Cults

             The religious landscape in the world has been the scene of shifts and changes almost ever since humans have been on earth. Change has been marked since the late fifties, marked by a rise in new religions. This is the "cult phenomenon" commented on by many people. Modern media has made us more aware of these than we were a few generations ago. Some claims have been made that more than six hundred new religions have bee created or imported here in the last few decades. A flourishing of new faiths highlight a new kind of religious awareness, or consciousness especially among young people. It has been estimated that there may be as many 5oo cults in the United States, with a total membership of approximately three million people. .
             There are four aspects of cults that one will take into account throughout the paper. The first aspect of cults that one will consider is the type of cults that are in society; the second is what type of people join cults and why they join; the third is the kind of rituals that are performed within cults; the last aspect of cults is how people become deprogrammed after being part of a cult. Cults are a secret organization, which membership is very exclusive and once one is a member it is very difficult to get the ideologies of the cult out of ones head. The leaders of cults are very manipulative and charismatic, so they can recruit people to join there new religion.
             The first aspect of cults that one will take into consideration are that there are different types of cults. To know the different types of cults one must know what a cult is. A cult is a group of person's who share in a special interest differing from the established majority or current religious, social, or cultural values, who meet regularly to continue and extent their purpose or mission independent of previous relationships with family, friends, religion, school , or career, with beliefs, practices and rituals which reinforce cults values and norms.