Essay, Research Paper: Differences Between Cults And Religion

By Nick Carroll (I do not wish to remain anonymous. Let my work benefit everyone!)

A warning to Pryor High School Students: If you plagiarize this, you do so at your own risk. More than likely you will be caught; my English Teacher has a sharp memory and does not forget my writing.
Have fun!!



What makes a cult different from valid form of religion? This is a question most people find difficult to answer. The modus operandi of accepted religions is chiefly to spread their faith and promote goodness among the human race. Most cults, however, have different goals than that of valid religions. Most simply try to make money and amass complete power over its followers. There are a few exceptions, such as Mormonism, Hare Krishna, and Zoroastrianism. These "cults" have withstood the test of time and have "graduated" to the state of accepted religions. So, while it is true that some cults have flourished into valid forms of thought and religion, most cults have had a negative impact on society.
The typical cult has little respect for the individuality of a person. If possible, the cult will deliberately try to repress one's nature to make it easier to instill the dogma of their organization upon the member. The cult will employ several different techniques at once to try to repress the person's critical thinking. Twenty hour long days, malnutricious diets, and heavy bombardments of propaganda are used to weaken a new recruit's mind. After a period of time (usually a few weeks) the new recruit of the cult will accept anything the cult tells them as "gospel" truth. Those who still question aspects of the cult are publicly humiliated and/or physically abused. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, for example, would hang children upside down in wells and threaten people with death. Those who accept the cult's doctrine without question will usually find respect among peers and promotions within the cult's ranks. In the Unification Church, "faithful" members who have some form of education will quickly find themselves running a Unification Church owned businesses, or at the head of a Unification Church fundraising establishment.
While power over its followers is important, power over the world requires one thing: money. Consequently, most cults spend large amount of time and efforts trying to obtain it. In the Unification Church, people who fund-raise are encouraged to lie as frequently as they can in order to obtain money. They call this the "heavenly deception", a deception that is supposed to help mankind, whereas "Satan's Deception" is supposedly a deception counterproductive to mankind. Other followers of the Unification Church work in Unification owned businesses for nothing but food and shelter. The Church of Scientology requires large amounts of money for followers to have sessions with their leaders. It is nothing for a single person to pay $40,000-$100,000 to the church over the course one's lifespan.
Though money and power are effective tools, one of the most efficient tools to use to keep that power is fear. Cults will use a wide variety of scare tactics to keep their "faithful" faithful. Most will convince their followers that leaving the cult will result in eternal damnation. Others have had more direct means. Jim Jones of the People Temple would threaten people with his "angels", which were a group of trained martial artists and hit men. Ex Jehovah's Witness members have received threatening phone calls and letters. Ex Unification Church members have been hounded and had their phone lines tapped.
It is difficult to find many arguments in favor of cults. In fact, most of the pro-cult arguments would be from cultists themselves. Each and every cult, of course, will argue that its way is that of salvation. The problem with this logic is threefold. The first problem is that there is no way that the cult can prove that their way will lead to salvation. The second problem is that almost every world religion or cult will claim the exact same thing. The last problem is the credibility of the cult itself. How can anyone believe that a shady cult with a bad reputation can be the way of light?
Even so, there are many several cults that have proven themselves. The Hare Krishnas are a valid sect of Hinduism, the Zoroastrianists are considered to practice a viable alternative to Judaism, and so forth. However, for every one cult that makes it, there are literally dozens, if not hundreds that don't. The Unification Church, the Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidians, the Heaven's Gate, the Children of God, the Synanon, Nichiren Shoshu, Transcendental Meditation, and the Order of the Solar Temple are just a handful of examples of cults that have crumbled, or are doomed to fail. It is important to note then, that even though a few out of hundreds of cults achieve a respectable status, most cults still represent one of the more sinister aspects of society.