My Project Reflection

Cults in the Media

In the previous post, we discussed the anti-cult movement and several variations of it that target specific types of cults. We briefly touched on the topic of the media and how they both portray and attempt to peel away the veneer of cults, so that people have a better understanding of how they work. This week, we’re taking a deeper dive into media coverage of cults, and how big of a role the media can play in a cult’s downfall. Media is arguably the most powerful tool of the twenty-first century (aside from technology). It shapes the way we view the world, and our perceptions of particular topics, people and events are heavily influenced by what we read and watch, and where we are getting that information from. Just think about how the media has been reporting about the COVID-19 Pandemic over the last year, and how differing opinions about the virus and the measures being taken to mitigate its spread are influenced by where people are receiving their news from. There is always bi...

The Anti-Cult Movement

In last week’s post, we discussed New Religious Movements, highlighting Heaven’s Gate and the Branch Davidians, and whether they could be classified as cults. At the end of the post, I gave a tease that this post would discuss the process and stress associated with escaping cults. However, that topic would be better served as the final blog post, so this week’s topic will instead focus on anti-cult movements. You might be asking yourself, what’s that? It’s a fair question, because this aspect of cult culture is simultaneously rarely discussed but arguably the most obvious. Any new societal movement is going to have detractors. Think about the world of music. In the 1950s and 60s, just as rock and roll was taking off and super famous bands like The Beatles were immensely popular, there was a significant cultural push against it. In the 70s, hippie culture (a key element of the Manson Family) took off, and saw huge pushback as well. So, there is established precedent for societal backl...

Cults before the Internet: Dangerous & Deadly

In the last post, we discussed how cults are able to spread their beliefs to a wide-ranging audience through various online platforms. But how did cults operate before the Internet became a widely available commodity for beliefs and information to spread? At their core, cults are fundamentally driven by controlled human interaction. Individuals join organizations that are seemingly well-meaning, and become enveloped by the beliefs and behaviours the organization (and its leader) promote. Members encourage other members to conform through peer-pressure and by shunning all “non-believers” from their personal lives. The only way for a cult to be successful is if its members believe what the cult leader says, and bring new members into the organization by spreading information through word of mouth. Two of the most prolific and destructive cults during the pre-internet age were the Manson Family , which operated in California during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the Peoples Templ...

Cult Culture

Search This Blog