsday cult for several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader.^[81] The group's members believed that most of the Western Hemisphere would be destroyed by a cataclysmic flood on December 21, 1955.^[82]^[83] Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World.^[84]

Political cults[edit]

LaRouche Movement members inStockholm protesting the Treaty of Lisbon.

A political cult is a cult with a primary interest in political action and ideology.^[85]^[86] Groups that some writers have termed as "political cults," mostly advocating far-left or far-right agendas, have received some attention from journalists and scholars. In their 2000 book On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth discuss about a dozen organizations in the United States and Great Britain that they characterize as cults.^[87] In a separate article Tourish says that in his usage:

The word cult is not a term of abuse, as this paper tries to explain. It is nothing more than a shorthand expression for a particular set of practices that have been observed in a variety of dysfunctional organisations.^[88]

The LaRouche Movement^[89] and Gino Parente's National Labor Federation (NATLFED)^[90] are examples of political groups that have been described as "cults", based in the United States; another is Marlene Dixon's now-defunctDemocratic Workers Party (a critical history of the DWP is given in Bounded Choice by Janja A. Lalich, a sociologist and former DWP member).^[91]

The followers of Ayn Rand were characterized as a "cult" by economist Murray N. Rothbard during her lifetime, and later by Michael Shermer.^[92]^[93] The core group around Rand was called the "Collective" and is now defunct (the chief group disseminating Rand's ideas today is the Ayn Rand Institute). Although the Collective advocated an individualist philosophy, Rothbard claimed they were organized in the manner of a "Leninist" organization.^[92]

In Britain, the Workers Revolutionary Party, a Trotskyist group led by the late Gerry Healy and strongly supported by actress Vanessa Redgrave, has been described by others, who have been involved in the Trotskyist movement, as having been a cult or as displaying cult-like characteristics in the 1970s and 1980s.^[94] It is also described as such by Tourish and Wohlforth in their writings.^[95] In his review of Tourish and Wohlforth's book, Bob Pitt, a former member of the WRP concedes that it had a "cult-like character" but argues that rather than being typical of the far left, this feature actually made the WRP atypical and "led to its being treated as a pariah within the revolutionary left itself."^[96] Workers' Struggle (LO, Lutte ouvrière) in France, publicly headed by Arlette Laguiller but revealed in the 1990s to be directed by Robert Barcia, has often been criticized as a cult, for example by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and his older brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, as well as L'Humanité and Libération.^[97]

In his book Les Sectes Politiques: 1965–1995 (translation: Political cults: 1965–1995), French writer Cyril Le Tallec considered some religious groups as cults involved in politics, including the League for Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Cultural Office of Cluny, New Acropolis, Sōka Gakkai, the Divine Light Mission, Tradition Family Property (TFP), Longo-Mai, the Supermen Club and the Association for Promotion of the Industrial Arts (Solazaref).^[98]

Destructive cults[edit]

"Destructive cult" has generally referred to groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other individuals. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance limit use of the term to specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."^[99] Psychologist Michael Langone, executive director of the anti-cult group International Cultic Studies Association, defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits."^[100]

John Gordon Clark cited totalitarian systems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult.^[101]In Cults and the Family the authors cite Shapiro, who defines a "destructive cultism" as a sociopathic syndrome, whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders."^[102]

In the opinion of Benjamin Zablocki, a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, destructive cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members. He states that this is in part due to members' adulation of charismatic leaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power. Zablocki defines a cult as an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and the demand of total commitment.^[103] According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is sexual abuse. According toKranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.^[104]

Criticism of the term[edit]

Some researchers have criticized the usage of the term "destructive cult", writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book Understanding New Religious Movements, John A. Saliba writes that the term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the Peoples Temple as the "paradigm of a destructive cult," where those that use the term are implying that other new religious movements will have similar outcomes.^[105]

Writing in the book Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, contributor Julius H. Rubin complains that the term has been used to discredit certain groups in the court of public opinion.^[106] In his work Cults in Context author Lorne L. Dawson writes that although the Unification Church "has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as a destructive cult by "anticult crusaders."^[107]

In 2002, the German government was held by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court to have defamed the Osho movement by referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis.^[108]^[109]

Destructive cults and terrorism[edit]

Poster by Shining Path

In the book Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History, psychiatrist Peter A. Olsson compares Osama bin Laden to certain cult leaders including Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro. And says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.^[110] In the book Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society authors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a "destructive cult leader."^[111]

At a 2002 meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), anti-cultist Steven Hassansaid that Al Qaida fulfills the characteristics of a destructive cult. He added: "We need to apply what we know about destructive mind-control cults, and this should be a priority with the war on terrorism. We need to understand the psychological aspects of how people are recruited and indoctrinated so we can slow down recruitment. We need to help counsel former cult members and possibly use some of them in the war against terrorism."^[112]

In an article on Al Qaida published in The Times, journalist Mary Ann Sieghart wrote that al-Qaida resembles a "classic cult", commenting: "Al-Qaida fits all the official definitions of a cult. It indoctrinates its members; it forms a closed, totalitarian society; it has a self-appointed, messianic and charismatic leader; and it believes that the ends justify the means."^[113]

The Shining Path guerrilla movement active in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s has been described variously as a "cult"^[114] and an intense "cult of personality."^[115] The Tamil Tigers have also been qualified as such by French magazine L'Express'^[116] The People's Mujahedin of Iran, a leftist guerrilla movement based in Iraq, has been controversially described as a political cult and as a movement that is abusive towards its own members.^[117]^[118]^[119]^[120]

Former Mujaheddin member and now author and academic Dr. Masoud Banisadr stated in a May 2005 speech in Spain :

If you ask me: are all cults a terrorist organisation? My answer is no as there are many peaceful cults at present around the world and in the history of mankind. But if you ask me are all terrorist organisations, some sort of cult? my answer is yes. Even if they start as ordinary modern political party or organisation, to prepare and force their members to act without asking any moral question and act selflessly for the cause of the group and ignore all the ethical, cultural, moral or religious code of the society and humanity, those organisations have to change into a cult. Therefore to understand an extremist or a terrorist organisation one has to learn about a Cult.^[121]

Government policy[edit]

In the 1970s, the scientific status of the "brainwashing theory" became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to justify the use of the forceful deprogramming of cult members.^[122]^[123] Meanwhile, sociologists critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedom in defending the legitimacy of new religious movements in court. While the official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and "dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy.^[52]^[124]

France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept "brainwashing" theories uncritically, while other European nations, like Sweden and Italy, are cautious about brainwashing and have adopted more neutral responses to new religions.^[125] Scholars have suggested that outrage following the mass murder/suicides perpetuated by the Solar Temple^[52]^[126] as well as the more latent xenophobic and anti-American attitudes have contributed significantly to the extremity of European anti-cult positions.^[127]

For centuries, governments in China have categories certain religions as xiejiao (邪教) The term is sometimes translated as “evil cult,” but a more literal translation is “heterodox teaching.”^[128] The classification of a religion as xiejiao did not necessarily mean that a religion’s teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic, but rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or that were seen as challenging the legitimacy of the state.^[128] In modern China, the term xiejiao continues to be used to denote teachings that the government disapproves of, and these groups face suppression and punishment by authorities. Fourteen different groups in China have been listed by the ministry of public security as xiejiao.^[129] In addition, Chinese authorities in 1999 denounced theFalun Gong spiritual practice as a heretical teaching, and began a campaign to eliminate it. According to Amnesty International, thepersecution of Falun Gong includes a multifaceted propaganda campaign,^[130] a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education, as well as a variety of extralegal coercive measures, such as arbitrary arrests, forced labour, and physical torture, sometimes resulting in death.^[131] The Chinese government has sought to legitimize its treatment of Falun Gong by adopting the language of the Western anti-cult movement,^[132] but Western scholars familiar with the group say that Falun Gong does not meet the definition of a cult.^[133]^[134]

Sociologists critical to this negative politicized use of the word "cult" argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of group members.^[123]^[135]^[136]^[137] In the 1980s clergymen and officials of the French government expressed concern that some orders and other groups within the Roman Catholic Church would be adversely affected by anti-cult laws then being considered.^[138]

The application of the labels "cult" or "sect" to religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in several European languages.^[139]^[140] While these documents utilize similar terminology they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of these groups based on agreed criteria.^[139]^[140] Other governments and world bodies also report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe the groups.^[139]

Cults and U.S. Law[edit]

In the United States religious activities of cults are protected under the First Amendment, however cult members are not granted any special protection against criminal charges.^[29]

Cult is literally the "care" (Latin cultus) owed to God or gods and to temples, shrines, or churches. Cult is embodied in ritual andceremony. Its present or former presence is made concrete in temples, shrines and churches, and cult images, including, but not limited to, cult images and votive deposits at votive sites.

