Suchergebnisse

Sects and cults constitute a third Christian force, in addition to Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, in contemporary America. Sects are particularist groups with a basically negative orientation. Cults tend to be positively oriented and to be organized around a charismatic leader. Any discussion of the various religious groups in the United States must take into account the differences in context, rather than the differences in content, between them. Religious context largely determines whether or not religious groups are in the mainstream of historical development. The principal distinction between sects or cults and denominations is that sects or cults are established to achieve the spatial and psychic context of isolation. The denominations currently adapt to middle-class beliefs and values. The sects and cults are uneroded, unexposed, intransigent, and withdrawn. They provide a haven from social interpenetration and complexity. They do not wish to be assimilated into the mainstream of religious thought and practice. The sects and cults, in almost every particular, provide a counter current in the mid-twentieth century religious revival.—Ed.

This article provides an overview of cult-related issues that may reveal themselves in therapeutic situations. These issues include: families in cults; parental (especially mothers') roles in cults; the impact that cult leaders have on families; the destruction of family intimacy; child abuse; issues encountered by noncustodial parents; the impact on cognitive, psychological, and moral development; and health issues. The authors borrow from numerous theoretical perspectives to illustrate their points, including self psychology, developmental theory, and the sociology of religion. They conclude with a discussion of the therapeutic challenges that therapists face when working with cult-involved clients and make preliminary recommendations for treatment.

Adolf Hitler and those of his fanatical . henchmen who shared his last days shared also a belief that from their ashes a cult would arise. As early as 1942, when his Russian plans had gone awry. Hitler spoke to his entourage of the satisfactions of dying on "a magnificent funeral pyre." In his last testament three years later he wrote of his oneness in sacrifice with his soldiers, which would be "the seed of a radiant rebirth of the National-Socialist movement…." Martin Bormann hinted at a Wagnerian myth when he wrote in his last letter to his wife of perishing "in King Attila's hall, like the Nibelungs of old." Joseph Goebbels, dramatic to the end, de claimed at his last press conference about "the fine color film describing the terrible days we are living through," which future audiences would see.

Vor dem Hintergrund der sowohl erkenntnistheoretischen als auch politischen Fragestellung nach der Konstruktion des Eigenen und des Fremden in einer institutionalisierten Gesellschaft, untersucht der Autor zwei Begründungsmuster des Nationalismus, welche aus politischen Systemen mit unterschiedlichen 'Homogenitäts- und Differenzregeln' stammen. Bei den zwei 'Fallgeschichten' handelt es sich zum einen um Fichtes Theorie eines 'ethnischen Nationalismus' im beginnenden 19. Jahrhundert in Deutschland, zum anderen um die Bestimmung eines 'nationalistischen Nationalismus' von Maurice Barres im Frankreich der Jahrhundertwende, welcher zugleich den Beginn der Modernisierung des Konservatismus in Frankreich markierte. In der Formulierung und Ausarbeitung von politisch -praktischen Grundsätzen ging es beiden Denkern trotz aller Verschiedenheit um die Entwicklung vom 'Ich' zum 'Wir' in einer Gesellschaft, um die Bestimmung der Nation als sozialer Gemeinschaft und als politischer Gesellschaft, also letztlich um "das die Welt schaffende Ich und das dieses Ich erst ermöglichende Wir, ein Ich, das nur durch ein selbstgeschaffenes nationales Wir existiert." (ICI)

This article suggests a rational explanation for extreme voluntary sacrifice in situations in which the state of the world when the decision must be made is observable only by the agent. Such explanation is the cult of martyrs, heroes, and saints. This cult may get out of control and fuel fanaticism, or excessive sacrifice from the standpoint of the sponsoring organization. A survey of the historical evidence of Christian martyrdom strongly suggests that martyrs were driven by the expectation of a cult in this world, not by otherworldly rewards. In particular, it is argued that the evidence of excess martyrdom in both Muslim Spain and the Roman Empire strongly speaks for the cult theory. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]