Cult: a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
The word cult conjures up strange images. For example, pictures of large groups of people with shaven heads talking in unison, or maybe even ideas of brainwashing and abuse. But in reality, the word cult means nothing more than a group of people with a common idea. Or at least the denotation does. We all know there is a lot more to the word cult than just that. According to Sociology, A Down-to-Earth Approach, a cult is simply “a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion” (Henslin, 529). This definition, if not less confusing, at least seems more tangible. It is hard to step away from reality, and look at the bigger picture, especially when dealing with something as personal as religion, but truthfully, the world’s most popular religions started as nothing more than cults. When telling of one religion, the same sociology textbook reads, “its handful of followers believed that an unschooled carpenter who preached in remote villages in a backwater country was the Son of God, [and] that he was killed and came back to life” (529). So then why is it that new religious movements, otherwise known as cults, are met with such hostility in America? We react with hostility towards new religious movements because we don’t know how else to react. It is due to the abnormal lifestyle many new religious movements require, the counter-cultural values often held within these groups, and the fear we feel when presented with the unknowns of an entirely new religion.
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It's a rough draft, and most of it will probably not be present in my final draft.
The real accomplishment this "weekend":
Getting my thoughts organized and getting a interviewee!
