The researchers and sociologists have investigated the factors and platforms of tendency towards cults. In each community, there are platforms which are leading. The lack of such platforms intrigues reasons or creates passivity.
Seeking identity, frustration, social gap caused by the conflict between tradition and modernity, tendency towards spirituality, social harms and seeking for comfort in modernity era are of some of the most important factors which create the tendency towards sectarian movements. Thinking of them can be influential to investigate and study the reasons for tendency towards the newly-emerged cults. The following article studies and investigates two other factors: Individual and religious ones.
The individual reasons for turning to cults:
The most central individual reasons are as follows:
I) Escaping from an unsuitable condition:
The current era has been called as bewilderment, confusion and doubt. One of the characteristics of living in this condition which is resulted by post modernism and modernism products is escaping towards mirage.
The problems of living in technology era and its inefficiency in meeting the spiritual perfection have made human being be avid of each area which is claiming for exiting the current unfavorable condition. Most cults which are newly-emerged are claiming so. They claim for changing viewpoint towards the world to confusions, diseases and problems. In their advertisements, the mentioned cults are continually stressing this issue that human’s apprehensions are due to his/her mind and inner essence and don’t have objective reality, so it is obvious that this claim has been attractive in the current very sad world for many people and is the forerunner for their tendency toward sectarian movements
II) Being interested in innovative and secret life:
Some people; particularly the youth, turn to various and secret lifestyle very much. the newly-emerged cults have been known as ” the secret movements” der to hiding beliefs, rituals and secrets inside the cults. These secrets cause attractions for the youth in intellectual and ritual aspects. Because, the existence of secret creeds depends on a kind of innovation and this feature bonds them to great religions in several aspects.[1]
III) Discovering new identity and becoming distinct from others:
Identity is the most important feature differentiating each human being from others. Nobody can differentiate between him/herself and others. For this reason, having different beliefs, rituals, cover in cults are attractive for people who are seeking for distinctive lives and direct them towards new identity.
IV) Moral Corruption:
One of the reasons for turning to cults is attracting to the opposite sex and moral corruption. This issue causes some cults to use the opposite sex and sexual arousal. Holding mixed trips and ceremonies, uncovering and creating intimate relations among followers are applied, too. The Bahaism organization is using this weapon to prevent members to leave the organization.
V) Physical illnesses:
Claiming for curing and healing is prevalent very much in newly emerged cults. This issue is sometimes so prominent that the totality of the approach and the activities of some cults are revolving around therapy. “Erfarn Halgheh cult” and “Bani Hin” are of these cults. Premising to heal and fecundating have caused members to be attracted.
One of the most important techniques of cults for doing this action is psychological induction which has been done by trust making, sanctifying the cult leader and believer and weakening the disciple’s will.[2]
The religious-cultural reasons for turning to cults:
I) Tendency towards Gnosticism and searching for mystical relationship:
During history, Iran has been the center of spirituality and Gnosticism and the Iranian literature can’t be imagined without Gnosticism. Regarding mystical interests in Iran, the deviant and superstitious forms including newly-emerged and traditional old movements of the east and west have attracted people aiming achieving happiness, tranquility and hope.[3]
According to “V.T. Stace”: Gnosticism is a bad luck word because it associates with doubt and ambiguity and as if it is bonded with definition and introduction and it reminds the unseen, miracles, munificence and magic.”[4]
It has been attempted for Gnosticism to be pretended that it is the extract of religions; so it is a united humane issue and pays attention to human’s nature.
According to this viewpoint mystics is the same whether they are Seyyed Ali Qazi Tabatabaee, Ayatollah Bahjat, Hassan Zadeh Amoli or they are Osho, Sai Baba or Harold Clamp.
According to Osho “sin is one of the oldest tricks to dominate on people. They make you feel sinful and pose you foolish ideas which are impossible to be fulfilled. Then, sin is created and you are trapped. Sin is the secret of doing business in all so-called (fundamentalist) stabilized religions.”[5]
In contrast, a great mystic like Ayatollah Bahjat answers when he is asked about the stages of the journey towards God: “That we consider God’s legitimate thing as legitimate and the illegitimate one as illegitimate.”
