Cult

==Scholarly studies==
[[File:Max Weber 1894.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Max Weber]] (1864–1920), an important theorist in the study of cults]]
Sociologist [[Max Weber]] (1864–1920) is an important theorist in the academic study of cults, which often draws on his theorizations of [[Charismatic authority|charismatic authority]], and of the distinction between [[Church (congregation)|churches]] and [[Sect|sects]].<ref name="Weber">{{cite journal |last1=Weber |first1=Max |title="Churches" and "Sects" in North America: An Ecclesiastical Socio-Political Sketch |journal=Sociological Theory |date=Spring 1985 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=7–13 |doi=10.2307/202166 |jstor=202166 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/202166 |access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref> Weber theorizes that [[charisma]]tic leadership often follow the [[routinization of charisma]].<ref>[[Max Weber|Weber, Max]]. [1922] 1949. "The Nature of Charismatic Authority and its Routinization." Ch. 4§10 in ''Theory of Social and Economic Organization,'' translated by A. R. Anderson and [[Talcott Parsons|T. Parsons]]. [http://www.textlog.de/7415.html Available in its original German].</ref> These ideas have been used to theorize the dynamics of groups that have been labelled cults, including the [[People's Temple]],<ref name="Johnson">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Doyle Paul |title=The Case of the People's Temple |journal=Sociological Analysis |date=Winter 1978 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=315–323 |doi=10.2307/3709960 |jstor=3709960 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3709960 |access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref> and the [[Rajneesh movement]].<ref name="Lindholm">{{cite journal |last1=Lindholm |first1=Charles |title=Culture, Charisma, and Consciousness: The Case of the Rajneeshee |journal=Ethos |date=December 2002 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=357–375 |doi=10.1525/eth.2002.30.4.357 |jstor=3651879 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3651879 |access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref>
The concept of a ''cult'' as a [[Sociological classifications of religious movements|sociological classification]], however, was introduced in 1932 by American sociologist [[Howard P. Becker]] as an expansion of German theologian [[Ernst Troeltsch]]'s own ''[[Sociological classifications of religious movements#Church-sect typology|church–sect typology]]''. Troeltsch's aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious behaviour: churchly, [[Sectarianism|sectarian]], and [[Mysticism|mystical]].

Becker further bisected Troeltsch's first two categories: ''church'' was split into [[Christian Church|''ecclesia'']] and [[Religious denomination|''denomination'']]; and ''sect'' into ''[[sect]]'' and ''cult''.<ref name="SwatosEncy">{{cite book |chapter=Church-Sect Theory |last=Swatos |first=William H. Jr. |year=1998 |pages=90–93 |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Society |editor=William H. Swatos Jr. |publisher=AltaMira |location=Walnut Creek, CA |isbn=978-0761989561}}</ref> Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's ''cult'' refers to small religious groups that lack in organization and emphasize the private nature of personal beliefs.<ref name="CampbellEncy">{{cite book |chapter=Cult |last=Campbell |first=Colin |year=1998 |pages=122–123 |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Society |editor=William H. Swatos Jr. |publisher=AltaMira |location=Walnut Creek, CA |isbn=978-0761989561}}</ref> Later sociological formulations built on such characteristics, placing an additional emphasis on cults as [[deviant]] religious groups, "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture."<ref name="Richardson" />{{Rp|349}} This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.<ref>{{harvnb|Stark|Bainbridge|1987|p=25}}</ref> According to this sociological terminology, ''sects'' are products of religious [[schism (religion)|schism]] and therefore maintain a continuity with traditional beliefs and practices, whereas ''cults'' arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.<ref>{{harvnb|Stark|Bainbridge|1987|p=124}}</ref>

In the early 1960s, sociologist [[John Lofland (sociologist)|John Lofland]], living with South Korean [[missionary]] [[Young Oon Kim]] and some of the first American [[Unification Church]] members in California, studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members.<ref>[http://www.uc-history.us/GalenHistory/Forward.htm The Early Unification Church History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222192756/http://www.uc-history.us/GalenHistory/Forward.htm |date=22 February 2012}}, Galen Pumphrey</ref> Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.<ref>Swatos, William H., ed. "[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/conversion.htm Conversion]"  and "[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Unification.htm Unification Church]" in ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Society''. Hartford, CT: [[AltaMira Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0761989561}}.

