Cults
The late twentieth century witnessed a dramatic "rise in the number of obscure cults and the increasingly fevered pitch of their rantings."
Three cults that grew in popularity throughout the 1970s through 1990s, having a particular impact on American culture, include The Unification Church, The Church of Satan, and Heaven's Gate. These three cults had nothing to do with one another and in fact their central belief systems can on some specific points be considered contradictory with one another too. However, their ideologies seem trivial superficialities that obscure the elements they share in common. These three cults demonstrate remarkably similar structures and modes of recruitment. Their historical context shows that both sociological and psychological factors impacting their growth and development were similar, too. Cults like the Unification Church, the Church of Satan, and Heaven's Gate tend to be populated by "people who shared little more than a willingness, or a need, to suspend disbelief."
Cult-sponsored webs of complex and politically expedient lies are used to cleverly if not covertly foster the willing suspension of disbelief. The lies are designed to recruit new members and solidify the loyalty of existing ones. Other features shared in common by these three cults in particular if not all cults by definition include the charismatic leadership that provides a central managerial strategy; the use of creative marketing tactics; and the employment of theatrics, ritual, and costume: all of which symbolize conformity and belonging to a fringe group. In fact, cult members seem to enjoy being "on the fringe of the socially acceptable."
Not all points are shared in common among the Unification Church, the Church of Satan, and Heaven's Gate. However, the Church of Satan seems to stand apart more from the other two than they do from the trio of cults. The Church of Satan, for example, did not practice any formal means by which to isolate members from their families or the community at large. The Unification Church and the Heaven's Gate cults, on the other hand, systematically prevented their members from fraternizing with non-cult members including friends and family. The cutting...
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