Workshop 20: Cults: Lose Your Will, Lose Your Soul

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Building Bridges, Grades 8-9: A World Religions Program

In This Section

Introduction
From Building Bridges

When theology erodes and organization crumbles, when the institutional framework of religion begins to break up, the search for a direct experience which people can feel to be religious facilitates the rise of cults. — Daniel Bell, sociologist Introduction This workshop introduces the topic of…
Spiritual Preparation
From Building Bridges

Not all cult practices are dangerous, and not all cults degenerate to tragic ends….
Welcoming and Entering
From Building Bridges

Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 1, What Do Cults and Religions Do? Bowl or dish to hold folded slips Glue stick or tape Preparation for Activity Prepare a large sheet of newsprint according to the Poster Guide at the bottom of Leader Resource 1….
Opening
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 1, What Makes a Cult? Leader Resource 2, Cults Background Optional: Cults/Religions poster the group created in the Welcoming and Entering activity…
Activity 1: Story - Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Story, “Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple” Handout 2, Behavior of Abusers Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Read the story “Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple” so you will be comfortable presenting it. Copy the handout for all…
Activity 2: Unitarian Universalism - CUUlt?
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, What Makes a Cult? Optional: Cults/Religions poster the group created in the Welcoming and Entering activity Description of Activity Participants learn and discuss why some people might consider Unitarian Universalism to be a cult. Ask…
Activity 3: Help! A Friend Is in Trouble!
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 15 minutes Description of Activity Participants consider what might make a cult attractive to a prospective member and how they might intervene if a friend became involved with a cult-like group. Engage participants to recall the reasons a cult might be attractive to someone which…
Closing
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Taking It Home handout Optional: Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Download, adapt, and copy Taking It Home for each participant. Optional: Write the closing words on…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Building Bridges

This workshop dealt with slippery subject matter: Discussion of cults can reveal people’s prejudices, and the word “cult” is used in so many ways, it can be hard to reach a common understanding. Review the workshop with your co-leader: How did you navigate this complex landscape? Did participants…
Faith In Action: Film and Discussion
From Building Bridges

Materials for Activity The PBS American Experience documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, either on DVD or online at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/jonestown-the-life-and-death-of-peoples-… Documentary Film DVD player and monitor, or a computer with Internet connection,…
Alternate Activity 1: Cliques
From Building Bridges

Activity time: 75 minutes Materials for Activity One episode of the MTV program If You Really Knew Me Computer with Internet access, projector, and screen Handout 1, What Makes a Cult? Preparation for Activity Choose an episode of If You Really Knew Me, an MTV series about Challenge Day, a…
Taking It Home: Cults: Lose Your Will, Lose Your Soul
From Building Bridges

When theology erodes and organization crumbles, when the institutional framework of religion begins to break up, the search for a direct experience which people can feel to be religious facilitates the rise of cults. — Daniel Bell, sociologist IN TODAY’S WORKSHOP……
Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple
From Building Bridges

The Reverend James Jones was a charismatic young man of 24 when he founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis in 1955. He preached racial equality, and, amazingly, more than half the Peoples Temple members were of racial minorities—a level of diversity almost unheard of in the 1950s. The church…
Handout 1: What Makes a Cult
From Building Bridges

The information in this handout was compiled from the International Cultic Studies Association, particularly the articleRobert Jay Lifton; and “Common Characteristics of How the Cults Operate” (2009) on the Let Us Reason Ministries website. What Makes It a Cult?…
Handout 2: Behavior of Abusers
From Building Bridges

Abusers can be hard to identify because at first they can be completely charming. Skilled at gaining people’s trust, they often seem approachable, honest, generous, and kind, as they ease into people’s lives and hearts. Slowly, though, things start to go terribly wrong. The abusive behavior…
Leader Resource 1: What Do Cults and Religions Do
From Building Bridges

Recreate the image of the poster on newsprint. Cut the phrases into slips of paper. Make everybody eat together Pressure people to give their houses, cars, money, etc. to the group Track down and/or kill people who leave the group Punish people for criticizing the group or the leadership Pressure…
Leader Resource 2: Cults Background
From Building Bridges

The first dictionary definition of “cult” is “a system of religious worship.” In other words, by the first definition, all religions everywhere are cults. This is different, however, from the way the word is most commonly used today. The number of cult members worldwide changes radically based on…
Find Out More about Workshop 20: Cults
From Building Bridges

The Ross Institute Internet Archives offers links to many articles on Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the tragedy in British Guyana….