In the specific context of Greek hero cult, Carla Antonaccio has written, "The term cult identifies a pattern of ritual behavior in connection with specific objects, within a framework of spatial and temporal coordinates. Rituals would include (but not necessarily be limited to) prayer, sacrifice, votive offerings, competitions, processions and construction of monuments. Some degree of recurrence in place and repetition over time of ritual action is necessary for a cult to be enacted, to be practiced".^[1]

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Etymology[edit]

Cicero defined religio as cultus deorum, "the cultivation of the gods."^[2] The "cultivation" necessary to maintain a specific deity was that god's cultus, "cult," and required "the knowledge of giving the gods their due" (scientia colendorum deorum).^[3] The noun cultus originates from the past participle of the verb colo, colere, colui, cultus, "to tend, take care of, cultivate," originally meaning "to dwell in, inhabit" and thus "to tend, cultivate land (ager); to practice agriculture," an activity fundamental to Roman identity even when Rome as a political center had become fully urbanized. Cultus is often translated as "cult", without the negative connotations the word may have in English, or with the Anglo-Saxon word "worship", but it implies the necessity of active maintenance beyond passive adoration. Cultus was expected to matter to the gods as a demonstration of respect, honor, and reverence; it was an aspect of the contractual nature of Roman religion (seedo ut des).^[4] St. Augustine echoes Cicero's formulation when he declares that "religio is nothing other than the cultus of God."^[5]

The term "cult" first appeared in English in 1617, derived from the French culte, meaning "worship" which in turn originated from the Latinword cultus meaning "care, cultivation, worship". The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829. Starting about 1920, "cult" acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions.

In French, for example, sections in newspapers giving the schedule of worship at Catholic churches are headed Culte Catholique; the section giving the schedule of Protestant churches is headed culte réformé.

In Christianity[edit]

In Roman Catholicism, outward religious practice in cultus is the technical term for devotions or veneration extended to a particular saint, not to the worship of God. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy make a major distinction between latria, which is the worship that is offered to God alone, and Dulia, which is the veneration offered to the saints, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose veneration is often referred to as hyperdulia.

Outwards religious practice[edit]

Outward religious practice in worship are rituals, ceremonies, liturgy or audits, which may involve spoken or sung words, and often involve personal sacrifice. Other outward manifestations of the cult of a deity are the preservation of relics or the creation of images, such as icons(usually connoting a flat painted image) or three-dimensional cultic images, denigrated as "idols", and the specification of sacred places, hilltops and mountains, fissures and caves, springs, pools and groves, or even individual trees or stones, which may be the seat of anoracle or the venerated site of a vision, apparition, miracle or other occurrence commemorated or recreated in outward religious practice.Sacred places may be identified and elaborated by construction of shrines, temples, and churches, on which are centered public attention at religious festivals and which may become the center for pilgrimages.

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A new religious movement (NRM) is a religious community or spiritual group of modern origins, which has a peripheral place within its nation's dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, in which case they will be distinct from pre-existing denominations. Scholars studying the sociology of religion prefer to use this term as a neutral alternative to the word cult, which is often considered derogatory.^[1] ^[2]^[3] Scholars continue to try to reach definitions and define boundaries.^[4]

A NRM may be one of a wide range of movements ranging from those with loose affiliations based on novel approaches to spirituality orreligion to communitarian enterprises that demand a considerable amount of group conformity and a social identity that separates their adherents from mainstream society. Use of the term NRM is not universally accepted among the groups to which it is applied.^[5] Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands world-wide, with most located in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and only very few have more than a million.^[6]

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Definitions[edit]

Although there is no one criterion or set of criteria for describing a group as a "new religious movement," use of the term usually requires that the group be both of recent origin and different from existing religions.^[4] Some scholars also have a more restricted approach to what counts as "different from existing religions". For them, "difference" applies to a faith that, although it may be seen as part of an existing religion, meets with rejection from that religion for not sharing the same basic creed or declares itself either separate from the existing religion or even "the only right" faith. Other scholars expand their measurement of difference, considering religious movements new when, taken from their traditional cultural context, they appear in new places, perhaps in modified forms.

NRMs do not necessarily share a set of particular attributes, but have been "assigned to the fringe of the dominant religious culture", and "exist in a relatively contested space within society as a whole".^[7] NRMs vary in terms of leadership; authority; concepts of the individual, family, and gender; teachings; organizational structures; and in other ways. These variations have presented a challenge to social scientists in their attempts to formulate a comprehensive and clear set of criteria for classifying NRMs.^[8]

Generally, Christian denominations are not seen as new religious movements; nevertheless, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Shakers have been studied as NRMs.^[9]^[10]

Terminology[edit]

The study of New Religions emerged in Japan after an increase in religious innovation following the Second World War. "New religions" is a calque (a word-for-word translation) of shinshūkyō, which Japanese sociologists coined to refer to this phenomenon. This term, amongst others, was adopted by Western scholars as an alternative to cult. "Cult" had emerged in the 1890s,^[7] but by the 1970s it had acquired a pejorative connotation, and was subsequently used indiscriminately by lay critics to disparage groups whose doctrines they opposed.^[4]Consequently, scholars such as Eileen Barker, James T. Richardson, Timothy Miller and Catherine Wessinger argued that the term "cult" had become too laden with negative connotations, and "advocated dropping its use in academia." A number of alternatives to the term new religious movement are used by some scholars. These include: alternative religious movements (Miller), emergent religions, (Ellwood) andmarginal religious movements (Harper and Le Beau).^[11]

New religions studies[edit]

New religions studies is the interdisciplinary study of new religious movements that emerged as a discipline in the 1970s.^[12] The term was coined by J. Gordon Melton in a 1999 paper presented at CESNUR conference in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.^[12] David G. Bromley used its perspectives for a piece in Nova Religio^[13] and later as an Editor of "Teaching New Religious Movements" in The American Academy of Religion's "Teaching Religious Studies Series;" the term has been used by James R. Lewis, Jean-François Mayer. The study draws from the disciplines of anthropology, psychiatry, history, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and theology.^[14]

History[edit]

1893 Parliament of the World's Religions

Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time spiritualism and esotericism were becoming popular in Europe and North America. The Latter Day Saint movement including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, is now one of the most successful NRMs in terms of membership. In 1844 the Bahá'í Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in Iran. In 1891 the Unity Church, the first New Thought denomination, was founded in the United States.^[15]^[16]

In 1893, the first Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Chicago.^[17] The conference included NRMs of the time, such as Spiritualism and Christian Science. The latter was represented by its founder Mary Baker Eddy. Rev. Henry Jessup addressing the meeting was the first to mention the Bahá'í Faith in the United States.^[18] Also attending were Soyen Shaku, the "First American Ancestor" of Zen,^[19] the Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala, and the Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi.^[20] This conference gave Asian religious teachers their first wide American audience.^[15]

In 1911 the Nazareth Baptist Church, the first and one of the largest modern African Initiated Churches, was founded by Isaiah Shembe inSouth Africa.^[15]^[21] The 1930s saw the founding of the Nation of Islam and the Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, the Rastafari movement in Jamaica, Cao Dai in Vietnam, Soka Gakkai in Japan, and Yiguandao in China. At the same time Christian critics of NRMs began referring to them as "cults"; with the 1938 book The Chaos of Cults by Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, being especially influential.^[15]^[22]

New religious movements expanded in many nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Japanese new religions became very popular after theAmerican occupation of Japan forced a separation of the Japanese government and Shinto, which had been the state religion, bringing about greater freedom of religion. In 1954 Scientology was founded in the United States and the Unification Church in South Korea.^[15] In 1955 the Aetherius Society was founded in England. It and some other NRMs have been called "UFO religions" since they combine belief in extraterrestrial life with traditional religious principles.^[23]^[24]^[25] In 1966 the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded in the United States by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.^[26] In 1967, The Beatles' visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India brought public attention to the Transcendental Meditation movement.^[27]^[28]

In the 1970s and 1980s some NRMs came under opposition by the newly organized anti-cult movement and by some governments, as well as receiving extensive coverage in the news media. The deaths of over 900 members of the People's Temple by suicide and murder in 1978 is often cited as especially contributing to public opposition to "cults."^[15]

In the late 1980s and the 1990s the decline of communism opened up new opportunities for NRMs. Falun Gong was founded in China in 1992. At first it was tolerated by the Chinese government but later severely persecuted.^[15]

In the Twenty first century many NRMs are using the Internet to give out information, to recruit members, and sometimes to hold online meetings and rituals.^[15] This is sometimes referred to as cybersectarianism.^[29]^[30] In 2006 J. Gordon Melton, executive director of the Institute for the Study of American Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the New York Times that 40 to 45 new religious movements emerge each year in the United States.^[31] In 2007 religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that although no NRM had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as "New Age" ideas) have become part of world-wide mainstream culture.^[15]

Joining[edit]

According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,^[32] typical reasons why people join NRMs include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which people join new religious groups, have questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept.^[33]

In the 1960s sociologist John Lofland lived with Unification Church missionary Young Oon Kim and a small group of American church members in California and studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members. Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.^[34] Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctorial thesis entitled: "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes," and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hall as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion, as well as one of the first sociological studies of a new religious movement.^[35]^[36]

NRMs and the media[edit]

An article on the categorization of new religious movements in U.S. print media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion(formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society), criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use popular or anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that "The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences."^[37]

Opposition[edit]

Main articles: Christian countercult movement, Anti-cult movement and Cult

There has been opposition to NRMs throughout their history.^[38] The Christian countercult movement, which began in the 1800s, opposes most NRMs because of theological differences. The secular anti-cult movement, which began in the 1970s, opposes some NRMs, as well as some non-religious groups, mainly charging them with abuse of their own members.^[15]

NRMs and globalization[edit]

Some scholars have linked the advent of Asian NRMs in the West to the USA's Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and other laws in Western Europe which ended racially restrictive immigration quotas. Many NRMs believe in universalism, cosmopolitanism, cultural syncretism, and global citizenship.^[15] A 1998 article from The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion links New Religious movements to the phenomenon of globalization. Scholar Lorne L. Dawson writes, "The concept of globalization merely reconfigures our present understanding of the possible significance of New Religious movements as conceived under the conditions of 'modernity', though in ways that have some important yet limited analytical and explanatory advantages not yet fully appreciated by scholars of New Religious movements."^[39]

The concept of an ACM[edit]

The anti-cult movement is conceptualized as a collection of individuals and groups, whether formally organized or not, who oppose some new religious movements (or "cults"). This countermovement has reportedly recruited from family members of "cultists", former group members (or apostates), church groups (including Jewish groups)^[4] and associations of health professionals.^[5] Although there is a trend towards globalization,^[6] the social and organizational bases vary significantly from country to country according to the social and politicalopportunity structures in each place.^[7]

As are many aspects of the social sciences, the movement is variously defined. A significant minority opinion suggests that analysis should treat the secular anti-cult movement separately from the religiously motivated (mainly Christian) groups.^[8]^[9]

The anti-cult movement might be divided into four classes:

secular counter-cult groups;
Christian evangelical counter-cult groups;
groups formed to counter a specific cult;
organizations that offer some form of exit counseling.^[10]

Most, if not all, the groups involved express the view that there are potentially deleterious effects associated with some new religious movements.^[11]

Religious and secular critics[edit]

Commentators differentiate two main types of opposition to "cults":

religious opposition (related to theological issues).
secular opposition (related to emotional, social, financial, and economic consequences of cultic involvement, where "cult" can refer to a religious or to a secular group).

