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Do not fill this in! {{short description|Cult that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism}} {{redirect|Doomsday Cult|the book|Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith}} A '''doomsday cult''' is a [[cult]] that believes in [[apocalypticism]] and [[millenarianism]], including both those that predict [[disaster]] and those that attempt to destroy the [[Ultimate fate of the universe|entire universe]].<ref name="jenkins">{{cite book | last =Jenkins | first =Phillip | title = Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History | publisher =[[Oxford University Press]] US | year =2000 | pages =216, 222 | isbn = 0195145968}}</ref> [[Sociologist]] [[John Lofland (sociologist)|John Lofland]] coined the term ''doomsday cult'' in his 1966 study of a group of members of the [[Unification Church of the United States]]: ''[[Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith]]''. In 1958, [[Leon Festinger]] published a study of a group with cataclysmic predictions: ''[[When Prophecy Fails|When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World]]''.<ref name="NovaReligio 1999">{{cite journal |last=Dawson |first=Lorne L. |date=October 1999 |title=When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/3/1/60/302991/nr_1999_3_1_60.pdf |journal=[[Nova Religio|Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions]] |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=60β82 |doi=10.1525/nr.1999.3.1.60 |doi-access=free |issn=1092-6690 |lccn=98656716 |access-date=20 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Spilka | first =Bernard | title =The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach | publisher =Guilford Press | year =2003 | isbn = 1572309016 | page =356}} "The classic study by Festinger and his colleagues was titled ''When Prophecy Fails''."</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Goodwin | first =C. James | title =Research in Psychology: Methods and Design | publisher =J. Wiley | year =1998 | isbn =0471199869 | page =[https://archive.org/details/researchinpsycho00good/page/376 376] | url =https://archive.org/details/researchinpsycho00good/page/376 }} "To learn more about this classic study of what happens when prophecy fails..."</ref> Festinger and other researchers have attempted to explain the commitment of members to their doomsday cult after the leader's prophecies have proven false. Festinger attributed this phenomenon to the coping method of [[Cognitive dissonance|dissonance]] reduction, a form of [[Rationalization (psychology)|rationalization]].<ref name="NovaReligio 1999"/> Members often dedicate themselves with renewed vigor to the group's cause after a failed prophecy, rationalizing with explanations such as a belief that their actions forestalled the disaster or a continued belief in the leader when the date for disaster is postponed.<ref name="NovaReligio 1999"/> Some researchers believe that the use of the term by the government and the news media can lead to a [[self-fulfilling prophecy]], in which actions by authorities reinforces the apocalyptic beliefs of the group, which in turn can inspire further controversial actions. Group leaders have themselves objected to comparisons between one group and another, and parallels have been drawn between the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy and the theory of a [[deviancy amplification spiral]]. == Etymology == The term "doomsday cult" was first used in the title of a 1966 scholarly study of a group of [[Unification Church]] members by [[John Lofland (sociologist)|John Lofland]], entitled: ''[[Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith]]''.<ref name="jenkins" /><ref name="lofland">{{cite book | last =Lofland | first =John | title =Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith | publisher =[[Prentice-Hall]] | year =1966 | isbn = 978-0829000955}}</ref> Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctoral thesis entitled: "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes," and in 1966 in book form by [[Prentice-Hall]].<ref>[http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/conversion.htm Conversion], [http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Unification.htm Unification Church], ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Society'', Hartford Institute for Religion Research, [[Hartford Seminary]]</ref> It is considered to be one of the most important and widely-cited studies of the process of [[religious conversion]], and one of the first modern sociological studies of a [[new religious movement]].<ref>''Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations'', Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 {{ISBN|978-0275987176}}, p. 180</ref><ref>''Exploring New Religions'', Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 {{ISBN|978-0826459596}} p. 1</ref> [[James Richardson (sociologist)|James Richardson]] writes in the ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Society'' that after the publication of Lofland's work, "The term ''doomsday cult'' has become a part of everyday parlance, used by the media to refer to apocalyptic religious groups."