The Negative Effects of Cults

A detailed Summary of The Negative Effects of Cults

Jim Jones used mind control over his entire "Jonestown" cult to convince them to drink cyanide mixed with fruit punch, which would enable them to meet their maker. And the ones he could not control he shot. Most likely that is not what his followers had expected when they joined his ministry, but this is an extreme example of how cults can have negative effects on people's lives. Jones founded The People's Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1958. Eventually he set up churches in Ukiah, California, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They were well known for helping out the cities' homeless, elderly, drug addicts, and prostitutes (Dolan 10-11). In the 1970s the small amount of people who got out of the group told stories of how Jones thought he was the new "messiah". Jones would tell this during his sermons while he was under the influence of amphetamines. There were also reports that people were being forced to stay in the group against their will (Dolan 11-13). When these reports stared to become public, Jones took 800 of his followers to Guyana. There they built "Jonestown". When Congressman Leo Ryan came to check out the village, he and four people with him were shot when they tried to leave. The Guya

nese army was eventually sent to infiltrate the compound and when they got there they found 912 dead bodies, 278 of which were infants (Dolan 14-15).

Many middle-class parents pamper their children and over-protect them, so that when they children are older they cannot handle independence therefore they turn to the cult for security since the cult is highly structured and offers very little choices. They also have very high demands for their members (Andres [2-9]). As a result of their desire to belong and be accepted, their search for the truth, and their emotional distress, cults can bring several negative effects upon their followers such as brainwashing, indoctrination, and physical danger.

Singer states that in a certain instance of brainwashing, Ron Luff, ex-Navy officer, was convinced that he was to carry out orders from his cult leader. The orders were to help the leader kill and Ohio family and go on a long wilderness trip with him and his followers (Singer 57). Luff was eventually caught and charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 170 years in prison (Singer 57). Luff's cult leader was sentenced to the electric chair in Ohio. His and Luff's case are still on appeal at this time (Singer 57). Singer also tells of a couple who killed their twenty-three-month-old son by beating him to death because their cult leader told them no one would go to heaven unless the boy apologized for pushing her grandchild (Singer 56).

Another extreme example is Charles Manson and his group of followers. Manson's group consisted of mostly females in their early to late twenties. In 1969, he and his followers murdered seven innocent people and one unborn child (Bardsley N.pag.). At the crime scenes they left the words "Helter Skelter on the walls written with blood. Manson twisted the words of the Beatles song "Helter Skelter" to fit his prophecies of the future. His "Helter Skelter" theory was that the black man was go

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Approximate Word count = 1315
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion