Introduction
It is estimated that in the US alone around five to seven million citizens have been involved in a ‘cult’ at some point in their lives and approximately 180,000 new members are recruited every year. Numbers are much lower in the UK. Cultic statistics are rather ambiguous as firstly it is extremely difficult to define what a cult actually is and secondly many groups are underground associations that do not make their membership numbers available or do not even record them. Nevertheless every country has groups and movements that worry the non-involved inhabitants, but the question is, is there a need for concern?
DEFINING THE WORD ‘CULT’
The word cult and the usage of such a word can be highly controversial as it is always people on the outside of the specific group or movement who deem it a ‘cult’.
The word has many meanings, and a dictionary definition shows just how intricate it really is. The Oxford Modern English Dictionary defines the word as:
cult 1. a system of religious worship,
esp. as expressed ritual.
2. a devotion or homage to a) person or thing (the cult of
aestheticism). b) a popular fashion, esp.
followed by a specific section of society.
3. (attrib.) denoting a person or thing popularized
in this way (cult film or cult figure).
A definition more specific to religious movements, that can be found on the Victims of Violence website, states that a cult is:
a religious movement which makes a fundamental break with the religious traditions of the culture and which is composed of individuals who had or seek mystical experience.
Throughout modern times the word cult has meant anything from a fad of a certain era, such as the mods and rockers of the ’60s or the Acid House movement of the late ’80s and early ’90s, to certain eating habits such as the Atkins Diet or vegetarianism. The word is often given to things that become popular very quickly and then just as rapidly, fade out.
Certain alternative, non mainstream film and music genres have what is deemed ‘a cult following’, but it is always the lack of understanding by people who are not involved that label such things so and the word always becomes associated with difference.
The majority of non mainstream religious groups are also negatively deemed cults as they are offering ideas and practices that are so alien to the majority that it is hard to understand what draws people to their teachings. Whenever the word cult is used within a religious sense it always denotes negative feeling. But for the purpose of categorization, sometimes the word cult is the only word that will do.
CULTS AND RELIGION
No one believes that the religious movement or hobby that they are interested in is a cult as they see their beliefs or interests as completely normal. Even within each specific group of people there are many individuals with opposing views and feelings to one another.
The problem is that the word has the tendency to cluster many extremely different ideas and movements under one banner and connotations of ‘weird behaviour’ and ‘brain washing’ become rife. In her book Cults, Shirley Harrison reiterates this point:
No one ever considers their own religion a cult. Christian Scientists are offended to find themselves linked with the Unification Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses will not preach to the likes of Scientologists. If you are a Muslim you regard the Baha’i Faith with disdain. If you practise Transcendental Meditation you are not following a specific religion at all. The Church of Christ believes that mainstream Christianity has departed from the teachings of Jesus. The truth is that neither the word cult, nor the softer alternative ‘New Religious Movement’, can be applied to all these groups. Each is different. Very few are all bad.
The word causes ongoing debates and questions, such as: why should The Branch Davidians be called a cult but Christians or Jehovah’s Witnesses not, when both groups can be defined as a ‘system of religious worship’?
Maybe it becomes easier to call a religious group or movement a cult after an event that has rocked them and brought their ideas negatively into the mainstream as it is these events that have given other peace loving harmless groups a bad name.
Although the word cult has been used in conjunction with modern culture, the idea of cults and sects is by no way a new notion. Cults, in some form or another, have been around since the beginning of religion. There have always been offshoots and movements that have not been accepted by the majority due to their fanaticism and instead have been negatively described as unorthodox or spurious.
Back in the time of the Crusades, around 1118, a knight of the First Crusade, Hugh de Payens, founded ‘The Templars’. The Templars consisted of ten knights who stayed in the holy land after the crusade and provided escort for pilgrims travelling from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Over the years this small group of ‘do-good’ knights grew in numbers, in fame and in power. By the Second Crusade they had gained the right to wear a red cross, the symbol of God, on their white mantles. But with fame and fortune also came stories that The Templars were rash and aggressive, with the best spy network in the Middle East. They soon spread as far as Europe and owned huge amounts of land that they used to earn revenue that could be sent back to their Templar brothers in the East.
The knights soon became a worry for monarchies and governments around the world, and whether or not they were doing anything bad did not seem to matter, they were seen as a threat, especially to those in power. By 1307, the King of France, Philip the Fair had the majority of Templars arrested on charges that ranged from sodomy to witchcraft and with the help of propaganda it wasn’t long before the public had turned completely against them.
This can be related to many modern day groups, it just takes a few pieces of bad press for a whole movement and ideology to be seen as a threat to society, just because the ideas they are teaching or the way in which the group are living are not ‘the norm’.
CULTS THAT BECAME DESTRUCTIVE
On the flip side, there are groups which are tarred with the description of cult as they are a danger to people and society as a whole.
Thuggee was an Indian cult in the 16th century that was made up of Muslim and Hindu members who worshiped Kali, the Goddess of Destruction. They were responsible for the assassination of travellers for monetary gain and each murder was completed in an extremely ritualistic fashion. The Thugs believed it was their religious duty to commit such atrocities, and a holy and honourable profession.
It was because of their fanatical belief and worship to Kali that the Thugs had become such dangerous people, who really believed that there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. In this respect the Thugs could be seen as a dangerous cult that needed to be stopped.
In recent times there has been an uprise in alternative religions and beliefs. This has had a lot to do with travel becoming easier, the movement and amalgamation of cultures have seen people exposed to many foreign theories and practices that are subsequently moulded into something new. Even something such as Yoga has made people in the West spiritually aware of a very Eastern practice which 60 or 70 years ago would not have been so accessible.
The practice of a non-mainstream religion or of a new belief that is not common is not the problem, as humans should be free to choose what they believe in, if anything. The problems with ‘cult activity’ come when people are sucked into a group that has a detrimental effect on their health and also on their brain and thought process which ends in them either killing themselves of others. These groups could be termed ‘destructive cults’. Groups, such as the Branch Davidians, Aum Shinrikyo and The Order of The Solar Temple were perfectly respectable groups, with the best intentions that for whatever reason ran out of control. Even after events such as mass suicide, many survivors of these destructive cults still praise their leaders, but is that because they were so severely brainwashed that they will never again think for themselves?