Cults
In 1982 Ingrid D. wrote home to her mother, "I have joined a wonderful group of spiritually minded people and am living in an ashram. If you send me clothing, it should be orange, red, or burgundy." She had become a follower of Bhagwan Shree ajneesh, an teacher from India, who developed new forms of active meditation aimed at overcoming repression, lowering inhibitions, and attaining enlightenment. Although he preached that the family was an out-of-date institution that should be replaced, he did encourage his followers to make peace with their families rather than to alienate themselves. Ingrid lived in the ashram as one of "the Orange People" for 10 years, after which she left and pursued a successful career in law enforcement. Three years from now, she will retire and has already begun work on a second career as a minister in a New Age type church. She has positive…...

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References

Bader, C. (1999). When prophecy passes unnoticed: New perspectives on failed prophecies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, v38, no1, 119-31, March.

Clark, C. (1994). Clinical assessment of adolescents involved in Satanism. Adolescence, v29, no.114, 461-68, summer.

Curran, D.K. (1989) Why troubled teens might turn to satanism. The American School Board Journal, August, 12-15.

Hunter, E. (1998). Adolescent attraction to cults. Adolescence, v33, no 131, 709-14, fall.

Cults
Indeed, it is very difficult to think of two traditions that could be more radically different than those as embodied by the movement of the Nation of Islam in America and the tradition of Vodou as it is practiced in Haiti and as variants of it are practiced in other areas as well. Indeed, the origins could not be more different than they are, for one thing, as Vodou stems out of a long and distinguished tradition of beliefs held by the Yoruba peoples of Africa and that was changed and syncretized during the period of enslavement. The Nation of Islam, on the other hand, was created by a single man, Elijah Muhammad and is a religion that, though it attaches itself to a greater historical tradition, which is that of Islam, is, in fact, quite ate variance with the larger religion, but at least elements of being part of…...

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Bibliography

Clegg, Claude Andrew. An Original Man: The life and times of Elijah Muhammad. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.

McAlister, Elizabeth. Rara!: Vodou, Performance, and Power in Haiti and its Diaspora.

California: U. Cal. Press, 2002.

Pement, Eric. Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Retrieved November 24, 2003, at  http://answering-islam.org/NoI/noi2.html .

Cults and Establishments
Regina M. Schwartz presents a radical, stimulating view on the meaning of monotheism. Its influence, according to the author, extends far beyond theological import. Monotheism informs cultural consciousness and greatly influences group identities. As such, religious beliefs can promote certain types of psychological, sociological, and political realities. In The Curse of Cain, Schwartz specifically focuses on the nature of Biblical monotheism as it has been expressed in the Jewish tradition. Drawing the foundation of her theory from the allegory of Cain and Abel, the author describes how Jewish monotheism has contributed to a violent, antagonistic worldview. Not intended to be an attack against Judaism itself, this thesis is set forth to explain how myths and religion can shape the consciousness of entire groups of people. Schwartz uses the story of Cain and Abel to symbolize brothers killing brothers, what she calls "original violence." There are four basic facets…...

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Works Cited

Schwartz, Regina M. 1997. The Curse of Cain. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Marilyn Manson?
What is a cult?

Is MM a cult?

Why is Southern California most affected by cults? 6-8

Marilyn Manson shot to heights of unprecedented fame when his album 'Antichrist Superstar' became a multi-platinum success in 1996. As the name of the album suggests, the group stands for everything unconventional, shockingly bizarre and appallingly occult. The bandleader, Brian Warner, doesn't mind being given so much attention even if most of it is negative in nature. While Manson is seen as a curse on America's moral fabric, he is madly idolized by millions of teenagers in the country who would probably give an arm and a leg to be in his shoes. His fame appalls many but not Manson himself who believes an anti-hero is an essential figure in the American culture (Baddeley, 2000). However what is even more interesting than his sudden rise to extreme heights of notoriety is the fact that…...

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References

Davis, Mike. Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster. New York: Vintage, 1999.

Gavin Baddeley, Dissecting Marilyn Manson: Plexus Pub April 10, 2000

Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. with Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Jossey-Bass, Cults in Our Midst: The Hidden Menace in Our Everyday Lives, San Francisco, CA, 1995

Billy Sloan, MARILYN MANSION Inside the lair of the rock star who boasts he is., Sunday Mail, 05-20-2001, pp 16,17

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,…...

