Word: cults
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Jones increasingly claimed that he was physically ill, and he stressed his health problems in a document prepared for Prime Minister Burnham. Attorney Garry was told by Jones' personal doctor that the cult leader suffered from recurrent temperatures of 105° and a fungus in his lungs. But several survivors, including Tim Carter, a Jones lieutenant, say his complaints were lies. The result of the autopsy conducted by Guyanese officials on Jones has not been released. But Guyanese-born Dr. Hardat A. Sukhdeo, deputy chairman of clinical psychiatric services at New Jersey Medical School, who flew to Jonestown...
...Jones' final delusions was that he would move his cult to the Soviet Union. A delegation from the commune talked twice with Feodor Timofeyev, the Soviet press attache in Georgetown, about a possible move, but a memo of that meeting shows the Russians offered little encouragement. Russian consular officials and a Russian doctor also visited Jonestown, which was the object of a favorable report by Tass. In the past few months, Russian language classes were held at the commune. Members had to recite Russian phrases, like "good morning," before receiving their rice-and-gravy meals...
People who are drifting and discontented can find instant comradeship and a sense of self-worth in a cult. Says Dean Kelley, director of religious liberty for the National Council of Churches: "Adolescents who have been ignored by their families and their peers find themselves the center of attention of an attractive group of young people who spend hours talking and working with them." This is not just an American phenomenon. Similar groups have sprung up in Western Europe and Japan. Writes Byong-Suh Kim, chairman of the sociology department at New Jersey's Montclair College: "Japanese society...
...Cults can differ considerably in their demands and discipline; not all indulge in coercion or violence. Still, many conform to a standard pattern of behavior. Once a recruit is drawn into a cult-adherents prefer to call it a sect or denomination-its message is incessantly drummed in. The novice is seldom left alone, a prey to random thoughts. Ties are severed with his past life; communications with family and friends may be eliminated altogether, a process that critics regard as "programming" or "brainwashing." Says Kelley: "These movements divide families, split communities, create tension and friction and turmoil. They...
...cult or its members violate federal laws, the FBI can of course step in. The most obvious charge would be kidnapingr keeping a member against his will. But invariably when the FBI has investigated such a charge, agents have been told by the supposedly kidnaped person that he or she was perfectly content to stay in the cult. Says Robert Keuch, a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general who is familiar with sects and their practices: "What may be brainwashing to a parent or other relative may be belief to the alleged victim...