<ref>{{cite book | last =Swatos | first =William H. | author2 =[[James Richardson (sociologist)|James Richardson]] |chapter=Doomsday Cult | title =Encyclopedia of Religion and Society | publisher =Rowman Altamira | year =1998 | isbn = 0761989560 | page =142}}</ref><ref>[http://kingsvillerecord.our-hometown.com/news/2009-12-16/Editorial/Exploring_the_climate_of_doom.html Exploring the climate of doom] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423123818/http://kingsvillerecord.our-hometown.com/news/2009-12-16/Editorial/Exploring_the_climate_of_doom.html |date=April 23, 2012 }}, Rich Lowry, 2009-12-19 'The phrase βdoomsday cultβ entered our collective vocabulary after John Lofland published his 1966 study, βDoomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith.β Lofland wrote about the Unification Church.'</ref> == Psychological studies == {{See also|When Prophecy Fails}} A [[psychological research]] study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic [[world view]] after they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements.<ref name="pargament">{{cite book | last =Pargament | first =Kenneth I. | author-link= Kenneth Pargament| title =The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice | publisher =Guilford Press | year =1997 | pages =150β153, 340|chapter= Compelling Coping in a Doomsday Cult | isbn = 1572306645}}</ref> [[Leon Festinger]] and his colleagues had observed members of the group for several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader.<ref name="stangor">{{cite book | last =Stangor | first =Charles | title =Social Groups in Action and Interaction | publisher =Psychology Press | year =2004 | pages =42β43 |chapter=When Prophecy Fails | isbn =184169407X }}</ref> The group had organized around a belief system which foretold that a majority of the [[Western Hemisphere]] would be destroyed by a cataclysmic flood on December 21, 1955.<ref>{{cite book | last =Newman | first =Dr. David M. | title =Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life | publisher =Pine Forge Press | year =2006 | isbn = 1412928141 | page =86}}</ref><ref name="petty">{{cite book | last =Petty | first =Richard E. |author2=John T. Cacioppo | title =Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches | publisher =Westview Press | year =1996 | isbn =081333005X | page =139|chapter= Effect of Disconfirming an Important Belief }}</ref> Their work was later published in the 1956 book ''[[When Prophecy Fails|When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World]]''.<ref name="NovaReligio 1999"/><ref name="festinger">{{cite book | last =Festinger | first =Leon | author-link =Leon Festinger |author2=Henry W. Riecken|author-link2=Henry Riecken |author3=Stanley Schachter|author-link3=Stanley Schachter | title = When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World | publisher =University of Minnesota Press | year =1956 | url =http://www.whenprophecyfails.org/ | isbn = 1591477271}}</ref> [[Social science|Social scientists]] have found that while some group members will leave after the date for a doomsday prediction by the leader has passed uneventfully, others actually feel their belief and commitment to the group strengthened. Often when a group's doomsday prophecies or predictions fail to come true, the group leader will simply set a new date for impending doom, or predict a different type of catastrophe on a different date.<ref name="snow">{{cite book | last =Snow | first =Robert L. | title =[[Deadly Cults|Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers]] | publisher =Praeger/Greenwood | year =2003 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/deadlycultscrime00snow/page/70 70, 79, 108, 111] | isbn =0275980529 }}</ref> Niederhoffer and Kenner say: "When you have gone far out on a limb and so many people have followed you, and there is much '[[sunk cost]],' as economists would say, it is difficult to admit you have been wrong."<ref>{{cite book | last =Niederhoffer | first =Victor |author2=Laurel Kenner | title =Practical Speculation | url =https://archive.org/details/practicalspecula0000nied | url-access =registration | publisher =[[John Wiley and Sons]] | year =2004 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/practicalspecula0000nied/page/117 117β118] | isbn =0471443069 }}</ref> In ''Experiments With People: Revelations from Social Psychology'', Abelson, Frey and Gregg explain this further: "...continuing to proselytize on behalf of a doomsday cult whose prophecies have been disconfirmed, although it makes little logical sense, makes plenty of psychological sense if people have already spent months proselytizing on the cult's behalf. Persevering allows them to avoid the embarrassment of how wrong they were in the first place."