Barker's five types of cult-watching groups[edit]

According to sociologist Eileen Barker, cult-watching groups (CWGs) disseminate information about "cults" with the intent of changing public and government perception as well as of changing public policy regarding NRMs.

Barker has identified five types of CWG:^[12]

cult-awareness groups (CAGs) focusing on the harm done by "destructive cults"
counter-cult groups (CCGs) focusing on the (heretical) teaching of non-mainstream groups
research-oriented groups (ROGs) focusing on beliefs, practices and comparisons
human-rights groups (HRGs) focusing on the human rights of religious minorities
cult-defender groups (CDGs) focusing on defending cults and exposing CAGs

Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement[edit]

Jeffrey K. Hadden sees four distinct classes in the organizational opposition to "cults":^[13]

Religiously grounded opposition
- opposition usually defined in theological terms
- cults viewed as engaging in heresy
- sees its mission as exposing the heresy and correcting the beliefs of those who have strayed from a truth
- prefers metaphors of deception rather than of possession
- opposition serves two important functions:
  - protects members (especially youth) from heresy
  - increases solidarity among the faithful
Secular opposition
- regards individual autonomy as the manifest goal — achieved by getting people out of groups using mind control and deceptive proselytization.
- identifies the struggle as about control, not as about theology.
- organized around families who have or have had children involved in a cult.
- has a latent goal of disabling or destroying NRMs organizationally.
Apostates
- apostasy = the renunciation of a religious faith
- apostate = one who engages in active opposition to their former faith
- the anti-cult movement has actively encouraged former members to interpret their experience in a "cult" as one of being egregiously wronged and encourages participation in organized anti-cult activities.
Entrepreneurial opposition
- individuals who take up a cause for personal gain
- ad hoc alliances or coalitions to promote shared views
- broadcasters and journalists as leading examples.
- a few "entrepreneurs" have made careers by setting up organized opposition.

Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults[edit]

Family-members of adherents[edit]

Some opposition to cults (and to some new religious movements) started with family-members of cult-adherents who had problems with the sudden changes in character, lifestyle and future plans of their young adult children who had joined NRMs. Ted Patrick, widely known as "the Father of deprogramming", exemplifies members of this group. The former Cult Awareness Network (old CAN) grew out of agrassroots-movement by parents of cult-members. The American Family Foundation (today the International Cultic Studies Association) originated from a father whose daughter had joined a high-control group.

Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists[edit]

From the 1970s onwards some psychiatrists and clinical psychologists accused "cults" of harming some of their members. These accusations were sometimes based on observations made during therapy, and sometimes were related to theories regarding brainwashing or mind-control.

Former members[edit]

Anson Shupe, David G. Bromley and Joseph Ventimiglia coined the term atrocity tales in 1979,^[14] which Bryan R. Wilson later took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an "atrocity tale" as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imaginary) in such a context that they come flagrantly to violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.^[15]^[16]

Christian countercult movement[edit]

Main article: Christian countercult movement

In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions or/and supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized "Christian countercult movement" in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered "cults".^[17] Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologically deviant by members of other Christian churches.^[18] In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults (first published in the United States in 1965) Christian scholar Walter Martin defines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bible accepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unity as examples.^[19]

The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bible are erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a "cult" if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christian teachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesus himself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, theCrucifixion of Jesus, the Death of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.^[20]^[21]^[22]

Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionary or apologetic purpose.^[23] It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bible against the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults.^[24]^[25]^[26]

Governmental Opposition[edit]

For more details see: Governmental lists of cults and sects

The secular opposition to cults and new religious movements operates internationally, though a number of sizeable and sometimes expanding groups originated in the United States. Some European countries, such as France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland have introduced legislation or taken other measures against cults or "cultic deviations."

In the Netherlands cults, sects, and new religious movements have the same legal rights as larger and more mainstream religious movements.^[27] As of 2004, the Netherlands do not have an anti-cult movement of any significance.^[28]

Anti-cult movement in Russia[edit]

In Russia “anticultism” appeared in early 1990s. Some Russian protestants used to take part in criticizing of foreigner missionaries, sectsand new religious movements. They perhaps hoped that taking part in anti-cult declarations could demonstrate that they were not “sectarians”. Some religious studies have shown that anti-cult movements, especially with support of the government, can provoke serious religious conflicts in Russian society.^[29] In 2008 the Russian Interior Ministry prepared a list of "extremist groups." At the top of the list were Islamic groups outside of "traditional Islam," which is supervised by the Russian government. Next listed were "Pagan cults".^[30] In 2009 the Russian Ministry of Justice created a council which it named "Council of Experts Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analysis." The new council listed 80 large sects which it considered potentially dangerous to Russian society, and mentioned that there were thousands of smaller ones. Large sects listed included: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and what were called "neo-Pentecostals." ^[31]

Controversies[edit]

Polarized views among scholars[edit]

Social scientists, sociologists, religious scholars, psychologists and psychiatrists have studied the modern field of cults and new religious movements since the early 1980s. Cult debates about certain purported cults and about cults in general often become polarized with widely divergent opinions, not only among current followers and disaffected former members, but sometimes even among scholars as well.

All academics agree that some groups have become problematic and sometimes very problematic; but they disagree over the extent to which new religious movements in general cause harm.

Several scholars have questioned Hadden's attitude towards NRMs and cult critics as one-sided.^[32]

Scholars in the field of new religious movements confront many controversial subjects:

the validity of the testimonies of former members (see Former members)
the validity of the testimonies of current members
the validity of and differences between exit-counseling and coercive deprogramming
the validity of evidence of harm caused by cults, for example:
ethical concerns regarding new religious movements, for example: free will, freedom of speech
opposition to cults vs. freedom of religion and religious intolerance
the objectivity of all scholars studying new religious movements (see cult apologists)
the acceptance or rejection of the APA taskforce on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control report (Amitrani & di Marzio, 2000, Massimo Introvigne), see also Scholarly positions on mind-control

Janet Jacobs expresses the range of views on the membership of the perceived ACM itself, ranging from those who comment on "the value of the Cult Awareness Network, the value of exit therapy for former members of new religious movements, and alternative modes of support for family members of individuals who have joined new religions" and extending to "a more critical perspective on [a perceived] wide range of ACM activities that threaten religious freedom and individual rights."^[33]

Brainwashing and mind-control[edit]

Further information: Mind control

Over the years various theories of conversion and member retention have been proposed that link mind control to NRMs, and particularly those religious movements referred to as "cults" by their critics. These theories resemble the original political brainwashing theories first developed by the American CIA as a propaganda device to combat communism^[34] with some minor changes. Philip Zimbardo discusses mind control as "the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes",^[35] and he suggests that any human being is susceptible to such manipulation.^[36] In a 1999 book, Robert Lifton also applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo, concluding that in this context thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. Margaret Singer, who also spent time studying the political brainwashing of Korean prisoners of war, agreed with this conclusion: in her book Cults in Our Midst she describes six conditions which would create an atmosphere in which thought reform is possible.^[37]

James Richardson observes that if the NRMs had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, yet in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for only a short time, and the success in retaining members is limited.^[38] For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David Bromley and Anson Shupeconsider the idea that "cults" are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible."^[39] In addition to Bromley, Thomas Robbins, Dick Anthony, Eileen Barker, Newton Maloney, Massimo Introvigne, John Hall, Lorne Dawson, Anson Shupe, Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter,Saul Levine (amongst other scholars researching NRMs) have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, of relevant professional associations and of scientific communities that there exists no scientific theory, generally accepted and based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.^[40]

Deprogramming or exit-counseling[edit]

Further information: Deprogramming

Some members of the secular opposition to cults and to some new religious movements have argued that if brainwashing has deprived a person of their free will, treatment to restore their free will should take place — even if the "victim" opposes this.

Precedents for this exist in the treatment of certain mental illnesses: in such cases medical and legal authorities recognize the condition(s) as depriving sufferers of their ability to make appropriate decisions for themselves. But the practice of forcing treatment on a presumed victim of "brainwashing" (one definition of "deprogramming") has constantly proven controversial. Human-rights organizations (including the ACLU and Human Rights Watch) have also criticized deprogramming. While only a small fraction of the anti-cult movement has had involvement in deprogramming, several deprogrammers (including a deprogramming-pioneer, Ted Patrick) have served prison-terms for acts sometimes associated with deprogramming including kidnapping and rape, while courts have acquitted others.