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Works Cited

Gleick, Elizabeth. "It Was the Marker We Were Waiting For." Time. Retrieved online:  http://www.time.com/time/reports/cult/heavensgate/heavensgate1.html 

History Channel. Satanism. Television documentary.

LaVey, Anton Szandor. Satan Speaks! Port Townsend: Feral House, 1998.

Wolf, Ole. The Emperor's New Religion. Retrieved online:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/8085920/Analysis-of-the-Church-of-Satan-by-Ole-Wolf

CULTS VS. CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is the religion of millions of people in the world. Christians, the followers of Jesus Christ and the ible, face multitude of problems and challenges from other religious cults, (they claim to be based on ible) or non-religious cults.

Religious cults are sometimes called "sects" as they do have some of teachings derived from the core religion, which is Christianity, here. Some of them are: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witness, United Pentecostal Church (Oneness Pentecostalism and Unitarian Universalistic Association. Similarly, there are non-religious cults such as the followers of Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and Waco etc. (Joyce)

No matter, what the nature of cult be, they are seen as threats to society and Christianity.

They cause divisions in religion, worse still they immobilize the minds and thinking capabilities of their followers, thus taking them away from the truth. These cults are very different in…...

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Bibliography

1) Fr. Brian Joyce, Cults vs. Catholic Christianity, Homily of 07/09/2003, retrieved online on 19/04/2004,  http://www.ctkph.org/homilies/homilies2003/homily090703.pdf 

2) The New "Spirituality" vs. Christianity, retrieved online on 19/04/2004,  http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/future/christianity.shtml 

Cults and Sects -Overview, retrieved online on 19/04/2004  http://www.namb.net/root/resources/beliefbulletins/cults/overview.asp

2003).
The third framework applied to Google's brand equity is the relations marketing (M) model, which defines the value of brand equity as a function of the global competitiveness across comparable networks and customers' adoption and reliance on the brand. The M model also focuses on the reciprocal nature of branding, which for Google includes free e-mail, office automation, and web acceleration products. This reciprocal nature of Google exemplifies the M model from a networking and relationships standpoint (Fournier 1998). The M Model is also attributed with brand loyalty and the development of cult brands due to its highly reciprocal nature and the fact that many of the most brand-loyal customers define themselves by the brands they buy and support. This model also supports the contributory role of marketing communications in strengthening a brand over time (Morgan & Hunt 1994).

Analysis of Models

Clearly the relations marketing model (M) is the most…...

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References

Chaudhuri, a. (2002) How brand reputation affects the advertising-brand equity link. Journal of Advertising Research (Summer), pp. 33-43.

Chaudhuri, a. & Holbrook, M.B. (2001) the chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: the role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65 (Spring), pp. 81-93.

A comScore, 2007, comScore Releases Worldwide Rankings of Top Web Properties. London, UK. Published 10 April, 2007. Accessed from the Internet on April 19,2007 from location:

 http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1370

Eschatology, Cult and Ideal Time Eschatology
My own personal definition of eschatology is the meditation on the four last things—death, judgment, heaven and hell. The purpose of this is to gain perspective about one’s life in the here and now. Some people might think, “Oh, why would you want to meditate on such depressing things?” but they do not understand the purpose or that these things are not really depressing at all. There is nothing depressing about death when you follow it with the three other things—judgment, heaven and hell. To think of death as the final thing is depressing. But Christians of course think of death as just one of the four last things—and the first step to either heaven or to hell. Judgment sit in between death and the final destination and when one thinks about judgment one does not have time to get depressed. One can get scared, but…...

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References

Defining Cults/Sects. (n.d.). Digital File.

Rodriquez, Fr. (n.d.). Cognitive dissonance theory. Digital File.

Rodriquez, Fr. (n.d.). Defining the sacred and profane. Digital File.

Rodriquez, Fr. (n.d.). What is chronocentricity? Digital File.

The Sect-Church Process. (n.d.). Digital File.

