A 10:002 or 10:003 Unit ~ Cults and Controversy

Overview	Schedule		Activities		Formal Assignments		Resources
	Weeks 1-2	Weeks 3-5	Ads	Scenarios	Paper	Speech

Overview

Theme In late 2002, when the Raelian cult announced to the world that they had succeeded in cloning a baby, cults moved once again into the national spotlight. Cults seem only to be known in their notoriety, when their bizarre antics attract attention, condemnation and awe.  And these moments, when the religious “crazies” have “acted out” again, throw into relief normative ideas about religion that do not always coalesce into a neat picture, for we live in a world that is both cynical and demystified but also religiously charged. This unit is intended as an examination of why cults spark such controversy. What about them is so fascinating as well as frightening? Although students will probably come to this topic with only a nebulous knowledge of cults and alternative spirituality of any sort, this is an advantage, for they don’t have a whole host of pre-set beliefs (as they may about the death penalty etc.)  However, they are easily engaged in a study of cults, for students have thought about a number of topics that intersect with those covered in the section. Their own experiences with faith and religion or anything that escapes normal explanation might resonate with some of the testimonials of cult members.  Cult propaganda might seem not quite so excessive when one considers the forms of coercion to which they are subjected everyday, such as advertising. They may find the dynamic operative in any group, such as their volleyball team, bears striking similarities with cults’. A study of cults will also prepare them well for the rest of the rhetoric curriculum, as they will be better able to understand “others” of all sorts, be they racial, national, religious or ideological.  This unit will train them to adopt perspectives they “normally” would not. In the essay assignment, the students will play “devil’s advocate,” as they have to explain why someone would want to join a particular cult (or alternative spiritual group; Gallanter discusses AA alongside cults in his book, which estranges the students’ expectations about what a cult is as well as offers some possible areas for study.) The essay will ask them not to explain away the beliefs of “those wackos,” but to explain rationally why someone would want to join a cult and who this person might be. The speech is intended as a role-playing exercise (not a brain-washing activity) in which the students will create their own conversion scenario and decide when, where and how they would entice members into cult they have chosen to study. Goals Rhetoric curriculum goals: To evaluate sources (i.e. how is the writer defining cult, and why? Whom is he or she speaking for? How credible are they?) To hone basic composition and speaking skills To evaluate sources (i.e. how is the writer defining cult, and why? Whom is he or she speaking for? How credible are they?) To analyze, in this case, the belief systems and recruitment methods of cults. To explain why these beliefs systems and recruitment methods are successful (i.e. why they attract and keep members.) To identify and use appeals (ethos, logos and pathos) To know (how to know) one’s audience To identify and master non-verbal forms of persuasion (setting and scene.) Theme-specific goals: To understand how connotation of a word (such as “cult”) can be so powerful as to shut down discourse To understand how we know what we know about cults, and how this perspective may be incomplete. To strive for “objectivity” in this controversial field To come to terms with the personal “baggage” that shapes one’s perspective To explain religious beliefs and membership in an alternative religion rather than “explain them away” (“those cult people must be crazy”). To juxtapose conventional and alternative ways of knowing. To gain familiarity with the rhetoric of religious discourse, which is unique as well as familiar (ads and shopping are my reference points). This Unit and the Rhetoric Curriculum This unit focuses on analysis and should precede advocacy units. This unit works at the beginning of a 10:002 or 10:003 course, such that students could practice identifying and analyzing persuasive techniques before beginning their own advocacy projects.  The focus on analysis (as the first unit in the rhetoric curriculum) aside, because this unit asks students to consider how their experiences and personal history has influence their perspectives, it should come first in any sequence. Topics tangentially discussed in this unit that you might follow up on in subsequent units include: brainwashing (does it exist? How does it work?); first amendment rights (is cult recruitment propaganda protected?); commercial consumerism; education; issues of cultural relativism (when and how does one culture’s belief system get privileged over another’s?).

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