ScientologyScientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called Dianetics, which he represented as a form of therapy. An organization that he established in 1950 to promote it went bankrupt, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book Dianetics in 1952. He then recharacterized his ideas as a religion, likely for tax purposes, and renamed them Scientology.
Secret societyA secret society is an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence.
BrainwashingBrainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Jim JonesJames Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978), better known as Jim Jones, was an American preacher who led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", Jones and the members of his inner circle orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. Jones and the events that occurred at Jonestown have had a defining influence on society's perception of cults. As a child, Jones developed an affinity for Pentecostalism and a desire to preach.
Charismatic authorityCharismatic authority is a concept of leadership developed by the German sociologist Max Weber. It involves a type of organization or a type of leadership in which authority derives from the charisma of the leader. This stands in contrast to two other types of authority: legal authority and traditional authority. Each of the three types forms part of Max Weber's tripartite classification of authority. Charism "Charisma" is an ancient Greek term that initially gained prominence through Saint Paul's letters to the emerging Christian communities in the first century.
Unification ChurchThe Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement derived from Christianity, whose members are called Unificationists or informally Moonies. Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) started amassing followers after the Second World War ended and, on 1 May 1954 in Seoul, South Korea, officially founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC), the Unification Church's full name until 1994.
CESNURCESNUR (Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni, "Center for Studies on New Religions"), is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy that studies new religious movements and opposes the anti-cult movement. It was established in 1988 by Massimo Introvigne, Jean-François Mayer and Ernesto Zucchini. Its first president was Giuseppe Casale. Later, Luigi Berzano became CESNUR's president. CESNUR has been described as "the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions".
Christian countercult movementThe Christian countercult movement or the Christian anti-cult movement is a social movement among certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist and other Christian ministries ("discernment ministries") and individual activists who oppose religious sects that they consider cults. Christian countercult activism mainly stems from evangelicalism or fundamentalism. The countercult movement asserts that particular Christian sects are erroneous because their beliefs are not in accordance with the teachings of the Bible.
DeprogrammingDeprogramming is a tactic that attempts to help someone who has "strongly held convictions", coming from cults, government backed terrorist groups, or any strongly held 'faith groups'. Deprogramming without a group association is referred to as therapy and should ideally be performed with professional medical assistance using similar standards of care. Deprogramming aims to assist a person who holds a self destructive or restrictive belief system in changing those beliefs and severing connections to the associated group (religious, political, economic, or social) which created and controls that individual through their proprietary belief system.
Sociology of religionSociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census analysis) and of qualitative approaches (such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials).