II) the doubt of lack of traditional religion’s answering:
In the process of social transformation, the sociologists consider the distinguished role for ideology. According to August Kent, ideology has changed the method of thinking and conditions of lives of human beings.
“Max Weber, the German thinker did extensive researches concerning the role of religious cultures in forming civilizations. In the article called Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism, he tried to explain the role of religion propositions particularly Calvinism in forming new capitalism and has introduced the reason of lack of fulfilling this capitalism in the platform of other religions as the weakness of propositions like rationalism in them.
Changes and transformations in human communities during eras and history are obvious which cause new requirements. Now, the serious question in the era of forming various cults is that how a constant religion which is having limited resources is able to answer the variable and up to- date need of humane communities?
According to religious thinkers, some parts of religion are consistent and religious teachings will be changed during the passage of time. The reason for such change be searched in accepting wisdom as one of the resources of religion and considered intellectual definite commandments as evidence and credibility in each era.
Consequently, the main problem in our period of time is the old answers to new questions which provide for sectarian movements to be emerged.
III) The crisis religious identity:
Identity is the person’s group and community’s awareness of themselves which is formed gradually in social activism.[6]
In conditions which the important specifications of identity are attacked by the opposite thoughts, the coherent applications of it will be weakened.
Supposed that a young researcher is afflicted by a doubt in an issue and if the resource is not able to answer to his/her question suitably, he/she may be deceived or attracted by the sectarian movements.
IV) The weakness in religious recognition:
Religious recognition is the achievements from knowledge extracted by the scholars searching in religious resources.
When a person wants to select or understand right and wrong things, religious recognition will help him/her. The weakness in beliefs and the lack of recognizing the Islamic knowledge correctly will make people attracted by the cults.[7]
Metapsychology sciences:
New psychology is one of the sciences that has been employed by emerging cults at its highest level and has made a significant contribution to deepening and generalizing the thoughts of these cults. One of the most important effects of this science is advancing and growing new, unknown cults and making these the thoughts of cults mysterious. Metapsychology is also called the science of super-psychic talents, talents that enable humans to establish a relationship with the world around without the help of emotions and muscles.
As this science claims, humans are able to obtain information through ways other than the five senses and influence natural events through their minds. In the science of metapsychology, phenomena are investigated which are called a kind of process of exchanging information and energy; Things like “telepathy”, “clairvoyance”, “telekinesis”, psychometry” (psychometry and extraction of information hidden in memory or hidden objects), “precognition” and “aura”. In other words, newly-emerged cults are promoting this science and providing suitable platforms for it, and metapsychological sciences are also scientifically supporting the supernatural claims of sectarian movements.
This interaction and cooperation have created conditions for attracting people, especially young people. What has been said is one of the most central factors that create the platform for the appeal of sectarian movements.
Source: Roshana, Issue 80, Spring 2019, pp. 100- 103
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[1] Quote from: Wach Joachin, Sociology of religion, translated by Jamshid Azdegan, 1st edition, Tehran: Samt, 1380, p.295.
[2] Abdullahi, Mahmoud, social pathology and the process of its transformation in Iran, 1395/03/09.
[3] Fanaee Eshkevari, Muhammad, Gnosticism in Iran, the religious thought, period: 12, No.1, 1392 S.H., p.64.
[4] 4 Mowahedian, Attar, Ali, the concept of Gnosticism, Qom: religious university, 1388 S.H., p. 82.
[5] Osho, the great secret, translated by Ravan Kahriz, Tehran: Bagh-e-No, 1380, p.258.
[6] Giddens Anthony, modernity and recognition, translated by Naser Movafaghiyan, Tehran: Nei publishing house, 1378, p.81.
[7] Torabi, 1395/09/08.