Archived from the original on 21 January 2012 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120121122133/http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/conversion.htm Conversion]) and 13 January 2012 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120113080905/http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Unification.htm Unification Church]).</ref> Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a [[Thesis|doctoral thesis]] entitled "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by [[Prentice-Hall]] as ''[[Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith|Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith]]''. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion.<ref>Ashcraft, W. Michael. 2006. ''African Diaspora Traditions and Other American Innovations'', (''Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America'' 5). [[Greenwood Publishing Group]].
{{ISBN|978-0275987176}}. p. 180.</ref><ref>[[George Chryssides|Chryssides, George D.]] [1999] 2001. ''Exploring New Religions (Issues in Contemporary Religion)''. [[Continuum International Publishing Group]].
{{ISBN|978-0826459596}}. p. 1.</ref>

Sociologist [[Roy Wallis]] (1945–1990) argued that a cult is characterized by "[[epistemology|epistemological]] [[individualism]]," meaning that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member." Cults, according to Wallis, are generally described as "oriented towards the problems of individuals, loosely structured, tolerant [and] non-exclusive," making "few demands on members," without possessing a "clear distinction between members and non-members," having "a rapid turnover of membership" and as being transient collectives with vague boundaries and fluctuating belief systems. Wallis asserts that cults emerge from the "cultic [[milieu]]".<ref>[[Roy Wallis|Wallis, Roy]]. 1975. "Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sect." ''[[British Sociological Association]]'' 9(1):89–100. {{doi|10.1177/003803857500900105}}.</ref>

[[J. Gordon Melton]] stated that, in 1970, "one could count the number of active researchers on new religions on one's hands." However, [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] writes that the "meteoric growth" in this field of study can be attributed to the cult controversy of the early 1970s. Because of "a wave of nontraditional religiosity" in the late 1960s and early 1970s, academics perceived new religious movements as different phenomena from previous religious innovations.<ref name="Lewis, 2004">{{harvnb|Lewis|2004}}</ref>

In 1978, Bruce Campbell noted that cults are associated with beliefs in a [[divinity|divine]] [[Classical element|element]] in the [[individual]]; it is either ''[[soul]]'', ''[[self]]'', or [[Religious views on the self|''true self'']]. Cults are inherently [[Ephemerality|ephemeral]] and loosely organized. There is a major theme in many of the recent works that show the relationship between cults and [[mysticism]]. Campbell, describing ''cults'' as non-traditional religious groups based on belief in a divine element in the individual, brings two major types of such to attention{{snd}}'''mystical''' and '''instrumental'''{{snd}}dividing cults into either [[occult]] or [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] assembly. There is also a third type, the '''service-oriented''', as Campbell states that "the kinds of stable forms which evolve in the development of religious organization will bear a significant relationship to the content of the religious experience of the founder or founders."<ref name="Bruce Campbell 1978">Campbell, Bruce. 1978. "A Typology of Cults." ''Sociology Analysis''. Santa Barbara.</ref>

[[Dick Anthony]], a [[forensic psychologist]] known for his criticism of [[brainwashing]] theory of conversion,<ref name="Oldenburg">Oldenburg, Don. [2003] 2003. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110501144721/http://www.crimlaw.org/defbrief269.html Stressed to Kill: The Defense of Brainwashing; Sniper Suspect's Claim Triggers More Debate]." ''Defence Brief'' 269. Toronto: Steven Skurka & Associates. Archived from the [http://www.crimlaw.org/defbrief269.html original] on 1 May 2011.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dawson|1998|p=340}}</ref><ref>[[Thomas Robbins (sociologist)|Robbins, Thomas]]. 1996. ''In Gods We Trust: New Patterns of Religious Pluralism in America''. [[Transaction Publishers]]. p. 537. {{ISBN|978-0887388002}}.</ref> has defended some so-called cults, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects, saying that "[t]here's a large [[research literature]] published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part, the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."<ref name="Sipchen">[[Bob Sipchen|Sipchen, Bob]]. 17 November 1988. "[https://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-17/news/vw-257_1_cult-battle/3 Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions]." ''[[Los Angeles Times]].''</ref>

In their 1996 book ''Theory of Religion'', American sociologists [[Rodney Stark]] and [[William Sims Bainbridge]] propose that the formation of cults can be explained through the [[rational choice theory]].<ref name="stark1996">{{harvnb|Stark|Bainbridge|1996}}</ref> In ''The Future of Religion'' they comment that, "in the beginning, all religions are obscure, tiny, deviant cult movements."<ref>[[Eugene V. Gallagher|Gallagher, Eugene V.]] 2004. ''The New Religious Movement Experience in America''. [[Greenwood Press]], {{ISBN|0313328072}}. p. xv.</ref> According to [[Marc Galanter (psychiatrist)|Marc Galanter]], Professor of Psychiatry at [[NYU]], typical reasons why people join cults include a search for community and a [[Quest|spiritual quest]].<ref>[[Marc Galanter (psychiatrist)|Galanter, Marc]], ed. 1989. ''Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association''. [[American Psychiatric Association]]. {{ISBN|0890422125}}.</ref> Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of ''[[Religious conversion|conversion]]'', suggesting that ''[[Religious affiliation|affiliation]]'' is a more useful concept.<ref>Bader, Chris, and A. Demaris. 1996. "A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects''."'' ''[[Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion]]'' 35:285–303.</ref>
Description	What you type	What you get
Italic	''Italic text''	Italic text
Bold	'''Bold text'''	Bold text
Bold & italic	'''''Bold & italic text'''''	*Bold & italic text*
Description	What you type	What you get
Reference	Page text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>	Page text.^[1]
Named reference	Page text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>	Page text.^[2]
Additional use of the same reference	Page text.<ref name="test" />	Page text.^[2]
Display references	<references />	↑ Link text, additional text. ↑ Link text