Can 8850 Form Belonging 2016-2025

Music. When Reverend Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in 1955, few could have imagined its horrifying and progressive nature. This religious movement rose in popularity and gained support from some of San Francisco's most prominent politicians. However, in 1977, amidst revelations of brainwashing and abuse, Jones moved with several hundred followers to establish the commune of Jonestown in Guyana. Billed as a utopian paradise, the colony was more like a prison camp. When a congressional delegation arrived to investigate its conditions, Jones executed his final plan. On November 18, 1978, nine hundred and nine men, women, and children died after being forced to drink poisoned flavor aid. That grisly image has since been immortalized as shorthand slang for single-minded cult-like thinking: "they drank the Kool-Aid." Today, there are thousands of cults around the world. It's important to note two things about them. First, not all cults are religious; some are political, therapy-based, focused on self-improvement, or otherwise. On the flip side, not all new religions are what we're referring to as cults. So, what exactly defines our modern understanding of cults and why do people join them? Broadly speaking, a cult is a group or movement with a shared commitment to a usually extreme ideology. This ideology is typically embodied in a charismatic leader. While few cults turn out as deadly as Jonestown or Heaven's Gate, which ended in a mass suicide of 39 people in 1997, most cults share some basic characteristics. A typical cult requires a high level of commitment from its members and maintains a strict hierarchy, separating unsuspecting supporters and recruits from the inner workings. It claims to provide answers to life's biggest questions through its doctrine alone, with the required recipe for change that shapes a new member into a true believer. Most importantly, it uses...