Categories of Destructive Cults

by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin.
extracts (page 215) :-
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1 -- Destructive Religious Cults are associated with a particular religious practice, belief or system of rituals and may be further subdivided as follows :-

1A -- Destructive Apocalyptic Cults promote fear and paranoia along with unfounded predictions that the world is about to end. They may be distinguished from apocalyptic religions in that the former utilizes abuse, exploitation and mind control methods. Examples would include the Branch Davidians, Order of the Solar Temple, and Aum Supreme Truth. [A more recent example would be: 'Church of God - Preparing for the Kingdom of God'.]

1B -- Destructive Pre-Industrial Cults meet the criteria for destructive cults and also embody the traditions of pre-industrial cultures (eg. African and New World Vodoun and Santeria sects) ...

1C -- Destructive Demonic Cults meet the criteria for religious cults and also promote the worship or reverence toward a malevolent deity, spirit or principle (eg. Satanism, Luciferianism) or those cults that use others' fears of demons to manipulate or control them.

2 -- Fraternal Organizations. These groups are often secret and may also espouse particular philosophic, religious, or sociopolitical ideals (eg. the Bizango of Haiti, the Egbo, or Leopard Society of West Africa, and various subgroups within Masonry, and other quasi-Masonic groups...)

3 -- Destructive Sociopolitical Cults would include the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Brotherhood, and Neo-Nazi groups. We would include the Christian Identity movement here even though it is technically a religion...

4 -- Organized crime groups that function as destructive cults exist for the primary purpose of supporting criminal activities where there is a [perceived] need for using mind control methods because of the nature of the crime (eg. child prostitution and pornography ... ).

5 -- Government and intelligence related destructive cults refer to the alleged organized use of mind control methods conducted by individuals within government agencies (eg. CIA) for intelligence gathering and other secret operations.
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from a book called: 'Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America' by James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin.
(Edition 1 - 1995, Edition 2 - 2000.)
The Google Books article is _here_
The Amazon.com page is _here_
.