Cults Essay, Research Paper

Today there are many dangerous groups one should try to avoid. One of the popular groups today is a cult. Some cults can be completely harmless where others can lead a person (or many) to suicide. Many cults are formed by a fraud and just for the benefit of the leader. Here is a look at how some cults attract new members, how the members are treated, what they are trained to do, and what you should do before committing to any group.

Cult leaders look for people who are not feeling good about themselves, or are feeling sad or unwanted. Deception is the main method used to recruit members. If someone close to them just died the cult leader may tell them that they will meet up in the next life or in some kind of special, perfect place. Once you have joined the cult, the leader will capture your mind step by step. The leader will promise spiritual salvation. The leader will almost always say that he is a messenger from God and his group is the only one that is going to be saved. The followers must prepare for the Apocalypse and those who are not prepared will die or go to Hell. The people that feel lonely or sad are more susceptible to joining a cult because they feel a need to belong. They feel like the leader and the rest of the cult members really care about them. Once they have reached this point there is almost no hope for them to leave.

The Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas were a cult run by a charismatic leader, David Koresh. He had the entire bible memorized from front to back, and he constantly preached from it. There was a huge compound built like a military base, and they had an excessive supply of weapons. In the compound the rules were very strict. David said that every woman in the entire compound was his wife, and God had told him to “plant his seed” in her. He told their husbands or boyfriends that it was illegal to have sex with their wife or girlfriend. David had changed all the rules just to benefit him; he had no concern whatsoever about the members of the cult. In the end, when the compound was burning, he told the remaining people that God had told him that he had to leave now and spread the word of their religion. Later, the forensic scientists found David’s skull with a bullet hole in it.

Once the leader of the cult can get a feel of how much control he or she has over the member, they will start demanding many things from the person. In most cults you would have to donate a large amount of money to the leader either to build a bomb shelter or military base type of building or for them to use for their own purposes. They will never allow you to contact outside people, especially relatives, in fear of them talking you out of the cult. Most cult leaders are on a power trip, so they want complete obedience and will often make people perform sexual favors. Sometimes if you do not recruit new members to the cult then you would be punished. Most cult members become slaves to their leaders.

You should always ask around and find out all the information that you can about any group before you join it because it is usually very difficult to exit a cult. You can go to a local college’s administrative offices and ask them if they have heard of the group, or you can talk to a teacher you trust. If it is not a campus-recognized group, you should think twice about getting involved.

Joining one group or another can be a life-altering decision. Some groups can be very dangerous, and others can be beneficial to you. If the group seeks your membership then you should be careful because they could just want your money and mind. Doing research on a group before you join it can save your life.