Responses of targeted groups and scholars[edit]

The Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities, associated with the Adidam NRM, sees the use of terms "cult" and "cult leader" as detestable and as something to avoid at all costs. The Foundation regards such usage as the exercise of prejudice and discrimination against them in the same manner as the words "nigger" and "commie" served in the past to denigrate blacks and Communists.^[41]

CESNUR’s president Massimo Introvigne, writes in his article "So many evil things: Anti-cult terrorism via the Internet",^[42] that fringe and extreme anti-cult activists resort to tactics that may create a background favorable to extreme manifestations of discrimination and hateagainst individuals that belong to new religious movements. Professor Eileen Barker points out in an interview that the controversy surrounding certain new religious movements can turn violent by a process called deviancy amplification spiral.^[43]

In a paper presented at the 2000 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Anson Shupe and Susan Darnell argued that although the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA, formerly known as AFF or American Family Foundation) has presented "slanted, stereotypical images and language that has inflamed persons to perform extreme actions," the extent to which one can classify the ICSA and other anti-cult organizations as "hate-groups" (as defined by law in some jurisdictions or by racial/ethnic criteria in sociology) remains open for debate. In 2005, the Hate Crimes Unit of the Edmonton Police Service confiscated anti-Falun Gong materials distributed at the annual conference of the ICSA by staff members of the Calgary Chinese Consulate (Province of Alberta, Canada). The materials, including the calling of Falun Gong a "cult," were identified as having breached the Criminal Code, which bans the wilful promotion of hatred against identifiable religious groups.^[44] See also Verbal violence in hate groups.

An article on the categorization of new religious movements in US media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion(formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society, criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations (as our previous research [van Driel and Richardson, 1985] also shows) impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences.^[45]

Etymology[edit]

Augustus of Prima Porta

The term "cult of personality" probably appeared in English around 1800–1850, along with the French and German usage.^[1] At first it had no political connotations but was instead closely related to the Romantic "cult of genius".^[1] The political use of the phrase came first in 1877:^[1]

Neither of us cares a straw of popularity. Let me cite one proof of this: such was my aversion to the personality cult [orig. Personenkultus] that at the time of the International, when plagued by numerous moves [...] to accord me public honor, I never allowed one of these to enter the domain of publicity [...]

—Karl Marx, A letter to German political worker, Wilhelm Blos, 10 November 1877^[1]^[2]

The terms "cult of personality" and "personality cult" were popularized by Khrushchev's Secret Speech of 1956. Robert Service notes that a more accurate translation of the Russian "культ личности" ("kul't lichnosti") is the "cult of the individual".^[3]

Background[edit]

Purpose[edit]

Examples[edit]

Afghanistan[edit]

The first communist leader of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki, tried to build one around himself, with the state-controlled media in the country referring to him "The Great Leader", "The Star of the East" or "The Great Thinker" among other titles. The cult didn't last very long; once he lost the support of the USSR, he was quickly overthrown.

Albania[edit]

Long time ruler of communist Albania Enver Hoxha had personality cult similar to Stalin's and Mao's precedents. Hoxha was widely portrayed as a genius commenting on virtually all facets of life from culture to economics to military matters. Statues were erected in cities. Each schoolbook required quotations from him on the subjects being studied. The ruling party of the time, the Party of Labour of Albania, honored him with titles such as Supreme Comrade, Sole Force and Great Teacher.

Argentina[edit]

Azerbaijan[edit]

Main article: Heydar Aliyev's cult of personality

Heydar Aliyev's cult of personality became a significant part of Azerbaijani politics and society after Heydar Aliyev came to power in 1993 and continuing after his death in 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him.^[6]^[7] Aliyev, a former Soviet politburo member and the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1987, became the President of Azerbaijan in 1993. He then began to carefully design an autocratic system, with heavy reliance on family and clan members, oil revenues and patronage.^[8]

In Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev is presented as "Father of the Azeri nation",^[9] often compared to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.^[10]

China[edit]

Portrait of Chiang Kai-shek on Tiananmen before the Communist takeover

A personality cult in the Republic of China was centered on the Kuomintang party founder Sun Yat-sen, and his successor, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The personality cult of Chiang Kai-shek went further after the republican government fled to Taiwan. He was usually referred to as "Lord Chiang" (蔣公) in public and aspace between the characters of his name and title was required in printed materials. Articles in textbooks and songs glorifying him were commonly seen in Taiwan before 1987.

Statue of Mao Zedong in modern China

The People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong can also be considered a cult of personality. The culture of the People's Republic of China before 1981 was highly influenced by the personality cult of Mao Zedong which reached its peak during the Cultural Revolution. Mao was referred to as "the great leader Chairman Mao" (伟大领袖毛主席) in public and was entitled "the great leader, the great supreme commander, the great teacher and the great helmsman" (伟大的领袖、伟大的统帅、伟大的导师、伟大的舵手) in Cultural Revolution.^[11] Badges and books of his quotations were mass-produced. Most people were required to recite the Quotations of Chairman Mao and printed material at that time usually quoted Mao's words in bold as well as in the preface. The Loyalty dance (忠字舞) was also introduced during the Cultural Revolution which lasted from 1966 to 1976.

The cult of personality continued for a short time after Mao's death. His successor, Hua Guofeng also practiced the cult of personality and was referred to as "the brilliant leader Chairman Hua" (英明领袖华主席). Reforms in 1981 led to a deconstruction of his cult status and the Chinese Communist Party is today averse to a cult of personality style of rule lest it recreates the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.

Dominican Republic[edit]

Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, during his 30 years in power known as the Trujillo Era, had a classic personality cult, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. His pocket Congress voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo. The province of San Cristóbal was changed to "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte, was renamed Pico Trujillo. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included slogans such as "¡Viva Trujillo!" and "Año Del Benefactor De La Patria" (Year of the Benefactor of the Nation). An electric sign was erected in Ciudad Trujillo so that "Dios y Trujillo" could be seen at night as well as in the day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan "Dios en cielo, Trujillo en tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth). As time went on, the order of the phrases was reversed (Trujillo on Earth, God in Heaven). From the very beginning, Trujillo considered the Dominican Republic as his private property and, in contrast to other Latin American strongmen and dictators, he had streets, provinces, mountains, schools and bridges named not only in his honor, but in honor of various members of his family as well.

French Indochina[edit]

Cambodian schoolchildren in French Indochina at one point in the early 1940s began their school-day with prayers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, opening with the words, "Our father, which art our Leader, glorious be thy name... deliver us from evil".^[12]

Germany[edit]

Adolf Hitler, behindHermann Göring at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg in 1928

Adolf Hitler, Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany, was referenced by Nazi propaganda in number of honorary titles (Supreme Judge of the German People, First Soldier of the German Reich, First Worker of the New Germany, Greatest Military Commander of All Time, Military Leader of Europe, High Protector of the Holy Mountain, etc.). Numerous works in popular music and literature featured Adolf Hitler prominently. Hitler was usually depicted as a god-like figure, loved, feared and respected by the German people.

Haiti[edit]

Dictator of Haiti François Duvalier fostered a personality cult around himself^[13]^:320 and claimed he was the physical embodiment of the nation. He revived the traditions of vodou, later on exploiting them to consolidate his power as he claimed to be a houngan, or vodou priest, himself. In an effort to make himself even more imposing, Duvalier deliberately modeled his image on that of Baron Samedi. The most celebrated image from the time shows a standing Jesus Christ with hand on a seated Papa Doc's shoulder with the caption "I have chosen him".^[13]^:330–332 In 1986, the constitution outlawed Duvalier-type personality cults.^[13]^:361

Iraq[edit]

Statues of Saddam Hussein after his fall

As a sign of his consolidation of power as Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein's personality cult pervaded Iraqi society. He had thousands of portraits, posters, statues and murals erected in his honor all over Iraq. His face could be seen on the sides of office buildings, schools, airports, and shops, as well as on all denominations of the Iraqi currency dinar. Saddam's personality cult reflected his efforts to appeal to the various elements in Iraqi society. This was seen in his variety of apparel: he appeared in the costumes of the Bedouin, the traditional clothes of the Iraqi peasant (which he essentially wore during his childhood), and even Kurdish clothing, but also appeared in Western suits fitted by his favorite tailor, projecting the image of an urbane and modern leader. Sometimes he would also be portrayed as a devout Muslim, wearing full headdress and robe, praying toward Mecca.

An international airport, university, bridge, dam, stadium, art centre, street, urban district (Saddam-city), rocket and other objects were named in his name. Saddam had many well-decorated (by golden flush toilets even) palaces in private use. People brought many gifts to Saddam that were collected in a special palace. According to his order, every tenth brick of reconstructed ancient objects (including Nebuchadnezzar palace) was marked by his name or signature. His biography and his literature works were required to be learned in schools and Baas party functioneers examined about knowing.^{[clarification needed]} Many written songs, novels, scientific and propaganda articles were devoted to him. State TV was broadcast with his image on the background with a mosque at the screen corner and very often showed him, or his hands being kissed by children and other people.

After his fall, all statues of Saddam were destroyed, symbolically starting with the main monument in Baghdad. All other aspects of his cult were dissolved.

Italy[edit]

Main article: Propaganda of Fascist Italy § Personality cult

Il Duce Benito Mussoliniin a poster promoted by fascist propaganda with the motto: "Win and we shall win".

