Section 4. Sects and Non-Official Religions.

Exercise 1. Read the information and do the activity that follows.

Jeanne Mills, a former member of the People’s Temple cult, made the following remarks about cults:

“When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you have ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring< compassionate, and understanding person you have ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true! Don’t give up your education, your hopes and ambitions, to follow a rainbow.”

On November 18, 1978, 911 adult and child members of this cult died of suicide or murder in Jonestown, Guyana. Jeanne was killed three years after the tragedy. Many people suspect she was murdered for speaking out against the cult.

What is a cult? In general, a cult, or charismatic group, is an exclusive group of people devoted to a person, principle, or ideal. The ideas of a cult and its leader are often based on a distortion of one aria of human experience. For example, the cult’s philosophy may be based on ideas derived from religion, psychology, politics, or New Age spiritualism (a term referring to a mix of religious practices, alternative medicine, and Eastern and Western philosophies).

When does a cult become dangerous? There are many quasi-religious groups that help people cope with the stresses and ambiguities of modern life. However, there are others that take advantage of people’s weaknesses and endanger them. A cult becomes dangerous when it:

§ isolates its members from family and friends,

§ interferes with the members ability to think independently and freely,

§ is controlled by a dominant leader who claims to have secret knowledge and power,

§ demands that the group’s goal be more important than the individual’s goals, and

§ threatens members if they try to leave the group.

Cult membership is on the rise all over the world. In fact, it is estimated that one million. Americans each year may be affected by cults. Social scientists are exploring the reasons for this growth.

Working with a partner, look at the following factors that contribute to the rise in cult membership around the world. Decide how important each factor is to this rise, and tick off the appropriate category.

FACTORS PROMOTING CULTS	VERY I MPORTANT	SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT	NOT VERY IMPORTANT
millennium (the time when a new 1000-year period begins)
disintegration of family structure
the Internet and other communication technologies
disappointment with organized religions
lack of government supervision of cult activity
media attention on new religious movements

Exercise 2. Read the newspaper interview. Then read the list of expressions that follows the interview. Write the number of the highlighted word next to it’s related expression in the list.

SUICIDE IN THE ALPS 50 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN INVOLVED IN MASS SUICIDE Deaths linked to cult The Solar Temple Star Daily reporter Marie Pierre Noyes spoke with European correspondent Alexander Hilton, who had just returned from the scene of the tragedy.   Noyes:Mr. Hilton, what can you tell our readers about this cult, The Solar Temple.? Hilton: Hmm…let’s see. The Solar Temple, or Order of the Solar Temple, was founded in 1984 by a 46-year-old Belgian named Luc Jouret. Living on the Swiss-French border, he (1) recruited members for his seemingly harmless self-help meditation club. Noyes:So, in other words, the Solar Temple started as an innocent group of people interested in New Age practices? Hilton:Exactly! Jouret had been a student of natural healing, vegetarianism, and (2) homeopathic medicine. He lectured on the “joy of living” through these alternate methods. However, gradually this focus changed. Jouret, a highly attractive, smooth-talking, and (3) charismatic leader, became hungrier and hungrier for power and influence over his followers. Noyes: What do you mean exactly? Hilton: Well, we don’t know exactly when and where the change occurred, but gradually his lecturers turned into passionate and angry sermons. These speeches were filled with bitterness and (4) hostility toward the world. He spoke in vague (5) abstractions about a doomsday, the end of the world. He predicted that a huge (6) cataclysm, or a disaster, would strike the earth. Members believed that death, as we know it, does not exist. Rather, they believed that when we die, we are merely transported to life on other planets. Through Jouret’s powerful, long, and (7) hypnotic sermons, he brainwashed his followers to believe in these (8) fantasies about how the world will end. Noyes: How was he able to mislead and (9) deceive so many people? Hilton:Cult leaders are experts in using (10) manipulative and (11) venal methods to convince their followers of their unrealistic beliefs. Noyes:Mr. Hilton, do you feel that the media attention and negative publicity about this cult incident will create unfair prejudice and (12) bias toward new, but legitimate mainstream religions around the world? Hilton:It’s possible. But I feel that this prejudice is unfair and (13) unwarranted. However, I do believe that reporters have a responsibility to inform the public about cults and cult activities around the world.

_____ a. general ideas

_____ b. method of treatment that relies on small but frequent doses of herbal remedies

_____ c. a violent and sudden event

_____ d. ideas unrelated to reality

_____ e. powerfully attractive and influential

_____ f. enrolled

_____ g. lectures that put one in a sleep-like state in which a person’s mind can be controlled by another person

_____ h. dishonest, corrupt

_____ i. lie to, cheat

_____ j. controlling for one’s own purpose

_____ k. done without good reason

_____ l. extreme unfriendliness

_____ m. prejudice

Exercise 3. Listen to the interview with a cult expert. Do the following activities.

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