<ref name="abelson">{{cite book | last =Abelson | first =Robert P. |author2=Kurt P. Frey|author3=Aiden P. Gregg | title =Experiments With People: Revelations from Social Psychology | publisher =Routledge | year =2003 | pages =64β65 | isbn = 0805828974}}</ref> The common-held belief in a catastrophic event occurring on a future date can have the effect of ingraining followers with a sense of uniqueness and purpose.<ref>{{cite book | last =Reynolds | first =Michael |author2=Russ Vince|author3=Joseph A. Raelin|author4=M. Ann Welsh|author5=Gordon E. Dehler|author6=Ann Cunliffe|author7=Mark Easterby-Smith | title =Organizing Reflection | publisher =Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. | year =2004 | isbn = 0754637476 | page =74}}</ref> In addition, after a failed prophecy members may attempt to explain the outcome through [[rationalization (making excuses)|rationalization]] and [[Cognitive dissonance|dissonance]] reduction.<ref name="pargament" /><ref>{{cite book | last =Albarracin | first =Dolores |author2=Blair T. Johnson|author3=Mark P. Zanna|author4=Icek Ajzen|author5=John N. Bassili|author6=Pablo Brinol | title =The Handbook Of Attitudes | publisher =Routledge | year =2005 | isbn = 0805844937 | page =227|chapter= Dissonance Reduction}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Kim | first =Min-Sun | title =Non-Western Perspectives on Human Communication: Implications for Theory and Practice | publisher =Sage Publications Inc | year =2002 | pages =75β76 | isbn = 0761923519}}</ref> Explanations may include stating that the group members had misinterpreted the leader's original plan, that the cataclysmic event itself had been postponed to a later date by the leader, or that the activities of the group itself had forestalled disaster.<ref name="pargament" /> In the case of the Festinger study, when the prophecy of a cataclysmic flood was proved false, the members pronounced that their faith in God had prevented the event. They then proceeded to attempt to convert new members with renewed strength.<ref name="petty" /> In his book ''Politeia: Visions of the Just Society'', Eric Carlton debates whether or not the term is appropriate to describe these types of groups.<ref name="carlton">{{cite book | last =Carlton | first =Eric | title =Politeia: Visions of the Just Society | publisher =Fairleigh Dickinson University Press | year =2006 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/politeiavisionso00carl/page/23 23, 55β56] | isbn =0838641024 | url =https://archive.org/details/politeiavisionso00carl/page/23 }}</ref> Carlton writes that the event is only seen as a "doomsday" for the "wicked and unrepentant," whereas members of the group itself often regard it as a "day of deliverance," or a "renewal of the world."<ref name="carlton" /> He regards these groups as "the ultimate in exclusivity," and while the future will be bleak for nonbelievers due to an unforeseen [[Doomsday event|cataclysm]], members of the group are promised existence in a new [[utopia]].<ref name="carlton" /> == Media coverage == In ''Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism'', Brynjar Lia notes that "Doomsday cults are nothing new," but also states that they are "relatively few."<ref name="lia">{{cite book | last =Lia | first =Brynjar | title =Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism: Patterns and Predictions | publisher =Routledge | year =2005 | pages =165β169 | isbn = 071465261X}}</ref> In ''Mystics and Messiahs'', Jenkins writes that as a result of events between 1993 and 1997 including the [[Waco Siege]] involving the [[Branch Davidians]], violence involving the [[Order of the Solar Temple]], [[Aum Shinrikyo]]'s [[sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway]], and the [[Heaven's Gate (religious group)|Heaven's Gate]] incident, "Reporting on so-called doomsday cults became a mainstay of the media, just as satanic cults had been a decade before." Jenkins regards the Order of the Solar Temple as more of an example of [[organized crime]] than a doomsday cult.<ref name="jenkins" /> In ''Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld'', the authors also make a comparison to organized crime, writing that [[Aum Shinrikyo]] "...often resembled a profit-hungry racketeering gang more than a fanatic doomsday cult."<ref name="yakuza">{{cite book | last =Kaplan | first =David E. |author2=Alec Dubro | title =Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld | publisher =University of California Press | year =2003 | isbn = 0520215621 | page =208}}</ref> In [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]]' ''The Order of the Solar Temple'', he writes that the media made use of the term doomsday cult to characterize the movement, though former members and outsiders did not know what kind of event would occur.