The cult of Il Duce of fascist Italy Benito Mussolini was in many respects the unifying force of the fascist regime, acting as a common denominator of various political groups and social classes in the fascist party and the Italian society. A basic slogan proclaimed that Mussolini was always right (Italian: Il Duce ha sempre ragione). Endless publicity revolved about him. He was generally portrayed in a macho manner, although he could also appear as a Renaissance man, or as military, family, or even common. This reflected his presentation as a universal man, capable of all subjects; a light was left on his office long after he was asleep as part of propaganda to present him as an insomniac owing to his driven to work nature. Mussolini himself oversaw which photographs could appear, rejecting some, for instance, because he was not sufficiently prominent in a group. Legends of Mussolini defying death during the First World War and surviving assassination attempts were circulated to give the dictator a mythical, immortal aura. In addition to being depicted as being chosen by God, the regime presented Mussolini himself having omnipotent or godlike superhuman. His image proclaimed that he had improved the Italian people morally, materially, and spiritually. He was the Duce and proclaimed in song even before the seizure of power. The war on Ethiopia was presented as a revival of Roman Empire, with Mussolini as Augustus.

In 2000s with the entry into Italian politics of media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, some critics accused that new kind of cult of personality was in place, favored by Berlusconi's three national televisions and newspapers.^[14] Moreover the hymn of Berlusconi's movements Forza Italia and People of Freedom was Meno male che Silvio c'è, literally "Thank goodness for Silvio".^[15]^[16] In addition to that often Berlusconi described himself as the Jesus Christ of the Italian politics.^[17]^[18]These attitudes were seen by public opinion as clear examples of the new political style that Berlusconi brought in Italy, focused on leader's charisma, cult of personality and media domination.^[19] Silvio Berlusconi has been Prime Minister of Italy for four time and governed the country for almost ten years.

Japan[edit]

Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai's international offshoot Soka Gakkai International, has been the frequent targets of criticism for fostering a cult of personality centered around himself.^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]

Kazakhstan[edit]

President Nursultan Nazarbayev is the subject of a state sponsored personality cult in Kazakhstan, where he has assumed the title "Leader of the Nation". ^[28]^[29]

Libya[edit]

Image of Gaddafi at the Leptis Magna Museum in Khoms, Libya.

A cult of personality devoted to Muammar Gaddafi existed in Libya during his rule.^[30] His face appeared on a wide variety of items, including postage stamps, watches, and school satchels. Quotations from The Green Book appeared on a wide variety of places, from street walls to airports and even on pens, and were put to pop music for public release. Gaddafi claimed that he disliked this personality cult, but that he tolerated it because Libya's people adored him.^[30]Biographers Blundy and Lycett believed that he was "a populist at heart".^[30] Throughout Libya, crowds of supporters would turn up to public events at which he appeared; described as "spontaneous demonstrations" by the government, there are recorded instances of groups being coerced or paid to attend.^[31] He was typically late to public events, and would sometimes not show up at all.^[32] Although Bianco thought that he had a "gift for oratory",^[33] he was considered a poor orator by biographers Blundy and Lycett.^[34] Biographer Daniel Kawczynski noted that Gaddafi was famed for his "lengthy, wandering" speeches,^[35] which typically involved criticising Israel and the U.S.^[32]

Malawi[edit]

Almost 30-year dictator of Malawi Hastings Banda was the subject of a very pervasive cult of personality. Every business building was required to have an official picture of him hanging on the wall, and no poster, clock or picture could be higher than his portrait. Before every movie, a video of Banda waving to the people was shown while the anthem played. When Banda visited a city, a contingent of women were expected to greet him at the airport and dance for him. A special cloth, bearing the president’s picture, was the required attire for these performances. Churches had to be formal government’s (in facts, Banda’s) sanctioned.

North Korea[edit]

Main article: North Korea's cult of personality

Mass games festival in North Korea. The performers are honouring the image of Kim Il-sung.

Journalist Bradley Martin documented the personality cults of North Korea's father-son leadership, "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung and "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.^[36] While visiting North Korea in 1979 he noted that nearly all music, art, and sculpture that he observed glorified "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung, whose personality cult was then being extended to his son, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.^[36]Kim Il-sung rejected the notion that he had created a cult around himself and accused those who suggested so of "factionalism".^[36] A US religious freedom investigation confirmed Martin's observation that North Korean schoolchildren learn to thank Kim Il-sung for all blessings as part of the cult.^[37] Evidence of the cult of Kim Il-sung continues into the 21st century (despite his death in 1994) with the erection of Yeong Saeng ("eternal life") monuments throughout the country, each dedicated to the departed "Great Leader", at which citizens are expected to pay annual tribute on his birthday or on the anniversary of his death.^[38] Recently, the personality cult in North Korea has been expanded to include the son of Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un.

Philippines[edit]

A typical layout of a Merry Christmasgreeting of an "epal politician" in the Philippines.

Bust of Ferdinand Marcos before it was destroyed in 2002

In the Philippines, many local politicians engage in some sort of cult of personality. They are often branded as "epal politicians" by the media with "epal" meaning attention-grabber in Filipino slang. They put their image and their names on billboards of government projects. They also print taurpalins, usually with their image to establish a sense of connection with their constituents.^[39]^[40]^[41] The Senate Bill No. 1967 or Anti-Signage of Public Works Act, colloquially known as the anti-epal bill, was filed by Senator Miriam Santiago on November 2011, and refiled again in July 2013 in an effort to stop the practice.^[42]

Poland[edit]

Main article: Józef Piłsudski's cult of personality

A cult of personality in Poland has developed around the figure of Józef Piłsudski, a Polish military commander and politician, starting from the interwar period and continuing after his death in 1935 until the present day. During the interwar period, Piłsudski's cult was propagated by the state media, describing him as a masterful strategist and a political visionary, and associating him with his role in regaining Polish independence in the aftermath of World War I, and his leadership in the ensuingPolish–Soviet War. It has survived decades of repression, particularly during the era of communist Poland.

In modern Poland, Piłsudski is recognized as an important and largely positive figure in Polish history.Polish Independence Day is commemorated on November 11, the date when Piłsudski assumed power in Poland after the First World War.

Republic of Kosovo[edit]

Statue of Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina.

A 10-foot high statue of Bill Clinton was unveiled on the Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina, Kosovo on November 1, 2009, in a ceremony at which the former president spoke. In a 2009 news story,Guardian reported, "There is something pathetic in building such monuments to living people today. It smacks of a long tradition of the personality cult during communism – a sad and (one would have hoped) outdated practice. In Clinton's case, the statue is even gilded, as an angel in a church or Enver Hoxha, who also had a gilded statue in Tirana, a long time ago."^[43]

Romania[edit]

Main article: Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality

During the Cold War, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu presided over the most pervasive cult of personality within the Eastern Bloc. Inspired by the personality cult surrounding Kim Il-sung in North Korea, it started with the 1971 July Theses which reversed the liberalization of the 1960s and imposed a strict nationalist ideology. Initially, the cult of personality was only focused on Ceaușescu himself; however, by the early 1980s, his wife Elena was also a focus of the cult even to the extent that she got credit for scientific achievements which she could never have accomplished. It remained in force until the overthrow of the regime in 1989.

Russia[edit]

Soviet Union[edit]

Main article: Stalin's cult of personality

Syria[edit]

Bashar al-Assad mural in Latakia, November 2011

As one of his strategies to maintain power over Syria, Hafez al-Assad developed a state-sponsored cult of personality.^[47] Portraits of him, often depicting him engaging in heroic activities, were placed in every public space. He named myriad numbers of places and institutions in Syria after himself, and other members of his family. At school, children were taught to sing songs of adulation about Hafez al-Assad. Teachers would begin each lesson with the song "Our eternal leader, Hafez al-Assad". In some cases, he portrayed himself with apparently divine properties. Sculptures and portraits depicted him alongside the prophet Mohammad, while, following her death, the government produced portraits of Assad's mother surrounded by a halo. Syrian officials were made to refer to him as the 'Sanctified one' (al-Muqaddas).^[48] The personality cult that he developed portrayed him as a wise, modest and just leader of the country. This strategy of creating a cult of personality was pursued further by Hafez's son and then-president, Bashar al-Assad.^[49]

Spain[edit]

Francoist Spain, also historically known as Nationalist Spain during the Spanish Civil War, refers to the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco took control of Spain from the government of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. Franco was formally recognised as Caudillo for the Spanish patria by the National Defense Committee (Junta de defensa nacional) which governed the territories occupied by the Nationalists on 1 October 1936.^[50] It has been estimated that more than 200,000 Spaniards died in the first years of the dictatorship, from 1940–42, as a result of political repression, hunger and disease related to the conflict.^[51] He wore the uniform of a captain general (a rank traditionally reserved for the King), resided in the royalPardo Palace, appropriated the kingly privilege of walking beneath a canopy, and his portrait appeared on most Spanish coins. Indeed, although his formal titles were Jefe del Estado (Head of State) and Generalísimo de los Ejércitos Españoles (Generalissimo of the Spanish Armed Forces), he was referred to as Caudillo de España por la gracia de Dios, (by the Grace of God, the Leader of Spain). Por la Gracia de Dios is a technical, legal formulation which states sovereign dignity in absolute monarchies, and had only been used by monarchs before Franco used it himself. Franco's Spanish nationalism promoted a unitary national identity by repressing Spain's cultural diversity.Bullfighting and flamenco^[52] were promoted as national traditions while those traditions not considered "Spanish" were suppressed. Franco's view of Spanish tradition was somewhat artificial and arbitrary: while some regional traditions were suppressed, Flamenco, anAndalusian tradition, was considered part of a larger, national identity. All cultural activities were subject to censorship, and many, such as the Sardana, the national dance of Catalunya, were plainly forbidden (often in an erratic manner). This cultural policy relaxed with time, most notably in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Togo[edit]