Religion, Neibuhr, And Daly
That hich is Holy

Of all the creatures on the planet, only mankind seeks to establish the ideas of worship, and engages in practices which look in a direction to identify that which is holy. There are no shrines built by schools of fish. Monkeys and Dolphins, which are some of the more intelligent creatures on the planet next to mankind, do not construct temples, or raise up images of which they seek to identify as greater than themselves. Only human beings seek a greater power to give their lives meaning and purpose.

After filling the earth with creatures which walked, swam, flew on feathered wings and slithered on the ground, God says this about mankind. "God said let us create mankind in our own image, male and female we will create them."

So from our very first breath, mankind is different from the rest. e have not evolved from…...

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Works Cited

Daly, Mary. 1971, After The Death Of God The Father. Women's Liberation and the transformation of Christian consciousness. [online] Originally published in Commonweal, March 12. [cited 13 Oct. 2003] Available from World Wide Web:

Cult Films
oth Rosemary's aby and I Walked with a Zombie are movies that have explicit elements of what we might more commonly think of as "horror" films. On the other hand, however, both rely so heavily on atmospheric tension and are so laden with strange ambiguity and "arty" moments that they seem to transcend the genre. Given the large following behind both movies as well, they are often just as likely to be described as "cult films" as horror movies. Indeed, it is important to realize that what makes cult movies a genre in their own right is not simply a lack of box office performance or else a devoted fan following. Indeed, cult movies share many other characteristics and a most typically marked by an otherworldly strangeness and an overriding sense of oddity. Often, these films are controversial and in certain ways they seem to transcend their genre in…...

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Bibliography

Cult Films." Filmsite.org. Retrieved September 2, 2003, at  http://www.Filmsite.org/ .

Sect -- in sociology and anthropology, the term sect refers to a group that forms inside another group and takes on some individual characteristics that are based on, but not completely, like the parent or other group. In religion, for instance, denominations may be considered sects. Other academic definitions of the term tend to look at a socio-cultural definition, in that what is it that the group, the sect, is in tension with and why did it believe it had to separate (e.g. The Episcopalians separating over the ordination of a gay Bishop) (Wilson, 1992, 5-9).

Sects also occur in political, social, and cultural groups and, like religious sects, are splinter groups who leave a party or organization because of disagreement on some level. The early International Communist Parties of 1915-1935, for instance had numerous sects. All these were based on the doctrine of Marx & Engles, but took on a…...

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REFERENCES and WORKS CONSULTED

Heidl, G. (2003). Origen's Influence on the Young Augustine. Gorgias Press LLC.

Lalich, J. And M. Langone. (2009). "Characteristics Associated With Cultic Groups."

ICSA. Cited in:

 http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

Even if this were a philosophical correction to the varying degrees of utilitarianism we have seen in the 20th century, the simple fact is that Constitution has never defined the job of the President in the way it has been exemplified in modern times. Even Barry Goldwater, seen as a Hawk and a warmonger, commenting on this type of presidential job description: "This is nothing less than the totalitarian philosophy that the end justifies the means…. If there ever was a philosophy of government totally at war with that of the Founding Fathers, it is this one" (120).
How do we reconcile this reverence and responsibility for the American President with the cynicism, suspicion and apathy many Americans have about politics? Certainly, the consequences of the 1980s and the decade of greed enter into the calculation, as does the President who resigned while insisting "I am not a crook." Healy…...

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We may love to hear that a single candidate can restore American greatness -- if it was ever lost; that a candidate can turn around the economy by signing a few bills; or that a single president can change the geopolitical face of the globe -- but it simply isn't so. Instead, "a truly heroic president is one who appreciates the virtues of restraint- who is bold enough to act when action is necessary, yet wise enough, humble enough to refuse powers he out not have." Is this possible -- certainly, but until the American citizenry demands it, it cannot ever be.

Source:

Healy, G. The Cult of the Presidency. Washington, DC: The Cato Institute, 2008.

Terror states, already plagued by economic failure and social conflict, respond to such a strengthening in legitimation (ees, 2000).
Not all states in crisis will fall to the development of a "cult of the leader." The reason is based in other possible legitimacy outlets. As mentioned, some governments and leaders are able to become legitimate and powerful through simple tradition and legal authority. In those states, a cult leader is not required, since the need to create a false reality does not exist.

