CULT is...

• a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies
  
• a group of sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc
  
• a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of charismatic leader
  
• a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
  
• have different kinds such as cult wine, cult following, following a cult, and suicide cult
  

FACTS:

• Cults showed up first in 1617
  
• French word culte(meaning a particular kind of worship).
  
• Culte was a spin ion the Latin cultus which means "cultivations," "care," or "tending"
  
• In the 19th century, cult first took on its sense of devotion
  
• Cults are usually smaller than churches, most churches were at one time cults.
  
• The word CULT tends to associate thousands of harmless groups with the handful of destructive cults
  
• Main technique of cults is brain washing
  
• Charimatic leaders
  

Sources: http://search.aol.com/aol/search?=types+of+cults
http://www.religioustolerance.org/cultmenu.htm
http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studycult/cultqa2.htm

1. SCIENTOLOGY

History:

Scientology is a all about body beliefs. According to L.Ron Hubbard, who was the founder of Scientology, the main denominator of existence is survival.He stated,

...that life, is trying to survive. And is composed of two things: the material universe and an X-factor. And this x-factor is something that can evidently organize, and mobilize the material universe.

Hubbard grew up in Nebraska but he spent most of his time traveling in Asia. During his time in Guam, he was studying the research of Sigmund Freud and began to develop an interest to the human mind. After his observation of the effects on man's mind during World War II, he was determined to look for the answers to the human mind. At first, he made a theory that mental blocks can prevent medical treatments from being effective. Then later, he found out that this theory works on many patients including him. In addition, he made different kinds of procedures working on mind and finally published books that are now used as sacred texts by the members of Scientology.

Books/Articles:

1. Dianetics
2. Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought
3. What is Scientology?
4. Self-Analysis
5. The Emotional Ione Scale
6. Introduction to Scientology Ethics
7. The Technology of Study
8. Scientology 0-8
9. Basic Scientology Picture Book

Beliefs

• There are three important parts of human:
  1.Body - which organized physical composition or substance of a man
  2. Mind - consists essentially of pictures
  3. Thetan - the soul, creator of things
  
• They believe that the spiritual beings need a type of counseling called "auditing".Auditing is a form of psychoanalysis in which individuals retrieve their traumatic events. It is then accomplished through helping individuals rid themselves of any spiritual disabilities and increasing spiritual abilities. Auditing uses processes that are sets of questions asked or directions given by the auditor to help a person locate areas of spiritual distress, and gives advice on how to fix it. According to the Church of Scientology

  auditing can bring anyone from a condition of spiritual blindness to the brilliant joy of knowing.

• It is not official that they believe in after life. But during the auditing, the auditor may tell the person the idea of being born again into another body.

Scientology Today:

Although Scientology is not considered as a true cult compared to others, it still has a big influence around the world. Recent members from Scientology tell stories of mind control, devastation, and criminal activity leading to the deaths of those trying to escape the religion. As of today, the Church of Scientology still continues to recruit people and expand their wealth.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
www.scientology.org

2. Heaven's gate

History:

Heaven's gate is a UFO based cult. It was led by Marshall Applewhite a.k.a 'Do' and his partner, Bonnie Nettles a.k.a 'Ti'. Before creating heaven's gate, they already formed few groups before such as Total overcomers anonymous, the UFO society, the Christian Arts Center, and the Human Individual Metamorphosis or HIM. Members of this cult were less than 200 people. People who were active members always devoted to Applewhite and his mission. Members would have to first get rid of all earthly goods such as family, friends, jobs, sex, money, etc. Applewhite believes that both of them are the two witnesses spoken about in the Book of Revelations in the Holy Bible.

Beliefs:

• Applewhite and Bonnie taught their followers that they were extraterrestrial being and that the earth was about to be recycled, or wiped clean.
• The only way out of this world and to a whole new existence that would be above human existence was to escape to their space ship that was waiting for them in the tail of the Haley Bob comet. For them to be able to do it, they have to commit suicide which means to take it to the 'next level'. Their definition of 'next level' is Kingdom of Heaven.
• They also taught that only a few humans would be able to join Heaven's Gate.

  the 'suicide':

  At the end, thirty-nine people committed suicide. They committed suicide by ingesting cyanide and arsenic mixed with applesauce and drinking vodka they then wrapped their heads with plastic bags to insure suffocation. The group rented a 9200 sq feet mansion to do their suicide. In spring 1997, the bodies were discovered and decomposition had already begun. All members wore matching black shirts, black pants, white Nike's, and square purple cloth over their head. Investigators found five dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets. All members also had armband patches reading "Heaven's Gate Away Team". They all had their bags packed as if to say they were just going on a trip.
  