In a 2004 article on personality cults, The Economist identified Togo's Gnassingbé Eyadéma as maintaining an extensive personality cult, to the point of having schoolchildren begin their day by singing his praises.^[53]

Turkey[edit]

Main article: Atatürk's cult of personality

A portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Istanbul

In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is commemorated by many memorials throughout the country, such as the Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, the Atatürk Bridge over the Golden Horn(Haliç), the Atatürk Dam, and Atatürk Stadium. His titles include Great Leader (Ulu Önder), Eternal Commander (Ebedî Başkomutan), Head Teacher (Baş Öğretmen), and Eternal Chief (Ebedî Şef). Atatürk statues have been erected in all Turkish cities by the Turkish Government, and most towns have their own memorial to him. His face and name are seen and heard everywhere in Turkey; his portrait can be seen in all public buildings, in all schools and classrooms, on all school textbooks, on all Turkish lira banknotes, and in the homes of many Turkish families.^[54] At the exact time of his death, on every 10 November, at 09:05 am, most vehicles and people in the country's streets pause for one minute in remembrance.^[55] In 1951, the Turkish Parliament issued a law (5816)outlawing insults to his reminiscence (Turkish: Hatırası) or destruction of objects representing him, which is still in force.^[56] A government website^[57] was created to denounce the websites that violate this law, and the Turkish government as of 2011 has filters in place to block websites deemed to contain materials insulting to his memory.

The start of Atatürk's cult of personality is placed in the 1920s when the first statues started being built.^[58] The idea of Atatürk as the "father of the Turks" is ingrained in Turkish politics and politicians in that country are evaluated in relation to his cult of personality.^[59] The persistence of the phenomenon of Atatürk's personality cult has become an area of deep interest to scholars.^[60]

Atatürk impersonators are also seen around Turkey much after Atatürk's death to preserve what is called the "world's longest-running personality cult".^[61]

Turkmenistan[edit]

Golden statue of Saparmurat Niyazov in Ashgabat

Saparmurat Niyazov, who was President of Turkmenistan from 1985 to 2006,^[62] is another oft-cited cultivator of a cult of personality.^[63]^[64]^[65] Niyazov simultaneously cut funding to and partially disassembled the education system in the name of "reform", while injecting ideological indoctrination into it by requiring all schools to take his own book, the Ruhnama, as its primary text, and like Kim Il-sung, there is even a creation myth surrounding him.^[64]^[66] During Niyazov's presidency there was no freedom of the press nor was there freedom of speech. This further meant that opposition to Niyazov was strictly forbidden and major opposition figures have been imprisoned, institutionalized, deported, or have fled the country, and their family members are routinely harassed by the authorities.^[63] Additionally, a silhouette of Niyazov was used as a logo on television broadcasts^[67] and statues and pictures of him were "erected everywhere".^[68] For these, and other reasons, the US Government said that by the time he died, "Niyazov's personality cult...had reached the dimensions of a state-imposed religion."^[69]

Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2012, says there is a cult of personality of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and that it is strengthening.^[70] Agence France-Presse reports a developing personality cult.^[71] Reporters Without Borders says the president is promoting a cult of personality of himself and that his portraits have taken the place of the ones of the previous president.^[72]

United States[edit]

Author Gene Healy raises questions about the Imperial Presidency and posits a cult of the President in his book The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power.^[73]

Vietnam[edit]

Ho Chi Minh statue in front of the City Hall of Ho Chi Minh City

The Vietnamese communist regime has continually maintained a personality cult around Ho Chi Minh since the 1950s in the North, and it was later extended to the South after the reunification, which it sees as a crucial part of its propaganda campaign surrounding Ho and the Party's past. Ho Chi Minh is frequently glorified in schools by schoolchildren. Opinions, publications and broadcasts that are critical of Ho Chi Minh or that identify his flaws are banned in Vietnam, with the commentators arrested or fined for "opposing the people's revolution". Ho Chi Minh is even glorified to a religious status as an "immortal saint" by the Vietnamese Communist Party, and some people "worship the President", according to a BBC report.^[74]

The former capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City on 1 May 1975 shortly after its capture which officially ended the Vietnam War.^[74]

Zaire[edit]

Banknote of Zaire depicting Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sésé Seko used his cult of personality to create a god-like public image of himself in what is today theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. Mobutu created a centralized state, amassed massive wealth for himself and presided over the economic deterioration of his country and human rightsabuses.^{[citation needed]}

He used mass media communications to entrench his rule.^[75]

Mobutu embarked on a campaign of pro-African cultural awareness and in 1972 he formally changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga ("The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake.")^[76]

Footnotes[edit]

