Cult

===Destructive cults===
[[File:Rev. Jim Jones, 1977 (cropped)2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jim Jones]], the leader of the [[Peoples Temple]]]]
''Destructive cult'' generally refers to groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people. The [[Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance]] specifically limits the use of the term to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."<ref>{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=B.A. |title=Doomsday, destructive religious cults |work=[[Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance]] |date=<!-- last updated -->25 July 2007 |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/destruct.htm |access-date=18 November 2007}}</ref> [[Psychologist]] [[Michael Langone]], executive director of the anti-cult group [[International Cultic Studies Association]], defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits."<ref>{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Francis J. |author2=Arnold Shanon Bloch, Ron Shor |title=Differential Diagnosis & Treatment in Social Work |edition=4th |publisher=Free Press |date=1 September 1995 |page=1146| chapter =105: From Consultation to Therapy in Group Work With Parents of Cultists |isbn=0028740076}}</ref>

[[John Gordon Clark]] argued that [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] systems of governance and an emphasis on [[money]] making are characteristics of a destructive cult.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Clark, M.D. |first=John Gordon |author-link=John Gordon Clark |title=The Effects of Religious Cults on the Health and Welfare of Their Converts |journal=[[Congressional Record]] |volume=123 |issue=181 |pages=Extensions of Remarks 37401–03 |publisher=[[United States Congress]] |date=4 November 1977 |url=http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/press_jones_congress.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216095942/http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/press_jones_congress.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 December 2005 |access-date=18 November 2007 }}</ref> In ''Cults and the Family'', the authors cite Shapiro, who defines a ''destructive cultism'' as a [[Psychopathy|sociopathic]] [[syndrome]], whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and [[personality changes]], loss of [[personal identity]], cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaslow |first=Florence Whiteman |author2=Marvin B. Sussman |title=Cults and the Family |publisher=Haworth Press |year=1982 |isbn=0917724550 |page=34}}</ref>

In the opinion of sociology professor [[Benjamin Zablocki]] of [[Rutgers University]], ''destructive cults'' are at high risk of becoming abusive to members, stating that such is in part due to members' [[adulation]] of [[charismatic authority|charismatic leaders]] contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power.<ref>[[Benjamin Zablocki|Zablocki, Benjamin]]. 31 May 1997. "A Sociological Theory of Cults" (paper). ''Annual meeting of the [[American Family Foundation]]''. Philadelphia.

{{cite web|title=Ben Zablocki's Homepage|url=http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~zablocki/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308091637/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~zablocki/|archive-date=8 March 2005|access-date=29 March 2005}}</ref> According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is [[sexual abuse]]. According to [[Reender Kranenborg|Kranenborg]], some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.<ref name="Kranenborg-1996">[[Reender Kranenborg|Kranenborg, Reender]]. 1996. "Sekten... gevaarlijk of niet? [Cults... dangerous or not?]" (in Dutch). ''Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland'' 31. [[Vrije Universiteit|Free University Amsterdam]]. {{ISSN|0169-7374}}. {{ISBN|9053834265}}.</ref> This may extend to physical and psychological harm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.reveal.org/library/psych/The%20Impact%20of%20Cults%20on%20Health.pdf|title=The impacts of cults on health}}</ref>

Writing about [[Bruderhof communities]] in the book ''[[Misunderstanding Cults (book)|Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field]]'', Julius H. Rubin said that American religious innovation created an unending diversity of sects. These "new religious movements…gathered new converts and issued challenges to the wider society. Not infrequently, public controversy, contested narratives and litigation result."<ref name=ZablockiRobbins>{{cite book |last1=Zablocki |first1=Benjamin David |author-link=Benjamin Zablocki |last2=Robbins |first2=Thomas |title=Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2001 |isbn=0802081886 |page=473|author2-link=Thomas Robbins (sociologist) |title-link=Misunderstanding Cults (book)}}</ref> In his work ''Cults in Context'' author [[Lorne L. Dawson]] writes that although the [[Unification Church]] "has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as a destructive cult by "anticult crusaders."<ref>{{harvnb|Dawson|1998|p=349}}</ref> In 2002, the German government was held by the [[Federal Constitutional Court]] to have [[defamation|defamed]] the [[Osho movement]] by referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis.<ref>Seiwert, Hubert. 2003. "[https://archive.today/20120708164142/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_3_64/ai_109568884/pg_4 Freedom and Control in the Unified Germany: Governmental Approaches to Alternative Religions Since 1989]." ''[[Sociology of Religion (journal)|Sociology of Religion]]'' 64(3):367–375, p. 370.</ref><ref>[https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Entscheidungen/EN/2002/06/rs20020626_1bvr067091en.html;jsessionid=1B78999D09E269D60A4E889B92797A2C.1_cid393 BVerfG, Order of the First Senate of 26 June 2002, 1 BvR 670/91, paras. 1-102]. paras. 57, 60, 62, 91–94;

"[https://web.archive.org/web/20130514063442/http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg68-02.html Zur Informationstätigkeit der Bundesregierung im religiös-weltanschaulichen Bereich]" {{in lang|de}}. ''Press release'' 68(2002). [[Federal Constitutional Court|Federal Constitutional Court Press Office]]. 30 July 2002. Archived from the [http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg68-02.html original] on 14 May 2013.</ref>

Some researchers have criticized the term ''destructive cult'', writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book ''Understanding New Religious Movements'', [[John A. Saliba]] writes that the term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the [[Peoples Temple]] as the "paradigm of a destructive cult", where those that use the term are implying that other groups will also commit [[mass suicide]].<ref name="saliba">{{cite book |last=Saliba |first=John A. |author2=[[J. Gordon Melton]], foreword |title=Understanding New Religious Movements |publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=2003 |isbn=0759103569 |page=144}}</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