<ref>{{cite book | last =Lewis | first =James R. | author-link =James R. Lewis (scholar) | title =The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death | publisher =Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. | year =2006 | isbn = 0754652858 | page =96}}</ref> Some see the use of the term itself as a [[self-fulfilling prophecy]], where the characterization of being called a doomsday cult may actually affect the outcome of violent events related to the group. The ''Canadian Security Intelligence Service Report on Doomsday Religious Cults'' reported:<ref name="kaplan">{{cite book | last =Kaplan | first =Jeffrey | title =Millennial Violence: Past, Present and Future | publisher =Routledge | year =2000 | pages =53β61, 114, 135, 228β229 | isbn = 0714652946}}</ref><ref name="canadianintelligence">"Doomsday Religious Movements", ''Perspectives'', a [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]] publication, Report # 2000/03, December 18, 1999. [http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/pblctns/prspctvs/200003-eng.asp available online] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008080703/http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/pblctns/prspctvs/200003-eng.asp |date=October 8, 2008 }}, last updated November 1, 2000.</ref> <blockquote> Sanctions applied by authorities are often interpreted by a movement as hostile to its existence, which reinforces their apocalyptic beliefs and leads to further withdrawal, mobilization and deviant actions, and which in turn elicits heavier sanctions by authorities. This unleashes a spiral of amplification, as each action amplifies each action, and the use of violence is facilitated as the group believes this will ultimately actualize its doomsday scenario."<ref name="kaplan" /> </blockquote> [[Eileen Barker]] has compared these concepts to the notion of a deviancy amplification spiral in the media and its effects on [[new religious movement]]s, and James Richardson has also discussed this effect.<ref name="kaplan" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Barker |first=Eileen |author-link=Eileen Barker |title=Introducing New Religious Movements |work=London School of Economics and Political Science |publisher=Fathom: the source for online learning |year=2002 |url=http://www.fathom.com/feature/121938/ |access-date=2007-11-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014065725/http://www.fathom.com/feature/121938/ |archive-date=2007-10-14 }}</ref> In the case of the [[Concerned Christians]], use of the term "doomsday cult" as a characterization of the group served as a justification for deportation of its members by the [[Israel]]i government.<ref>{{cite book | last =Gorenberg | first =Gershom | title =The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount | publisher =[[Simon & Schuster]] | year =2000 | isbn = 0743216210 | page =217}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last =Sennott | first =Charles M. | title =The Body and the Blood | publisher =Public Affairs | year =2001 | isbn =1891620959 | page =[https://archive.org/details/bodyblood00senn/page/40 40] | url =https://archive.org/details/bodyblood00senn/page/40 }}</ref> In the book ''The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines'', author Loren L. Coleman discusses the effect the media can have on the seemingly innocuous intentions of a French doomsday cult.<ref name="coleman">{{cite book | last =Coleman | first =Loren L. | title =The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines | publisher =[[Simon & Schuster]] | year =2004 | pages =88β89|chapter= Cultic Copycats | isbn = 1416505547}}</ref> On September 5, 2002, Arnaud Mussy told his followers based in [[Nantes, France]] to look forward to voyagers from [[Venus]] who would collect them before the end of the world on October 24, 2002.<ref name="coleman" /> Though Mussy denied any plans for a [[mass suicide]], both police and the media drew parallels to the Order of the Solar Temple.<ref name="coleman" /> In ''Apocalypse Observed'', authors Hall, Schuyler and Trinh discuss the effect the media had on the events surrounding the Order of the Solar Temple group.<ref name="hall">{{cite book | last =Hall | first =John R. |author2=Philip Daniel Schuyler|author3=Sylvaine Trinh | title =Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and the State in North America, Europe and Japan | publisher =Routledge | year =2000 | isbn = 0415192773 | page =132}}</ref> ==See also== {{wikt-inline|doom}}<br>{{wikt-inline|cult}} * [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Rhodes |first=Ron |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780310232179/page/77 |title=The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions |publisher=Zondervan |year=2001 |isbn=0-310-23217-1 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780310232179/page/77 77β103]}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last=Gomes |first=Alan W. |title=Unmasking the Cults |publisher=Zondervan |year=1995 |isbn=0-310-70441-3 |pages=22, 23}}</ref> == References == {{reflist|40em}} {{Authority control}} {{Opposition_to_NRMs}} [[Category:Cults]] [[Category:Apocalyptic groups|*]] [[Category:Unification Church neologisms]] [[Category:1960s neologisms]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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