Jump up^ Stark, Rodney, William Brainbridge (1996). A Theory of Religion. Rutgers University Press. p. 124. ISBN 0813523303.
Jump up^ OED, citing American Journal of Sociology 85 (1980), p. 1377: "Cults[...], like other deviant social movements, tend to recruit people with a grievance, people who suffer from a some variety of deprivation."
Jump up^ Dr. Chuck Shaw – Sects and Cults – Greenville Technical College – Retrieved 21 March 2013.
Jump up^ T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 13: Social Psychology." pp 320 [1]
Jump up^ Olson, Paul J. 2006. "The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 97–106
Jump up^ Bromley, David Melton, J. Gordon 2002. Cults, Religion, and Violence. West Nyack, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Jump up^ Dr. Chuck Shaw - Sects and Cults - Greenville Technical College - Retrieved 21 March 2013.
Jump up^ Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley – The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P-Sh, Volume 4 page 897. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
Jump up^ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult
Jump up^ In W. S. Taylor, 'Science and cult', Psychological Review, Vol 37(2), March 1930, cultist is still used in the sense that would now be expressed by "religionist", i.e. anyone adopting a religious worldview as opposed to a scientific one. In the New York State Journal of Medicine of 1932, p. 84 (and other medical publications of the 1930s; e.g. Morris Fishbein, Fads and Quackery in Healing: An Analysis of the Foibles of the Healing Cults, 1932), "cultist" is used of those adhering to what was then called "healing cults", and would now be referred to as faith healing, but also of other forms ofalternative medicine ("cultist" (in quotes) of a chiropractor in United States naval medical bulletin, Volume 28, 1930, p. 366).
Jump up^ Swatos Jr., William H. (1998). "Church-Sect Theory". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 90–93. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
Jump up^ Campbell., Colin (1998). "Cult". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.).Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
Jump up^ Richardson, 1993 p. 349
Jump up^ Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 25
Jump up^ Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 124
Jump up^ The Chaos of Cults, by J.K.van Baalen, 1938, 2nd revised and enlarged ed. 1956. "cult" in the sense of "heresy" is also found in J.Oswald Sanders, Heresies Ancient and Modern (1948).
Jump up^ e.g. Walter Martin, The Christian and the Cults: Answering the Cultist from the Bible, The Modern cult library series, Division of Cult Apologetics, Zondervan Publishing House, (1956) invokes Satan as instigator of "cults" on pp. 77, 113f. and 142.
Jump up^ A European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism was set up in 1994.
Jump up^ "This book tells you why the propaganda about and misrepresentation of Witches as evil, Satan-worshipping cultists is absolutely false" Scott Cunningham, The Truth about Witchcraft(1992).
Jump up^ Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
Jump up^ so Margaret Singer, Janja Lalich, Cults in Our Midst (1995), in reference to Eileen Barker. See also Tim Stafford, "The Kingdom of the Cult Watchers," Christianity Today (October 7, 1991).
Jump up^ Сергей Иваненко (2009-08-17). "О религиоведческих аспектах "антикультового движения"" (in Russian). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
Jump up^ The new nobility : the restoration of Russia's security state and the enduring legacy of the KGB, Author: Andreĭ Soldatov; I Borogan, Publisher: New York, NY : PublicAffairs, ©2010. pages 65-66
Jump up^ or "sects" in German-speaking countries, the German termSekten (lit. "sects") having assumed the same derogatory meaning as English "cult".
Jump up^
- Austria: Beginning in 2011, the United States Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report, as released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor no longer distinguishes sects in Austria as a separate group."International Religious Freedom Report for 2012". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- Belgium: The Justice Commission of the Belgian House of Representatives published a report on cults in 1997. A Brussels Appeals Court in 2005 condemned the Belgian House of Representatives on the grounds that it had damaged the image of an organization listed.
- France: a parliamentary commission of the National Assembly compiled a list of purported cults in 1995. In 2005, the Prime Minister stated that the concerns addressed in the list "had become less pertinen" and that the government needed to balance its concern with cults with respect for public freedoms and laïcité.
- Germany: The legitimacy of a 1997 Berlin Senate report listing cults (Sekten) was defended in a court decision of 2003 (Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin (OVG 5 B 26.00) 25 September 2003), and the list is still maintained by Berlin city authorities (Sekten und Psychogruppen - Leitstelle Berlin).
Jump up^ Dawson, Lorne L. (2006). Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-542009-8.
Jump up^ Goldman, Marion (2006). "Review Essay: Cults, New Religions, and the Spiritual Landscape: A Review of Four Collections". Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 87–96.doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2006.00007.x.
Jump up^ Bainbridge, William Sims (1997). The Sociology of Religious Movements. New York: Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-91202-4.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Ogloff, J. R.; Pfeifer, J. E. (1992). "Cults and the law: A discussion of the legality of alleged cult activities.". Behavioral Sciences & the Law 10 (1): 117–140.doi:10.1002/bsl.2370100111.
Jump up^ Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall,ISBN 0131834789
Jump up^ Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", New Religious Movements: challenge and response, Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, Routledge ISBN 0415200504
Jump up^ Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall,ISBN 0131834789, page 51
Jump up^ Weber, Maximillan. Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Chapter: "The Nature of Charismatic Authority and its Routinization" translated by A. R. Anderson and Talcott Parsons, 1947. Originally published in 1922 in German under the titleWirtschaft und Gesellschaft chapter III, § 10 (available online)
Jump up^ Wallis, Roy The Road to Total Freedom A Sociological analysis of Scientology (1976) available online (bad scan)
Jump up^ Wallis, Roy Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sectabstract only (1975)
Jump up^ Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William (1996). A Theory of Religion. Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 155. ISBN 0-8135-2330-3.
Jump up^ Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313328072, page xv.
Jump up^ The Early Unification Church History, Galen Pumphrey
Jump up^ Conversion, Unification Church, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
Jump up^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN 0-275-98717-5, ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6, page 180
Jump up^ Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001ISBN 0-8264-5959-5, ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6 page 1
Jump up^ Cowan, 2003
Jump up^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America(New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). page 5
Jump up^ Walter Ralston Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218 page 18
Jump up^ Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
Jump up^ Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
Jump up^ H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
Jump up^ Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious Traditions Volume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
Jump up^ Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
Jump up^ Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
Jump up^ Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Richardson and Introvigne, 2001
Jump up^ Shupe, Anson (1998). "Anti-Cult Movement". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
Jump up^ Hill, Harvey, John Hickman and Joel McLendon (2001). "Cults and Sects and Doomsday Groups, Oh My: Media Treatment of Religion on the Eve of the Millennium". Review of Religious Research 43 (1): 24–38. doi:10.2307/3512241.JSTOR 3512241.
Jump up^ van Driel, Barend and J. Richardson (1988). "Cult versus sect: Categorization of new religions in American print media".Sociological Analysis 49 (2): 171–183. doi:10.2307/3711011.JSTOR 3711011.
Jump up^ Richardson, James T. (1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research (Religious Research Association, Inc.) 34 (4): 348–356.doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
Jump up^ T. Robbins and D. Anthony (1982:283, quoted in Richardson 1993:351) ("...certain manipulative and authoritarian groups which allegedly employ mind control and pose a threat to mental health are universally labeled cults. These groups are usually 1) authoritarian in their leadership; 2)communal and totalistic in their organization; 3) aggressive in their proselytizing; 4) systematic in their programs of indoctrination; 5)relatively new and unfamiliar in the United States; 6)middle class in their clientele")
Jump up^ Melton, J. Gordon (1999-12-10). "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2009-06-15. "In the United States at the end of the 1970s, brainwashing emerged as a popular theoretical construct around which to understand what appeared to be a sudden rise of new and unfamiliar religious movements during the previous decade, especially those associated with the hippie street-people phenomenon."
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Bromley, David G. (1998). "Brainwashing". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
Jump up^ Barker, Eileen: New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty's Stationery office, 1989.
Jump up^ Janja, Lalich; Langone, Michael. "Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups - Revised".International_Cultic_Studies_Association. International Cultic Studies Association. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
Jump up^ O'Reilly, Charles; Chatman, Jennifer (1996), Culture as Social Control: Corporations, Cults and Commitment, University of Berkely, ISBN 1-55938-938-9
Jump up^ Wright, Stewart A. (1997). "Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any 'Good News' for Minority Faiths?". Review of Religious Research (Review of Religious Research, Vol. 39, No. 2)39 (2): 101–115. doi:10.2307/3512176. JSTOR 3512176.
Jump up^ Barker, Eileen (1986). "Religious Movements: Cult and Anti-Cult Since Jonestown". Annual Review of Sociology 12: 329–346.doi:10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553.
Jump up^ Ayella, Marybeth (1990). "They Must Be Crazy: Some of the Difficulties in Researching 'Cults'". American Behavioral Scientist33 (5): 562–577. doi:10.1177/0002764290033005005.
Jump up^ Cowan, 2003 ix
Jump up^ Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
Jump up^ Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 285–303. (1996)
Jump up^ Bromley, David G., Shupe, Anson D., Ventimiglia, G.C.: "Atrocity Tales, the Unification Church, and the Social Construction of Evil",Journal of Communication, Summer 1979, p. 42-53.
Jump up^ Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes (English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, an article that appeared in the otherwise English-language book New Religions in a Postmodern Worldedited by Mikael Rothstein and Reender Kranenborg RENNER Studies in New religions Aarhus University press, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
Jump up^ Shupe, A.D. and D.G. Bromley 1981 Apostates and Atrocity Stories: Some parameters in the Dynamics of Deprogramming In: B.R. Wilson (ed.) The Social Impact of New Religious MovementsBarrytown NY: Rose of Sharon Press, 179-215
Jump up^ Pilgrims of Love: The Anthropology of a Global Sufi Cult. By Pnina Werbner. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. xvi, 348 pp "...the excessive use of "cult" is also potentially misleading. With its pejorative connotations"
Jump up^ Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative, James T. Richardson, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Jun. 1993), pp. 348–356 "the word cult is useless, and should be avoided because of the confusion between the historic meaning of the word and current pejorative use"
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Wessinger, Catherine Lowman (2000). How the Millennium Comes Violently. New York, NY/London, UK: Seven Bridges Press. p. 4. ISBN 1-889119-24-5.
Jump up^ Schoolboy avoids prosecution for branding Scientology a 'cult'Daily Mail, 23 May 2008
Jump up^ Protesters celebrate city's 'cult' stance – Edinburgh Evening News, 27 May 2008
Jump up^ Amy Ryan: New Religions and the Anti-Cult Movement: Online Resource Guide in Social Sciences (2000) [2]
Jump up^ Casino. Bruce J., Defining Religion in American Law, 1999
Jump up^ Jenkins, Phillip (2000). Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oxford University Press USA. pp. 216, 222. ISBN 0-19-514596-8.
Jump up^ Pargament, Kenneth I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press. pp. 150–153, 340, section: "Compelling Coping in a Doomsday Cult". ISBN 1-57230-664-5.
Jump up^ Stangor, Charles (2004). Social Groups in Action and Interaction. Psychology Press. pp. 42–43: "When Prophecy Fails". ISBN 1-84169-407-X.
Jump up^ Newman, Dr. David M. (2006). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. Pine Forge Press. p. 86. ISBN 1-4129-2814-1.
Jump up^ Petty, Richard E.; John T. Cacioppo (1996). Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches. Westview Press. p. 139: "Effect of Disconfirming an Important Belief".ISBN 0-8133-3005-X.
Jump up^ Festinger, Leon; Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter (1956).When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 1-59147-727-1.
Jump up^ Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth, On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
Jump up^ Janja Lalich "On the Edge" (review), Cultic Studies Review (online journal), 2:2, 2003 [3]
Jump up^ Tourish and Wohlforth, 2000
Jump up^ Introduction to ‘Ideological Intransigence, Democratic Centralism and Cultism’
Jump up^ John Mintz, "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right,"The Washington Post, January 14, 1985 [4]
Jump up^ Alisa Solomon, "Commie Fiends of Brooklyn," The Village Voice, November 26, 1996.
Jump up^ Janja A. Lalich, Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004 [5]
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Rothbard, Murray. "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". Retrieved 2009-07-30. Rothbard's essay was later revised and printed as a pamphlet by Liberty magazine in 1987, and by the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1990.
Jump up^ Shermer, Michael (1997). "The Unlikeliest Cult". Why People Believe Weird Things. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.ISBN 0-7167-3090-1. This chapter is a revised version of Shermer, Michael (1993). "The Unlikeliest Cult in History". Skeptic 2 (2): 74–81.
Jump up^ David North, Gerry Healy and His Place in the History of the Fourth International, Mehring Books, 1991. ISBN 0-929087-58-5. Does not define the group as a cult but draws parallels to Scientology and provides a detailed account of Healy's descent into personal authoritarianism.
Jump up^ Tourish and Wohlforth, "Gerry Healy: Guru to a Star" (Chapter 10), pp. 156–172, in On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000
Jump up^ "Cults, Sects and the Far Left" reviewed by Bob Pitt, What Next?ISSN 1479-4322 No. 17, 2000 online
Jump up^ (French) "Arlette Laguiller n'aime pas le débat". L'Humanité. April 11, 2002.
Jump up^ Cyril Le Tallec (2006). Les sectes politiques: 1965–1995 (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2009.
Jump up^ Robinson, B.A. (July 25, 2007). "Doomsday, destructive religious cults". Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
Jump up^ Turner, Francis J.; Arnold Shanon Bloch, Ron Shor (September 1, 1995). Differential Diagnosis & Treatment in Social Work, 4th Edition. Free Press. pp. 1146: Chapter 105: "From Consultation to Therapy in Group Work With Parents of Cultists". ISBN 0-02-874007-6.
Jump up^ Clark, M.D., John Gordon (November 4, 1977). "The Effects of Religious Cults on the Health and Welfare of Their Converts".Congressional Record (United States Congress) 123 (181): Extensions of Remarks P. 37401–37403. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
Jump up^ Kaslow, Florence Whiteman; Marvin B. Sussman (1982). Cults and the Family. Haworth Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-917724-55-0.
Jump up^ Dr. Zablocki, Benjamin [6] Paper presented to a conference,Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues, 31 May 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jump up^ Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (Dutch language) Sekten... gevaarlijk of niet?/Cults... dangerous or not? published in the magazineReligieuze bewegingen in Nederland/Religious movements in the Netherlands nr. 31 Sekten II by the Free university Amsterdam(1996) ISSN 0169-7374 ISBN 90-5383-426-5
Jump up^ Saliba, John A.; J. Gordon Melton, foreword (2003).Understanding New Religious Movements. Rowman Altamira. p. 144. ISBN 0-7591-0356-9.
Jump up^ Zablocki, Benjamin David; Thomas Robbins (2001).Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. p. 474. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
Jump up^ Dawson, Lorne L. (1998). Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Transaction Publishers. p. 349: "Sects and Violence". ISBN 0-7658-0478-6.
Jump up^ Hubert Seiwert: Freedom and Control in the Unified Germany: Governmental Approaches to Alternative Religions Since 1989. In:Sociology of Religion (2003) 64 (3): 367–375, S. 370. Online edition
Jump up^ BVerfG, 1 BvR 670/91 dd 26 June 2002, Rn. 57, 60, 62, 91–94,related press release (German)
Jump up^ Piven, Jerry S. (2002). Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History. iUniverse. pp. 104–114.ISBN 0-595-25104-8.
Jump up^ Goldberg, Carl; Virginia Crespo (2004). Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society. Praeger/Greenwood. p. 161. ISBN 0-275-98196-7.
Jump up^ Dittmann, Melissa (November 10, 2002). "Cults of hatred: Panelists at a convention session on hatred asked APA to form a task force to investigate mind control among destructive cults.".Monitor on Psychology (American Psychological Association). pp. Page 30, Volume 33, No. 10. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
Jump up^ Sieghart, Mary Ann (October 26, 2001). "The cult figure we could do without". The Times.
Jump up^ Steven J. Stern (ed.), Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980–1995, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998
Jump up^ David Scott Palmer, Shining Path of Peru, New York: St. Martin's Press, second ed., 1994
Jump up^ Gérard Chaliand, Interview in L'Express (French)
Jump up^ Elizabeth Rubin, "The Cult of Rajavi," The New York Times Magazine, July 13, 2003
Jump up^ Karl Vick, "Iran Dissident Group Labeled a Terrorist Cult," The Washington Post, June 21, 2003
Jump up^ Max Boot, "How to Handle Iran," Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2006
Jump up^ "No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps", Human Rights Watch [7]
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Jump up^ Lewis, 2004
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Davis, Dena S. 1996 "Joining a Cult: Religious Choice or Psychological Aberration" Journal of Law and Health.
Jump up^ Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James T. (2003). "Falun Gong and the Law: Development of Legal Social Control in China". Nova Religio 6 (2): 312–331. doi:10.1525/nr.2003.6.2.312.
Jump up^ Richardson and Introvigne, 2001 pp. 144–146
Jump up^ Robbins, Thomas (2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40(2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.
Jump up^ Beckford, James A. (1998). "'Cult' Controversies in Three European Countries". Journal of Oriental Studies 8: 174–84.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Benjamin Penny, "The Religion of Falun Gong," (University of Chicago Press, 2012), ISBN 978-0-226-65501-7, p. 6
Jump up^ Freedom House, “Report Analyzing Seven Secret Chinese Government Documents”, 11 February 2002.
Jump up^ Thomas Lum (25 May 2006). "CRS Report for Congress: China and Falun Gong" (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
Jump up^ "China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". Amnesty International. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
Jump up^ Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James. “Falun Gong and the Law Development of Legal Social Control in China.” Nova Religio 6.2 (2003).
Jump up^ Restall, Hugo. “What if Falun Dafa is a ‘cult?’”. The Asian Wall Street Journal, 14 February 2001.
Jump up^ John Turley-Ewart, "Falun Gong persecution spreads to Canada," The National Post, 20 March 2004.
Jump up^ Richardson, 1993
Jump up^ Barker, Eileen (2002). "Watching for Violence: A comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-watching Groups". In David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton. Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0521668980.
Jump up^ T. Jeremy Gunn, The Complexity of Religion and the Definition of “Religion” in International Law
Jump up^ Richardson, James T. (2004). Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe. New York [u.a.]: Kluwer Acad. / Plenum Publ. ISBN 0306478862.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Richardson, James T. and Introvigne, Massimo (2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40 (2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Robbins, Thomas (2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40 (2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.

