[PDF] The Cult Experience eBook

Author : J. Gordon Melton
Publisher :
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 23,99 MB
Release : 1982
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN :

GET BOOK

Surveys the major religious cults, examines their influence on American society, and discusses deprogramming and the movement against cults

Author : J. P. Telotte
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 15,70 MB
Release : 2014-02-19
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 0292761856

GET BOOK

"Play it again, Sam" is the motto of cult film enthusiasts, who will watch their favorite movie over and over, "beyond all reason." What is the appeal of cult movies? Why do fans turn up in droves at midnight movies or sit through the same three-hanky classics from Hollywood's golden era? These are some of the questions J. P. Telotte and twelve other noted film scholars consider in this groundbreaking study of the cult film. The book identifies two basic types of cult films—older Hollywood movies, such as Casablanca, that have developed a cult following and "midnight movies," most notably The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Telotte, Bruce Kawin, and Timothy Corrigan offer thought-provoking discussions about why these two types of movies become cult films, the sort of audience they attract, and the needs they fulfill for that audience. Subsequent essays employ a variety of cultural, feminist, ideological, and poststructural strategies for exploring these films. In a section on the classical cult film, the movie Casablanca receives extensive treatment. An essay by T. J. Ross considers Beat the Devil as a send-up of cult films, while another essay by Wade Jennings analyzes the cult star phenomenon as personified in Judy Garland. "Midnight movie madness" is explored in essays on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, movie satires of the 1950s, science fiction double features, and horror thrillers. Illustrated with scenes from favorite movies and written for both fans and scholars, The Cult Film Experience will appeal to a wider audience than the "usual suspects."

Author : John Spinks
Publisher :
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 29,77 MB
Release : 2019-12-15
Category :
ISBN : 9781673690064

GET BOOK

Cult Escape. It is the personal story of a boy born into a tyrannical religious Exclusive Brethren cult in England, and the tormenting journey of planning the escape to eventual freedom. The price of freedom was to be cut off from all his friends and family who were forbidden from having any contact with him. Now, after escaping, what does a 22 year old boy, who had been hidden in a box like a coiled spring do, when suddenly he finds he can explore all his fantasies with no religious restraint? Like the proverbial kid in the sweetshop, he goes wild. He loses his virginity within days, goes evil by buying the forbidden TV, radio, video and 'fills his boots' experimenting with the 'big bad world'. That boy was me.Cult Escape has three sections; IN, OUT and SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT. The story starts with being born into the cult, the lifestyle, the rules, the coercion, the confessions, the disciplining, and the separation from the evil world. The IN chapters cover how it felt having to grow up in a strict religious cult, the laws we were all under, the difficulties of school life, the challenges of work life, and the coping mechanisms for 'us young ones' during the excruciating boredom of eleven meetings every single week! One of my distractions was, believe it or not; I ate myself. I still have the scars. In that particular chapter called Funny Memories..."...Such was the dry monotony for most of us young ones, we were always on the lookout for anything to break the boredom. The following are a few memories and funnies of such happenings, which though may sound ridiculously insignificant to you, were some of the highlights of our life of conformity, restrictions, rules and regulations.Here you will read about Sandy Huckley's buns, the fate of all those who watched Charles marry Diana, the passage we could look up and the Yawn Show. Yes, all weird stuff, the things intelligent people can get up to when they allow a man they call The Universal Leader to control their hair length, their shaving habits, their house drains and convince them it would be wicked to have a cup of tea with their neighbour."The OUT chapters describe the new and exciting world I was now free to explore, how my head got free from the cult indoctrination, how my beliefs changed and three major healing experiences that I hope will help many who read this book.The controversial SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT chapters examine serious issues that seek to position religious controlling cults under the scrutiny of the public eye. Though religious cults are legal, how does society really feel about the splitting up of families, coercive indoctrination and brainwashing? What actually defines a cult? Why do they all believe they are the 'right' church? How can a person successfully leave a cult, even if they were born into it? Can anything be done to stop the control and abuse that goes on today? I believe that there is something the government can do and I make a legislation proposal in the penultimate chapter called The Religious Warning. Finally, the Conclusion which I offer for due consideration. In the words of Paul McCartney, 'There must be an answer, Let It Be'. What will be the next big cult story to hit the news? Another suicide cult? Another family separation story? A friend of mine once testified in court that the cult he had been a member of had not informed him of his mother's death, till three months after she was buried. The judge put his head in his hands and shook his head in disbelief. Something needs to be done about this. Let's get on with it.John Spinks

Author : Amanda Montell
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 12,49 MB
Release : 2021-06-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0062993178

GET BOOK

The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.

Author : Shep Hyken
Publisher : Sound Wisdom
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 18,87 MB
Release : 2020-03-17
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1640951547

GET BOOK

In today’s competitive business climate, you can’t just satisfy your customers. You have to be better than that, giving them experiences that they won’t forget. Author Shep Hyken has spent thirty years studying great companies and the evangelists they create. In The Cult of the Customer, Hyken shows how to design a strategy that leads both customers and employees through five distinct cultural phases – from "uncertainty" to "amazement." By presenting dozens of case studies that show how great companies made this journey, Hyken identifies the critical internal and external changes that allowed them to build a Cult of the Customer – and shows how you can do it too. Hyken’s message is both powerful and timely: the happier your customers and employees are, the more successful your company will be. The Cult of the Customer is your guide to creating a customer-focused culture that turns satisfied customers into customer evangelists.

Author : Steven Hassan
Publisher : Free Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 27,30 MB
Release : 2020-09-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1982127341

GET BOOK

A masterful and eye-opening examination of Trump and the coercive control tactics he uses to build a fanatical devotion in his supporters written by “an authority on breaking away from cults…an argument that…bears consideration as the next election cycle heats up” (Kirkus Reviews). Since the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders—cult leaders. In The Cult of Trump, mind control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard, and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie” himself, and he presents a “thoughtful and well-researched analysis of some of the most puzzling aspects of the current presidency, including the remarkable passivity of fellow Republicans [and] the gross pandering of many members of the press” (Thomas G. Gutheil, MD and professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School). The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. “This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the current political climate” (Judith Stevens-Long, PhD and author of Living Well, Dying Well).