Cults and Their Leaders Essay -- Psychology Cults Violence Essays Reli

Cults and Their LeadersFor many years, craze leaders always had a psychological throw away on their followers take cares. Whether it was to kill other(a) people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a performer of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling Gods plan. Because cult leaders argon powerful through psychological offenses, the people that live to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldnt normally do in their right state of mind.For years, there guard been problems surrounding the definition of the term cult. The literal and traditional centers of the word cult, which are more fully explored at the entry Cult (religion), come from the Latin cultus, meaning care or adoration, as a system of religious belief or ritual or the body of adherents to same. In French or Spanish, culte or culto simply means worship or religious attendance therefore an association cultuelle is an association whose goal is to organize religious worship and practices. The word for cult in the popular English meaning is secte (French) or secta (Spanish). In formal English use, and in non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word cult are neutral, and strike mainly to divisions within a single faith, a case where English speakers might use the word sect. Hence Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism are cults within Christianity. However, in common usage, cult has a very negative connotation, and is generally applied to a group in order to criticize it. Understandably, intimately groups, if not all, that are called cults deny this term. Some groups called cults by some critics may consider themselves not to be cults, but may consider some other groups to be cults. Although anti-cult activists and scholars did not agree on precis e criteria that new religions should meet to be considered cults, two of the definitions formulated by anti-cult activists are Cults are groups that often employ members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leaderships demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of d... ...psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldnt normally do in their right state of mind. Cult leaders used various ways of molding a followers mind and brainwashing them to do things for them. Some cult leaders used punishments as a way of breaking the followers that were resistant to their demands. Others used and perfected the art of persuasion. each way, the mind of their followers or family are in total control of the leader. Works CitedBugliosi, Vincent, with Curt Gentry. Helter Skelter The True Story of The Manson Murders. New York and London Norton, 1994.Merriam-Webster Online. 2005. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 4 whitethorn 2005 Mills, Jeannie. Six Years With God Life Inside Rev. Jim Joness Peoples Temple. New York A&W Publishers, 1979.Terry, Maury. The Ultimate Evil The Truth About Cult Murders Son Of surface-to-air missile & Beyond. New York Barnes and Noble Publishing Company, 1987.Wilson, Brian R. Apostates and New religious Movements. New York and London Routledge, 1999. Zimbardo, Philip. The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence. Columbus McGraw-Hill, 1991.