References[edit]

Cowan, Douglas E. (2003). Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-97459-6.
Lewis, James R. (2004). The Oxford handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-514986-6.
Richardson, James T. (1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research 34(4): 348–356. doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
Richardson, James T. and Introvigne, Massimo (2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40 (2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
Stark, Rodney and Bainbridge, William Sims (1987). The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. Berkley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05731-9.

Bibliography[edit]

Books

Barker, E. (1989) New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London, HMSO
Bromley, David et al.: Cults, Religion, and Violence, 2002, ISBN 0-521-66898-0
Enroth, Ronald. (1992) Churches that Abuse, Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-53290-6 Full text online
Esquerre, Arnaud: La manipulation mentale. Sociologie des sectes en France, Fayard, Paris, 2009.
House, Wayne: Charts of Cults, Sects, and Religious Movements, 2000, ISBN 0-310-38551-2
Kramer, Joel and Alstad, Diane: The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power, 1993.
Lalich, Janja: Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, 2004, ISBN 0-520-24018-9
Landau Tobias, Madeleine et al. : Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, 1994, ISBN 0-89793-144-0
Lewis, James R. The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements Oxford University Press, 2004
Lewis, James R. Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy, Prometheus Books, 2001
Martin, Walter et al.: The Kingdom of the Cults, 2003, ISBN 0-7642-2821-8
Melton, Gordon: Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, 1992 (Search inside), ISBN 0-8153-1140-0
Oakes, Len: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities, 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0398-3
Singer, Margaret Thaler: Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, 1992, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
Tourish, Dennis: 'On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, 2000, ISBN 0-7656-0639-9
Williams, Miriam: (1998) Heaven's Harlots: My Fifteen Years As a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult . William Morrow & Co. ISBN 978-0-688-15504-9.
Wilson, Colin Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors, 2000, Hampton Roads Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-57174-175-2
Zablocki, Benjamin et al.: Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6

Articles

Langone, Michael: Cults: Questions and Answers [8]
Lifton, Robert Jay: Cult Formation, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 1991 [9]
Moyers. Jim: Psychological Issues of Former Members of Restrictive Religious Groups [10]
Richmond, Lee J. :When Spirituality Goes Awry: Students in Cults, Professional School Counseling, June 2004 [11]
Robbins, T. and D. Anthony, 1982. "Deprogramming, brainwashing and the medicalization of deviant religious groups" Social Problems 29 pp 283–97.
James T. Richardson: "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative" Review of Religious Research 34.4 (June 1993), pp. 348–356.
Rosedale, Herbert et al.: On Using the Term "Cult" [12]
Van Hoey, Sara: Cults in Court The Los Angeles Lawyer, February 1991 [13]
Zimbardo, Philip: What messages are behind today's cults?, American Psychological Association Monitor, May 1997 [14]
Aronoff, Jodi; Lynn, Steven Jay; Malinosky, Peter. Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?, Clinical Psychology Review, 2000, Vol. 20 #1 pp. 91–111
Rothstein, Mikael, Hagiography and Text in the Aetherius Society: Aspects of the Social Construction of a Religious Leader, an article which appeared in the book New Religions in a Postmodern World edited by Mikael Rothstein and Reender Kranenborg, RENNER Studies in New religions, Aarhus University press, ISBN 87-7288-748-6

Web Journal

Cult, Cultology

New religious movements[edit]

Scholarly studies[edit]

Anti-cult movements[edit]

Christian countercult movement[edit]

Secular anti-cult movement[edit]

Former members[edit]

Stigmatization and discrimination[edit]

Doomsday cults[edit]

Political cults[edit]

Destructive cults[edit]

Criticism of the term[edit]

Destructive cults and terrorism[edit]

Government policy[edit]

Cults and U.S. Law[edit]

Contents

Etymology[edit]

In Christianity[edit]

Outwards religious practice[edit]

Contents

Definitions[edit]

Terminology[edit]

New religions studies[edit]

History[edit]

Joining[edit]

NRMs and the media[edit]

Opposition[edit]

NRMs and globalization[edit]

See also[edit]

Contents

The concept of an ACM[edit]

Religious and secular critics[edit]

Barker's five types of cult-watching groups[edit]

Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement[edit]

Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults[edit]

Family-members of adherents[edit]

Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists[edit]

Former members[edit]

Christian countercult movement[edit]

Governmental Opposition[edit]

Anti-cult movement in Russia[edit]

Controversies[edit]

Polarized views among scholars[edit]

Brainwashing and mind-control[edit]

Deprogramming or exit-counseling[edit]

Responses of targeted groups and scholars[edit]

See also[edit]

Contents

Etymology[edit]

Background[edit]

Purpose[edit]

Examples[edit]

Afghanistan[edit]

Albania[edit]

Argentina[edit]

Azerbaijan[edit]

China[edit]

Dominican Republic[edit]

French Indochina[edit]

Germany[edit]

Haiti[edit]

Iraq[edit]

Italy[edit]

Japan[edit]

Kazakhstan[edit]

Libya[edit]

Malawi[edit]

North Korea[edit]

Philippines[edit]

Poland[edit]

Republic of Kosovo[edit]

Romania[edit]

Russia[edit]

Soviet Union[edit]

Syria[edit]

Spain[edit]

Togo[edit]

Turkey[edit]

Turkmenistan[edit]