Cults
There are currently 2,000 to 5,000 cults active in the United States and about 10 to 20 million Americans have been or are currently involved in cults today (Clark 1 of 20). The word cult is defined as follows: “faddish devotion; a group of persons showing such devotion” (Webster Dictionary, 192). Although some believe that cults were a thing in the past, many do not know is that cults are not just a thing in the past; they are still being practiced and the effects are destructive. Cults play a negative role in our society due to the infamous leaders who brainwash their followers and the manipulation of the naïve victims; therefore, banishing cults will cause a decline in illegal activity, improper behavior, and immoral values.
Cults were greatly exploited in the 1970s thru 1990s thanks to its infamous leaders. “…a vagrant wanderer, a frustrated singer-guitarist…who would refer himself as Jesus Christ…and was a killer who cleverly masqueraded behind the common image of a hippie, that of being peace loving…but was a megalomaniac who coupled his insatiable thirst for power with an intense obsession for violent death,” is the way prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi described Charles Manson, leader of The Manson Family during the Tate-LaBianca murder trial where Manson, along with the members of his “family” served as the accused (Pellowski 89-90). Charles Manson was born to a sixteen year old prostitute, Kathleen Maddox, on November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio (Pellowski 15). It was not until 1967 that Charles Manson devised The Manson Family, later to be renamed the Frigate Family and became the megalomaniac cult leader he is most recognized for. Manson started the cult at the age of thirty-two, spending more than half of those years in penal institutions for an array of different crimes. Although he had a criminal upbringing, Manson still managed to attract followers, convincing them he was Christ. Manson’s followers were confident that he had both the authority
Cults were greatly exploited in the 1970s thru 1990s thanks to its infamous leaders. “…a vagrant wanderer, a frustrated singer-guitarist…who would refer himself as Jesus Christ…and was a killer who cleverly masqueraded behind the common image of a hippie, that of being peace loving…but was a megalomaniac who coupled his insatiable thirst for power with an intense obsession for violent death,” is the way prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi described Charles Manson, leader of The Manson Family during the Tate-LaBianca murder trial where Manson, along with the members of his “family” served as the accused (Pellowski 89-90). Charles Manson was born to a sixteen year old prostitute, Kathleen Maddox, on November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio (Pellowski 15). It was not until 1967 that Charles Manson devised The Manson Family, later to be renamed the Frigate Family and became the megalomaniac cult leader he is most recognized for. Manson started the cult at the age of thirty-two, spending more than half of those years in penal institutions for an array of different crimes. Although he had a criminal upbringing, Manson still managed to attract followers, convincing them he was Christ. Manson’s followers were confident that he had both the authority