Extreme Beliefs - Part 2: Cults

You know what a cult is, and you’d never get tricked into joining one…right? In this video, anthropologist Rob Lemelson debunks common myths and misunderstandings about cults to impart the nuances of marginal religious groups and new religious movements (NRMs). While notorious destructive cults such as the People’s Temple, led by Jim Jones, and Aum Shinrikyo, led by Shoko Asuhara, share certain psychological and social dynamics, not all groups known as cults are destructive–and the differences between cults and organized religions may be less obvious than they seem. Anthropologists explain how the cult concept has been used to police the racialized and politicized boundaries of legitimate religion and social action, while reinforcing the questionable idea that mainstream religion and political power as a source of moral goodness, benevolence, and protection.

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Resources:

Birx, H.J. (Ed.) (2006) Cults. In Encyclopedia of Anthropology(Vol. 5, pp. 624-625). New York: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Lalich, J.A. (2004) Bounded Choice: True Believes and Charismatic Cults. Oakland: UC Press.

Lindstrom, L. (2018) Cargo Cults. In The Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology.

Singer, M.T. (2003) Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Malinowski, B. (1945) The Dynamics of Culture Change. New Haven: Yale University Press.