Religious Cults

1. Religious Cults Extended Text: “I Am Not Esther”

2. What is a cult? • Originally a group that shared a common religious practice. • Has changed in the modern day to mean an extremist group who make up their own rules about religion. • There are many different types of religious cults and even New Zealand has some.

3. Jonestown • Was the communal settlement made in Guyana, Africa by the People’s Temple, a cult from California. • Jonestown was founded in the mid-1970s by the cult leader, Jim Jones. • In 1978, nearly its whole population died in a mass murder-and-suicide ordered by Jones. Over 900 men, women and children were killed, Jones was one of them. • Jones told them to drink poison because the world was coming to an end. He made the children drink first so that the parents would follow.

5. cooperites • In N.Z. the most well known religious cult is the Cooperites. • They live on farms in the South Island and are self sufficient. • They strongly restrict contact with the outside world, especially contact with former members. • There has been a lot of controversy over apparent sexual abuse in recent years.

6. Zion ranch • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). • Women are made to wear long, old fashioned dresses, grow their hair long and wear it up. • In 2008, American authorities raided ‘Zion Ranch’ a religious cult in Texas. They took 400 children away on charges of polygamy and abuse. • Most people were cleared but there were cases of underage marriage. (A 12 year old was married to the church leader).