Concept
Deprogramming
Related concepts (7)
Cult
Cult is a term, in most contexts pejorative, for a relatively small group which is typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader, who excessively controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant (outside the norms of society). This term is also used for a new religious movement or other social group which is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular person, object, or goal.
Anti-cult movement
The anti-cult movement (abbreviated ACM, and also known as the countercult movement) consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of cults, uncover coercive practices used to attract and retain members, and help those who have become involved with harmful cult practices. One prominent group within the anti-cult movement, Christian counter-cult organizations, oppose new religious movements on theological grounds, categorizing them as cults, and distribute information to this effect through church networks and via printed literature.
Brainwashing
Brainwashing (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.
Unification Church of the United States
The Unification Church of the United States is the official branch of the Unification Church in the United States of America. It began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when missionaries from South Korea were sent to America by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon. It expanded in the 1970s and then became involved in controversy due to its theology, its political activism, and the lifestyle of its members.
Unification Church
The 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.
New religious movement
A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or they can be part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Some NRMs deal with the challenges which the modernizing world poses to them by embracing individualism, while other NRMs deal with them by embracing tightly knit collective means.
Apostasy
Apostasy (əˈpɒstəsi; ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who undertakes apostasy is known as an apostate. Undertaking apostasy is called apostatizing (or apostasizing – also spelled apostacizing).