In today's technological society, terror state leaders will have a more difficult time setting the stage for "cult of the leader" situations. With the ability to communicate outside one's own region through the internet, individuals are less likely to view leaders through ethnocentric eyes. Further, with news sources from around the world, the population of such states will be able not only to see the facts as their…...

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References

Lovatt, C.A. (1999). Ceausescu's return. Central Europe Review 1(9): 14-15.

Rees, E.A. (2000). Leader Cults: Varieties, Preconditions and Functions. The Leader Cult in Communist Dictatorship. Hampshire: Palgrave McMillan.

cult TV series (e.g. True Blood) watched, making
Television of Steel

There are several different definitions of, and criteria for, what constitutes a cult television series. Smallville, however, is one of the few television series that fulfills nearly all such requisites for the attaining of cult status. The show was broadcast before a national audience during prime time hours for 10 years, has won a host of awards, and generated a following that has spanned so many different genres, media, and spin-offs, that virtually the only word to describe it would be cult. However, one of the primary factors that readily afforded Smallville to be able to attain a cult like status was in place well before a single scene was shot or before a solitary actor had been cast. The fact that Smallville was based on the character of Superman, originally a DC Comics character and best selling title, as…...

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References

Sumner, D. (2011). "Smallville bows this week -- with Stargate's world record." GateWorld. Retrieved from  http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/05/smallville-bows-this-week-with-stargates-world-record/ 

Bennet, C., Gottesfelf, J. (2002). Smallville: See No Evil. New York: Little, Brown Young Readers.

Ives, N. (2003). "The Media Business: Advertising -- Addenda; Verizon and WB Join for Promotion." The New York Times. Retrieved from  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/business/the-media-business-advertising-addenda-verizon-and-wb-join-for-promotion.html

Brown’s Cult of Saints The Author’s Argument
The argument that Peter Brown makes in The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity is that the “cult of saints” was essentially promoted by the cultural leaders of the time—the bishops and elites of society who had a hand in shaping the perceptions of others. Through them, the Church expressed the idea that Heaven and Earth could be joined through the intercession of the saints,[footnoteRef:2] whose bodies were vestiges of grace and holiness, conduits through which Heaven could bridge the fault above the earth and reach out for Christians interested in making it to the other side, in holiness. As Brown notes, “the joining of Heaven and Earth was made plain even by the manner in which contemporaries designed and described the shrines of the saints.”[footnoteRef:3] The saints and their resting places represented the jointure—the point where the divine and…...

Cults are certainly in the cultural zeitgeist these days, making them a perfect topic for a literature review.  In fact, while many people think of cults as a relic from the experimentation that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s, cults actually play a surprisingly large role in modern religion throughout the world.  What this means is that whether you are focusing on a specific cult, common traits of cult leaders, or what makes an individual susceptible to a cult’s influences, you are sure to find plenty of information out there. 

What differentiates....

1. Building trust and rapport: Charismatic leaders in cults often use their charming and persuasive traits to develop strong relationships with their followers. By establishing trust and a sense of connection, they are able to manipulate their followers into believing in their ideologies and directives.

2. Creating dependency: Cult leaders typically employ psychological tactics to make their followers dependent on them for guidance, validation, and purpose. By fostering a sense of reliance, they can control the behavior and thinking of their followers.

3. Isolating followers: Cult leaders often isolate their followers from external influences, such as family and friends, to maintain control....

1. The existence and integration of cults and gangs in society are complex phenomena that stem from various factors. These groups often form as a result of individuals feeling marginalized, disenfranchised, or disconnected from mainstream society. Cults may offer a sense of belonging, purpose, and community to their members, while gangs may provide protection, support, or a source of income. In some cases, these groups can also be driven by ideologies, beliefs, or networks that prioritize loyalty and obedience above all else. Understanding the driving forces behind the presence of cults and gangs in society is crucial for addressing the....

Introduction: The existence and integration of cults and gangs within society is a multifaceted phenomenon, driven by a complex interplay of factors. This essay aims to explore the purpose, motivating factors, membership, perceptions, social and cultural influences, and integration of cult-like and gang-like organizations. By examining these elements, we gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics that foster the formation and persistence of such groups in society.

Purpose and Motivating Factors

Cults and gangs emerge for various reasons, often driven by the need for belonging, identity, or power. Cults typically espouse a charismatic leader and a rigid ideology that promises salvation or....