Categories of cults

Question 1

Audience cults

Answer 1

These are very loosely organised + do not involve any social interaction between members or practitioners, those who participate in audience cult activities do so passively + individually

Question 2

Examples of audience cults

Answer 2

Include the belief in astrology, which can be seen through the reading of horoscopes or the belief in aliens

Question 3

Client cults

Answer 3

Which do involve practitioners providing a service to members/followers, generally involve the payment of money in exchange for a service or activity such as yoga or tarot card reader

Question 4

Cultic movements

Answer 4

Which are much more structured + organised, tend to demand a little more commitment such as it is unlikely that members will practice any other form of religious worship

Question 5

Cultic movements: skills

Answer 5

Tend to enable their followers to develop particular skills or strategies which enable them to become more successful

Question 6

Cultic movements: examples

Answer 6

Moonies, set up in the 1980’s in South Korea, claim to be Christian but had different interpretations of the bible + enforced different practices on followers - couples are matched + preside over mass weddings

Question 7

Evaluation

Answer 7

Provides a simplistic overview of the different categories of cult activity which people may participate in but they do not seem to acknowledge that some individuals may participate in multiple types of cult activity or that some activities may transgress across categories

Overlap with their definition of cultic movements + definition of sects