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A destructive cult is a group (often called cult) with strange beliefs (especially religious ones) and which exploits or destroys its own members or others. Note that this term is often applied in hindsight when the exploitation and destruction has become clear to everyone. There is no reliable, generally accepted way to tell which groups will become destructive. To assess whether a group will become destructive popular but unscientific cult checklists have been developed. Brochure of the People's temple portraying cult leader Jim Jones as the loving father of the "Rainbow Family".
In English-speaking countries since about the 1960s, especially in North America, these groups were widely believed to exploit their members psychologically and financially and were accused of group-based persuasion techniques such as " brainwashing", " love bombing" or the controversial concept of " mind control").
The quintessential destructive cult is thought to be religion taken to the extreme, usually characterized by high levels of dependency and obedience to the cult's leadership, by separation from family and non-believers, and by the infiltration of religion into nearly every aspect of daily life.
Anti-cult activists have tended to blur the distinction between cults which they genuinely fear are destructive, and those which are just weird or time-consuming. It should be noted that some ex-members consider their former group harmful though they did not belong to a destructive cult.
Two of the several existing definitions formulated by anti-cult activists use the term cult rather than destructive cult:
- Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders [1]
- Cult: A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control . . . designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. [8]
1 Historical examples
Some examples of seemingly religious groups whose adherents killed themselves or others include:
- In 1978, 914 American followers of Jim Jones died in a mass murder/ suicide in Jonestown, GuyanaThe Co-operative Republic of Guyana is a nation of northern South America. It constitutes the western part of the wider region of Guiana (an Amerindian word meaning Land of Many Waters , and is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south by Brazil, to. The dead included 274 children. Alternative theory alleges the CIA in mass-murder.
- On April 19April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). There are 256 days remaining. Events 1012 Martyrdom of St Alphege in Greenwich, London. 1529 At the Diet of Speyer a group of rulers German Furst) and independent citie, 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic., over 70 Branch Davidians, followers of David KoreshDavid Koresh born Vernon Wayne Howell ( August 17, 1959 April 19, 1993) was a leader of the Branch Davidians, an apocalyptic Christian sect. Koresh joined the Branch Davidians in 1981. In 1983, he began a live-in relationship with Lois Roden, the head of, died in a fire in Waco, TexasWaco is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 113,726. History Prior to its founding, Neil McLennan had settled in an area near the South Bosque River in 1838. Jacob De Cordova bought McLennan following a lengthy siege by United States federal law enforcement officials. Some alleged they were deliberately murdered by the law enforcement.
- In 1997, 39 followers of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a mass suicide. Some male members of the cult underwent voluntary castration in preparation for the suicide.
