The clergyman Moslem Girwani, the faculty member of Ma’rej researching center said: Cults aren’t lasting as most newly-emerged cults related to 1960s vanished by the leaders death. Nothing remained but a name.
Today, modern societies of human beings need religion and spirituality in spite of development; particularly during history, the Iranian people have paid more attention to spirituality more than other people of the world. So, it can be said that the Iranian culture is a spiritual one and the Iranian community has a religious background. The Iranian people’s tendency towards gnostic books written by Hafiz, Sa’di, Abu Saeed Abul Kheir and Khajeh Abdullah Ansari emphasizes this issue.
Moslem Girwani
Now; for several decades, the newly-emerged cults have been manifested. In our community; although there are many limitations culturally and religiously regarding the culturally and religiously regarding the cults, they are active in hidden layers of society silently. It can be claimed that the development of tendency towards cults in the Iranian society is one of the most damages which threaten our Iranian Islamic culture. Ignorance in this regard will end in irreparable consequences. Undoubtedly, the first step in treati8ng this damage is the correct and realistic recognizing kinds of cults.
Why are cults considered as threats?
“Margaret Singer”, famous cult researcher describes cults having three characteristics: “having self-appointed leader”, “pyramid structure of power”, or the relationships between leader and followers and “Using persuasion program” (rebuilding thought or brainwashing).
“Margaret Singer”
In her famous book called cults in our midst, she introduces unification church and Jehovah’s witnesses as cults.
Singer says: Cults hunt people’s youth and offspring and do brainwashing and persuasion operations on their minds. For instance, the newly-emerged cult called “people church” headed by Jim Jones intrigued its 918 followers to suicide.
The criterion for classifying cults into deviant and non-deviant
Cults are divided into three groups:
۱- Groups which haven’t accepted the verbal principles of a religion. For example; in Islamic cults, three principles of monotheism, prophethood and resurrection.
۲- The groups who have tainted these or some of these principles and according to the Islamic principles and rudiments and most Muslims, they have exited the Islamic domains but they consider themselves as Muslims.
۳- Groups who haven’t accepted these principles or some of them and haven’t considered themselves as Muslims like Baha’ism which consider its faith as abolisher of the religion of Islam.
Consequently, if a cult rejects all religion which is originated from it, is called a deviant cult