  
  
  
  The Heaven's Gate Cult
  
  SOURCE: www.buzzle.com/articles/the-heavens-gate-cult.html
  www.apologetics.index.org/496-heavens-gate
  www.wikipedia.org/wiki/heaven's_gate(religous group)
  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912249-2,00.html

3. Unification Church

History:

Unification Church was organized by the reverend son, Sun Myung Moon in 1954. People outside of this organization referred to its followers as Moonies. Members of this cult preferred to call themselves unificationist and consider the term Moonies to be derogatory. Rev. Moon was raised in Presbyterian Church. During his childhood years, Jesus appeared to him in a vision giving him the responsibility of completing the work in the world that Jesus had started. In his adult life, he was arrested for practicing capitalism, and he was convicted of tax evasion in the United States. In 1995, Moon initiated a national messiah ship that involved the selection of four families to leave a movement in each country. Moon also perform wedding ceremonies in which more than 2000 couples would be married. Unification church moved to North America when Young oun Kim establish church in 1959.

Beliefs:

• They view God as a single being with a perfect intellect, emotion, and will.
• They reject the traditional Christian concept of Trinity
• God contains positive and negative aspects
• The Holy Spirit is the feminine counterpart to God. Holy spirit is a form of energy that is derived from God.
• Jesus Christ is viewed as a unique human being, he was born without sin. He was spiritually resurrected after crucifixion. His body was taken by angels to unknown location.
• God original intent was for Jesus to form a perfect marriage.
• Saint Paul is viewed as the originator of Christianity.
• Hell exist on Earth and will be transformed in to the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth.
• One of the main purposes is to unite all fragments of Christianity in to a single body.
• The most important unification ritual is the blessing a.k.a The Mass Wedding Ceremony

  Books:

• Their main religious text is the Bible.
• Moon published the divine principle which is a collection of his beliefs

Source:www.eaec.org/cults/unificationchurch .htm

4. Jim Jones Jonestown

Jim Jones was an eccentric man who studied religion and death at young age. He formed many groups over many years and even adopted many children. He called his family a Rainbow Family. After developing a following called the People's Temple which taught Christian values or what he thought were Christian values as long as it came with money. The organization had to move from place to place to escape discrimination and scrutiny. Jim Jones claimed to be the 'messiah'. To gain full control of his followers, he used mind control strategy to brain wash them. Disciplinary problems were dealt with by using torturous methods. Also, he had sexual control over women and children.

the 'suicide'

After a California Congressman tried to get some family back from the cult, the cult leader hired hit men to kill the Congress man. When it failed, the Cult leader told his congregation that parachuting men were going to come down and steal the children. The cult would torture the women and the men to tell them secrets. Also, they would torture the children and then adopt them out so that they could be stupid to the truth. In order to stop this from happening, the majority of the congregation committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid. More than a third of deceased were children. This event resulted in the most American lives lost in a single event, until the attack of the World Trade Center in 2001.
Source:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912249-2,00.html

5. Branch Dividans

The Branch Davidans were a break off of a religious movement that had been going on since the early 1930's. David Koresh was the leader of this movement. The group was ostracized because their views were more extreme than the original religious movement. They no longer belonged to the main church. They eventually set up headquarters in Waco, Texas where there were many accusations such as child abuse, sexual abuse, and many forms of physical abuse. Koresh himself had many wives and many children by them. The compound was heavily defended with weapons and man power. When the authorities were moving in on the compound to serve warrants, the compound began to fire upon the officers. As the result, 83 Branch Davidans including David Koresh and 4 officers died.

6. Hare Krishna

Founded in 1996, the Hare Krishna cult was a fixture in the seventies, with yellow-robbed disciples panhandling at every major airport and intersection. The epitome of hippie idealism, Krishna followers believed utterly in the God "krishna" who was actually a character created for a novel, Mahabaratha. Krishna followers suffered for their religion because they believe that they would be rewarded by ascension, and spiritual paradise after many reincarnations. They do things such as robbery and murder. But not all members of Krishna organization suffered, some of them have luxurious house and surrounded by women catering their every need.

7. Children of God

A seriously twisted cult that delivered an evil message that sex with children was natural and right. The Children of God cult was also known as the Family and was founded by David Berg. Known for turning female cult followers into prostitutes who used sex to entice men into cult, they were the purveyors of "The System", a doctrine that included belief in the Apocalypse