Exploratory About Cults

Sierra Ackerson
Mrs. Toenjes
Composition 1
Exploratory Essay
10/7/14
Title Do you want to join a cult? Is there any good whatsoever to cults, or are all cults evil? The media blows many things out of proportion, so why not exaggerate a much controversial topic such as cults? Cults start off as nothing more than a fringe religion; Christianity was nothing more than a fringe religion when it began like many of the religions around in today’s world. There have been terrible incidences with cults like Waco Texas, proven sexual misconduct between minors and the cult leader, mass suicides, and “mind control” (brainwashing) methods. Does this really prove that cults are evil, or that these are evil leaders that make bad decisions? The media only
The media has had a huge hand in making cults seem completely and irrevocably evil; whether it’s slasher film, or rumors of a group of people breaking off from a mainstream religion because they don’t agree with it, so they change some of the aspects to suit what they believe. Sound familiar? It should because this is what has happened throughout history, such as Christianity breaking off from Judaism. Every religion at some point started off as a cult or fringe religion. It just depends on the retention (attendance) rate. Christianity grew and became a mainstream religion because people were attracted to it, and also because its beliefs weren’t too far from the original. People have difficulty to believe in something so much more different from what they grew up learning, so after the novelty wears off, the attendance rate for a cult goes down. This article did add to whether only the bad in cults are shown because that happens to be all the media shows
Like the girl who cried wolf, people only want to be heard and famous, and unfortunately when too many people cry wolf when there actually is an abusive cult, it may be ignored. People will lie and tell others what they want to hear in order to have a chance of fame. Whether it be for fifteen minutes or fifteen years. There are actual victims of cults, but some people are twisted enough to lie about it just so they get on T.V, or to have a book written about them. In 1987, the media described a new “cult” in Washington D.C to be abusing children, and later the stories became laced with innuendo with unidentified sources reporting these stories. The “cult was labeled as the “Finders”, and after child abuse was ruled out the news stories quickly dissolved. This “cult” turned out to be nothing more than just an unusual commune. This story shows how unidentified “sources” can tell the media what they like to hear, and how the media can greatly exaggerate a