This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dking (talk | contribs) at 02:41, 29 October 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 02:41, 29 October 2006 by Dking (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)- describing the difference between marginal, peripheral, and core members as per Eileen Barker's article in Bromley's book Politics of religious apostasy
- describing daily life in cults (probably no generalization is possible)
- sources of conflict: 1. custody dispute in case of intentional community, and 2. distraught parents whose children are encouraged or demanded to get 100% involved at the expense of friends, career, education, and family
- "cult" also used for political and other secular organizations with uncritically accepted ideas, high levels of control of members' lives, and a charismatic founder, e.g. Lyndon LaRouche, Wilhelm Reich, Ayn Rand, Werner Erhart
- experience or observation of parnormal events for which a rational is hard to find, sometimes even by non-members during the cult's meeting. Examples DLM and SSB. Refereces Messer (in Barker's introduction to NRM), Galanter (in Len Oakes' book), John Hislop, Mick Brown Spiritual Tourist, chapter House of God
- Governments: Russia Law_on_Freedom_of_Conscience_and_Religious_Associations and Switzerland (see talk page).
- show distinctions between a cult and a culture. Is a cult just a little culture? Is a cultish culture a cult too?
- Show distinctions and connections between cults and non-cults. 1) Content (eg one-true faith against many false faiths). 2) Methods (eg open vs closed, covert vs overt, facts/fictions, state vs sanction). 3) Context (where is the cult's/non-cults locus of control.)